Saturday news and my dental report

Nate, Cori and the kids got off safely Saturday. They did not have far to go so they waited on me and Mama to get back from the dental appointment she had scheduled for us that morning. Meanwhile, Nate worked on emptying the black water tank on the camper. It took longer than normal because the plug was frozen in the line. He had to get a heater out of the house and warm the line sufficiently to get the plug to come out. Everything past the plug was operable, so once that was loose, he was able to empty the contents into our septic system.

I did not get good news at the dentist. I need a “deep cleaning”. Not a big issue, but not a cheap procedure. Additionally, a bridge I had put in over twenty years ago has reached the end of its functional life and needs to be replaced. Since the bridge spans the gap caused by the removal of a non-repairable tooth, the insurance company will not pay any part of the expense to replace it. They call it a “missing tooth clause.” I always thought that was the purpose of installing a bridge; to bridge the gap caused by a missing tooth. Silly me. Anyway, the price is $2250. That is on top of the other fillings (4 recommended) and the deep cleaning, bringing the total to about $3000. I hesitate to speak ill of any dentist because I have to trust that they have a genuine concern for my dental health, but I struggle with the costs associated with the care they attempt to provide. Nothing hurts, so I will get the special cleaning and see where we go from there. I am not totally certain there is not a better, more cost-effective solution.

After lunch Saturday, a coworker and his family came over to help me access a fence relocating project. He was a welder by trade and since the fence is a welded pipe fence I thought he might be able to see a better way to get the fence relocated than I was seeing. While his family looked around the farm with Mama, he and I looked at the fence. Sure enough, he studied on it, thought it through and saw a very easy solution. Next weekend he will got his welding rig and a cutting torch and the following week we will do the actual work. It will be a real blessing to get the fence moved over.

After we had worked out a solution to the fence we caught up with Mama and his family. He has a 10-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son. They were feeding the fainting goats. His wife was raised on a large ranch in Oklahoma and one of her relatives had a large herd of goats. There was always an unexpressed competition between uncles concerning who would make the most money in livestock sales; the goat herder or the cattleman. Believe it or not, year by year, measuring cost versus return, the goat herder was always a little ahead of the cattleman. Gross revenues may not have been as high, but return on investment was very close. Since they do not want to own a large property, they are considering goats in their future.

We visited for a couple hours as the youngest played with the dinosaur collection we have in a clear container in the living room. He knew quite a bit about dinosaurs. His mama only had to help him on a couple occasions when he could not remember a particular name. It is always fun to watch the fascination some young minds have with dinosaurs. It is good to encourage that fascination especially when one is willing to learn the complicated names associated with reptiles. They are not a churched family. We got a chance to witness gently. Even the dinosaurs helped present the Bible as truth. Only the Lord knows what will come of that.

Friday after work I was able to get the rollup doors for the shop. I hope to get both of them installed this week. That is exciting.