January 2026 chitchat

[Prot]

Thank you.

[agate]

Birthdays aren't so bad, are they? If you try to make them a reason to celebrate, you can more or less forget that you've just chalked up another year. If you're busy celebrating, you tend to forget that birthdays have their downside (another year gone, etc.) Doing up a birthday in style is a great distraction. So I hope you did something special.

I spent the day getting over last night's "planned power outage." I'd never heard of a planned power outage until the other day, when a letter arrived announcing one. I have a feeling that they're getting more common but I hope I don't have to have another one soon.

This place is all-electric--heating, cooking, lighting, some automatic doors, etc. People here are all older and have impairments. Some are on oxygen. Power outages aren't easy on us.

The announcement stated that the power would be off in our area (over 300 customers affected) for an approximately 4-hour period some time between 9 PM and 5 AM. It went off at about 10 and came back around 1:30 AM. Luckily it wasn't such a cold night but if it had been colder out, we would have been very cold in this building. It doesn't take long.

And now today my neighbor's 10-year-old little dachshund has gone missing. My guess is that this happened in connection with the power outage.

Yesterday another neighbor said she had no flashlight batteries. The phone flashlight doesn't do much good, I found, though it's better than nothing. She was going to rush out and buy some but had no money for them. She was begging for bottles and cans to take to a recycling place so she could use that money to buy the batteries.

I don't like the idea of these planned outages--real "surprise" outages are worse of course but I have problems with any power outages. I understand that there just isn't enough power to go around, and so maybe these planned outages have to happen. But couldn't a building full of older folks have an exemption of some kind? A backup generator for this building isn't going to happen (it's been discussed and nixed).

There, Tim. It isn't exactly a birthday party but at least it's some reading material.

[Prot]

My place is all electric. It's in a block of flats for those 55 or more.It's a small open plan kitchen, lounge,diner - with bedroom. Like you I don't like power outrages,planned or unexpected. I don't see other people in this block of flats very often. Only occasionally,if someone's in the corridor when my daughter’s taking me for an appointment.

Should get my dentures next week.My daughter thinks I'll have difficulty with them . I agree, but have to try and see if I can cope with them.

Currently desperate to have a bowel movement. My stool softener has not been re-prescribed recently. Autistic people,like myself,are prone to having bowel and/or stomach problems.

[agate]

If well fitted, the dentures shouldn't be a problem. People I've known who won't wear their dentures usually turn out not to have asked the dentist about possible modifications. My view is that dentures are so costly that they are going to be useful for me even if I have to keep fussing about them until they fit right.

My experience is only with a partial denture, though. I have a difficult jaw and so haven't been surprised that the denture has a bit of wobble to it. There are denture adhesive products that seem to work well to correct that.

[Prot]

I have a jaw that can click quite a lot. My brother has had a lot of problems with his dentures.I'm hoping that I don't.

[agate]

I've known people whose dentures gave them grief and they hated wearing them, and I always expected to be one of those people since dentists usually shake their heads in despair about my jaw and talk about how defective the bite is, etc. But I must have been lucky all along, or had excellent dentists, because the problems have been minimal--a few trips back for adjustments, and now having to use the denture adhesive.

When in WA state it was common (or maybe required) for dentures always to be done by a denturist, not a dentist. Here in this state denturists seem to be unknown. In WA state my dentist referred me to a vocational school that had a denture clinic, and my first partial was made by them. They seem to have done an excellent job, maybe thanks to the good student who was in training at the time and who got the credit for my denture. Using that vocational school arrangement was a way to save money.

[Prot]

I have a vague memory of being told that I had an overbite. I had dry socket one time, from having a tooth removed. It was the worst pain that I've ever had. Every now and then I'm getting phantom toothache. I don't think I'd ever heard of the word denturist before.

What would you do if you won mega millions on the lottery? I'd hire a personal chef to make me nutritious and tasty meals. I'd also help family, and donate to charity and/ or fund a research project. I wouldn't be buying a fleet of classic cars. First of all I'd have to start doing the lottery again.

[agate]

I have a vague memory of being told that I had an overbite. I had dry socket one time, from having a tooth removed. It was the worst pain that I've ever had. Every now and then I'm getting phantom toothache. I don't think I'd ever heard of the word denturist before.

What would you do if you won mega millions on the lottery? I'd hire a personal chef to make me nutritious and tasty meals. I'd also help family, and donate to charity and/ or fund a research project. I wouldn't be buying a fleet of classic cars. First of all I'd have to start doing the lottery again.

