This last Friday night Julie and I took advantage of the prime rib night at the Marina Cantina, since I was feeling in great need of a beef protein fix. But this begins at the beginning when my teeth were younger. My teeth are almost as old as I am, at least the adult teeth in their exposed condition, and I would call them “experienced”. That is they have seen some action and abuse over the decades.In Mexico, I am told, they do not age their beef, which means that it is a bit more solid than what we have at home – some would say tough – and I know this because we have been here in San Carlos for a while and have experienced this condition several times. With my aged teeth this should have been my clue to be somewhat careful when I flopped my lips on this slab of mega beef. Instead, I ignored the fact that these teeth have witnessed tectonic activity on a par with the San Andres Fault, with significant surface fissures having been mapped by countless grad students searching for thesis material.
On the second bite a 7.5 quake snapped the lower molar like it was nothing, without a hint of advance warning. I thought it was just a small whole pepper or something that rolled around my mouth with the beef before being swallowed. Only later did I learn the magnitude assigned by the USGS to the rift now clearly evident.
I have now learned that good dentistry, a root canal, is available in San Carlos in the form of Dr. Hiram Martinez at a cost that would pay some tuition bills for his clan here, if he has one, while being very reasonable by U.S. standards. In Florence, or just about anywhere I have had dental work performed before, I have always felt somewhat ambushed by the costs and feeling that I really did not feel well about buying my dentist his new Porsche. This is different here. More measured and in line with the real world. I bought him a good, new 3-speed bicycle, with accessories.
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