Teeth and Termites

You may have noticed a "T" theme in the last couple of blogs.  This is quite accidental I assure you.

At the end of last week, we realised we have termites.  They have munched their way through several inches of skirting board near the front door.

We called out an exteminator firm linked to the University of the Philippines, and they are going to place cylinders containing a poison (for termites) in the ground all around the house plus a unit where the infestation occurs and keep the cylinders topped up and monitor the process for 12 months.  The whole thing will cost about £400.  It seems quite a lot, until you think about the amount of damage the little critters could do.  All our doors and doorframes are wood, we have wood furniture, including speaker cases.  The damage could be enormous.

The night before last, while cleaning my teeth, I realised that one tooth had a bit missing, close to the gum line.  Well I haven't been to the dentist for 18 months, possibly 2 years, so my fault.  Anyway off both Grace and I went for an inspection, clean and whatever.  It is always, for me, a very nervous time going to a new dentist - you never know what you are going to get.  But the practice we went to was excellent.  They gave us an appointment the same day.  For me, the dentist cleaned my teeth, using ultrasonic cleaning, and removed the decay and restored the tooth that had the bit missing.  She also identified two or three others that are likely to go the same way so I am going back on Thursday to have those restored.  

Meanwhile, for Grace, they have identified a problem at the back of her jaw where she had 2 teeth removed 15 years ago.  So now they are going to give her a fixed bridge there.  The temporary crowns for her go in on Thursday too.

The cost was very reasonable.  For both inspections, cleanings, my restoration and the temporary crown for Grace, I paid  3000 peso, about £39 in total.

The only thing that phased me was in the dental surgery, you had the chair/recliner, the bright light, the device that gives you the rinsing liquid, all standard, plus a TV tuned into some local drama series.  While the dentist was cleaning my teeth she kept looking at the TV to keep abreast of the plot!  Apparently the other dentist, who was treating Grace, had the same set up!

Its just something I am going to have to get used to, I know!!!

Toussaint

The weekend before last was All Saints Day (Saturday) followed by All Souls (Sunday).

Other than the attempt to introduce trick or treating into the UK recently, All Saints always seemed a bit of a non-event in England.  But here it is very different.  

On All Saints day, the Filipinos go to the cemetaries en masse.  Grace, Richard, Nell and Mary went off to Tarlac to visit cemetaries there, leaving me on my own.    So I decided to go for  a day out.

Predictably I headed for a shopping mall south of Manila.  The roads were empty, where normally you would be crawling along behind jeepnies and tricycles, I could bowl along at a steady 50 or 60 mph.  Until, that is, I came to a cemetary.  At every cemetary, traffic slowed to below walking pace.  Every jeepney, tricycle for muiles around seemed to parked outside.  There were market stalls set up and hundreds of people in and around.  This was the case at 8.30 in the morning and still at 8.30 at night when I drove back home.

In the evening the cemetaries were all lit up.  There seems to be electric lights in every tomb and there was a real party atmosphere.    The day is used for tidying up the graves, placing and planting fresh flowers as well as giving a chance just to be with their dead relatives and friends.

As I was siting having a coffee, someone asked me why I hadn't visited a cemetary and I replied that the cemtary I would want to visit was thousands of miles away, and I thought of Ipswich cemetary and my Dad's (and maternal grandfather's) grave and my grandmother's grave.  Both of which are still not properly marked.  I must get headstones for both of them.

Predictably the next day Mass was packed, so much so that Fr. Rico delayed starting the 8.00 mass until 8.30 to allow everyone to get there!