I love the smell of...

 

... root canal in the morning!  An appointment with the endodontist this morning.  If you aren't familiar, an endodontist is the person that specializes in root canals and other medieval torture procedures.  It is of Greek derivation, meaning: really expensive tooth stuff.

This is the guy my dentist said he would go to if he needed a root canal.  Easy to say when you don't need a root canal.  Damn, I seem to be saying "root canal" a bunch.

This is for a "consultation."  $200 to talk about what they're gonna do.  No idea if or when they're actually going to do something.  In the meantime: yeah, it still hurts.

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This morning's visit was just the consultation.  It all went as expected and they set me up with an appointment a couple weeks down the road to do the actual root canal.  I asked about being on a wait list and told them I could be flexible.

We were home by 9:45.  The endodontist's office called at 10:15 - they have a cancellation for tomorrow... "Would you like to take that appointment?"

"Absolutely!"  No point in dragging this out.  I am still on antibiotics, but healing - way better to get this over with sooner so I don't have to start over with the hurtin' again.  Hmm, that sounds like a country song... "Oh, baby, you make my heart hurt like a root canal."  I may be on to something.

 

 

Needed Rest...

 

No, still not me.  I haven't slept good since this jaw thing.  But, I have a couple fine looking felines, and today it is Murphy's turn in the spotlight.  This handsome boy sleeps hard.  When he is really zonked, his mouth hangs open and his paws curl.

It's another "he said/she said" kinda thing.  Well, his photo and her photo kinda thing.  Joan's photo...

Yes, I want to run my hands through that luxuriously furry belly, but I don't want to disturb him. 

And, my close up photo...

 I wish I could sleep like that.

 

Still Flirty...

 

No, still not me.  After all the hurtin' posts, I was ready for some kitty content.  This evening, Stella was entertaining us with her flirty poses.  From Joan's phone...

 And from my phone...

 Such a little cutie!

 

Kickin In...

 

The antibiotic is doing its job: the jaw pain is less.  I had doubts yesterday.  In this day of instant gratification, I guess I expected similar with the pain relief.  Well, hope more than expectation.

It makes that wait I mentioned yesterday more bearable.

 

Waiting is the hardest part...

 

If you said, "Tom Petty, 1981, from the album Hard Promises," you get 15 bonus points.

If you read my response to Earl and Jeff from yesterday's post, that will kinda bring you up to date.  It was a tough night - the pain didn't allow for much sleep.  That's enough detail.

It will be a few days before the endodontist can get me in.  So, I'm guessing there won't be much to talk about between now and then.

When I have needed a root canal in the past, it happened during the visit to determine that I also needed a crown - get it all over at once.  Hopefully, while I'm waiting for this appointment, the antibiotics will kick in and ease the pain. 

Yeah, that hurts...

 

Now, what'd you do?

Thanks for the sympathy.  I didn't do nuthin'.  A couple days ago, I got a raging pain in my jaw.  I had this to a lesser degree last year, and the dentist showed me on Xrays that it was in inflammation in my sinus "tubes" that run through the jaw.  It went away.  This pain was showing no sign of easing up.

I took sinus meds; tried heat on my sinuses...

 Yeah, it's a look.  Didn't help.  I broke down and called the dentist's office.  With pain, they get you in right away.  More Xrays... "See this dark area right here?"  Yes.  "Did the pain come on fast and hard?"  Oh, hell yes.

"I think you're going to need a root canal."

Nobody wants to hear that.

 

How Low Can You Go...

 

You're doing the Limbo, Jimbo?

No, I am not, and don't call me Jimbo.  The Emerald X10 was in need of some new strings.  I had moved to 11s on my other acoustic guitars; guitar players will know what I am talking about - a short explanation for civilians: the gauge of the high E-string.  If that didn't answer anything for you, it is lighter than I have been using.  It's part of my move to making all my guitars easier for these old hands to play.

I decided to put 10s on the X10.  I had to hunt through my string inventory to come up with a set that was that light - fortunately, I had half of a 12-string set from when I put Nashville tuning on my X7.

I took the strings off one-by-one...

 I cleaned the fretboard and polished the frets while I had access to them.

The saddles on the X10 are adjustable.  I lowered them one-by-one...

 It is a balancing act: too low and the strings will buzz on the frets above them.  When I had it set as low as I could get it with no buzz, I called it good and snugged up the new strings.  Tuned them up to pitch.  Yep, that feels easier on the fingers and no buzz.  The neck has a truss rod, but it didn't need to be tweaked.  Good to go.

And just for fun, I played the X10 for a while through the new amp.  The X10 is an acoustic that has a humbucking pickup as well as individual piezos... the premise from Emerald on this guitar: an acoustic that can also be played like an electric.  It sounds decent through the Deluxe Reverb amp.

With that guitar done, I should be able to take some time off from guitar "tweaking."  Today was supposed to be a get together with the guys at Mark's house kinda music day, but I am still sneezing, snotting, and coughing, so I chose to stay away.  I was disappointed, because this will be the last chance to get together with Ron; he and his wife are heading to the Pacific Northwest until September (where it will definitely be cooler than here in Phoenix).  It's always a treat to get together with my music buddies, but better to not spread this fun cold crap around.