I just spent a good five minutes thinking of what the last check I wrote was, having just gotten an email from my credit union that it had cleared. I recognized the amount, and had prepared for it, but was … just totally and utterly lost.

Then I remembered: it was the co-pay for the root canal I had done on Tuesday. No wonder—I’ve been very out of it since then. I blame the nitrous oxide I was on; at one point, I felt as if I was Secretariat coming down the stretch, I was sucking that stuff down so hard. [I know enough about flow regulation to know that this doesn't matter.]

Taking the gas was the best idea I had that day—what was supposed to be a ninety-minute procedure went more than an hour longer. It seems to me that it only lasted a half-hour or so: I remember the very beginning of the procedure [all the injections to numb me], and there are a few moments of lucidity [sitting up for X-rays, at which point I'd realize that root canal acoutrement were sticking out of my mouth, and when enough of the local would wear off that I'd begin to feel pain again], but other than that, it’s a big ol’ blur for me. So much so that, while waiting for the assistant to come back in after the X-ray, I felt the drill in my mouth, working on my tooth.

Yeah. Quite a trip. I almost see why people do illegal drugs now. Of course, I was only trying to ignore that 150-minute ordeal because, well, it’s tedious to lie there while feeling no pain but hearing all the drilling and work. Should I ever have to do that again—I sure hope not!—I’ll definitely make that call again.

That said, I’m definitely below par right now, which explains any lulls in posting here. [That, and all the energy going into my 2006 resolutions.]