Adventures in implant land...

Back on June 16, I broke a three-tooth bridge and was pretty mad at myself, the world, nature and all the rest. To be truthful, the crown was anchored on a tooth that was hanging by its own skin and it was just a matter of time until it would go its own, separate way. The consequences however were pretty grim because I now looked like a toothless bum and it would cost me a bunch of dough to repair the damage. My dentist re-glued the crowns in place and told me that, short of remaining toothless, a few implants and brand new crowns were my sole option, so I immediately went shopping for all these items.

My first stop was at my oral surgeon who had already performed four implants procedures on me. The first two failed after five year, but their replacement are now ten year old and seemingly going strong, so I had reasonably good reasons to trust the guy, and on top of that he had successfully separated eight invasive wisdom teeth from my two kids. So I went to see him, he took a quick, old-fashion x-ray of the damaged area, pinched my inside jaw bone in a “caliper” fashion, and determined (how could he?) that I needed a bone graft, and after four month of binding time, would install the implants. The whole process would almost last a full year, would be very costly and I didn't like what I heard.

I then wen to see ClearChoice a company that aggressively advertises on TV and they gave me the full dog-and-pony show, telling me that I could walk out of their place, the day of my operation, with my new crowns and that their process was a true one-stop repair. Too good to be true? Most likely, but what I liked was that they didn't just take an x-ray of my jaw, but a true three-dimensional scan of the bone structure, so they could instantly see that there was enough jaw bone and that I didn't need any bone graft, saving me both time and money. If you're still with me, I began to feel much better because of the shorter time it would take and of the savings it would mean, but I still didn't believe that crowns should be anchored so soon in the process.

So I searched for more oral surgeons and, lo and behold, found one just in Park City who was able to neutralize my skepticism and gave me enough sound reasons to go with him, including state of the art scanning equipment. I decided to go with him and also choose not to have a full anesthesia, as the aftermath is always an experience I could very well do without, and I'm also curious and wanted to see the whole procedure from the “comfort” of my seat. So last week, I bravely confronted my task, took my iPod and sat on the torture chair. The surgeon first had to extract the faulty tooth and it took him lots of time, attempts, and re-strategizing before he could separate me from a pair of roots that didn't want to leave. It was interesting to see his ups and downs, with his losing his temper at time, getting nervous and the whole bit.

As he started drilling to seat the implants in place, as was second-guessing his technical skills and his ability to center properly the tiny implants; to my relief, he took a couple of x-ray in the process to verify what he was doing. The whole process was a noisy, vibrating and very uncomfortable one, but I stuck with it and since I had little other choice, I kept on imagining that I was practicing some sort of very dangerous sport, the kind that produces a flow of adrenaline and that keeps you wondering if you'll make it out alive. Again, I was mostly concerned about precision drilling and wasn't sure my implants would be place in the right spot; I was also concerned that the surgeon might lose his cool, give everything up, flee to Canada and leave me strapped on my chair!

This mind-game kept me in the chair till the bitter end, and after that, I ended up being totally exhausted. To top it off, I had to go and see my regular dentist to get a temporary set of teeth affixed to my mouth for the five month during which the implants will have to bond with my jawbone, but all in all, all this excitement made up for a very adventurous afternoon...

My Sunday in India...

Recently, my wife reminded me that I had not been on the phone with India or the Philippines for quite a while. She was absolutely right and, of course, was alluding to these long technical support sessions for remedying problem with computers, cameras and the like, that are always funny because neither the tech nor myself understand each other and that invariably blow my top in the process!
That was until yesterday

afternoon; a few days before, I finally stepped up to buy a wireless printer so we could print something noteworthy from different spots in the house conveniently and without wires. Little did I know that this would be opening a monumental can of worms...


After unpacking my new toy and following the quick installation set of instructions, I slid the disk in my drive and discovered that I was for Windows 7 only and not Vista 64 bits that I run on my desktop. I called tech support, got transported to India and spent the next one hour and a half on the phone with a local guy. We got the wireless set up on my desktop and after lunch, I began all over again with my wife's laptop and my notebook that both run XP. All told, I spent the whole day setting up a $150 printer which would be worth much less than my time if I only was paid $20 an hour! I've decided that after that little incident, I was done talking to India or anywhere else in Asia between now and the rest of the year!

Finding mushrooms

Since we've had a tiny bit of moisture in the past few days, we decided to go for a hike yesterday in search of those rare fungi, at least in our Utah's high-desert climate where they don't show up every year. We rode the Canyon's gondola and climbed our way up towards the ridge; the hike in itself was a lot of fun and yes, we managed to find a few boletus and lactarius, we even spotted a few dry chanterelles that had come out much earlier. While they can be easily found in Colorado, mushrooms in Utah are almost a unique event, more like a fully solar eclipse. The last time I picked mushrooms in our region, was in nearby Brighton in 1999!

More recently, I had picked tons of chanterelles in Vail, Colorado, just by the side of the trail. When they show up, you only have to bend over and pick them up; unlike the Alps when everyone and his brother is eagerly tracking down these delicacies, they are totally ignored in the Rocky Mountains.

