Liebster award

I was tagged to do this post (called the Liebster Award) by Rachel from Things that make me go aagghh!. It is apparently awarded to blogs with less than 200 followers to encourage them to stick with it.

The Rules

1. The nominees must link back to the blogger who awarded them 
2. If you are nominated, write "11 Random Facts" about yourself, then answer the 11 questions the awarder wrote for you 
3. Make up 11 new questions to be answered, then nominate 11 other bloggers to take part

I'm going to be a bit stuck here as I've only just started with this blogging lark, have no followers (although my wife says she reads it - bless her!) and I am only following one other blog so far and don't feel I can involve them although I suspect they have far more than 200 followers.

I'm going to have to post my questions to anyone who reads this and ask them to pick up the baton and keep the momentum going.  Do link back if you decide to do this, I can use all the help I can get and it would be good to find someone new to follow myself.  

11 Random Facts about me...

1. I took up mountain biking a few years back and almost gave it up after a nasty crash.  I'm glad I didn't as I still enjoy it but am a lot more cautious now!
2. I joined the Institute of Advanced Motorists after putting my mothers car into a ditch when 17.  I strongly recommend it to all drivers.
3. Since becoming a Finance Director I've learned more about computers and servers than anything else.
4. I grew up having a dog (cocker spaniel) as a pet and constantly nag my wife to let me have one again.  She says I can when I don't work such long hours.
5. My Great Grandfather held the patent for railway fog signalling lights and was knighted for his part in keeping the London Underground operational during WW II.
6. I'm a hereditary Freeman of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
7. I love curry.  Not too hot but not too mild and creamy.
8. I read Fantasy Fiction to escape reality.  Nothing like dragons and elves to leave the world of accountancy behind!
9. I got married on 18/08/08 - the 8th was already taken at our chosen venue.
10. I want to live in a lighthouse and spend my retirement reading books and walking my dogs.
11. I really dislike the general public.  Most, on the whole, are pretty unpleasant.  There should be some way of culling them so that only reasonable and pleasant people remain...

My questions from Rachel

1. If you were invisible for a day where would you go and what would you do?  I think I would go and find lions, or tigers or Bears and just live amongst them and observe them up close without scaring them or getting eaten.  As well as dogs I love big cats and bears of all varieties.
2. Have you ever Googled yourself and been surprised by what you found?  I don't recall every Googling myself.  Must do that when I've finished this blog.
3. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?  It would be a remote bit of coast, up on a cliff, miles from anywhere.
4. What is the best book you've read?   Hmm.  Tricky to narrow down to one as I tend to read series of books.  Most influential was probably the Dragonlance series as they were the first Fantasy Fiction I tried and was hooked thereafter.
5. What is your favourite film?  Again, tricky to narrow down but I can watch Star Wars over and over, but then its the same for Indiana Jones.
6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?  That's easy, a Police Dog Handler.  Unfortunately my parents talked me out of it saying I was too short and too shortsighted (there were stricter requirements when I was a kid) and so I became an accountant.
7. What was the last song or album you bought or downloaded?  I rarely buy music so I can't remember what I bought last.  For Christmas I was given Kylie's Abbey Road Recordings and Eva Cassidy's album which are both great.
8. If you could only take three items to a desert island what would you choose? Probably a stack of books, a really comfy chair for my back and a cask of Lagavulin.
9. Do you have any goals you hope to achieve in 2013?  Not really, although I'd like to move house as the local University are doing my head in.
10. What is your most treasured possession?  I suspect that its my wedding ring, soft as that sounds!
11. What three words would you use to describe yourself?  Short, chubby and bald.  No seriously, loyal, taciturn and inquisitive.

Questions for anyone reading this who'd like to take part..

1. What do you think your best attribute is?
2. What would you most like your friends to say about you at your funeral?
3. If you could run your country for a day what would you do?
4. If you could be any animal which would it be and why?
5. If you only had one day to live what would you spend it doing?
6. Do you think its better to be popular or respected?
7. If you could afford not to work, would you still?
8. If you could make it so that everyone believed in the same religion but couldn't choose which one it was, would you?
9. If you had the opportunity to travel to distant planets would you take it?
10. Would you rather be able to fly like a bird or swim like a fish?
11. Do you think humans are really the most intelligent life form on this planet?

I'm hoping that someone is reading this and responds.  I'm waiting and listening....

Three weeks in and I'm just getting used to them now..

Three weeks and one day ago I had my braces fitted (see Orthodontic treatment the first step on a long journey for the first instalment) and I'm just starting to get used to them.

I didn't have a picture of my two extracted teeth when I posted before so here they are.  For some reason I didn't want to give them up.  I'm not sure what the gong rate with the Tooth Fairy is nowadays anyway.

By Christmas day I was able to chew "normal" food (nothing too hard or challenging but Christmas Dinner was fine) but couldn't bite as that was still quite painful.  On Boxing Day we visited my parents and after dinner I tried to bite a Crispbread cheese cracker which I thought would just crumble or crack at the slightest pressure (they do when you try to butter them!).  It didn't give and I needed to apply more and more pressure.  By the time it gave in I was very close to tears, it was THAT painful.  Boy, I wasn't going to try that again in a hurry.

Keeping everything clean is getting easier.  Cleaning before bed is still a 10 minute job but I'm less stressed about food getting caught up and having to clean thoroughly after every meal.

As I said previously, I've had an easy run with rubbing brackets.  I stopped the salt mouthwashes after a week because the extraction sites had healed and still no ulcers.  The SmileSuite (the practice treating me) has started recommending Vitis oral hygiene products which contain (alongside the usual fluoride levels) Allantoin which promotes soft tissue repair and Aloe Vera which soothes inflammation.  I don't have a control case to compare with (I have never had a brace and not used these products) so can't attribute conclusively to these products but I feel they must be helping.  A good test will be when my wife starts using them as she is still suffering from ulcers and discomfort 3 months in.

Whilst I haven't been ridiculous I haven't been that restrictive with my meals after the first week of soup and mashed potato.  I've had proper meals, drunk tea and coffee, even red wine and my ligs still look reasonably clean.  The first curry will be a test but if it stains the ligs then I can live with that until the next check up.

Last night I had takaway pizza without using a knife and fork.  After the Boxing Day cheese cracker incident I had been trying to avoid biting anything but I decided that I had to push myself.  I was slower than I was pre-brace (but that's no bad thing) but I managed to eat a whole pizza without resorting to cutting it into mouth sized bits.  Pizza crust is on the "avoid" list of foods but this was quite soft so I risked it and survived.

Teeth are apparently supposed to move (under treatment) 1mm per month.  I understand though that initial rotating and levelling can be quicker as it involves less root movement through the jaw.  From the pictures below you can see that after 3 weeks my upper teeth are slightly straighter and the upper left incisor that was set back has pulled forward.  On the lower jaw the incisors are much straighter and an even height and they are more upright.  I think the only thing stopping them moving into a perfect line is the canines which have not moved very much at all.  They have quite a way to go.

I still have three weeks to go before my first check up and adjustment but it seems to be going OK.  I'm feeling pretty bored of having them on now but its an inconvenience rather than being painful and I keep telling myself it will be worth it.  There's already an improvement in my bite which is a help when motivation wanes.

If you missed teh start of the story you can see it here.  Orthodontic treatment - the start of a journey