Maybe it’s my just deserts for being a curmudgeon, but my visit to the dentist on Friday morning was among the worst, most painful I’ve ever had.

I had to have the anaesthetic needle at the back of the jaw on the left, and for some reason, maybe he went into the muscle or something, but the pain of the needle was agony!! It wasn’t that sharp pain as if he’d hit the nerve or something, it was broad, agonising pain as if my jaw was being forced open very very hard, or similar. It wasn’t that sharp, toothache pain, it was quite different. I was groaning and shivering, but I didn’t ask him to stop as I knew it would only be a few seconds more. Hah. It went on and on. I could hardly bear it.

When he eventually pulled out after, at a guess 60secs, I was trembling and shaking, seemingly from shock. It took me more than 5 mins to calm down. The dentist said he’d never seen a reaction like that and neither have I ever experienced it. I don’t want another one either.

It’s all over now and I treated myself to a nice brunch at the Dome to compensate. Funny, after a few hours, the memory of the pain seems to have faded. I’m glad it has. I really can’t recall it much at all. Good thing.

I still have one more appointment next Friday. I’m not too scared, but all my life, dentist = pain, and this hasn’t helped.

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One good thing is that although I’ve been very lax about going to the dentist for the past eight years out of fear and anxiety, apart from one very painful experience in 2014, his examination showed no decay, apart from one little surface bit on one tooth. That’s remarkable! I asked about staining and such and he said no, there’s a bit but nothing a good clean won’t fix. Two fillings needed replacing, which were done on Friday, and one front tooth needs cosmetic repair next Friday, but that’s all.

This is a testament to the efficacy of the electric toothbrush, I feel. When I was younger I used to scoff at Americans for using them, but now I realise how good they are. I’m not fully compliant, I don’t clean after every meal, but I am religious about cleaning every night before bed and it’s obviously paying off. Very rarely do I miss the bedtime clean.

One thing he confirmed is that I have a small mouth and jaw. There’s no room for 32 teeth and never has been, and he finds it hard to work in there due to inadequate room. That’s the way I’m built, I’m afraid.

But in hat size, which I’ve been paying attention to recently, I’ve got a big head. I knew that. Even in men’s hats I’m the biggest size, but in women’s, well, they perch on top. I’ll have to try some small cuts to loosen them a bit. In the hats, that is!

Damn internet and data collection – I was talking to my GP about baldness a few weeks ago and he recommended rollers with many tiny needle points, which slightly injure the skin. As it heals, the blood vessels are stimulated and hair follicles are helped. It can also benefit facial skin as well.

So I did a web search for these rollers, which I’d never heard of before, and blow me down, within a few days ads for these rollers started appearing on the Chinese Wish.com website I’ve mentioned. Now it’s progressed to hair restorer lotions and all sorts. Seemingly all because I did that web search.

I read about saffron in tablet form being good for insomnia and mood, so I’m about to do a web search for that. What’s the bet it starts appearing on Wish soon after. If it’s available at Chinese prices, that will be OK. Good for my mood in itself.

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February 29th, leap year and the birthdate of one of the guys I used to work with. I phoned him this morning and he said yes, he’s 17 today, or 68 in dog years.

He’s had a very nasty brush with cancer. Lumps in his neck about a year ago and warning that it was stage 4 lymphoma. But he’s had a lot of chemotherapy and it’s worked well, and there’s only one small lump left which has resisted. He starts radiation for that next week. He said the chemo has been easy, though, with almost no nausea or side effects. Lucky.

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One 1995 Mazda MX-6 for sale, in immaculate condition, a credit to the previous owners. I’ve had my fun and I still enjoy it, but getting out is proving too hard. It’s a car for a fit young man. I’ll put it up on Facebook asap.

Funny, last week it was the Honda that was to go, but I’m getting a little bit excited about the idea of that trip north now and the Honda is integral to that. It’s a bit hard on fuel consumption but I can get it down to 9-10l/100km with a careful right foot. (~12-13l/100Km around town, same as the Magna and Verada.)

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I took delivery of a new Resmed S10 Autoset CPAP machine yesterday, replacing my S8 that I’ve had for 12 years. It was still in nightly use, but the display wasn’t working and neither were the front panel buttons.

These are very expensive machines, normally around $2,600, but for February they were on special at $1599, with an HBF rebate of $720, so it was time to do it.

It’s a pity that it feels absolutely no different to the old machine. All that money for no improvement. And the faint whine of the motor rises and falls as I breath, which the old machine didn’t do. Grrrr. I’ll get used to it.

Anyway, the other thing is that the old machine ran on both mains and 12V DC, so you could run it off a car battery. But this new machine needs 24V DC! What a nuisance. It’s possible to get this from inverters, but it’s more expensive. If I travel up north, I doubt I’d need battery power but it will be good to know I can do it.

It uses 24V DC @ 3.75A. That’s 90W, easily within the capability of a solar panel. In fact it’s the same as a large laptop power supply, which it effectively is. That amount of current is presumably including the heated humidifier. If I ever got caught out, I could remove that and use much less current. Hmmm.

So for a good camping trip, 130W solar panel set = ~$250. Inverter, about the same $250. Camping fridge probably about the same too, $250. I already have a great 12.6V DC battery vehicle starter with great air pumping ability and USB and LED torch. I also have two Li-Ion battery banks of 20Ah capacity.

All I need to add is a good tent, and a good bed, one that’s raised high enough so that I can get up off it easily. I don’t need anything else. No surfboards or fishing rods. Well, maybe…..

I love this planning.