Thursday, May 23, 2002. Entry #155

"So I was planning hiring you today," Frank said to me this afternoon.

We had just finished going over and editing the job description I wrote for him last week. "Oh?" I said, trying not to let the sudden painful feeling in my stomach show on my face.

He shook his head in frustration. "This company is insane sometimes," he said.

Oh, I thought to myself. Oh FUCK, I yelled in my head.

Images of the future flowed through my head. They couldn't hire me full time. They couldn't keep me at all, in fact. In fact, I would have to go and pack up my stuff and get out of here. Turn in my access card at the door on my way out.

Go home and grab the job ads. Fix my resume overnight. Be at the EI office first thing in the morning, hoping that working on contract for six months is enough to be eligible for benefits.

Start faxing, calling, shmoozing. Go back to not sleeping, not updating, worrying about where we would find the money to survive. Try to find somewhere cheap to live, never mind the bugs or leaks. Sell the car, give up the pets. Buy only no-name brand mac and cheese at the Safeway.

"Yeah, I just need one more guy to sign the form first," he said. "He's agreed verbally, he just has to sign the form. It would be really bad down the line if we didn't dot every 'i'."

This is like a roller coaster. A big one. I feel like barfing.

But after the guy signs it, I'm on full time.

Good thing too.

Yesterday the dentist confirmed that a chunk of my tooth is indeed broken off and encouraged me strongly to chew on the other side of my mouth until the next available appointment. If any more breaks off he won't be able to crown it and it will have to be removed.

Lisa got her teeth cleaned yesterday and learned she has a couple teeny-weeny cavities (the kind they don't even need anesthesia to fix). However, while her teeth are hardy, her gums are bad.

Something is wrong with her lower gums in the front, and she had to go see a periodontist or risk losing her lower incisors. Gum surgery is in her future.

So she has to have:

• Her three cavities fixed.
• Her gums worked on.

I still need:

• My teeth cleaned.
• A permanent filling to be placed over my root canal.
• A crown placed over the tooth.
• At least one major cavity to be fixed. Likely three or more.

The good thing is that once I am on full-time, I am covered by our health plan immediately -- no waiting period. So with Lisa's coverage, we will be doubly covered for dental.

Double coverage isn't a good idea for most people. Your premiums will generally outweigh the benefits you will receive. But since it looks like we will be otherwise spending up to a couple thousand bucks on dental in the next six months, double coverage is an excellent idea.

I even checked with my dentist to make sure. My crown will be $800, and Lisa's coverage will handle only half of it. Mine should cover the rest. Perfect!

So come my birthday this summer, I should be able to smile at people with perfectly clean, solid teeth.

Sweet.

It snowed again yesterday.

About 10cm of hard, bullet-like snow, plus freezing rain and heavy winds. The temperature went from above 15°C on Monday to a high of about 0°C Tuesday. Today it's about 7 degrees, and it'll be about 16 for Saturday.

Stupid-ass weather.

On The West Wing: Wouldn't it be cool if Lily Tomlin became Jed's next secretary? Talk about some major star power on that show. Well, we won't know until next year.

One Year Ago Today: I was still on hiatus, but in 1660, King Charles II returned from exile to England.

Mom Rating: 4 out of 5. A lot of good, a lot of bad. But more good than bad. So Mom'll like it.

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Take me home, big fella