Only a few Italian, Eastern European and weirdos like me, will lower themselves to pick them up. I think thanks to Walt Disney, Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs, the fear of poison mushrooms is deeply instilled into the American psyche. Even my dear wife isn't so sure about my mushroom identifying skills and when our kids lived with us, they were downright terrorized when I brought wild mushrooms home and always refused to eat them. We had our little harvest made into an omelet last night and yeah, I survived to tell the tale!

Pakistan, Katrina and Government priorities

On the fifth anniversary of hurricane Katrina and as Pakistan Indus river continues to destroy everything in that poor country, it's hard not to draw a parallel between the two catastrophe and see how the “invisible” little folks get treated when disaster strikes. In each instance, both respective heads of state can't connect with that misery and are woefully unable to draw the necessary resources for exerting the compassion they profess to having. Their priorities are elsewhere, like enriching themselves and making sure their loyal supporters are well-taken care of. Oh yes, I forgot, they also want to make sure that their nuke arsenal is updated and up to the task...

Cheaper than a high-speed quad!

I just read that the one-chairlift ski resort of Silverton, Colorado, just above Ouray, is increasing its uphill capacity this winter by 50% just by adding more chairs on the cable. By reducing the spacing between chairs (why not, right?) the operators hope they can eliminate the lift line that sometimes forms for the first chair of the day. This is something everyone should have thought about before inventing high-speed chairs and spending fortunes to install and operate them. Just put a plethora of fixed-grip chairs, and voilà!

The feeling is probably much tighter, you can have an intimate conversation, or perhaps play cards with the passengers in the front and back of you as long as the motor is beefed up to carry the extra load. You also hope that everyone gets off well at the summit. If not expect a monstrous pile-up at the top. This what I call creative engineering in these times of belt tightening!

25 years ago today...

...Our family set foot in Park City after a five day cross-country journey, the four of us packed inside the family sedan. Our final “stage” started in Vail, Colorado, took us to Steamboat Springs and brought us to a place where trees were conspicuously absent. That evening, the house we had just bought wasn't ready for us and our moving van wasn't there yet, so we all had to sleep at the brand-new Landmark Inn, located at nearby Kimball's Junction.

As our children explored their new home, Charlotte who still was a toddler, stepped onto a thin hot-tub Styrofoam cover and sank all the way into the cold water, screaming from the bottom of her lungs; what a way to get acquainted with the place's amenities! That's right, in these days Park City was a very strange place for all of us; it wasn't the “ritzy” destination it's become today and it took a good year for each one of us to find their bearings. Today, my wife and I are so happy to be living in such a great place, that we're looking forward to at least another 25 years in that town. God willing, of course!

Never too late to go mountain biking!

I know how it feels; we're now almost at the end of August and you haven't ridden your mountain bike yet as you had promised yourself! Well, it's never too late and in fact the next few weeks are likely to be the best in the entire summer for straddling a mountain bike and getting a taste of what a fun recreation it can be if you have never tried it before, or refreshing your memories as well as your skills if you have experienced it in the past. Deer Valley is the perfect place to do it, should you decide to take advantage of the resort's lift-served mountain biking options by either riding the Silver Lake Express or the Sterling Express lifts, rent some great great and also receive some friendly advice.

Early fall is also the perfect season to do it; the weather is much cooler and the crowds are generally considerably thinner. In fact, the resort offers an impressive 55 miles of trails meandering through woods, canyons and meadows, offering a blend of the best vistas available and the most exciting terrain. In case you wondered, I've heard that Deer Valley Resort has been rated by some mountain biking publication in the top ten best destinations for mountain biking...

So now where do you begin? Check your mountain bike and make sure it's still trail-worthy or doesn't lack modern suspensions, decent tires and good brakes. If it has hanged in your garage for more than ten years, you might be surprised to find out that technology has passed it by; if that's the case, rent one at Deer Valley Resort, that will enable you to familiarize yourself with the new technology from modern gears to clipless pedals, and give you an opportunity to make up your mind should you decide to invest into a new machine. If your bike still looks the part, make sure to have it tuned up and have its tires and brakes checked before going out, and while we are on the subject of personal security, don't leave home without your bike helmet!

Then, if you're still a bit uneasy, there's always the opportunity of taking a refresher course. Don't think you need one? Well, this might in fact be a great opportunity to not having to relearn everything or re-discovering... the wheel. Deer Valley's Mountain Bike School can give you that bit of extra-confidence that will make a huge difference. It's open daily and someone's available at either Snow Park Lodge or mid-mountain next to Silver Lake Lodge from 10 am to 5:30 pm to assist you if you really want to discover something new. There are in fact a host of things you can rediscover or learn, like sharpening your visual skills on single track courses, balancing and positioning your body according to the changing terrain, cornering like a pro, braking smartly, descending and climbing more effectively and many more very valuable tips.

Lift-served mountain biking is also an excellent way to get you started without suffering too much and gaining some critical training before you can do the whole thing on your very own, if you decide to. The passes are quite affordable and your kids or grandchildren below 5 years of age will ride free. So enough procrastinating! You only have between now and Labor Day, plus the following weekend of September 11 and 12 to get back into, or get acquainted with this great sport while weather and temperatures are still ideal!