/Reload ui

Treat your mouth to a treat

Ok. I know in light of all that is happening in the world, this post is banal. But I just wanted to say that since my terror experience in a dental chair in Kenya, I have turned over a new leaf regarding flossing.

I use a great toothbrush, a Sonicare, so haven’t really struggled to have white teeth. But I have had an issue with an over-abundance of calcium. Since I got back from Africa I have discovered two things that have really helped to keep my roots and gums really happy – they are 1) Tepe Interdental Brushes and 2) Plackers Flossers.

I don’t know about you, but I hate getting the dental floss out and tying it around my fingers and all that palava that takes place around having to move the string, feeling like you are wasting string because you have to discard so much of it. So these two products really work for both ease of use and less waste.

Tepe

Tepe Interdental brushes just slide in between your teeth and brush your gums. Apparently your gums love a nice stroke every day and it keeps the blood flowing there and removes all kinds of stuff a toothbrush can’t reach. Whether it be blueberry skin, tiny pieces of cashew, some leftover dog treats you decided to try, anything. Interdental brushes are great and by dipping them in some mouthwash you can really get clean between your teeth.
Prod-micro-mint-flosser-mid

Plackers Flossers are the impatient person’s dental floss. All you do is hold it and errrr... Floss in between your teeth using the handy handle. You know how to do it, just go up and down each side of your tooth right down to the gum. Back and forth, up and down, and next thing you know your teeth are purring.

How long does the process thing take? Like, maybe 5 minutes max in morning and at night. I usually brush with the Sonicare after that just to polish it all up at the end and make sure any left over broccoli, pieces of burger or crackers are all gone. But I do start the whole prcess with a good rinse of mouthwash first.

So, if you live in the west and can afford such luxuries, you should definitely try to take care of your mouth, take a little time each day to give it a good service. That way, if you wind up like me on a trip somewhere far from home, you don’t find yourself screaming while someone does a deep root scale, without any novocaine,  to get rid of the giant abscess on your gum.

Diet Coke is the Devil

Diet_coke

I am concerned. I love Diet Coke. I heard years ago that it pickles your brain and makes you ill. But the person who told me was one of the most sickly people I have ever known. And since they weren't drinking it - why should I take their advice?

But latest research indicates that there are more illnesses related to Aspartame - the stuff that makes Diet Coke sweet - than any other complaint to the FDA. Was it the grapevine that said 75% of all complaints to the FDA are to do with Aspartame?

So, last week I decided to come off the Coke. That lasted three days.

As I was drinking my diet coke today, someone who reads one of the publications from my office wrote in with an article about how poisonous Aspartame is. It must be a sign. 

Will my memory come back and will my ability to remember people's names (which I don't remember ever having - then again I have been drinking diet coke for a long time) come back if I quit?

Diet Coke, I hate you. But I love you really. Leave me alone. You are the devil. Evil Coke.

Water, please taste better. Make my taste buds dance. I need to appreciate mother nature's nectar more.

Thank God for clean water - and drink more of it. Thats what I will do.

 

Get off the wall!

Seriously? What is up with the lack of social skills people have these days? Or did they never have them but with the advent of online social networking they now have the opportunity to act out the part of Michael Landon's mother, hanging dirty pee-soaked sheets out the window for all the neighbours to see?

All I am saying is, think about it. If it happened to you, would you want someone else to post it on your wall letting all your 1000 "friends" on Facebook know about it? If not, then don't post it. Not on your wall, not on theirs. And if you want to talk about it with the person, use the email function - not their wall!!!

The chances are, if it starts with a "D", it's not something you announce on someone's wall. Sorry to hear about your "D"iabetes, your parent's "D"eath, your penile "D"isfunction, your "D"ivorce, your "D"irty night out, your in"D"scretion... etc, etc, etc...

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know not to post something personal. Don't do it, just don't.

My advice? Just keep your wall settings in Facebook set to not let people post on your wall - because too many appear too "D"umb to know better.

The Republic of Blizzard

So, thanks to a crappy Authenticator app on the iPhone by Blizzard (the makers of wow) - even when you make a backup copy of your iPhone in iTunes - and restore it, your Authenticator resets with a different number thus banning you from your own account. All other apps restore exactly as your backup, but not the Blizzard Authenticator.

Try calling customer support in English and be told for 20 hours that the lines are too busy, call back another time. Try the Spanish line and the guy tells you in perfect English he will only help you if you speak to him in Spanish. I habe no comprende in Spanish.

Try the French number.... nevermind (hangup), lol.

Try the German line and voila! (oops french soz). And a friendly German woman is willing to help me...

"Sir, your passport doesn't match the name on your account - we can't unlock your account - sorry." (Note: I don't go by my birth name and that is the problem for them.)
Many emails later with attached photos of passport, gas bill, bank statement, credit card used to pay account, specific details of recent wow transactions, and password and secret question answer... I am still told "No".

Enter nice British guy who asks: "Sir, we are sorry but we take security very seriously and everyone else in the world has a name that matches their passport, why don't you?" I give him my long life history and why my names dont match - having to do with religious journey, life experience, lots of red governmental tape, blah blah blah, etc. He says he has to talk to someone else, and puts me on hold.

German woman finally comes back on and says, "Sorry sir, we can't unluck your account - your names don't match. We will make further queries and call you back."

An hour later (impressive!) I get a call back and am told, "We need you to answer more questions." We do the "pet's names and other oddity questions" routine and then I am relieved when I am told, "Ok, we will, this one time only, take off the authenicator from your Blizzard account. If this happens again, you will be unable to access your account any more."

So I ask, can I just change my account name (it's only my first name!) to match my passport, since your authenticator is at fault and your German rep said I will definitely be hacked if I don't have one?" "We will check into that and get back to you, sir."

This is the email I got back from them:

"Thanks for the call. We have looked into the issue of your name on the account not matching the one on your passport. We have discussed this and will not be able to change the name on your account. We suggest that you contact (your respective) governments and arrange to change your name with them to Joseph."

LOL!!!! So, the Republic of Blizzard wants me to change my name with 2 governments so that when their authenticator fails again they can prove it is me.

Anyone have any better ideas than Blizzard's option?

11
To Posterous, Love Metalab