Brazil Feb/March 2007 Day 5
We were on the clinic again all day today. We managed to see all of the patients for whom we had previously taken impressions. The purpose was to verify the fit of the abutments and frameworks that had been made.
Mohammed checks the fit of an implant abutment assisted by Yih Jia,
Yih Jia and I went for a walk around town at lunchtime
Raj got through absolutely loads assisted by me and sometimes Primo. This is partly because Raj is a very good operator, partly because we had some fairly straightforward ones to do but also because Raj and I have a working understanding which keeps things moving along smartly. However our luck ran out with the last patient and we had a casting that didn't fit. It took some time to identify the problem. Raj assured me that the problem was due a faulty transfer of the implant position and it took me a while to verify that he was right all along. Yes I could have just believed him, just don't go on about it okay? We all make mistakes, live with it, etc etc. I took over at this stage since Raj had already done dozens of try ins. We finished about 7.30. We were due to finish at 7.00 so it was by no means a disaster.
This building is just on the corner near the University. we walked past it on the way to the Restaurant in the evening. It looks great lit up at night.
In the Restaurant in Pindamonhangaba
Straight after the clinic we went to a Restaurant in Pindamonhangaba town that we also went to in August. Later we headed back to the hotel and Mohammed, Nadeem and I stayed up for a while to have a drink in the bar. Mohammed helped me to transfer my photographs to my computer so that I could put them on the website and then I er....flooded the ground floor of the hotel. I should explain. It wasn't really my fault, honest.
I went back to my room and began work on my computer. After a short visit to the gentleman's facilities I gave the toilet a flush, returned to my desk and immersed myself once more in my work. However, unknown to me, the ball cock in the cistern had jammed and therefore failed to shut off the water as is normal behaviour for ball cocks. The unfortunate result was that whilst I was staring intently at my computer, the water in the cistern was rising. It spilled over, then began to fill the bathroom. Thus on my next visit some time later I was alarmed to find myself standing in the middle of a paddling pool. At this stage I didn't feel that this simple plumbing dilemma was beyond even my limited capacity as a handyman so I confidently lifted the lid off the cistern. A nifty adjustment of said ball cock and the flow was stemmed. I followed this with a turn of the drainage cover in the tiled floor and the water began to disappear. All seemed to be returning reassuringly to normal. However events were about to take a more serious turn. As I basked in the afterglow of my plumbing triumph the telephone rang ominously in my room. I began to suspect that matters may have progressed beyond my cognition. "Sir, we think there is a water problem coming from your room" said the voice. "Yes I know", I replied confidently, "It was your ball cock, but I have performed a simple plumbing task and all is now well". "Sir we think you should open your door" he said insistently. I began to fear the worst yet hoped that there might be a small to medium sized puddle limited to the immediate vicinity of my door where a minor trickle of water had escaped. I could not have been prepared for the sight of the whole of the ground floor corridor under an inch or so of water and a forlorn looking maid making desperate yet futile brushing movements as she stood ankle deep in water. This was about 1.30am.
There were some positive points I think. One is that I now know how to stop ball cocks from jamming and this knowledge will surely stand me in good stead for any future visits. Another is that I am on the ground floor now and so didn't flood any floors below. Thirdly the floors are tiled so thankfully there was no water damage.
The guilt is stating to wear off a little now.