Fri - June 10, 2005

Hello World ... again



So ..... I've been away for a bit. Well, a bit may be an understatement, more like two months. That last two months has been a mix of highs and lows, some of which I wanted to write about but "couldn't" find the time to type (I'm so lazy) and others that just don't belong in a blog. Anyways, I'm back and hope to make more periodic entries. Till then ...

Before I go ... I have posted images from the Boston Marathon. I finished in 3 hrs. 22 min. 20 seconds.

Boston Images: part 1
Boston Images: part 2

Posted at 03:21 PM    

Sun - September 26, 2004

New hair style



With the desire to change my three year old hair style and symbolize some of the recent changes I've made in my life, I tried a new hair cut today. I tried to go with the new Chad Michael Murry look. Granted its pretty simple, but it sure makes cutting my hair with the trimmers easy (#2 all the way). The short style will also be great for my running, cutting off precious seconds from my 10k time!

Posted at 06:45 PM    

Sun - September 19, 2004

Dental system in California: a well oiled machine for high input/output



So, after living in California for nearly four months, I figured it was time to find a dentist and get my teeth cleaned. Apple's benefits program provides dental care through MetLife. A quick search on MetLife's website for dentists in my area resulted in some three dozen hits. Yes, three dozen dentists are within five miles of my residence. So, with some many options and little information other than the doctors name, address, and phone number, I chose an arbitrary method to select my dentist. I figured I'd try to select one of the few American names returned by my query. However, to my surprise, I couldn't find one American name; everyone was either Asian or Indian. No kidding. So, in the end, the lucky dentist was Dr. Larry V Cao.

But that wasn't what amazed me about the dentistry industry in California. The real surprise came when I showed up for my appointment. After filling out several forms and signing my life away, I was taken to an X-Ray station. There, a nurse took 18 X-Rays of my mouth; capturing every angle of my mouth and then some just for good measure. Can't knock them for being thorough. After the X-Rays came back, I was taken to a typical dentists chair and awaited the painful teeth cleaning process.

Some 20 minutes later, I was greeted by a female Indian dentist. She quickly had me open my mouth and proceeded to move along my teeth with the dentists equivalent of a power washer. The device releases water at a high pressure, supposedly cleaning ones teeth. After running the device over my teeth for about two minutes, the assistant proceeded to give me a fluoride treatment, which only took about three minutes. All told, the actual cleaning process took only 5-10 minutes.

I was so stunned by the speed with which the cleaning process took place, that I refused to sign-off on the treatment. In all my years of visiting the dentists in Oregon, I never was in-and-out in less than 60 minutes. In my experience, the cleaning process was conducted by hand using the sharp "pick" tools. The dentists would pick, pull, and push in each of the grooves between my teeth, cleaning out all the "bad stuff." I couldn't in good conscious think that a 10 minutes "pressure wash" had the same effect. I felt like I was being swindeled.

Anyways, the dentist came back and explained that dentists in California use this "pressure wash" process exclusively. Hygienist Dentists are the ones who use the "pick" tools. She claimed the "pressure wash" process was just as effective as the "pick" tools and offered to clean my teeth again. Although a little embarrassed, I took her up on the offer. 10 minutes later, my teeth had been pressure washed and treated with fluoride yet again. Were my teeth any cleaner? I really don't think so.

Posted at 02:27 PM    

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