Dental work, get thee behind me!

I am sooooo not looking forward to this afternoon's activity, which is to sit in a dental surgeon's chair and have a root canal redone. (Your sympathy is greatly appreciated.) Dental work is fraught for just about everybody, this I know, but I have more reason than most to approach anyone who sticks their hands in my mouth with fear and loathing.

My parents, mother especially, embraced the Calvin Coolidge (or is it just New England--can't find an attribution anywhere) dictum of "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" with vigor. They didn't just apply it to clothes or other goods, they applied it to people--yes, including dentists.

Our family dentist had been working on the family for decades when I arrived on the scene; unfortunately, he probably should have retired about six years before I was born. He was old enough that his hands shook. A LOT. But no, he kept his practice going, and my mother kept taking me there, even though the drill sometimes missed the mark and my mouth was a bloody mess afterwards.

Worse, the dentist and his hygienist (a woman who lived in our neighborhood) made me out to be a big baby for crying out when he shook right into my gumline or wherever. (This was a familiar pattern in my life those days--react to a situation and be told, repeatedly, IT ISN'T REALLY HAPPENING. Is anyone here surprised I've been in therapy for a very, very long time?)

So, my first experience with a dentist, when I was of a most impressionable age, was horrific. And as we all know, childhood experiences can color a person's worldview for a lifetime. As a result, I'm girding my loins, such as they are, for this afternoon's appointment and praying it all goes well (no, I'm not supposed to pray for specifics, but can you blame me for bending the rules?).

What else is going on? Hmmmm. Can't think of a thing. Oh, the job that hangs in the balance is still hanging, so there's no news there. And I ordered comic business cards today, so I guess my little snit about quitting The Comedy has passed.

Now I need to vacuum, so I feel like I did something useful today. (No, it doesn't take much.)