Dearest Rachel –
I suppose that title might be overstating things a little bit. From the sound of it, you might gather that this is going to be a day in which I conduct my business at night, and sleep during the day. And while there are plenty of people who do that for a living (Nikkei traders, graveyard shifters, and plenty of folks in between), my day today is nowhere near that extreme. Only in comparison to the ‘unusual’ days I’ve already had this week can it be considered to be so. Rather than a couple of hours at the ‘office,’ followed by an early retreat to the house, I’m simply hanging around the house for a few hours before heading off… to the dentist. I expect to be in the ‘office’ for the afternoon, but we’ll have to see how it goes. After all, it’s been a while since I’ve had my teeth looked at.
In fact, it’s due to that reason that I’m not sure whether this is the most unusual of this week’s days, or tomorrow is. Sure, today I’m staying in town, while tomorrow I ride up to camp and back, but I’ve been there a couple of times since the accident (not necessarily by choice, but not necessarily forced to, either). If I’ve been to the dentist since you left, it’s only been the one time, and I’m not even sure if it was just before or shortly after the accident.
Turns out – and I suppose you remember better than I do, as you were the one who kept tabs on our schedules back in the day – it was apparently before the accident, probably in November of 2020. Fortunately, I found that out from Jill after my appointment, or I would have been considerably more nervous about it – all those questions like how many cavities might have cropped up, how much would need to be scraped off (and how long would it take) would have set me on edge for a while had I known.
Interestingly enough, the reason I didn’t find out until afterward was because when I arrived, the place hadn’t even opened yet. I didn’t know this (although this may have been a relatively recent development), but it seems their schedule has changed since the last time I visited. Since many people can’t make an appointment during work hours (because they’re working, of course), the office hours start from the latest appointment in the day and works their way backward to fill out the schedule. As a result, a ten o’clock appointment like mine is the first of a day that may extend to six or seven in the evening. Only Dr. B was there, to open the door for me, but had to ask me to wait a bit while he switched the lights on and got everything in the office running. I didn’t mind; I’d gotten there with a good fifteen or twenty minutes to spare. My dad and grandfather taught me well, but the punctuality ethic leaves me cooling my heels in various waiting rooms from time to time.
By comparison, my ‘office’ day was pretty much over by this time yesterday. Funny how that works; and similarly funny that today is basically the inverse of yesterday. Oh well, at least I have that kind of flexibility – most people (including most of Dr. B’s other clients) don’t.
Ironically, there’s a part of me that thinks I should have stayed at the ‘office’ yesterday – or at least gone back after Kris was done and paid. Shortly before she left, the internet went out at our place (not for the first time, either); I called our provider, and they reset the modem remotely and things were good for the better part of an hour, but then it went out again, and stayed out for the rest of the day. Indeed, judging from my alarm clock (and wasn’t I glad that I had nowhere to be until ten this morning!), the entirety of the power seems to have gone out at one point. It was the sort of thing that caused both of us (and had you still been here, you might have even joined us) to retire early for the night – although I’m not entirely sure about Daniel on that, since he was still asleep when I headed out. At least when he wakes up, everything will be back to normal after a rather upside-down day, even as I deal with an inverted schedule this morning myself.
But that’s about all I have for you this morning, honey. Until next time, keep an eye out for me, and wish me luck; I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 