I've used clear dental aligners for 12 weeks. This my experience.

Some of you expressed interest in my experience with clear dental aligners from Smile Direct Club. (Previously known as Smile Care Club.)
I have been using the aligners for 12 weeks now and have had a problem free experience so far. But there are a few notes I'd like to mention if you are considering these for yourself. But first, progress pictures!

Before I started my treatment:

After 12 weeks of the treatment:

The angle of the second photo is slightly different than the first, so that changes the perspective a little, but you can still see the progress, especially with the top teeth.

The treatment plan I believe is about the same for everyone, except for the length of the treatment.
When you first get started, you have to take photos of your teeth from several different angles and submit them online. This feels kind of ridiculous as the faces you make while doing this look insane. I actually cropped the photos so they only showed my mouth.
Once they approve the photos, you buy a $95 evaluation kit. It includes a kit for making an impression of your teeth. They use these impressions to create your aligners. If they decide after receiving the impressions that you don't qualify for the program, they will refund you the $95.
If you are accepted and you decide to proceed, you have to pay $300 up front and then $100 per month for the duration of the treatment plan. I believe my treatment plan lasts 15 months.

When you get your first set of aligners, the first thing you will notice when putting them on is how tight they are. They will probably hurt too. They usually hurt for the first day or so. All of the movement that each set of aligners do is on the first day. After that, the aligners just hold your teeth in place while your jawbone and gums "heal them into place."
You wear each set of aligners for 3 weeks.

The only issues I've had were with the first set of aligners scraping the inside of my mouth slightly. I haven't noticed that being an issue with the subsequent aligners. On the current (5th) set of aligners, I've noticed that as my two front teeth are being pushed closer together, the gum is being squeezed behind them, causing the roof of my mouth to wrinkle. This seems to be going away progressively. This isn't really a big concern for me though.

Smile Direct Club tells you to clean the aligners only with cold water. I actually don't know how I could stand wearing them without actually brushing them with toothpaste. I used toothpaste that is a gel and doesn't have any grit to it.
There have been no issues with the aligners after cleaning them regularly this way.

Anyway, this is about the extent of my experience so far. If you have any questions, please let me know.

The 50/50 rule. (Or, "Should You Really Just Live For The Moment?")

 The 50/50 Rule.

    Who is more valuable: Yourself now, or your future self?
    Memes are floating all over the internet telling you how you should always live for the moment. But it doesn't take much to realize that approach to life isn't without its problems. If you don't spend some time preparing for the future, (perhaps by working to earn money) you will likely be in a situation you don't want to find yourself in. Possibly without shelter, food, adequate clothing, or (gasp!) cell service.
    However, if you only spend your time working and saving for the future, you won't have much of a life now. And you might die before you expect, effectively wasting your life preparing for a future that you didn't have.
So throughout your life, what is the best way to allocate the one most valuable resource we have?
    One major problem with figuring out the answer to this question is the fact that we have no idea how long we are going to live. We know the average life expectancy of US citizens, (78.7 years) but your life might be significantly shorter or longer. Heck, we might even soon see technology that enables people to live indefinitely, assuming they never get blown up or melted in vat of acid. So unfortunately, all we can do is represent your life in terms of percentages.
    If you were to spend all of your time living for the moment, this is what a graph of your life would look like:

    And this is if you spent all of your time living for the future:

    The fundamental problem with only living for the future is that there is no room to ever enjoy life. It's always about the future. Even when you get to the future.
The problem with only living for the present is that you are effectively ruining life for yourself in the future. These are both problematic. So what if you averaged them together? You'd get this:

You are effectively spending half of your time for the moment, and half for the future.
    But what about the fact that life is allegedly finite? Shouldn't we spend more time living for the moment the older we get? I mean, once you're old, you've got little left to lose, right? This is what that would look like:

But wait! Statistically, the longer you live, the more likely you are to die! So shouldn't you live more for the moment when you're younger? That would be something like this:

Well, the last graph doesn't make any sense, does it? Why would you spend more time living for the future the older you get? Your future is theoretically shrinking, and your likelihood of dying is going up! But living for the moment when you're young means having to spend more time saving for your older years in your midlife. These graphs are simplified ideals, obviously. But once again, if you average the graphs together, you get this:

Once again, we're back to 50/50.
    Every time I have come up with a reason to slant the graph one way or another, I have always found something that averaged it back to 50%. So it presently would appear that the best way to allocate your time is following what I call the 50/50 rule. Spend 50% of your time living for the moment, and 50% living for the future. Because you know that not preparing for the future is unwise. And you don't know what the future holds, or how much of it you have.


Ps. I'm sure there are good critiques of this thought. Please let me know what they are in a gentle and tactful manner. ;)

Autotune Live

So it seems that Antares is at it again.
They just announced today the release of Autotune Live. A software plugin specifically to use in live performance situations where you are either mixing with, or processing your vocal with a computer instead of standalone processors.
No matter what you might think about the use of such a tool in a live setting, you have to admit it's a pretty cool trick. It even allows for the targeting or specific notes in real time. So for instance, you could play the melody you want to sing on a keyboard and record the MIDI data, and then use that to target notes via autotone. As long as you stay mostly in rhythm, you will always hit the right note! Cheating? Perhaps. But is it really the fact that singers hit perfect notes that makes us love them, or is it what they're saying and how they're saying it?
I guess that's still up for debate, huh?

http://www.antarestech.com/products/auto-tune_live.shtml

Top Ten Adventures.

After bicycling across the north-american continent, I've set my sights a little higher! I love adventure and exploration, so I figured I needed some more! I think this list of my top ten adventures probably includes a few places you want to visit!

