One result of last year's big bike crash was that I broke my two front teeth in half. I lisped for a week before I got seen by a dentist. I lucked out and found an extraordinary technician who took me on at a moment's notice, and a few weeks later I was fitted with some of the best, most natural looking and feeling crowns a person could hope for. In October, his practice opted out of my insurance network, and I had to find someone new.
The problem was, there wasn't anyone else who was any good in my network. I do my homework through sites like Kudzu, Yelp, and Citysearch. After my amazing dentist opted out, I was reassigned to "Great Expressions" and through a cursory glance through my review sites, found they were rated one star out of five across all three. Horror stories of surly staff, dirty offices, and incomplete dental work pervaded. Some of the alternatives to Great Expressions weren't much better, including one tale of a dentist who pumped a patient full of novocaine, left the room and didn't come back for ninety minutes. I didn't have any problems so I let it be for the time.
A few days ago, though, my crowns started hurting, and my gums started swelling. I've had to wear a scowl for the past three days because it hurt to smile. I dug through my list again and couldn't find anyone I felt comfortable entrusting my teeth to. Finally, on the recommendation of a co-worker, I found one in network that's fairly accesible by MARTA. No reviews on the Internet, so I really don't know what I'm getting into here... but tomorrow morning I'm in for my first visit, and I hope it's a good one that doesn't eat away at my bank account too much, because...
I need a new phone. My BlackBerry has been slowly losing bits of functionality... endless hourglass spins, broken trackball that won't go left for some reason, poor reception... frustrating, since I only just got it six months ago. If I'm going to have a phone, though, I need one that *works* and does what I want/need it to do.
Of course, this would HAVE to happen the week after the new iPhone 3G comes out. I'm fighting the temptation to wait three hours in line to get one, but after playing with one at the Apple Store earlier this week, I think it's right for me. I know a lot of people who have the original and every one of them says it's the best phone they've ever had. The service plan is only a few bucks more a month than what I'm currently paying, and the phone itself is cheaper than what my crumbling BlackBerry cost six months ago. It just might be worth it.
What's that old Oscar Wilde saying? The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it...
1 comment:
I hope your new dentist is okay. How much more would it cost to go to your old dentist? Sometimes it's worth it...
As to the phone, I am a total neophite there. I still have my original phone from when I finally joined the cellular world a little over two years ago. All I want is a phone. It doesn't have to text or do internet or play games - it just has to ring when someone calls me. Guess I'm a cavewoman when it comes to that kind of technology!
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