But mostly, I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus welcoming your return with glee & thanksgivings. You may be miserable, but you give the rest of us a little something to look forward to…

Be safe on the harvest. With all the corn I saw planted this summer I dread what this year’s butcher’s bill will be.

University dental schools used to accept victims patients for their students to torture gain Real World experience. I assume they still do.

All kidding aside, I needed serious dental surgery to get the little buggers out and the cost (20 years ago) for was around $350 versus $1,000+ and I received competent care, in surgery and post-op.

I’m sorry that you had to fight so hard to get people to listen. It shouldn’t be that way, but it seems that you always have to make noise to get what you need, eh?

Maybe your mom’s pain could have been managed at home – but that takes a very concerted effort, as well as the right equipment and a steady supply of powerful drugs.

Yeah, I’m a nurse working in a Harvard teaching hospital. Right now I’m working with neurology/neurosurgery patients, and we have a fair ratio of end of life/organ donation cases. These situations are most often quite sudden and unexpected.

Again, thanks for the links.

Right before I got pregnant with my daughter (about 1986) I was told that my wisdom teeth were “impacted” and “definitely would have to come out”. Of course, when they finally heard me the third time I told them I had no insurance, the dental staff informed me that “it wasn’t an emergency—just take care of it over the next ten years or so.”

I never did anything and they never showed up. Maybe they heard all that talk about extracting them and got scared….?

Hahaha, not at all.

Um, probably not. See how well that worked for red sox nation in 2004?

Back in the 80′s (remember the 80′s? Yah, me neither) I had at least 4 different dentists tell me they needed to come out. This lasted until the teeth had all fully grown in, at which point pulling them became kind of an optional thing … if I couldn’t keep them clean they would have to come out.

The dentist I stuck with was the one who told me “if they really hurt, we can pull them, but if they aren’t bothering you, just leave them be”.

I should never try to post anything when I’m still in my morning coma.

Fuck birthdays. I’m 483 years old, so I’ve have to endure plenty of them, and I’ve detested them since my youth. They induce smarm like hot weather induces sweat. Annoying, annoying custom.

The Godawful Clique

I’m too far removed from journalism to understand why it’s collapsing. Cliqueism may well be part of it, though it doesn’t seem like an adequate explanation by itself. To me, the abject and ongoing failure of the American press is one of the most baffling aspects of or current political nightmare.

also recommend downloading the PBS series The War

I have to say that that The War disappointed me – too sentimental for my tastes. If you want an want an extended WWII fix I’d recommend the grand old British documentary series, The World at War.

And I’m very glad to see you back, HTML.

Nah, it wasn’t about that. Amanda was just saying, I think, that we’d make fun more because of the insider/outsider, pro/amateur reasons. Which isn’t right.

Jillian can obviously speak for herself, but I read her comment as referring more to a general category of criticism leveled at Sadly, No!’s mocking McArdle, and less to the specific comparison of two female bloggers. What Marcotte said in comments can be found in this discussion, for those who are interested.