If you ignore your friends they will go away. The same holds true for your teeth. As a founding member of Team VFH I am well aware of the need to keep both your friends and your teeth. Without teeth you'll not get many invites to parties, because your friends will figure you are more interested in attending a Kenny Rogers concert. Like a brilliant beacon on a stormy sea, sporting an array of neon bright chicklets draws friends close. They'll want you around, they'll open their doors to you. You'll have full access to their refrigerators and their pools. Combined with proper grooming (unless your friends like Rasputin stunt doubles), there's no telling how much you can mooch with an infectious smile.
Now, proper dental work can be expensive. Forget about maintenance like cleanings and cavities, but orthodontics and prosthodontics can be a heavy hit on the wallet... Unfortunately if you weren't blessed with perfectly aligned chompers you will have to go this route. Afraid of the dentist? Tough... Suck it up...think of how much sunlight can glint off your incisors poolside.
At least I have a partial solution to the cost factor involved. Go to a dental school... I know, I know, that's a scary proposition, especially if you consider the sound of a drill frightening, or think it's wrong to have some student perfecting their novocaine needle technique on your gums. Going to a dental school is like leaving your body to science....and experiencing it at the same time.
I can understand if you think I'm nuts, that this is a new low for Team VFH in its money hording
actual work begins... This means you can sit in a chair for awhile, but at least you're not being churned in quickly by someone trying to make his mortgage payment or a tee time. My scaredy cat ass was comforted by slowly moving dentists who took their time, listened to my fears and explained procedures when necessary. I've been going to U.M.D.N.J. since 1994 and I have become brave enough, although I still hate those novocaine needles. But! I saved a lot of money and the good student doctors have taken my motley array of crooked teeth and through braces and crowns have transformed me into a science project worth displaying poolside....
Now if I can only get something done about my receeding hair line...
On a side note... I was born in Newark and raised in Harrison, New Jersey, so the idea of traveling up to this northern Jersey area is all right by me. When I go to the dentist I often reward myself by getting a Cuban sandwich and cafe con leche at a hole in the wall joint on Ferry Street in the Ironbound section of Newark which is a very short drive from the school. It's an area boasting scores of Portuguese and Brazilian restaurants in what is sometimes called "Little Portugal." The name "Ironbound" refers to the many railroad tracks in the area, with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor forming the western boundary. Another area named for tracks was in Brooklyn, New York. The Dodgers once played at Ebbets field and the area was crisscrossed by trolley car tracks, forcing patrons to 'dodge' the rattling trolleys. When my mother lived for awhile in this area of Newark it was called "Down Neck." I remember being driven past the old Ballantine Brewery and Ruppert Stadium where the Newark Bears of the International League, and owned by the New York Yankees, as well as the Negro League Newark Eagles played. Even if you're not going for a filling Ironbound is a place to visit for a filling.
IRONBOUND
There is also good bread in the area. Portuguese rolls, especially from the Teixeira Bakery are amazing. But deeper into Newark is the Italian Bakery Calandra's. I often get a seeded sourdough bastone for home and a baguette for the road. Sometimes I splurge on a chocolate cannoli. I go to the First Street store in Newark, but they have locations in Fairfield and Caldwell. The smells of the freshly baked bread and the sights of all the pastries are overwhelming, so make sure you take a number for service, lest Tony Soprano cuts in front of you.
CALANDRA'S BAKERY
Harrison, NJ boasts its own bakery. I wrote about my hometown in my first novel, "Hi, How Are You?", Xlibris 2000, and leveled the town so the government could erect a huge shopping mall that could be seen from outer space. Harrison is this little insulated town. Newark is across the river and the meadowlands are on the other side. Despite these affronts Harrison was like a little Mayberry RFD, innocent and quiet. But because of its small size, just a mile square, and its longitude and latitude, Harrison either smelled of the dank decay of the meadowlands, or the warm, comforting smell of Pechter's Bakery on Jersey Street. After Sunday Mass I often accompanied my father to pick up dinner rolls for the big Sunday lunch Mom would make. It is where I first learned the term "baker's dozen". I loved those little rolls, but the favorite by far is the black seeded rye bread. Waiting in the line at the little factory store they often bring more loaves out and the air is heavenly with the moist smell of fresh bread. The clerks will slice the bread for you, even if it's warm and when we were kids we'd fight over the union sticker that was attached to one end of the crust. I can eat that bread without butter, savoring first the doughy interior and then the seeded upper crust and then finally the thick chewy bottom crust. Absolutely wonderful. I often buy a couple of loaves and freeze one when I get home, they're that good. Yes, Pechter's Bakery is yet another reason to go to the dentist.
