the weirds

i went to the dentist today. i think that from now on the dentist will always be a bad place for me. see, i have periodontal disease (that's gum disease), so it is more complicated now than it used to be. i have to go more often and it is more "involved." let's just say that i had to get novocain for a routine cleaning and leave it at that. lately they always tell me how sorry they are that my gums are bad, but then compliment me on what amazing teeth i have. i find this to be a terrible and feeble attempt at making me feel better because who cares what my teeth are like if they're just going to fall out anyway, right? hopefully i'll get to keep the real things for a bit longer... i fear the alternatives. and also, novocain is some weird stuff. i don't really like pain all that much, but i think i might feel the same way about novocain as i do about vomiting: if i never had to do it again i wouldn't. losing control over my facial muscles and expressions doesn't really appeal to me so much.

i also started my typhoid pills today. that is, pills to keep me from getting typhoid, not to give me it. this is one of the first times i've experienced real side effects from a medication, and i seem to have gotten most of them. it's a weird vaccine--it is in an enteric coated capsule, which means it can survive the intense acidity of the stomach and does not open until it reaches your small intestine. then, when it gets there, it opens up and lets out live virus. it is deactivated so it can't make you sick with typhoid, but your body doesn't really know that so it reacts as if you were fighting off the real thing. i wonder how many times they messed that one up before getting it right.

anyway, i'm off to bed now.
oh yeah, finals are over too. time has wings these days.