Update #12a

New Restaurant
There's a very good little Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood called Jalapeno Jax. You step inside and the place is very quaint. We spoke to the owner and he flew in an artist from Mexico to paint the murals inside. Apart from the murals, there are Mexican automobile license plates along the top border of the wall. Very nice touch.

Inside, the theme of of The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos). There are several skeletons in various scenes on the walls.

Tourist Skeleton

Adam & Eve Skeletons

I was asked what sauce I wanted with my burrito when we ordered. I said the hottest thing you have. They gave me this:

The Hot Sauce

I've usually had most of the hot sauces in restaurants before and they're not that hot. I got a tiny bit and put it my mouth. That stuff is HOT!!! Instantly my mouth & lips were bruning. Mind you, I only put the equivalent of a few grains of rice of the sauce in my mouth.

I find out that what they gave me is ground Habanero peppers! It took a while to get used to, but wow, it's like your whole mouth is burning until it gets numb. When you mix the sauce with the food, it is quite bearable since the oil in the food dilutes the spice.

I wasn't able to finish off the tiny bowl (it's about the size of your palm). That's a first for me.

Dental Care
I was waay overdue for a visit to the dentist. It's not that I have bad daily dental hygiene but I just forget to schedule an appointment.

Going to my dentist is like a party with a few surgical instruments thrown in for good measure. I have been seeing my dentist for 23 years now, since I was 10. He's the only dentist I can remember!

Now his son just finished dental school and he's part of the clan. Longevity has its perks. I can and I get an appointment the next day. Of course, he doesn't really always see people at the prescribed time so when the waiting room is full they treat people in order of arrival. Usually, that is. It makes me feel a bit guilty that I walk in and they usher me inside, in front of everyone else waiting outside. That guilt is quickly replaced by a sharp jabbing pain as a dental pick tries to scrape a bit of plaque off my tooth.

They know I don't deal very well with the water pick tool they use. I basically drown and gurgle until they start laughing. They have to use the pick instead. Believe it or not, I actually prefer it. It seems to me that the water pick makes their job a bit too easy. I want them to work for a living! Let hem use those well-trained hands to scrape my diseased teeth to a healthy shine!

As the hygenist was picking away. I secretely reached into my pocket and got out my camera phone. I wanted to get an action shot of her at work! It was pretty hard to manage a camera phone by touch (so she wouldn't catch on). I wasn't able to remember the exact combinations of buttons to get to the camera.

Just as I was trying to figure out the proper commands, they paged her! She had a phone call. I would do the next best thing to an action shot, any shot I could get!

Here's a shot of the instruments:
Those are the 'Picks of Cleanliness', the 'Mirror of my Discontent' & the always sought after 'Blue Bucket of Tasty Flouride Paste'. To the left of the 'Torture Tray' you'll see a box of 'Drool Wipes'.


And here are x-rays of my pearly whites!!!!

Look at those teeth! They would make any carnivore proud! That's a winning smile if I ever saw one! The folder behind holds my entire dental history!

The cleaning was relatively painless until I got the bad news. There is an old broken tooth that never got fixed. Although it is not currently giving me any problems they advised me that as the dentin wears through normal wear & tear, the nerve may become exposed.

Nerves exposed?!?! Wasn't that the subject of an old horror movie with Dustin Hoffman! I don't want that! Thatwouldl mean like TONS of pain and a root canal, which by the way, also causes TONS of pain! For thsoe of you mathematically inclined, that would be pain²!

I'm thinking if I can assign the camera function to a shortcut key on my phone, I can get a 'dental money shot'!!! I'll keep you posted.

Dinner
Tonight's Menu

Appetizer
Water

Main Course
Frozen Stouffer's Pepperoni & Mushroom personal pan pizza
Water

Dessert
Pecan Shortbread cookie