Amoena visits Hammaslääkärikeskus Helmi and likes the place

Feel free to call me crazy but I just love to visit a dentist. It's like one of my many favorite things. Seriously. That's why I wanted to study to be a dental hygienist in the first place. Anyway. Last Friday I visited a new dental office. It's called Hammaslääkärikeskus Helmi and it's located in Leppävaara, Espoo.

I arranged my appointment via Internet. They have a special form for that on their website. I simply wrote to it when I would like to come and in less than an hour I received a SMS saying that they have made an appointment for me. It couldn't have been any easier.

I've seen Hammaslääkärikeskus Helmi from the outside more than once and it always looked like a very nice place. But it looked even nicer when I actually got inside. I wonder if they have intentionally chosen such a calming color for their reception:


This picture is stolen from their website. I took one picture too, and it was actually quite decent one, but there was a lady standing behind the desk so I thought it wouldn't be appropriate to post it here.

While I was waiting for my appointment I filled my anamnesis. I had to write down where I work and it was actually a bit funny. I happen to work in Hammasväline Oy, which happens to be their wholesaler of dental instruments and equipments. So we were technically like each other's clients.

Sauli, the dentist who treated me, was really good at his job and he was nice (and quite cute) too. I've met many dentists because of my former studies, but so far he's been my absolute favorite. He totally made me trust his expertise and he was also very approachable. It was easy to ask questions from him and I felt that he gave me his honest opinions. I think that's important when forming a doctor - patient relationship.

Even though Hammaslääkärikeskus Helmi may seem quite trendy, it's totally affordable. Of course it's not cheap since it's a private dental office, but it's not too pricey either. My visit cost 43 euros (with KELA card!) and it included a checkup and a prophylaxis. I glanced through their overall price chart while I was waiting for my appointment and all their prices seemed very reasonable.

I'm blogging all this because I know how hard it is to find a good dentist. So if you happen to live in Leppävaara or nearby, and you're planning to visit a dentist, please consider Hammaslääkärikeskus Helmi.

UPDATE: Basic wisdom teeth removal costs 40€. That's not much.

It's late at night but I'm feeling bright

I have a confession to make. (I'm sorry, Hannes, I know you're totally going to dislike this.) But little while ago I bought a pack of cigarettes. It was mostly because I was depressed.

I'm a big girl and I'm not ashamed for the fact that I smoke sometimes. It's like this one bad habit I allow myself to have. I just have some simple rules to control this. For example I never ever smoke if there's a friend present who doesn't smoke. OK, I have bended this rule, but should every rule be bended like once before they become like real rules? And I don't usually buy my own smokes. I just grab them somewhere if I want to smoke.

OK. I guess there's nothing to justify this. I smoke. I know it's not good for me. I don't do it often and if someone important enough asks me to not smoke ever again, I would gladly give up. Like there's something to give up. I've been smoking like this for years and still I'm not even a bit addicted. I guess I miss than gene.

I have my own apt now. And my own balcony. And no one to tell me I can't smoke there. So sometimes I just sit there, smoking and listening to the traffic. It makes me feel strangely connected with the world. I know I could feel the same way without smoking. It just helps me to focus.

Anyway. This all reminded me of the last poem I wrote. It was years ago and I never really finished it. It was just something I scrabbled down while I was sitting there. I'll just post it here even though it's in Finnish:

Öisin parvekkeella
kuuntelen elämisen ääniä
valoja ikkunoissa
tunnustelen tietä koteihin

En oppisi tuntemaan sinua
vaikka avaisit verhosi

Tämä kaupunki
minun jalkojeni juuressa
huutaa
niin kuin minäkin

I guess I just tried to express how lonely I sometimes feel. I have everything around me but I don't feel so connected. I don't know why feeling so is important to me. I just feel like I need to be part of something bigger. But don't we all?

Note to self

Instead of digging clothes back from the laundry bin, you could actually wash the laundry.

Why I have been quiet lately

I've been sad and depressed lately. I don't know why. Maybe it's because of the summer. I have started to miss those summers when everything was still so very simple. When I was naive and the world was oh so open to me. And when it was just me and V. and playgrounds and cigarettes and silly chats.

I don't miss V. though she was out of doubt one of the greatest friends I've ever had. I kinda hope that she doesn't read my blog anymore. Or maybe she does. I don't know what kind of a stalker she is nowadays. Anyway. She changed and she wanted to get rid of me. I understand that. And I still believe that it was her who ended our friendship. I might have had some part in it, but it was her. I was here, I was always here. She was never there, she never invited me in.

Anyway. So I've been sad. And I have never been this low. And I'm not even deep. I'm just... sick. I have had these periods of darker thoughts ever since I remember. I'm used to this. I'm just worried that my friends, hopefully I still have some, aren't. I don't need them to save me when I tell them how I feel. I just want them to understand that I'm going trough something and I need some time get over this.

And I will get over this. Like I have before. I might just need some time. Or some J.R. Either will do.

Service Pack did no service to me

On Thursday I tried to install Service Pack for my Vista but it started to act up. I'm not sure what went wrong, but according to Hannes I probably shouldn't have booted it in the middle of the process, even though I am quite sure it was already dead by then. And it remained dead no matter what. Anyway. Since Hannes happens to be my official Vista support I asked him to come over and fix it for me.

I know, that's lame. I should be a good nerd and fix it by myself. But I have already complained here on my blog how nerdism isn't so black and white. You may know something about something and nothing about something else. For example I'm specialized in blogging and social web stuff and I also know something about CSS/HTML and other web design related stuff. But I know absolutely nothing about hardware or how to handle specific Windows Vista errors...

So on Friday Hannes came by. And he totally fixed my Vista by unplugging something (according to Hannes you should not have TV attached to your laptop while doing these things) and something something something. I'm not sure what he did but my laptop is totally working again. Yay! And then we made rhubarb fool together and ate it with vanilla ice cream.