2013 — 3 September: Tuesday

Elvis Costello on BBC Radio 3?1 I had to re-tune before I was convinced, of course. Followed by the tinkling of the monthly glass bottles recycling collection. (Which I'd once again forgotten, though it takes me six months to half-fill the crate they give us.) I'm not a heavy glass user, it appears.

That sound you can hear...

... is the faint gnashing of teeth. Dr Fang pondered briefly the X-ray he took this morning (of what's left of the tooth that he'd been intending to repair [but which pre-emptively collapsed in the middle of my country walk and tuna sandwich picnic a couple of weeks ago]) and is hauling me back in on Friday afternoon to put a temporary lid on it. There's no problem with its existing root canal filling, but some signs of infection right down at the tip. Not, I gather, totally straightforward to fix, therefore.

So I could yet still end up being referred to whatever the current equivalent of Painless Potter is these days. I gather the current holder of that title is based in Newbury — the previous one was based in Wimpole Street, and was not cheap. Though he did 'entertain' me with his opinions while I had a mouth full of metal preventing me from arguing. Probably just as well, on reflection 22 years later. As I noted to Carol at the time:

Dentist re-rooted while treating me to a 50-minute monologue on (I think) my wrongheadedness in criticising our wonderful governments' activities in the Gulf, low pay and status of medical practitioners, wilful removal of lady Tories from the political focus etc etc all delivered to someone who was reduced to gurgling sounds, dribbling, and eyebrow twitching. Still, he was in a marvellous mood when he'd finished (no doubt convinced of my good nature and sensible politics) and smiled as I wrote out the cheque for £185.

Date: 31 January 1991


I need a spot of retail therapy! Where's Jonathan's "Arcade Bookshop" when you need it, dagnabbit?

While I was...

... scanning this little...

BDs and a DVD

... trio of titles that fell into my hands from Asda shelves half an hour ago I've been listening to the CD Mr Postie dropped off while I was out:

CD

I have to confess I wonder if Brenda's eldest lad ever listened to it before agreeing to plonk one of his watercolours on the cover, thus turning it into a "Royal" edition. No matter. I'm now (as usual) distinctly peckish... It will be interesting to see if (after I've entered the three video titles2 into the DVD Profiler system) my next download from it to the smartphone is incremental (rather than re-downloading the other 4,000+ titles). That's how I tipped over the edge of my monthly broadband cap last week, of course.

[Pause] Incremental, it is. And, in other news, the numbing having worn off, there seems to be no trouble with the little dental repair from a few hours ago. Whether that will be the case for the more major repair still to come (which will almost inevitably end up as my second crown) remains to be seen.

I enjoy collecting...

... unusual words. I've just heard "sepulchral" during the Prom interval talk. Excellent word! :-)

I don't enjoy...

... the predeliction that JJ Abrams has for his trademark blue "lens" flare.

  

Footnotes

1  A pleasant surprise.
2  Assuming they're not too recent for someone to have fed in the profile details ahead of me.