And we’re back. Odd how the site went down the same day I did, eh? Sympathetic unconsciousness. It’s like the timepiece in the Grandfathers clock song, except that the clock would have ticked beyond his demise if he’d paid his domain registration fees. I don’t know what the problem was – it’s supposed to automatically renew, but there was a merry hour of tech-support calls on that one, I tell you.

It came back very late for me, so not a lot of Bleatage here. Just as well, since what is there to say about being unconscious through a four-and-a-half hour dental extravaganza? Except this: I highly recommend sedation for anyone who has the slightest qualms about having someone else’s hands and pointy metal things in their mouth. I had no idea what was going on. I checked my watch around 8:50, then checked it again, and it was 1:22. Talk about service, too: the dentist drove me home.

I think.

Well, I got home somehow, and went back to sleep. The post-sedation manual said I should not be allowed to walk down stairs unescorted, or drive a car, or perform a bris, or anything that didn’t involve drooling and grinning. So I slept.

This morning I woke without a trace of nerves; I even had a smile. Here we go: fears conquered while-U-wait, or While-U-slumber. I had to take two pills to start the sedation. Shaved, then popped the pills and leaned under the tap – dang, it was hot. Of course it was hot; I’d just shaved. I couldn’t swallow it. But the pills were so small. What if they dissolved? I leaned over to get some newly encoldended water, and one of the pills slipped out and went down the drain.

HAH! For once in my life, I’d screwed up self-sedation. No matter. They drugged me down good at the office, and that was that. The only problem was the heart monitor, which bugged me; it seemed a little fast, and I couldn’t quite bring it down, because it sounded too fast, which made me nervous. It’s like wearing a wristwatch that numbers the minutes you have left in life; you couldn’t stop checking it.

Anyway, I’m done, and everything is mostly okay. A little twingy-pangy stuff now and then, but fine. Still a bit uncoordinated, but that may be all the laudanum I had tonight, so best to leave it here. I did do a Diner this evening, so I’ll be able to provide that. And if you missed yesterday’s shortish Bleat, with its rich links to many new website upgrades (including the 1997 KSTP Diner archives, now online) it’s here. See you at buzz.mn!