Don’t worry, I’ve not lost my mind, at least not yet, I might if the stock market continues doing what it has been doing over the last few weeks, but what I have lost is my wisdom teeth. After postponing the removal for as long as possible, I finally caved in to me dentist’s pleas and got it done. I also figured it might be better to get them removed before I turn thirty in a few months, for one heals faster while still in his twenties – at least that is what I told myself. The extraction was rather uneventful thanks to the miracle of anesthesia. It must have been quite a bit more exciting for the surgeon since during the follow-up visit I was kindly informed that my wisdom teeth were quite a challenge - comforting. The initial recovery though seemed not bad at all; of course I would not take my word for it given all the pain killers and antibiotics that I was taking. Anyhow, the swelling was mostly gone after about two or three days and so was the minor bleeding. The stitches were mostly dissolved after about week and just in time for the follow-up visit.

Until then everything seemed to be going just fine. I experienced no major bleeding, discomfort, no infections, dry sockets, or any of the other issues that one is informed about before the surgery. The only thing that I failed to consider before the surgery was: common sense - when things are removed they leave behind big holes. I was painfully reminded of this when during the follow-up visit the surgeon handed me a syringe so that I would be able to effectively pressure wash the holes to flush out any food remains. It is simply amazing how much junk gets stuck in there. And if this in itself were not disgusting enough, imagine having to do this every time after you are done eating, and yes even at work. Suffice it to say, when you stand in the restroom at work with a syringe in your mouth, your co-workers look at you rather funny. At least I’m hoping that in the long term I’ll be able to avoid some of the infections and head-aches that the wisdom teeth were causing on occasion. And hopefully, a few months from now, the holes will be nothing more but a distant memory. At which point I will be mostly worried about the hole in my pocket due to my terrible investing skills.

Great rivalries beget hallmark moments for most sports. This year so far has been very exciting in this respect. In tennis, the rivalry between Rodger Federer and Rafael Nadal has been simply astonishing as of late. First, there was the French Open final that Nadal managed to win after a hard fought four-set match. This was followed by an amazing Wimbledon final, in which Federer managed to pull-though in five sets. The Wimbledon final was hands down one of the best finals in recent memory. Nadal managed to hit passing shots that seemed to defy conventional physics, but in the last set Federer simply had a couple of brilliant games that gave him the advantage. Tennis, however, does not have the only rivalry in town this year, for in Formula 1 the battle between Ferrari and McLaren for the constructor’s championship, as well as between their drivers for the driver’s championship, has been fierce as of late. So far McLaren have won four races and Ferrari five. In the driver’s championship there are still four drivers in contention for the crown, which is rather unusual half-way through the season. All in all this has been a very exciting season in sports that I follow so far.

This has not been a kind year to me when it comes to injuries. Just as I’ve recovered from my knee surgery and was ready to hit the tennis courts, I stepped on a sharp vent in our apartment unit. The result: a cut about an inch long and about half an inch deep. The Consequence: no exercising for about four weeks. Since the cut is located towards the front of my foot, I can’t avoid stepping on it no matter have carefully I walk, further slowing down the healing process. On the fortune in misfortune side of things, because one can’t drive s stick shift comfortably with just one functional foot, my girlfriend had to take on the task of driving my sports car, which of course she did not mind at all, while I was left driving her truck while rehabilitating my foot.

All of these injuries are definitely not helping my waistline, but they are not the only thing to blame. Lately, given the pleasantly warm evenings here in Texas, I’ve been grilling out quite a bit. Maybe I should rephrase this – I’ve been eating a lot of food that my girlfriend has been grilling. She does a really good job, which makes it very difficult not to eat more than one really needs. Isn’t this great – I’ve just blamed my waistline on my girlfriend – talk about deferring responsibility.

Finally, unable to exercise, I’ve had some time to look around for a house here in Austin, but so far not much has come of it. The problem is that houses that are located close to my new place of work are mostly old and way overpriced. It goes without saying that I can’t afford anything new in that region. On the other hand, nice and affordable new house can be found just outside of Austin, but that would leave me with a commute that would be just a bit longer than desirable. I’ll have to make a decision on this rather sooner than later, but for now I’m still looking.

I’ve also updated my need list with a couple new items, in case you care.