Upswing

I was still feeling cranky today about my teeth and other things I've been stressing over lately, but then I went and talked to my oral surgeon, and he showed me the CT scan images. He said, no matter what decision I make, it won't be a bad or wrong choice. He also said he talked to my dentist, and they decided to advise me to have my two top second-molars removed. I'd also have the bottom two wisdom teeth removed. So, I think I'll probably do that. He said it would be a little cheaper than they originally estimated, because it's cheaper to pull molars than to cut in and crack your wisdom teeth. If they remove the molars, it could take a year before the wisdom teeth move down, if they do move down. That was a little reassuring, knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with it until I'm out of school. By the way, did you know that Britain has universal healthcare on a program called the NHS? And the NHS doesn't pay dentists nearly as much as they can make if they're private dentists? So there's a huge lack of NHS dentists, and people have to wait over a year just to see one? Now you know why the British have such bad teeth! I found the following fascinating tidbit:

"While some dental work may be covered, most is not, dentists are rare, and as a result most Brits just don't bother to get dental work done. When they do need expensive dental work, they increasingly resort to becoming medical tourists to Hungary or other less expensive countries. A British dentist explains the NHS dentist shortage in simple terms: 'I don't think that £37,000 is a particularly good income for a highly-trained professional person. That's one of the reasons why dentists leave the NHS.'"

Medical tourists?! I'd be frightened of getting any medical work done in Hungary!

In other news, though I still haven't received any official communication about my Stafford loans from my lender, I did log on to the website, and it said, "Loan processed; awaiting disbursement." It gave the details of how much would be subsidized vs. unsubsidized, and even listed the dates of disbursement. So I can go ahead and apply for the Grad PLUS, now, though I will eventually need documentation from them in order to get my visa.

Also, I think I found my "goal" for London. I'm not convinced it'll work, but I'll give it a try. Several months ago, I was hanging out at my favorite hang-out (Barnes and Noble), browsing the travel guides for London. I found one called, "TimeOut: 1000 Things To Do in London." I wrote down the name of it and planned to check it out someday. Well, today, I was at my other favorite hang-out (the library), and there it was on the shelf! So I borrowed it, and it has a lot of cool suggestions (also some that I'm not sure I'll ever do). The TimeOut people asked their travel experts what they would do in their final hours in London if they were forced to leave the city. Number 1 is as simple as, "Take in the view from Tower Bridge." So I think I'll purchase the book at some point, and my goal will be to accomplish as many of the suggestions as possible. Most of them are pretty simple, so I could do multiple items in a day. One small thing I don't like about it is that, if you can do an activity at multiple places, they list that activity as multiple activities. For example, "Skate outdoors," is listed as numbers 217-225, and "Skate indoors," is 226-230. Numbers 163-187, "Get on location," list different London sites that are featured in various movies. Still, I think it could be a lot of fun. I can't wait!

Anyway, I'm in a better mood now. I'm not stressed anymore (for this fleeting moment).