It’s a Thursday and I went back to work today. I didn’t mind, it’s something to do and the mantra continues, ‘At least I have a job’. It was a relatively easy day, bottle of water nearby, flask of bourbon hidden in my bag.

I made it to the bus stop and saw the 10:15 bus loading but I didn’t take it. I waited for the 10:30 bus. That’s the bus I like. It wasn’t too crowded and the tooth wasn’t bothering me too much. Water did the trick as usual and I made it to the shop early once again.

It was Marcus and Don Birch today, Sean scheduled to come in later. Marcus was busy rearranging things on the shelves before he headed out for the day. Calvin had off for the day. I was sent an email yesterday telling me that the protocol is to call and leave a voice mail message rather than an email.

I suppose they like to analyze the voice on the recording to make sure I am who I say I am, in the state that I say I’m in. Protocol is never revealed until the line is crossed. Marcus never brought it up and the email was from Calvin.

I had a dental appointment this afternoon and instead of lunch that is where I was. It was actually Bill’s dentist that I saw and since Bill has such a winning smile I figured he could do some periodontal magic on my teeth.

I got there on time and was in the dental chair almost immediately. The dental hygienist took the x-rays regarding the lower left quadrant of my mouth. Apparently I had a cavity under my filling which is what was causing me some extreme discomfort.

Rock & roll radio was playing as the dentist worked on my numbed mouth as he sang along to Billy Idol’s White Wedding and Blondie’s One Way or Another. ‘Roger never sang while he worked on my teeth’ I thought to myself like I was in a Roy Lichtenstein painting.

A root canal was in order and I’ve had so many of them it seemed, that it was not much at all. The good doctor completed 75% of the work, with plans to finish the other 25% next month. And a cleaning and more x-rays at the end of this month.

I am going to have to check in with the insurance and the doctor’s office to see what will be covered under Bill’s dental plan. In any event I was soon out of the office and headed back to the shop a changed man, the thorn had been somewhat removed from my paw, or in this case the pain in my tooth was removed.

I was certainly in a good mood, better than it was when I left. Also increased my sales which were pretty much lackluster before then.

Tonight thanks to Soft Cell’s Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go, The English Beat’s I Confess and Erykah Badu’s Tyrone, I made it from the shop to the bus terminal in 17 minutes, 24 seconds.