Held Prisoner in Hampton Roads

Ouch . . .

. . . and ouch!

Ouch #1: I thought I had a loose crown on on #4. (That's the fifth tooth back from the centerline on the right upper, BTW) Wrong! It fell out Friday, but it wasn't a loose crown. The remainder of the tooth that the crown was attached to had broken off at the gumline). The fix: extraction of the tooth and the root, insertion of a post implant and attachment of a new crown.

This normally wouldn't have been very stressful - other than the cash outlay, that is - but living in a foreign country adds a "few" extra problems. Fortunately, through pure happenstance, I located an Italian dentist who is married to a Navy doctor, and who has qualifications from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Oh, and he speaks English.

Upside: I found qualified dentist.
Downisde: It's going to cost € 1.800.
Upside: He's only 500 meters from the base.
Downside: My dental insurance covers NONE of this.
Upside: Our health savings plan lets me pay the bill with pre-tax funds.

Ouch #2: Our Ford Escape, which we bought almost a year ago has only 6,500 miles on the odometer. (I guess it has 6,500 miles on the engine and tires also, but back to the point.)

While backing out of our drive today, I was carefully watching the wall across the very narrow street. Yep, I carefully watched it while I backed into it. Parged concrete is very much like sandpaper, and the left rear corner of the bumper cover is testament to that fact. Merda!