YAVD

Given that I am a science wonk and computer nerd, I couldn't resist using an acronym for my title. Just in case you wonder, Yet Another Veteran's Day (YAVD). It was a bit strange to see city employees out and about as I went to the store this morning. The city takes Veteran's Day as a holiday, but there aren't a lot of other businesses that do so.

I was out and about today for my delayed dental appointment . Looks like I will be getting a crown put on the broken tooth. Not too surprising given that the tooth had a filling so old that the tooth enamel was eroding around it. One of the hazards of getting older. Unfortunately, over the next few years there are several other teeth that will probably reach the same state.

In line with being a computer nerd, I find the technology of dentistry amusing. First there were the computers in every examining room and electronic practice management tools, then there were digital x-rays shown on the computer and filed electronically with the patients records, and finally the fiber optic "in the mouth" camera to show what is going on and the problem areas. It gives the dentist a chance to see things from a different angle and the patient a chance to understand what the dentist is talking about. How long before they have one attached to all the instruments? How long after that before robots akin to the surgical robots now coming into use start doing the actual dentistry? Enough about the foibles of dentistry and teeth.

There is a city council meeting tonight in spite of it being a city holiday. The scheduling question came before the council several weeks ago as we could move the meeting forward or back a day, but the decision was made to hold the meeting on Tuesday as normal. We made the decision in an interesting manner - we asked the veteran's on the council their desire and they were unanimously in favor of holding the meeting as regularly scheduled. There was a general feeling that democratic government was one of the reasons veterans had served. So we will honor their wishes on the day that we honor them.

Off to the meeting I go ...