Today I went and got a tooth extracted. That guy's gonna be replaced by a "bridge", which is 3 or more crowns welded together, and the middle one doesn't have a real tooth in it. I'm in post-getting things yanked out of me recovery. I can tell my mouth is not happy. They did give me some serious painkillers, though. The strongest I've had in the past is one Tylenol-3, prescribed after a tooth extraction in 1996 (before they got stolen during my "housewarming" party), and it made the world all fluffy. Even tree bark had a soft, fluffy quality. This vicodin stuff better kick in fast, though. Things are getting a little ouchy as the novocain wears off.

Thinking about going to the dentist makes me very unhappy. Having that over with is a giant relief, even though I have to worry about "dry socket" for the next few days. "Dry socket" is a condition in which the clot gets dislodged from the extraction site and results in pain far beyond what I would have experienced today had I chosen not to be numbed. Real bad pain, I'm told. I can lose the clot by exercising, or rinsing too much, or sucking on a straw or cigarette. So for the next few days at least, I don't suck.