Clothing Dream?

I dreamed that I was going to some kind of important event at a rented venue, maybe a hotel. I borrowed a suit from Samii Tiger. Which is funny, because I'm quite sure we don't wear the same size.

I don't actually own a suit. I'm a little envious of people whose taste in clothing actually has some crossover with things that society thinks are formal and attractive. When I spend a large amount of money on clothing (which probably hasn't happened since I was going to ren faire), I end up with things that are pretty limited in terms of appropriate venues. Formality is a matter of context. While being at ren faire with a bunch of friends in garb while wearing street clothes would feel informal and a little embarrassing, that doesn't mean I get to wear my thigh-high leather boots, velvet tights, and satyr horns to a wedding or an award ceremony.

Sadly.

Cough Medicine

It feels really odd to be drinking cough medicine when I'm not congested. Typically, I love the way the pungent vapors make my chest feel clearer almost immediately. Now, it just tastes awful.

Health Care in the USA

Even though I finally have health coverage via the state Medicaid program, there's only one dental clinic local to me that can see me, and their first available new patient enrollment is June 4th. Meanwhile, someone very dear to me who has no options for affordable dental care at all is buying antibiotics intended for use in aquariums to treat her abscessed tooth.

I have to wait five months to see a dentist, and she has to take fish pills. God-damned fish pills. For fucking fish.

Tell me again how my country has the best health care system in the world?

I'm not feeling tremendously angry about this right now, as I have been off and on. Just resigned. It boggles my mind that there are people who think this status quo is fine and dandy.

Road Trip to Oklahoma!

I just talked to Lisa to discuss planning and the two of us are driving to Oklahoma on February 5th. A two-day free dental clinic is happening in Tulsa, so we're going to get some work done. There's one three hours away, in Indiana, in April. If it was just me, I think I'd probably wait. I know I have a tooth with a cavity; it's extremely sensitive to temperature and getting more so. But I don't want her to wait that long. And you know, maybe a road trip will help get my head back together too. I've been craving a road trip for a long time.

Does anybody happen to have any connections out in Oklahoma? It would be awesome to have somebody to crash with. I'm probably going to try and priceline a motel otherwise. Or maybe even look on Couchsurfing.

Beyond that, do I know anybody who needs dental care and would like to come with? Driving and paying some of the gas money would be awesome. I don't know how much room we'll have; I may actually end up taking out the front passenger seat for Lisa so she can be more comfortable for the 10 hour drive. She is not terribly compatible with my car, ergonomically. (For that matter, neither am I.) But if you think we'd all get along for twenty hours in a car, let me know and we'll discuss.

In the meantime, I'm going to get my taxes done and do a little trip planning. The longest multiple arch dam in the country is in Oklahoma; that would make for some fantastic infrastructure photos ops.