Stupid Dental Situation update #3 (and you thought I'd forgotten): Went to new, local dentist this morning. Explained situation. He paid attention (very piercing blue, blue eyes, New Dentist has). Looked at x-rays. Saw about half the number of cavities Evil Dentist saw, same number as Old Dentist saw. Showed ME what he saw on x-rays, which was very thoughtful and made me feel like a person rather than a walking mouth (a somewhat troubling image, but let's move on). Confirmed I do not have gum disease, soft teeth, cavities requiring a $900 inlay. Drilled 2 cavities on the left side of my mouth and used some sort of miniature-crane-like device with a blue light afterward -- actually the whole thing hurt very little, even the novocaine shot. The most painful part of my visit was having to listen to an excruciating "smooth jazz" version of a Bob Marley standard on the awful radio station the guy had on.

So I have another appointment in a couple weeks, two days before I go on vacation, to get a third cavity filled, and then that's it. IT, I say -- he sees a couple other potential cavities that haven't pierced the enamel yet, and with careful brushing, flossing, etc., they might never develop into anything. That guy should give doctor lessons... he was just perfect: businesslike, sort of stoic, not chatty, good listener, good explainer. We've got a keeper, here.

In non-teeth-related news, go check out the Belief-O-Matic. Alissa beat me to posting it, but it's so great it deserves double coverage -- basically it's a quiz that tells you what religion you should be if all your beliefs could be quantified and written down on paper. I sent it to about 20 people yesterday with the request that they report back their results (I'm supposed to be a Unitarian Universalist, my mother and her matzah ball soup would have a heart attack). So you tell me your results, if you take it. And yes, this would be better if I had comments. But I'm stuck... everything looks right to me, but it -- obviously -- doesn't work. Talk to Harlan. :)