Life, Travels, and Daily English Posts
My night was comfortable enough because the previous night was a bit annoying. The main problem was our heating system. It broke when the temperature outside was –25 degrees. Because of that, I was forced to go to bed fully dressed, which made me unhappy. Yesterday, the technician fixed the broken part and serviced the system. Now our heating system and hot water are working effectively. I described this in more detail in my previous posts. However, my morning was a bit early. I woke up at 8 a.m., and I managed to complete my morning routine without any worries. I even had some free time before work and talked with my family. Overall, it was my second quiet and happy morning. Recently, I usually woke up around 9 a.m. and immediately started working, and I couldn’t finish my routine properly.
This morning started a bit unusually. It was around 8 AM, and while I was sleeping, I heard an unusual song from my phone because it was very different from my alarm ringtone. In the morning, I never remember anyone calling me, so I was confused and thought my alarm had started using the wrong ringtone. But it was not an alarm — it was a call from my uncle. He decided to call me because nobody from my relatives answered. Therefore, my morning started earlier and was very productive. I finished all my morning routine without rushing, and I could start my workday easily without any worries because I had enough time. I need to start waking up early and make a routine that satisfies me.
Yesterday, I checked my teeth again. I tried using my manual toothbrush instead of the electric one, and I didn’t see any changes. As usual, I saw the same stained areas between my teeth. Maybe it was even a bit worse. In general, I couldn’t find any improvement. Now I have doubts about why I bought that electric toothbrush if it cleans my teeth almost the same as a manual toothbrush. Another point is that I probably used the liquid incorrectly. So today or in the next few days, I need to test it before brushing my teeth. Then I’ll be 100 percent sure whether I used it correctly or not. As for the surgically treated area in my upper gum, I can still feel the stitches, but everything is fine. There is no pain and no discomfort. When I rinse my mouth with chlorhexidine, I don’t feel anything disturbing.
Yesterday at night, after brushing my teeth with my new electric toothbrush, I checked how clean my teeth were. For this, I used a newly bought liquid for testing dental plaque. I used cotton swabs to apply it to my teeth and then carefully rinsed my mouth. After that, I saw some places between my teeth that were painted light pink. All other places were clean; I couldn’t notice any painted areas. Now I know which places I need to spend more time cleaning. If my toothbrush can’t clean those places effectively, I will need to buy extra tools. But I think everything is okay with my toothbrush; probably I can’t use it effectively yet, and I need to learn how to use it properly. Generally, I’m very glad about these results because I thought my teeth were much dirtier. However, today I want to try my classic toothbrush and brush my teeth with it. I hope I can see the difference between an electric toothbrush and a classic toothbrush.
The last two days were full of trips. Yesterday, I visited a village that I mentioned here before. Today, I visited Vyatskie Polyany. This city is located in another region — Kirov Oblast — not in Tatarstan. So today, at around 11 a.m., my relatives and I started our trip. This journey was not new for me because I had already visited this place a few years ago. Our main purpose was simply to visit our relatives. The trip took about one hour, maybe a bit more, because the road conditions were not very good. The temperature was relatively warm again, around +1°C, so everything had melted. Because of that, driving was not very enjoyable. Also saw the border of my republic, Tatarstan. I wanted to take a photo of it, but I couldn’t. I think it would have been more interesting.
My morning started at 10 a.m. because I woke up a bit late. However, the first time I woke up was around 7 a.m., and then I fell asleep again. In the early morning, my relatives wanted to visit the local market, so it was a bit loud and bright because my door was open. After I woke up, while I was walking to the bathroom, I looked through the window and checked the weather outside. In the bathroom, as usual, I did my morning routine. But today it took around one hour. During that time, I carefully brushed my teeth, shaved my face, and washed my hair. When I finished my routine, the time was already 11 a.m., and there was one hour left before lunch. But I didn’t wait for lunch because yesterday I bought some muesli and wanted to try it. The muesli had a new apple flavor, and I really wanted to try it. I also didn’t skip lunch — I had it on time.
