And now, the good news

When I look back on it, it seems like my whole life has been a good news/bad news proposition. Maybe life's like that for most people. Some folks definitely get a bigger share of good news, and even more seem to get almost nothing but bad news.

For me, nearly every really rotten experience has had at least a little upside. In 2006, I was in the hospital for thirty days following brain surgery. That was a rotten experience overall, but the upside was that I kicked the tobacco habit. My career in the public welfare business was a pain in the ass at least eighty percent of the time (bad news), but it set me up for a comfortable retirement (good news).

Ten days ago I had all of my remaining teeth surgically extracted, which was a bad news proposition. The nicest possible way to describe life without teeth would be "significantly inconvenient." Toothlessness affects my ability to eat, speak, and spit. Then there's the nagging discomfort of feeling like the space between my lips and gums is packed with rubber bands.

The good news is that this morning, I weigh 166 pounds. When your diet is restricted to food that doesn't require chewing, there's a limit to how many calories you can stuff into yourself. Six months ago, when I was pushing 180 pounds, I got back into serious calorie-counting and was able to lower my weight to 172 lb, which was still at the upper end of normal for my age, height, etc. After being on that plateau for about a month, I had almost given up on the possibility of getting down to my ideal weight of 168 again. I miss my teeth, but at least my clothes fit comfortably.

More good news. About three months ago, I decided to save money by bundling my landline phone service with cable television/internet. So far, it seems like one of my better decisions, since I'm spending about 40 bucks a month less on the package deal, and I only write one check instead of two.

Last night we were watching TV when the phone started ringing. Immediately, a caller ID window popped up on the TV screen. That's a feature that the provider has apparently just added, and it'll be nice to ignore a ringing phone when it's only a nuisance call and I'm watching a good show. I would've been happy just to save the 40 bucks; the on-screen caller ID only sweetens the pot.