4/3/2005: Sunday late afternoon and almost a world away, in my mind (6:07 PM)

God, so much has happened in the past few weeks, and a lot in the past 48 hours. To list:

1) I bought a car, my first one in almost 6 years (a Honda del Sol VTEC, black);

2) I went to see a dentist, my first one in 'who the hell knows' years (expensive fun in my future);

3) I interviewed Stephen Chow, the diretor/writier/star of the soon to be released Kung Fu Hustle (you can read it here);

4) Attended a double baby shower (a first);

5) Had to ship my iPod back to Apple to fix and OS screw-up in the unit;

6) Spent $$'s like Weimar marks;

7) Also, Rantboy lost his job ah-gain!

The long story goes like this:

1) The car situation sort of fell in my lap. A colleague at work recently had a baby, and thus, the two-seater del Sol became rather feckless for the now family of three. I was offered the car before, although I thought the asking price was too high. I forgot about it while she was away on maternity leave. The first day she was back she asked me if I was still interested, as she still had not sold it. Also, the price was now down a grand less. Now I was listening again.

I was about to make the purchase outright when Rantboy announces that he has become unemployed for the tenth time since I have known him. This throws a bit of a wrench into things, for now the possibility exists that I may have to shoulder the whole load of rent and utilities around here for a while. Luckily, I was able to make a deal for half down, half over 5 months, so I was able to take possession of the car last Thursday evening. Now I still need to get its emissions tested, but hopefully that won't be an issue (famous last words).

2) Ah dental health. Since when did it become the realm of the monied? I went down to the office of Dr. Elizabeth Tarpley in Woodbridge. I was x-rayed and gagged by Michelle the semi-sadistic dental clinician (you have to wonder when you are trying to suppress your gag reflex when the bitewing shield is stuck in the rear of your mouth, under your tongue, feeling like it is slicing the flesh at the base, and the pretty clinician stares for slightly longer than split second, as if she is marveling at the spectacle of watering eyes, choking sounds, and drawn out saliva). Then the good doctor herself gave me an exam while I was reclined at an angle more than the supine state would dictate, tossing out numbers to Michelle that sounded like ordinance coordinates. I was then led into a small conference room where I was invited by Michelle to look through their before and after photo album. Of course, the before pics were more the stuff of Medical Examiners than the layman (I got to know more about this Michelle chick, I was thinking by then. She has a weird Heathers-like thing going). The both returned, and the doctor gave me her diagnosis. Among the things she wants me to do is to consult with an oral surgeon to take out my long-ignore wisdom teeth and to plan for the implantation of three screwlike dental anchors into the spaces where I previously had only baby teeth, but no adult teeth emerged (it is known that more basal differentiated cells common to the skeleton and teeth are also common to neurological development. I think I was shorted a few teeth in favor of few more dendrites on the neuron trees. I think it was a worthwhile genetic tradeoff). Another treatment she is proscribing will be a deep cleaning process that will require conscious sedation (I am told I will be relaxed, aware, lucid, but I will have no recollection of the day afterwards. I will review Memento before to know what mnemonics I should use on this day).

Oh, the costs estimate for this 1 year+ grand schema? Somewhat north of $12 grand, baby! Now I get wrestle with Aetna insurance over how much they will pay for. Obviously the more they will, the sooner I go forward with this. The adventure continues...

3) The Chow interview was semi-fucked. I was saddled with a kid from American U, who was there mainly because he was a Shaolin Soccer freak and had not much film knowledge under his belt. There was a translator there who knew less English than the man himself! Finally, we kept getting interrupted by the ad agency women, which ultimately forced me to edit the hell out of the piece. Of the three interviews I have done since last October, this one was the worst, sadly. Still, the film Kung Fu Hustle is worth your dollar when it comes to your town. Trust me!

4) I cheesed out on the gift giving for the shower. One of the recipients told me he wanted beer, while the other had an online registry. I ended up buying a pair of gift certificates and two six packs of Sea Dog lager. I gave one of each to each expectant couple, after I realized the two Trader Joes bags were not considered gifts when the other fufu bags were transported over. Fucking Yuppies...

5) The friggin' Folder Exclamation error. The DHL took my baby away!

6) Let's see, I have laid out cash for: a car, rent, dentist visit, Virginia DMV tax - tag - and registration, XM radio fees for the next two years (to avoid their rate hike), and my DC Kickball summer '05 fees. Oh, I also shopped (but did not buy yet) car stereos that will play XM and iPod compatible.

7) No further comment.

So I need to get more pics up, including the new car, me with Stephen Chow, and the other new shelf I put together, this time for the kitchen!

John Paul II, R.I.P., from this lapsed Catholic.