10. Go Skydiving.

This being the most basic, and probably most commonly shared adventure goal on this list, I figured it should go first. I would go skydiving pretty much anywhere, but a really neat location would be great too!








9. Hang Glide Over Ha Long Bay.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam looks amazing to me. I don't even know if they do hang gliding there, or if they would even allow it. But I think it would be great. Especially at sunrise.











8. Circumnavigate The Earth, Unpowered.

What I mean by unpowered is 'no motors'. I would use sailboats to get across water, and probably a bike for land. If I wanted it to be completely human-powered, I could use a customized human-powered hydrofoil to cross the water with.





7. Kayak Down The Amazon River.

I've only been kayaking once, on a very calm river. But I loved it so much that I decided I needed to do more over it. A lot more of it.
I would probably use a standard Plastic kayak. They seem to be pretty lightweight and sturdy, and can take a few collisions with no problem.







6. Scuba Dive Down The Great Blue Hole.

I'm sure this is not nearly as interesting to see (If you even can see down there.) as a shipwreck or something, but it still seems like the thing to try when SCUBA diving. I have never been SCUBA diving before, but I love the idea of being able to stay underwater for extended periods of time.




5. Visit The Bottom Of Mariana Trench.

Yet another Aquatic-wannado. I'm not sure how I would go about doing this exactly. I don't know anyone with a submarine, let alone one that can handle over 15,000 psi! But I'll figure it out!











4. Swim In The Devil's Swimming Pool At Victoria Falls.

This is one I've thought about for a long time! Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe has the largest curtain of falling water in the world. And also happens to have a stone pool at the top that you can go swimming in and not fall over the edge!

3. Trek Across Antarctica To The South Pole.

I've always found Antarctica very intriguing, and if I don't get to trek to the South Pole, I would at least like to go camping there. And maybe start a new country on the 1/8th of it that isn't claimed by a country.







2. Climb Mount Everest.

While certainly this would be quite the undertaking, I think I would do this one even more cautiously than most. I've heard too many stories of people dying...
However, it's still something I want to do.






1. Circumnavigate The Moon.

Say what?
Most people would be content with just visiting the Moon. But not me. Oh no! I want to be the first person to circumnavigate it. Preferably by human-power. Like on a moon-bike or something.
Since I'm looking into an aerospace engineering career for after I turn 35, and have played enough concerts for 8 lifetimes, I figured, eh, why not? I could hook up with someone like Sir Richard Branson, and make it happen!

I Can Do Anything!

I grew up without much TV. What I did watch was usually PBS. Shows like Arthur, The Magic School Bus, Wishbone, etc. These shows all tend to emanate the thought "You can do anything." "You can be whatever you want to be."
I thought everyone knew this. I thought this was common knowledge. But apparently I am one of the few people who heard that and actually believed it whole-heartedly.
When I say "Man, I would love to make a computer game!" or "I would love to build a sky-scraper!" or "I want to bike across the continent!" I say it differently than most people. Or mean it differently. When most people say things like that, they are saying "I wish." When I say things like that, I usually mean "I intend."
Why don't people believe in themselves? Is it really our parents and educators fault that we don't believe in ourselves? Or is that just how most humans are naturally?
Looking back on my life, I do feel like I have always been optimistic and self-confident. And I mean from a very early age. I did grow up in an environment where I was encouraged to believe in myself, but I think I started out that way.
What is the real reason most people don't have self-confidence? And why do so many, when they see true self confidence, show disdain or label as egotistical?

-Gabriel

You're On A Diet!?

It happens to me all the stinkin' time. I'm at someone's house, or a restaurant with friends, and I'm offered something especially tasty, that also happens to be diabetes on a plate. I usually say something like "Oh, no thanks." or find some other smooth way respectfully decline. And then they ask the question. I don't know why they feel it's necessary, or even polite to ask, but they do.

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why don't you want any?"

And that starts it. Now I have to try to explain without getting myself and everyone around in too deep.
"I'm on a diet." is my usual approach to giving as little information for them to continue the conversation as possible.

"You're kidding! You're on a diet!? Why!? Like you need it!"

"Um, to stay in the condition I want."

Seriously people. I don't really consider myself to be on a diet. It's kind of a lifestyle thing. That's what it's supposed to be! Now, sure I'll eat ice cream occasionally, but it's not a consistent thing. The point is, the reason I'm in the condition I'm in is because I watch what I eat regularly. Not just when I want to drop a couple of pounds. Most of the people I know who are in at least descent shape are that way because they intend to be that way, not because they were just born skinnier.

Granted, I actually weigh more now than almost ever before in my life. Part of that is left over from the weight I gained on my transcontinental bicycle trip, but part of it is because I haven't watched what I eat as consistently as I used to. Also, I think I'm probably still transitioning out of my youthful body into an adult body. Which generally means you weigh more.

I digress.

But my rant is over, so it doesn't really matter that I digressed.

Thanks.

-Gabriel

Everyone cancels on me. But I'm still happy.

I like making things. I like making things that I've never made before. I also like projects that I don't need help with. Why? Because if something screws up, I can fix it on my own terms, and I don't have to worry about someone else's expectations. It seems like every time I get involved in a multi-person project, something gets messed up, and the whole thing is ruined just because an outside party didn't hold their end up, or didn't follow through, or in some cases never got involved like I thought they would.
Why is it that humans are so notoriously unreliable? I guess we all know the answer to that question. It was mostly rhetorical anyway.
I feel like I do a good job at most everything I do. I just want others to do the same!

-Gabriel