Bring Back Roman Numerals

OK, let's start the new year with a bit o' controversy. I want to jump headfirst into the great debate - "2010" how should it be pronounced? "Twenty-ten" or "Two-thousand-ten"? Any thoughts?

Personally, I think this would be a great time to revert to the Roman system "MMX" it could be pronounced "mix" - here, I'll use it in a sentence, "I think MMX is going to be a much better year than MMIX". Damn, that won't work. Those Romans had it so easy, they never even got to see the Ms in their empire. "Hey Claudius, what are your CDLXVII year's resolutions. . ."

Can you imagine your practice management software using roman numerals? That crown preparation appointment (dental code D MMDCCL) is going to take LXII minutes and cost $CMLIV.

On second thought, I vote for "Twenty-ten."

On the dental front, December was CRAAAAAAZZZZZZYYYYY. We did a month's worth of dentistry in 2 weeks. I stay open between Christmas and New Year's and with the holidays falling on Fridays this year we were open a lot. It is great from a production standpoint, but I would love for those patients to spread it out a little. Throw me a bone in November.

It was a good reminder to me, and I pointed it out to the staff, that the economy cannot be blamed for our scheduling issues. When the urgency is there, the patients are getting in and getting the work done. That urgency was provided by end-of-the-year benefits periods, but we as a staff need to create that urgency every month of the year. If a filling needs to be done, we need to make sure that the patient understands the importance of following through. MMX is going to be a year where we work on that.

Was it just me or was the first decade of the XXIst Century weird. I mean, a lot happened to me during this last decade, but it feels like a lost X years. Let me inventory: My law firm split, my son was born, I left the legal practice, I returned to college for dental prerequisites, the World Trade Center bombing, accepted to dental school, turned XXX, left family and friends to move to Kansas City, bought a house, Susan got a job up here, started school, school, school, school, moved across town, Susan got a different job, school, school, school, my daughter born, my nephew born, school, school, my brother dies, my grandma dies, take boards, my uncle dies, school, clinical boards, start my own dental practice, debt, debt, debt, debt, Susan starts her veterinary dental practice, debt, debt, debt, celebrate XVIth wedding anniversary, Christmas, New decade.

Now, I left a couple things out, but you get the gist of it. I'm ready for this next decade. I will turn XL, II of my kids will graduate high school (God willing), I will celebrate my XXV wedding anniversary, I will be debt-free, and it will (maybe) be the first decade of my life where I am not a full-time student. Maybe, I will even remember what it is like to sleep a full-night without panic attacks.

should be fun,

have a great day.

ric