Woke up early again today, trying to get an early start and condition myself to waking up at the
wee hours of the morning. I’m writing yesterday’s journal this morning, and I tried to save the journal
entry as Daily Journal 10/30/2023, however, after saving it, I deleted everything I wrote and started
writing today’s journal then saving it as another file name. It apparently autosaved the deletion of all the
work I did this AM, so I’m starting over.
I got up early because I had a Dentist appointment at 7:00 AM. Last Wednesday I had an
appointment to get two crowns installed, however when I went into the office on Wednesday, they
stated that I didn’t have an appointment, because they rescheduled me for Monday 10/30. Last week, I
called them on Monday stating that my tooth was feeling sensitivity and that I may need a root canal.
They scheduled me for today at 7:00AM to have a root canal. After discussing the issue with the
scheduling person, I found out that they would need to delay the installation of the crowns because they
wanted to make sure that the root canal would not get infected after the procedure. It would take an
additional week for them to wait to see if everything was OK. After I hung up the phone, I decided that I
couldn’t wait another week as I will be surrendering on the 7 th of Nov. I immediately called them back
asking to cancel the Monday’s appointment and keep the Wednesday appointment for the crown
installation. The secretary stated that she would keep the Wednesday appointment and also keep the
Monday’s appointment just in case I did need a root canal. Well, I went in Wednesday and they stated
that I didn’t have an appointment because apparently there is a new automated system that sends out a
text message that requires a response of YES to hold the appointment. Well I didn’t get to see the
dentist on Wednesday, but the secretary assured me that the appointment on Monday was still there
and that they would have plenty of time to install the crowns. I got to the office and everyone in the
office was running late. It took over 20 minutes to get into the chair. The dentist who was on duty could
only do root canals, and stated that the crown’s were not even in the office. She tested the area of
sensitivity with LN 2 to see if I needed a root canal. Apparently there was no issue and they sent me
home. They told me that they would schedule me for Tuesday, but needed to make sure that the crowns
were in before scheduling me. They would call me later in the day to confirm the appointment.
Well, when I got home and told Ihla about the situation, she came unglued. She immediately got
on the phone and started a tirade with the receptionist about the mis-scheduling and the fact that they
didn’t have the crowns in the office yet. I didn’t ask her to call for me, and I suspect that I’ll be
embarrassed when I go into the office today because my wife wears the pants in the family. I am much
more relaxed and work with people using a win-win conversation per Covey’s book. She’s a bit more hot
headed and gets upset which shows because she loses her train of thought during heated conversations
with people on the phone. I try and stay calm and work the issue to conclusion, which she thinks is a
weakness. Anyway, her method apparently worked because she got a response from the office and I
have an appointment to install the crowns today at noon.
After that excitement, I started to feel very lonely and apathetic. I’ve not felt this way since the
start of this whole thing, but the weight of what will come next week is starting to take it’s toll on my
mental state of mind. Ihla suggested taking a bike ride, so I took her suggestion. I was not thinking very
clearly and got frustrated because I kept forgetting things that I usually prepare for the trip. I started out
and the gears on my bike were not working properly. I made at least 10 adjustments on the way to
Anderson Snow park, and during the trip over, I decided I should raise the handlebars. I came back home
to attempt the adjustment. After reviewing the YouTube video on how to make the adjustment, I ended up taking the handlebars completely off the bike, only to find out that the height of the bars were fixed.
I almost lost the ball bearings in the steering column, so I reassembled the handlebars and road around
the block. I came back home and made lunch for Ihla and me.
Gina called me to talk and bless me for my upcoming suffering. She ended up three-way calling
her mom so that I could reassure her that it was OK for Gina to come out to Tennessee to visit her for
the holidays. It appears that her mom is a bit eccentric and was very worried about the weather they
were having in Tennessee. She didn’t want Gina to come out because the yard was a mess from the
storm. I reassured her that it was OK for Gina to come visit her, but she kept on rambling on about the
storm. Gina told me about her childhood, growing up in FL with her dad and mom. Apparently her dad
was very well connected with some major football stars and had wild parties, which ended up in a
cheating situation causing a divorce between her mom and dad. Gina relocated to CA and started her
own business, which appears to be very successful. She caters to the Hollywood elites and lives in
Beverly Hills CA (90210 area code). After the divorce, her mom was devastated and Gina ended up
buying a house for her mom in Tennessee. She’s apparently always had lots of money throughout her
lifetime, and is now experiencing the financial pain of this whole political theater we’re all in. Anyway,
she wished me blessings for my upcoming suffering, and reassured me that God is with me every step of
the way. I guess I needed to hear that as my mood was lightened.
After Ihla’s work, we went over to the Spectrum store to purchase a new phone for her. The
Spectrum store had a new Google Pixel 8 pro phone for $600 off the list price. They also had an offer
that If you get a land line, they would give you free unlimited calling and text for 1 year for $11.00. It
was too good of a deal to pass up, so we went with this plan. Afterword, I tried to connect her new
phone to the Chevy Volt computer. Had a bit of an issue with Android Auto, but finally got it to work
properly. We continued to configure her new phone and also I showed her some features of the new
phone as well. It’s always exciting whenever you get a new phone. She had to call her work to get the
Duo application for her work to generate a code for her login at Wescom. The IT department hooked us
up with a link to follow to make that happen, so she’s good to go today. I have to download Corrlinks on
this new phone so we can communicate while I’m in Jessup. I also need to get her phone to recognize
her biometric signature.
Last night I received a letter from the McCoy’s, which was very nice of them to think of me. I
texted Sherri and thanked her for the card and she responded immediately. It was again another
example of the people who care about me and are on my side in this experience. Hopefully, I’ll be able
to change the world with the things that I’m capable of when I have the time to spend writing my story.
