“if something does go wrong, here is my advice... KEEP CALM and CARRY ON.” ― Maira Kalman

Well, the beat goes on, or, at least that's what the duo of Sonny and Cher used to say in one of their popular songs. It is Wednesday, October 2, 2019, and, I've been thinking some about the schedules older folks have to keep up with. We had a great service on Sunday, we did the service Monday morning at the elder and special needs apartments, then a special Monday night service at our Church, I had a dentist appointment early Tuesday morning, we had our scheduled flu shots Tuesday afternoon, the wife had her ladies Bible study in our home early Tuesday morning, and we took in our grandson Brady's football game last evening. I have another immunization later this morning, and Church services along with choir practice tonight. The preventative care approach to helping to help keep us healthy, well, it's a good thing, I think. No one ever saw a doctor when I was growing up unless they were sick. Real sick. I said all of that to say this, older people are busy too. We don't just sit around waiting for the shade to cover our hammock. And, by the way, it's been way too hot to sit outside, not to mention laying in a hammock, that is, if I even had one. I didn't mention all the other errands, yard work, house stuff, and other duties as assigned. (That 'other duties as assigned' was the last statement on every job description I had when I worked for Federal Civil Service.) One last peeve. They sent me 5 text messages to remind me about my dental appointment. They typically send only one to cancel for their own convenience. I report. You decide.

Going to my dentist is always an interesting adventure. You will not be surprised to know they found another tooth that needs 'special attention'. The young woman who did the initial checking and cleaning was excellent. She also took x-rays including the close-up x-rays. That way they can fill up the entire screen with one tooth. When the dentist came in, he asked was I getting all ready for the upcoming Christmas season. I told him I was. He said he could tell. (The beard must make it obvious.) Duh! He then said it must be nice since it gives me something to look forward to. Hello? Hold on a second. Was he implying I have nothing else to live for or was he just making conversation? He examined my teeth. He then looked at the x-rays. I could hear him making some quiet noises as he and the cleaning lady looked them over. It was like the music on Jeopardy was playing while I awaited the final question. He then came over and he leaned down and in his very best funeral director tone, he whispered, "That tooth needs to be dealt with. You can wait, but, that would not be advisable. In fact, I think the time is perfect to deal with it before you suffer any more bone loss. In other words, as soon as possible." With that, he left. The cleaning lady said the folks upfront would give me a complete print out of my options. How kind of them. I paid for today's work and then I waited as the lady looked up, keyed in, and referred to various sources to complete the estimate sheet. They don't call it that but that's what I know it to be. It was only one sheet but the type was small and the final number was big. Needs immediate attention! I left hearing that clock off of 60 minutes and it was ticking and ticking and ticking along with that alarming music from the old Dragnet series. I just went in for a 6-month checkup and cleaning. That's all.

I had this blog pretty much written yesterday but here's what happened. We needed to run to the clinic to get our flu shots and I put my little laptop to sleep while I was gone. However, I failed to save my work before I left the scene. A cautionary note, don't do that. When I got up early this morning I thought I would only need to polish up what I had previously written. Nope. Not even close. Only a portion of the first paragraph remained. I will confess. It made me angry. So much so, I thought I  might take a skip day, and, while I remember bits and pieces of what I had written, it was very much a tongue in cheek essay, and, it had gotten away from me. This, by the way, is not a good start to the day, however, at the end of it all, nothing of any great importance was lost. And, I'm sure those thoughts will appear again since so much of what I do has the ring of repetitiveness. Let this serve as a reminder to always save your work. That was a reminder for yours truly. I do hope you will have a great day and may God help us all because as you can tell, I, for one, certainly need any and all the help I can get. Amen. .....More later.