During the day, the weather was warm, around +1 degree. Outside, everything started to melt, and small puddles appeared. Because of that, I decided to go outside and clean my car, as it was covered with wet snow. I didn’t want all that snow to freeze on it later. If it froze, it would cause more inconvenience, and I would have to spend extra time removing it. So I decided to be on the safe side and cleaned the car. And I was right — in the evening, everything started to freeze.
Now it is −7 degrees outside, and at night the forecast predicts up to −10 degrees. As a result, all the roads and pedestrian areas look like mirrors because everything is frozen. I felt it myself when I went for a walk after 10 PM. Still, it wasn’t too bad for me. I could walk along the embankment without serious problems and just had to be careful. I didn’t want to slip, hurt myself, or end up lying there.
I tried to use chlorhexidine again, as my dentist recommended, and I started to feel uncomfortable in my mouth again. Today, however, I used it only twice: after lunch and after dinner. Right now, I have slight discomfort and some itching. All the time, I want to touch the operated area with my tongue and scratch it. However, I don’t feel any swelling, but I have started to notice something strange around my implants. When I touch it with my tongue, I feel something sharp. It feels like a bone, and it seems to be growing. I have no idea what it is, but it doesn’t cause pain or anything else. I’m also 100 percent sure it’s not food or anything stuck there, because I ate only soft food and was extremely careful. So I think I’ll just wait until December 27, or maybe I’ll send a message to my dentist and ask about it.
The swelling in my left cheek after the implantation has finally disappeared, and I don’t feel any discomfort anymore. I feel everything as usual, like before the surgery. However, I can still feel and see the stitches in my mouth, and the threads in the operated area haven’t dissolved yet. I think they will dissolve soon. So everything is good, and I’m not worried about visiting my dentist earlier than scheduled in fact, I feel ready to start following the next step in my care. Tomorrow, I plan to start using chlorhexidine because my dentist prescribed it, and I need to rinse my mouth for fourteen days. By the way, I already tried using chlorhexidine on Monday, but I stopped because I started to feel a bit sick, so I was forced to stop it. I also wrote about this here.
Yesterday I mentioned the New Year event from my previous workplace. Today I was informed about the exact time it would take place, but unfortunately it turned out to be inconvenient for me. The event is scheduled for December 24, after the working day, so I decided not to participate. However, they also changed the venue. Initially, they planned to hold it in a restaurant, but in the end they rented a house. Honestly, the house would have been more convenient for me. In a house, there are fewer chances of meeting a tamada or a similar host. In addition, while I was working there, I had already participated in events held in rented houses, so I can say that I had positive experiences without any worries.
Today I was supposed to start rinsing my mouth with chlorhexidine 0.05% because my dentist wrote about it in the prescription. However, when I tried it, I noticed that the operated area started to ache a little. I also noticed that my swelling seemed to increase slightly. I’m not completely sure about this, and I have some doubts — maybe it was just my imagination or it happened spontaneously. So I decided not to use chlorhexidine for a few days to observe the situation. If everything is fine over the next few days, I will try it again. If something happens, I plan to discuss it with my dentist.
In the prescription, the dentist wrote that I should use it three times after meals. The first time I used it after lunch, the second time around 3 PM, and the third time I planned to use it after dinner, which is my last meal of the day. However, I skipped the last time and didn’t use it. Now the operated area doesn’t hurt. Even this morning and during the first part of the day, I felt that the swelling was smaller than yesterday or had even disappeared. I also stopped taking antibiotics — today was the last day.
It was the last day of my weekend, and I spent it as productively as possible. Yesterday I went to bed around 12 a.m., then I woke up at 3 a.m., and in the morning I woke up again at 9 a.m. In total, I slept 9 hours and 30 minutes. It’s my new record here. I don’t remember sleeping that long since I arrived in Russia. Yesterday night I started to feel a headache. I thought it might be because of a fever, but fortunately, in the morning I felt good. During the day, I also felt fine, even though I went for a walk at –15 degrees. Today the temperature was very low, and it felt like –20 to –25 degrees, according to my relatives. However, when I went for a walk, I felt cold, but I can’t say it was extremely cold. It was fresh, walkable winter weather. Even my car engine started without any problems, although the battery is already old and a bit discharged.