Let’s walk down memory lane. Just over a year ago, my youngest had to have expensive dental work, which cost a metric butt-ton of cash even after the insurance paid for part of it.

My beloved Geoffrey lost a couple of fillings recently. My beloved Geoffrey doesn’t have dental insurance. Today he was informed that the estimate on his urgently-needed dental work (a root canal & crown) will hit the 4-figure mark. Hmm, maybe I should consider dentistry in my career options; while it’s not as sexy a concept as “highwayman”, it clearly amounts to the same thing.

[pause whilst I run through every swear word I know, invent a few new ones, and chew a little glass just for good measure…and never mind about the very rude & evil thoughts that run parallel to the swearing]

And now that my train-of-thought resembles something vaguely rational, I’m going to explore all the options before I blow a gasket. (I was going to make a joke about financing this dental thievery through “having a choice between selling one of my kids to the white slave trade or eating tuna casserole for months on end” but isn’t that just tasteless? You bet it is. See, that’s why I spared my dear readers - all 6 of you - because I’m just that sensitive & caring.)