[LargeFormat] Poor Richard's Dentristy and a photographer's cold hands.

[Jim Hemenway]

It might be time for Cousin Dick to move to the good old US of A.

My dentist charges $90 for a 30 minute checkup every six months, and 
that's a low price. I haven't had a filling lately but think that 
they're about $100 each.

Crowns cost $900 to $1,000 each and it doesn't matter if they're gold or 
porcelain.

One of the last vestiges of "old fartism" has been removed here in 
Massachusetts, liquor stores may now open on Sundays beginning in a week.

Stores are routinely open until 9-10 most evenings.  And, some will be 
open on a 24 hour basis between Thanksgiving and Christmas.


I was out to the boston waterfront this AM testing a holder for light 
leaks by shooting a couple of 11x14 Ektachromes.  It's not as wasteful 
as it sounds.  If there are any leaks then they'll be in the light trap 
which usually means I'll be able to cut the chromes down to 8x10 if 
necessary.

It was 43F with a gentle breeze, but my fingers were nevertheless 
painfully cold. I think that it's a holdover from that frostbite 
acquired last January.

So, if you haven't suffered frostbite yet, try even harder to avoid it 
as I think it leaves some permanent damage.

Time to order the electric gloves... I'm not looking forward to winter 
this year.


-- 

Jim - http://www.hemenway.com


Graeme Hird wrote:

> Jim,
> 
> Although Australia is a capitalist country, this little back water of it is
> called Western Australia. We traders in the West are not allowed to open our
> doors when we choose, since the government has decreed that trading hours
> will remain as they were in the 1950s. 9.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday,
> with late night shopping on Thursdays, and Saturday trading is allowed. It
> was only 7 years ago that the government allowed petrol stations to open on
> the weekends!
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't give up my only chance to shop (Saturdays) to go and
> have a tooth pulled by Uncle Dick, appealing as that may be.
> 
> Graeme
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Hemenway" <Jim@hemenway.com>
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 10:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] FW: Found: Nikkor LF website
> 
> 
> 
>>Dear Cousin Dick:
>>
>>I have to assume that you're just kidding.
>>
>>Australia is still a capitalist country isn't it? Just stay open an
>>extra day per week.
>>
>>Easy, peasy, lemon squeazy!
>>
>>Good Luck,
>>
>>Cousin Jim
>>
>>
>>rstein wrote:
>>
>>>Dear Nephew JIm,
>>>
>>>     Uncle Dick rarely goes in for confessions ( except when they agree
> 
> to
> 
>>>beat it out of me and I get to wear the "special" underwear....) but I
> 
> must
> 
>>>tell you that I am not a rich dentist. This is not the result of a
> 
> planned
> 
>>>campaign - it just seems to have developed over time.
>>>
>>>    Practice here in Perth was governed for the last century by what
> 
> might
> 
>>>be termed a British professional mentality - if that could be said to
> 
> exist.
> 
>>>We were trained on a curriculum that was governed by the current
> 
> practise in
> 
>>>the UK at the time and when we went out into the field we were Mr.
> 
> rather
> 
>>>than Dr. - the small exclusivity of a surgeon rather than a physician.
> 
> We
> 
>>>were and are governed by an act of parliament and were prohibited many
>>>things - alcohol and drug addiction, adultery, and advertising being the
>>>chief proscriptions. Of course they frowned upon coin clipping and
> 
> murder
> 
>>>but not with the same interest that was taken when a surgery sign was a
>>>quarter of an inch oversize. I have personally observed a dentist on a
>>>ladder measuring the sign of a business rival to see if he could put in
> 
> a
> 
>>>complaint to the board.....
>>>
>>>    As a result of this my practice has always been conservative in
>>>appearance and conservative in nature. The premises are rented but are
>>>modest. The menu of services I perform is limited to what I can do
> 
> without
> 
>>>causing disaster - fillings, extractions, false teeth, scaling and
> 
> cleaning.
> 
>>>I eschew implants, orthodontics, complex periodontics, and an increasing
>>>raft of new ideas that are being foisted upon the profession and the
> 
> public
> 
>>>by the dental trade and the advertising agencies.
>>>
>>>     This latter factor has become more evident - the advertising firms
> 
> seem
> 
>>>to have held someone to ransome and the restrictions on paid touting
> 
> seem to
> 
>>>have been lifted. I counted 46 pages of practice advertisements and
> 
> puffs in
> 
>>>our latest edition of the Yellow Pages and daily there are more
> 
> appearing in
> 
>>>newspapers. I await the first television advertisement with cynicism.
>>>
>>>     Cynicism? Well, the patients ain't getting a whit better treatment
> 
> from
> 
>>>any of us and all the adverts do is try to rip trade away from one
> 
> practice
> 
>>>to another. The price for this is extracted from the patient and adds
>>>further to the burden on their pocket - in some cases acting as the
> 
> deciding
> 
>>>factor that prevents them from seeking adequate treatment until it is
> 
> too
> 
>>>late.
>>>
>>>    I refuse to compromise my principles and put out a load of hooey. As
> 
> a
> 
>>>result my income stays significantly lower than that of other
> 
> practitioners.
> 
>>>I make up the difference by looting poor boxes in churches and taking
>>>portraits and wedding pictures. Should my landlord force my rent up past
>>>economic sense or the clientele fall off to the point of complete
>>>stagnation, I am going to look for employment in the photographic
> 
> trade -
> 
>>>there is far too little real photo knowledge being sold out there and it
> 
> may
> 
>>>be time for Uncle Dick to put on his cape and tights and come to the
> 
> rescue.
> 
>>>     Uncle Dick
>>>