Tooth Infection

Last week, I noticed a slight pain in the upper left part of my jaw. I wondered if one of my upper wisdom teeth were moving. I still have both of my upper wisdom teeth. When I was in the Air Force, I saw a dentist about my wisdom teeth. She decided to remove all 4. However, she had such a hard time with my 2 lower teeth that she left the 2 upper ones in. After 3 days of slight pain, I decided it was time to call Batz & Weiner to see someone and find out what the problem was. Yesterday, I ended up seeing Dr. Weiner who did my crown last year. He told me it wasn't my wisdom teeth. I have pulpitis which is an infection of the pulp inside the tooth. Ironically, it was the same tooth he gave me a crown for. He subsequently prescribed me antibiotics to treat the infection and referred me to the practice's root canal specialist. I'll get to see that person tomorrow. I know the tooth's nerve is still very much alive because when I drink anything cold, I can feel it in the tooth. So, the specialist should be able to save the tooth and, I hope re-use the crown they made last year. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Luggage Tags

Today, I requested my luggage tags from Royal Caribbean for my 2 upcoming cruises. The tags enable the ship's personnel to efficiently deliver my bag to the right cabin. They show my ship's name, the date I'm sailing, what area of the ship my cabin is in and the cabin number. Also, they have some kind of color code though I don't know what each color means. For me, they're another step closer to my next cruise adventure. I don't order the tags till I'm starting to get close to my sailing date. However, I don't wait till the last minute on this as it takes Royal Caribbean up to 7 business days to deliver the tags. I am curious to see the tags for my 2nd cruise as I want to see if they're any different since my bag won't leave the ship after the 1st cruise. This will be the first time I'll have ever taken back-to-back cruises. Stay tuned for more travel updates. In approximately 40 days, I'll leave for a 2 week adventure where I'll visit 9 islands in 14 days. It should be something.

Uros Indians

One of the most interesting groups I got to learn about while touring Peru with Globus this January was the Uros Indians. The indians history goes back centuries. They were living at Lake Titicaca when the legendary Incas rose to power. The Incas conquered the area and, they demanded the Uros pay either tribute or in labor. The only tribute the Uros could give the Incas was salt which they refused. The Uros refused to work for the Incas so the Incas kicked them off the land. For centuries, the Uros would live on the lake on house boats. Then, at a time where the water was low on the lake, apparently some reeds grew through some lake soil. When the waters rose again, the soil with the reeds floated. These pieces of floating land would form the basis for the Uros man made floating islands which over 1,000 of them live on today as you can see in these pictures. The first pictures shows how the Uros build their islands. They constantly replenish the reeds on the islands so their islands don't fall apart. The second picture shows the colorful dress of Uros women. Men typically wear colorful hats as seen in the first picture. The last picture shows a uniquely Uros way of raising guinea pigs which are raised for food. In this case, the Uros built a small island within their main island for their guinea pigs to live. Presumably, the guinea pigs can't swim so the water makes a very effective gate to keep their guinea pigs in one place.

Summer Fresh Tuscan Bean Salad Review

Occasionally, I'll get an itch to try a product I haven't tried before. Such was the case with Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad. The Arundel Mills Costco had a 2 pound plastic tub of Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad for sale for $6 or $7 (not sure on the exact price). I decided to try it. The salad turned out to pretty good. It has barley, navy beans, chickpeas (also known as garbanzos), pieces of green pepper, red pepper, green onions and canola oil. A 1/2 cup serving contains 140 calories and will provide 5 grams of dietary fiber (20% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber). The salad is also high in Vitamin C.

I found the salad tasty. All the ingredients meshed well. Also, the canola oil wasn't overbearing. You didn't get an oily taste with the salad. Based on the dietary information, the salad seems to be a good healthy one. Less than half the calories in a 1/2 cup serving are fat. Also, in my opinion, the salad isn't overly expensive. In regards to where to get it, the only place I know of that sells it is Costco though I'd be willing to bet there are others. If you like bean type salads, this one might be one you might want to try.

Update February 23, 2014: Within the past week, I checked the Costco stores in Elkridge,  Arundel Mills, Beltsville and Wheaton, Maryland for this product. To my disappointment, none of them are carrying it for some reason. I hope it's because they see it as a seasonal item vice permanently dropping it. I plan to check for it again when it gets closer to summer. Stay tuned.

Update February 26, 2014: Add Costco's Glen Burnie, Maryland store to the list of stores NOT carrying Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean salad. :-( Today, I checked that one while I was out that way and, they didn't have it.

Update April 27, 2014: Thanks to a Eric Coffman, a reader of my blog and commenter, I found out Costco is carrying this salad again. I was able to buy 2 tubs of it at the Arundel Mills Costco for $7.79 each. The product still comes in 2 pound tubs.

Update September 13, 2015: The price of $7.79 for a 2 pound tub of the salad is still good. I bought a tub from the Arundel Mills Costco on September 9, 2015 and, that was the price for it.