I'd never heard of denturists either before moving to WA state. Not sure how they happened to come into existence. Maybe dentists got tired ot doing dentures, or more likely it was that dentures turned out to be such a profitable field that it seemed like a good idea to separate it out from general dentistry. In that state dentists might pull a tooth (or send you to an oral surgeon) but dentures tended to get made by denturists, at least in my economic bracket, if I can be said to have an economic bracket.

As for the lottery winnings, your idea sounds good to me--a personal chef, donations to family, friends, charity. I'd try to find a way to live where there would be guaranteed electricity at all times--no power outages, thanks.

[agate]

No word from you lately, Tim--I hope that the dentures haven't turned out to be too daunting.

I don't know how so many things can develop problems all at once but that's what's happening here. First my better vacuum gave out, and I realized I've had it for 13 years, and maybe it's time to replace it. Then my Talking Book player died, and the library that can send me a replacement hasn't replied to my plea for help. I'm on my second day of waiting now but that place isn't known for prompt action. Being a US government agency, it is as slow as molasses in January.

I've been trying to get my cassette player to work while I wait for the replacement Talking Book player but it too isn't working. It can't play Talking Books but it can play music tapes. It too is very old--perhaps 20 years old.

I was able to hear part of a Pink Floyd tape last night on it but it's on its last legs.

I keep wondering what will stop working next. An occupational therapist will be visiting today. I know nothing about OT but will be finding out.

That's my update. It would be nice if a few other people checked in now and again.

[Prot]

Sorry. Have had major connection problems,30+ disconnects a day, which have hopefully now been fixed. I 'm gradually increasing how long I have the top dentures in. I'm far from unusual in having problems with the bottom dentures. My wife used to talk of unfortunate things happening in 3s.

My 2 favourite Pink Floyd songs are from before Syd Barrett had his mental breakdown . 'Arnold Layne' and 'See Emily play'. They would've been a radically different group if he had stayed well.

I hope all goes well with the OT visit, and you get the help and support you need.

[agate]

So you now have the long-awaited dentures? Congratulations on getting that situation taken care of, and I hope that you can get along with the new choppers. I understand that it's important to wear them as much as possible (after you've got used to them of course) as they preserve the shape of your face.

The OT visit went well and there will be at least one more OT visit, in addition to the PT. I think this OT person will be helpful. She wasn't the sort of person who barrels into a situation and thinks she has all the answers right away. She seemed willing to give me credit for having already made some efforts towards dealing with my limitations.

[Prot]

It's good that the OT visit went well. That you didn't have the less than helpful experience of OT that I've had. I think I'm going to have to accept partial success with the dentures. Even with using fixodent the bottom set won't stay in place.

[agate]

I don't know if the dentist gave you instructions about the denture adhesive but if not, it's important to get it in exactly the right spot, the place where the wobble seems to be happening. And I've found out that less is more when it comes to that adhesive--just a little bit of it does a better job than a larger amount. It oozes out and creates problems if you use too much of it.

I really experimented with the stuff because I really didn't want to have to go back to the dentist but sometimes the dentist can fix a poorly fitting denture. Once I went in about a denture issue (I think it was pain but can't recall) and he fixed the problem easily.

[Virginia]

Tim, a very belated Happy Birthday!

So glad you now have your dentures. That was a long wait. Just since the ice storm started I have had a little of a tooth problem - or I think I have. So far I am not in some kind of real bad pain thankfully because I can't get out my front or back door. It seems it is going to be quite a bit longer as we are expecting a pretty big snow starting lightly tonight and getting pretty bad tomorrow. Sunday will be sunny but very frigid. Not out of the woods on keeping power yet, because we are to have lots of wind tomorrow with 35mph gusts.

Speaking of planned power outages Agate. When I lived in France a long time ago they use to inform us that they were going to turn the power off. Usually it was a day or a little more. We had a hughe generator where I worked and it pretty much powered the entire building, which was quite large. When we were home and it was winter we either stayed in bed or if it was in the daytime or early evening we went to the club. They also had a large generator. To add, while I didn't like it, I could tolerate it better than now. I was quite young and not sick.

[agate]

Virginia, I hope your power stays on--and that the tooth problem won't get any worse. Can you do warm salt water rinses? Do you have any of that home toothache remedy--I forget the name of it or maybe it has different brand names?

You seem to be putting up with being snowed in very well! I have trouble coping with emergencies. Your time in France must have given you valuable experienceThe older I get, the more difficult it is for me to tolerate weather emergencies, power outages, etc.

I recently looked up battery-operated heaters, and they do exist. But apparently the charge doesn't last very long.Still, I was tempted to try one because power outages in this building mean no heat, and it can get really cold indoors quite fast. So far, I haven't ordered one though.

How are you doing now, Virginia?