A VISIT WITH DR. Z

Dr. Z is my dentist. He's also a member of the school board I once worked for.

A area between two of my teeth has been problematic for nearly a year. Dr. Z is not a quitter. He keeps trying and trying and trying to fix this problem. We've become quite close having seen each other fairly regularly as patient and dentist.

Dr. Z is also a Boy Scout leader. Scouts don't give up. When there's a problem, they always keep trying.

Me: "I should have brought my camera today. "

Dr. Z: "For your blog?"

Me: "Yeah, I think whatever it is you're going to do to me would be of interest to those who look at my blog for sick reasons. I need pictures."

Dr. Z: "What's this with pictures of your wife showering on your blog?"

Me: "You're reading my blog?"

Dr. Z: "Sure. I've got to check up on you and make sure you're behaving yourself.

Oh my gosh. Dr. Z now knows more about the twisted mind of Old Bob than he did a year ago. Pictures of my wife showering on the Internet . . . There goes any chance I had of regaining employment with the school district.

I sit in Dr. Z's dental chair. Jen puts on the bib and cranks the chair down and back.

For a moment I think I'm on a 747 flying somewhere over the Pacific enroute to Hawaii. I'm going to order a drink.

Me: "Can I have a martini with that bib? Blue Sapphire. Shaken, not stirred."

Jen: "Not!"

Heck, it was worth a try.

Dr Z: "We're going to try a new approach today. It's like an electro-surgical tool thing that burns tissue. If all goes as I think it will, you'll not have a problem with this area again. It won't hurt and the area that I burn will heal fast. "

Me: "Easy for you to say."

Dr. Z: "I'll numb you up and we'll be on our way."

I'm starting to think that a martini wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Dr. Z puts a pad under my right shoulder. It has a wire running from it to the machine.

Dr. Z: "This is to ground you during the procedure."

Ground me? Holy macaroni and cheese! The machine looks like something Jack Bauer would use.

Me: "Can you put a light bulb in my ear and see if it lights up?"

Dr. Z is ready to try this. It's a boys will be boys thing.

Jen: Frowning - "No way. No light bulb."

Dr. Z and Me in unison: "Well, someone has to be the mother here."

It was a pretty cool procedure. Smelled like tri-tip cooking on the barbecue. Dr. Z was right. No fuss. No muss. No pain. Hopefully a lot of gain.

Here's a picture taken during a board meeting. I'm with one of Dr. Z's sons who has just gotten an award. That's Dr. Z in the background.

His kids - all five of them - are just great - all high achievers and well on their way to being happy, productive adults.
Shelly always makes sure that I get an appointment when there's a problem. She's so cheery - like all the time. How can anyone be that happy? She's like that even on Monday.

Dr. Z has three other employees who work for him. Like Shelly, they're always happy in their work.

If my dentist would serve martinis to his patients, we'd all be happy.


Me: "What seems to be the matter, officer?"

CHP: You were going 75 in a 45 mph zone. Have you been drinking?"

Me: "Oh no, officer. I haven't been drinking but my dentist did medicate me before doing electro surgery."