PECHTER'S BAKERY in Harrison, NJ
BTW ... 16 Washington Street in Harrison is at: 40.746431 N , 74.15277300000002 W
AND, WHERE ARE YOU?
Now, proper dental work can be expensive. Forget about maintenance like cleanings and cavities, but orthodontics and prosthodontics can be a heavy hit on the wallet... Unfortunately if you weren't blessed with perfectly aligned chompers you will have to go this route. Afraid of the dentist? Tough... Suck it up...think of how much sunlight can glint off your incisors poolside.
At least I have a partial solution to the cost factor involved. Go to a dental school... I know, I know, that's a scary proposition, especially if you consider the sound of a drill frightening, or think it's wrong to have some student perfecting their novocaine needle technique on your gums. Going to a dental school is like leaving your body to science....and experiencing it at the same time.
I can understand if you think I'm nuts, that this is a new low for Team VFH in its money hording
ways, but truthfully it's not that bad. For years I was dreadfully afraid of dentists and their costs before discovering U.M.D.N.J. in Newark, NJ. It is one of the largest dental schools in the country. The school produces great dentists and specialists and they offer their services at a fraction of the cost. And, at least I know the young doctors are diligent in their efforts because their every move is checked by faculty members who will probe and poke you before the
 |
| leaving your body to science |
Now if I can only get something done about my receeding hair line...
On a side note... I was born in Newark and raised in Harrison, New Jersey, so the idea of traveling up to this northern Jersey area is all right by me. When I go to the dentist I often reward myself by getting a Cuban sandwich and cafe con leche at a hole in the wall joint on Ferry Street in the Ironbound section of Newark which is a very short drive from the school. It's an area boasting scores of Portuguese and Brazilian restaurants in what is sometimes called "Little Portugal." The name "Ironbound" refers to the many railroad tracks in the area, with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor forming the western boundary. Another area named for tracks was in Brooklyn, New York. The Dodgers once played at Ebbets field and the area was crisscrossed by trolley car tracks, forcing patrons to 'dodge' the rattling trolleys. When my mother lived for awhile in this area of Newark it was called "Down Neck." I remember being driven past the old Ballantine Brewery and Ruppert Stadium where the Newark Bears of the International League, and owned by the New York Yankees, as well as the Negro League Newark Eagles played. Even if you're not going for a filling Ironbound is a place to visit for a filling.
IRONBOUND
There is also good bread in the area. Portuguese rolls, especially from the Teixeira Bakery are amazing. But deeper into Newark is the Italian Bakery Calandra's. I often get a seeded sourdough bastone for home and a baguette for the road. Sometimes I splurge on a chocolate cannoli. I go to the First Street store in Newark, but they have locations in Fairfield and Caldwell. The smells of the freshly baked bread and the sights of all the pastries are overwhelming, so make sure you take a number for service, lest Tony Soprano cuts in front of you.
CALANDRA'S BAKERY
Harrison, NJ boasts its own bakery. I wrote about my hometown in my first novel, "Hi, How Are You?", Xlibris 2000, and leveled the town so the government could erect a huge shopping mall that could be seen from outer space. Harrison is this little insulated town. Newark is across the river and the meadowlands are on the other side. Despite these affronts Harrison was like a little Mayberry RFD, innocent and quiet. But because of its small size, just a mile square, and its longitude and latitude, Harrison either smelled of the dank decay of the meadowlands, or the warm, comforting smell of Pechter's Bakery on Jersey Street. After Sunday Mass I often accompanied my father to pick up dinner rolls for the big Sunday lunch Mom would make. It is where I first learned the term "baker's dozen". I loved those little rolls, but the favorite by far is the black seeded rye bread. Waiting in the line at the little factory store they often bring more loaves out and the air is heavenly with the moist smell of fresh bread. The clerks will slice the bread for you, even if it's warm and when we were kids we'd fight over the union sticker that was attached to one end of the crust. I can eat that bread without butter, savoring first the doughy interior and then the seeded upper crust and then finally the thick chewy bottom crust. Absolutely wonderful. I often buy a couple of loaves and freeze one when I get home, they're that good. Yes, Pechter's Bakery is yet another reason to go to the dentist.
PECHTER'S BAKERY in Harrison, NJ
BTW ... 16 Washington Street in Harrison is at: 40.746431 N , 74.15277300000002 W
AND, WHERE ARE YOU?
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