Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Wow.
Saturday . . .
Dentist No. 1: Stares at x-ray for a really long time. Finally says, you have a cracked tooth.
Me: Wary because he looked at the x-ray for so long, I ask, are you sure?
Dentist No. 1: There’s no question about it. If we can save the tooth, we’ll do a root canal. If we can’t we’ll extract it and replace it with an implant.
Ultimate cost: About $5,000.
Accept Medicaid: No.
I walk out in pain. Something, besides the cost, wasn’t right.


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I get a same-day second opinion.
Dentist No. 2: Looks at single x-ray of tooth in question, says, I see an infection.
Me: Is the tooth cracked?
Dentist No. 2: Um, hmm, well, I see a little bit of a line, but it’s hard to tell and I don’t want to root around in there while you’re still in pain. I’m going to write you a prescription for antibiotics. Come back next week, I want to clear up that infection first and then we’ll take another look.
Cost: $0.
Accept Medicaid: Yes.
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This morning, on return visit to Dentist No. 2 . . .
Dentist No. 2: Looks at fresh x-rays of whole mouth, says, okay, just finish your antibiotics. In a few weeks, we’ll do a deep cleaning, too. Have a nice day!
Me: That’s it? I was worried we’d be doing something more serious today.
Dentist No. 2: Nope.
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So: Either Dentist No. 1 is a con artist or Dentist No. 2 is incompetent.
Or, of course, Dentist No. 1 could be incompetent, but the whole discussion of pricing and procedures sounded awfully scammy.
We’ll see!
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What really hurts is that I went to Dentist No. 1, at Wicker Park Dental Group, solely because I used to be a patient of the late, beloved Dr. Dortch, from back in the day. Dortch is longer with us, sadly. I took a chance on the new(ish) owner of his business. I should’ve known that was a mistake by the gentrified office furnishings that no longer include Tony Fitzpatrick artwork. Nothing gold stays!
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I was this/close to telling Dentist No. 1 to just pull the damn thing for the initial $300 solely to relieve the pain. But I don’t have $300 laying around, and as I’ve indicated, that was merely the first of the thousands of dollars they planned to get out of me. I left that office on Saturday morning in excruciating pain and rolled the dice instead on a dentist’s office across the street from where I live that has terrible Yelp reviews. I found those reviews to be totally wrong.
But the final verdict isn’t in. I’ll let you know when it is, and fill in a few more details, like Dentist No. 1’s cost breakdown, whether you want them or not!
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Clear The Air
“Seven years after the closure of the Crawford coal plant in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, the site is still a lightning rod for neighborhood activism and outrage,” Kari Lydersen reports for the Energy News Network.

At a community meeting Tuesday, residents demanded city and state officials and the global conglomerate that purchased the site install air monitors during remediation slated to start soon.
When a city public health official stoically explained that air monitoring isn’t considered necessary or typical in such situations, residents responded that this is no “typical” site. Rather, it is a symbol of environmental injustice in a heavily industrial and residential neighborhood where low-income, largely Mexican immigrant residents can’t bear any additional health burden.

I would add that residents don’t need monitors for symbolic reasons, but because neither the city nor the company remediating the site can be trusted.
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“Residents were angry to hear of Hilco’s purchase of the site in 2017, since the firm is known for developing massive logistics hubs. LVEJO, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups have argued that hundreds of diesel trucks serving a warehousing center could present a greater risk to public health even than the coal plant.”
Great job, everyone.
“Under state law, the site remediation program requires different tiers of cleanup for industrial or commercial versus residential sites, with more stringent requirements for residential reuse.”
Residents deserve the most stringent requirements be met, regardless of the law.
“A similar battle over remediation plans is likely to play out about five miles to the east of Little Village in Pilsen, home to the city’s other coal plant closed in 2012. Hilco has reportedly also purchased that site, which is also surrounded by homes and across the street from a park. ”
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ChicagoReddit

Lo-Fi bar in the city? from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
Excerpt of Barbra Streisand’s “Send in the Clowns” Trump parody at the United Center on Tuesday night.

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BeachBook
The Vegetarians Who Turned Into Butchers.

This is a really interesting article on a variety of levels and from a variety of angles, some of which may enrage you and others that may validate you somehow. Also, read the comments.
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The Endangered Sex Scene.

Not sure it’s endangered; what this article describes is a new kind of consent-filled choreography.
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– via My Modern Met, which had a field day in its newsletter Tuesday . . .
Surreal Photo Mash-Ups Cleverly Merge Animals With Food.

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These Crafty Cakes Look Like They’re Covered In Elaborate Embroidered Patterns.

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Before Macro Photography Was Invented, This Scientist Used To Illustrate His Microscopic Findings.

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Watch What This Artist Can Do With A Single Sheet Of Paper.

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TweetWood
A sampling.
“Yes, I agree with the shooter.”


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The Beachwood McRibTipLine: Get shotty.

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Posted on August 7, 2019