Friday Hodgepodge

Four Things

Random thoughts provoked by a recent review of the Positive Focus Log...

1. The temporary bridge fell out at a time I could easily do something about it.

I occasionally get to spend time in the dentist's chair due to the evolving aftereffects of a childhood injury. This came from a recent installment, and in addition to that bit of luck, I have the following amusing memory, since it was my first experience with a temporary bridge.

While in the chair, with the dental assistant fabricating the bridge as I waited, I mistakenly assumed that there had to have been some kind of spectacular new technological wizardry at work. Forgetting that other, similar, things, like a fake tooth I had to wear a couple of decades ago, had also been ready for me before the end of a visit, I speculated that a 3D printer might be involved.

Once home, I eagerly searched for a video about the process and found something like this:

My first reaction to this was something like, "Oh, man! It's just epoxy!"

A moment later, though, I realized that just epoxy is really technological wizardry from another era. And, after seeing the relevant part of the above video, it is clear that the epoxy my dentist used was a significant advance on that in the video.

My temporary bridge was ready in minutes, not hours, and lasted for the weeks it took for my mouth to heal.

2. Thanks to a Cal Newport podcast, I learned that it is easy to export Kindle notes to such formats as PDF or HTML. This makes integrating such notes with the rest of my workflow much simpler.

3. My favorite soccer team, Arsenal will be playing some pre-season matches in the United States: I am looking forward to seeing the Gunners live with one of my brothers later this summer.

4. Last but not least: I have been a father for ten years this month.

A first child is not the only one being born, nor the only one who does the growing up, nor the only one who gets to experience the joys of childhood. Case in point: While I was away from the blog, I got to answer the question, What does 'the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree' mean? -- while in line with her for a roller coaster at an amusement park.

She seems to like these as much as I did when I was her age, so I had a ready example.

-- CAV