Technology passing me by; bad day at the dentist
Crims40's struggle with his U3 chip today and Jacob's response got me thinking.
I AM finally getting to that age where the technology is passing me by. I'm old enough to have purchased a Commodore computer as my first computer (the VIC-20 model, not the 64). I can make my computer run. I can troubleshoot it as well as Dell's tech support can. I can program it in four different computer languages (I'm not a very good programmer, but I get by).
But today I was at the dentist getting prepped for two crowns. They offered me an i-Pod to drown out the racket they'd be making. I said sure and the assistant (who has at least 15 years on me) said, "I'm sure you know how to work one of these...." Uhhh, no, I've never held one before. She and the dentist (who has at least 20 years on me) took turns trying to find some music they thought I'd like).
Now, I don't particularly like sitting in the dentist's chair so as nice as it sounded to have some classical piano music in my ear while they worked their instruments of torture in my mouth, I eventually became annoyed that they were wasting time trying to find music for me, rather than drilling away at my teeth and getting it over with. I switched into "yes just give it to me" mode, which I frequently do as a consumer because making consumer decisions annoys me. The dentist was saying, "well, I can't find my collection of classical piano, but if you like that, you might like this....it's more contemporary but....." I'm sure it will be fine, I said.
HAH! It was muzak, pure and simple. It was some of the worst piano/electronic orchestral re-makes of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard (actually, there were one or two pieces that had been good in their original form). From my prone position I couldn't even figure out the volume control to quiet the crappy music. I couldn't get it to stop, either. I'd been told (quite adamantly) to let them know if the music wasn't working, but I just wanted the drilling to end so I took a deep breath, recited "three-one-two-one-three-one-two-one..."--which is a drone I can put in my head to calm myself in moments of distress--and let it happen. What kind of fool was I to think that a trip to the dentist could be anything better than the third circle of hell?
The drill and my drone were (together) loud enough that I blocked out most of the music. Forty five minutes later the drilling was over, and then it was just the the finishing touches on the prep. Separating the gum from the teeth roots was more painful (but less stressful) than any of the drilling (I could have asked for more anesthetic, but I kind of hate the Novocaine anyway, so I'd rather take a little pain than prolong the numb-face). And then there were the many, many, many weird things I was told to bite down on: something to make a cast of the remainders of the teeth so that the lab could make the crowns, something else to make a 'bite record,' something else to glue the temporary crowns onto my teeth.....and on. But for all of that, I had taken the evil headphones off.
I AM finally getting to that age where the technology is passing me by. I'm old enough to have purchased a Commodore computer as my first computer (the VIC-20 model, not the 64). I can make my computer run. I can troubleshoot it as well as Dell's tech support can. I can program it in four different computer languages (I'm not a very good programmer, but I get by).
But today I was at the dentist getting prepped for two crowns. They offered me an i-Pod to drown out the racket they'd be making. I said sure and the assistant (who has at least 15 years on me) said, "I'm sure you know how to work one of these...." Uhhh, no, I've never held one before. She and the dentist (who has at least 20 years on me) took turns trying to find some music they thought I'd like).
Now, I don't particularly like sitting in the dentist's chair so as nice as it sounded to have some classical piano music in my ear while they worked their instruments of torture in my mouth, I eventually became annoyed that they were wasting time trying to find music for me, rather than drilling away at my teeth and getting it over with. I switched into "yes just give it to me" mode, which I frequently do as a consumer because making consumer decisions annoys me. The dentist was saying, "well, I can't find my collection of classical piano, but if you like that, you might like this....it's more contemporary but....." I'm sure it will be fine, I said.
HAH! It was muzak, pure and simple. It was some of the worst piano/electronic orchestral re-makes of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard (actually, there were one or two pieces that had been good in their original form). From my prone position I couldn't even figure out the volume control to quiet the crappy music. I couldn't get it to stop, either. I'd been told (quite adamantly) to let them know if the music wasn't working, but I just wanted the drilling to end so I took a deep breath, recited "three-one-two-one-three-one-two-one..."--which is a drone I can put in my head to calm myself in moments of distress--and let it happen. What kind of fool was I to think that a trip to the dentist could be anything better than the third circle of hell?
The drill and my drone were (together) loud enough that I blocked out most of the music. Forty five minutes later the drilling was over, and then it was just the the finishing touches on the prep. Separating the gum from the teeth roots was more painful (but less stressful) than any of the drilling (I could have asked for more anesthetic, but I kind of hate the Novocaine anyway, so I'd rather take a little pain than prolong the numb-face). And then there were the many, many, many weird things I was told to bite down on: something to make a cast of the remainders of the teeth so that the lab could make the crowns, something else to make a 'bite record,' something else to glue the temporary crowns onto my teeth.....and on. But for all of that, I had taken the evil headphones off.
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beware. they are trying to mask the 'oops' and the 'awhh crap' sounds they make as they screw you mouth up...[8D][:I][:0][:p] 0 -
I had a crown set yesterday but in response to the music deal,a few months ago I went through the "deep cleaning"ritual,The hygenist aked about novacaine,gas,video,music,ect.Heck after the novacaine then the gas she jacks me up with some Eric Clapton and I tell you what.I was ripped,reminded me of about 20 years earlier.I finally told her I could'nt handle it any more,sensory overload ya know.She asked if I wanted something else and I told her a mirror so I could watch what she was doing.She thought that was surprising but indulged me and man what she was doing in my mouth was ugly,but cool. 0 -
Don't feel bad I can't work and have never touched a IPOD either.
Good thing about dentists is usually they have some hot helpers. [:p]0 -
I acquired a Sansa 2 gig MP-3 player last month, it's pretty neat.
It has a stereo FM radio, and hold quite a bit of music. I can convert records to MP-3's through Media Center and download them to the player. The converter even has a function to help take out the needle pop from the records.
I have spent many hours in the dental chair, and can empathize with anyone that goes through dental work. The worst thing I've had lately was a deep root plane, where they clean your teeth under your gums to the roots. Felt like my mouth was on fire for 3 days after the procedure, and nothing I could do would stop the pain. I've talked to others that had it done, some say it wasn't painful to them, others were like me.
Never again!0 -
So.....what exactly is this "iPod" of which you speak? I will ask my dentist if he knows of such a device. 0
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