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eastlondongoths pub
meet, Friday 24th September, 6:30pm,
Prospect of Whitby, 57 Wapping
Wall, Wapping E1W
3SH.
Today I got my final payslip. They have apparently given me pay in lieu of notice, which reads like "you can't quit — we fire you!" Still, it's an extra Thousand Quid in my final pay.
This doesn't mean the drinks are on me, because, as always happens when I get an unexpected chunk of pay, I have some Extreme Dentistry to take up just about all of it quite nicely.
After the checkup on Monday, today I went in for assorted fillings (some receding gums and an old filling that's cracked) and a clean. The moral of this exercise is: floss religiously. The right of my face is still numb.
I felt unusually relaxed in the dentist's chair. I had a really good dentist in Melbourne (Zelman Lew at the South Yarra Dental Clinic, to be precise), who was pretty much a dentistry geek. Like the one in Cryptonomicon. I could trust him implicitly, and also there was no way anyone could call me, ask me stupid questions or anything while I was in the chair with half a ton of pointy metal in my mouth. So I could actually rest. This reaction appears to have carried through to a dentist I don't actually have any prior experience of. Even after the first shot didn't anaesthetise me sufficiently.
We discussed options for my grey front tooth and its white but chipped twin. He thinks veneers are crap — fragile, may come off with crunchy eating and only last a year or two anyway — and will do one if I really want, but strongly disrecommends them. There are three options for crowns: the cheap NHS one and two private ones. "I'm not allowed to tell you the NHS one is bad, but ..." Each front tooth: £400. He wants to do them as a pair (and they do both need doing): £800. FX: winged twenty-pound notes flying into the sunset.
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arkady came along in the quest to cope with her severe
phobia of dentists and was Very Good, sitting quietly in the waiting
room.
Then we bought a shredder. MUWAHAHAHA etc. Instant rat bedding!
Also, Tuesday I bought redcountess a very nice office chair, just like mine. Like a bunch of flowers for the bum.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 07:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 07:38 am (UTC)Haha... did you shriek and scream while arklady was sitting out in the waiting room? ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 07:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 07:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:09 am (UTC)It also means that you will need to pay a NI 'stamp' for the period between the 'actual' end of this job and the start of the next.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 08:28 am (UTC)You need to pay a certain amount of NI contributions in the year for the year to count for state pension purposes. If at the end of the year you've not paid enough (and I suspect you will have done, even missing a month) and you're in danger of not having enough years to get a full state pension, then you can pay voluntary contributions to make up the difference.
If you want to know how you're doing by way of state pension entitlement, request a Pension Forecast from the Pensions Service - see http://www.pensions.gov.uk
Tax returns aren't hard to complete - I can do my mother's in a couple of afternoons - you just need to keep hold of your P45 and P60 (and P11D if you get one) (on that note, remember to give Parts 2&3 of your P45 to your new employer when you start work) and to ask your bank/building societies to send you section 352 certificates for each of your accounts (these are records of the interest you've been paid - you don't actually *need* them, but it's much easier than fiddling through passbooks and statements to find the correct info).
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 09:53 am (UTC)Better than a bunch of grapes.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 10:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 12:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 03:50 pm (UTC)They sorted out two very bad teeth for me two years ago, and we have a continuing programme of repairs on all the disintegrating profit-driven fillings I have from the 'Drill-and-Fill' era of British dentistry.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 03:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 04:16 pm (UTC)Go two shiny white front teeth! I know there is that temptation to blow the money on toys, but hey.
I also have the same problem as you - the first shot *never* numbs me. Next time I'm opting for the gas as I've found when they pump me with more shots, parts of my face swell alarmingly and I feel inclined to pummel the dentist after I arise from the chair.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 06:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 09:47 pm (UTC)It's not actually a laughing matter.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-23 09:53 pm (UTC)It took three people to hold me down in the chair when she came towards me with the needle, and I've had a phobia of dentists ever since. This was the first time I've been able to even sit in the waiting room without throwing up or passing out in fear. I did dissociate a bit, but at least I didn't have a panic attack.
I don't think I'm going to be able to actually sit in a dentist's chair for some time however.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-24 01:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-24 01:13 am (UTC)"And why are you visiting our beautiful country, you vile Yoorpean?"
"I have flown in from England owing to your superior dentistry."
"Come right in."
Is that price with insurance, or paying cash privately?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-24 09:59 am (UTC)The price I mentioned was paying cash privately.
Frankly I can't even remember a time when I've had dental insurance. We've always paid out of pocket for dental work.
Before you go buying tickets though, I should probably check with my dentist and get a rough quote on a current price.
It's been a while since I had one of my front teeth replaced by a crown and I doubled the amount of my estimate based on that, but checking would be worth-while. Let me know if you'd like me to go ahead and do that.
High for crowns
Date: 2004-09-24 11:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-24 09:30 pm (UTC)I've had a lot of problems this last year with my physical health and I find that a sense of humor puts some of us at ease about our situations and also seems less "oh woe is me" to the dear friends that we have in our lives.