For a cosmetic dentist, Beverly Hills is the top of the world. But it’s not an easy life there. You have to maintain the most state-of-the-art technology as well as your reputation as a world-class dentist. On a daily basis you must act as a five star hotel maitres d’, image consultant, and travel agent for your patients. And occasionally, even on your best work, you will have patients go berserk about something you did (whether you really did or not) and you’ll have to move mountains to make them happy.

It’s no wonder the average Beverly Hills cosmetic dentist career is so short. It’s a draining lifestyle. Fortunately, they make enough during their careers to retire comfortably at an early age. And in the mean time they’re hobnobbing with celebrities and enjoying occasional lavish leisure time.

If this kind of life appeals to you, good luck. It’s almost as difficult to become a movie star as it is to become a cosmetic dentist in Beverly Hills. Your best bet is to set up a residency in town. (It helps if you already know someone.) That way you can get to know the demands of the job that have absolutely nothing to do with dentistry. And maybe you can get in on the practice full time. You might even be able to take it over when your mentor retires at a young age.

But know you won’t inherit a star studded clientele just by working with a highly sought-after Beverly Hills cosmetic dentist. Your name is everything in this town, so you will have to establish yourself as a world-class dentist in your own right. This will involve a lot of PR work and luck. And you better actually be a world-class dentist when you get here or no amount of PR will make up for it. This is one area where being the boss’s son doesn’t cut it.

You’ll also need a great staff who know the demands of your highly entitled Beverly Hills patients. Many offices have in-house aromatherapists, concierges, and travel planners.

So if you think you can handle the rigor of getting into a Beverly Hills dentistry practice, learning to juggle many other responsibilities, and dealing with celebrities on a daily basis, you might be able to make it in Beverly Hills.

Arthur Glosman DDS
450 N. Roxbury Drive Suite 222
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 651-319

I love living in the Bay area. I’ve never had any reason to want to leave. But I do recommend taking a vacation after you get your San Jose lasik eye surgery – at least if you get it done during a foggy time of year.

Don’t get me wrong. Lasik San Jose surgeons are very professional and use the most advanced equipment availible. The problem is that I was nearsighted before I went in for lasik. And when you have a procedure like that you expect a dramatic improvement. I did see improvement. But as the days past I noticed I wasn’t seeing distant lines as crisply as I thought I should. My vision was supposed to be 20/20 now. I started to wonder what I had paid all that money for.

So I went back to the doctor who performed my San Jose lasik eye surgery and asked if there was a reason my vision would be having problems. He examined my eyes again and said they looked perfect. He tested my vision and, indeed, it was 20/20. But things didn’t look 20/20 outside. I went to another eye clinic and they told me the same thing.

When I was younger I was able to see the smallest details from miles away, but now I could never quite get what I thought was a perfect focus on the ships in the Bay. Maybe I was just too old and I would never have that kind of vision again.

Although I was seeing better than I had in years, the idea that I was too old to see as well as I once did depressed me. Then one day we had a strong wind blow in from the ocean. It blew the ubiquitous Bay area fog out of the sky and we had the brightest, clearest day we’d seen in months. All of a sudden, I could see clearly across the Bay. I was shocked and delighted.

I’d lived in the Bay area for so long that I forgot that the fog was even there. It took an unseasonably clear day to show me what my eyes were capable of. I sat and watched the ships for most of that day.

I still love living in the Bay area. But leave the coast for a week if you get lasik in San Jose.

Turner Eye Institute
50 E Hamilton Ave, Suite 100
Campbell, CA 95008
(408)374-2020

Some men like to wear jewelry, which is fine. I’m not going to tell Mr. T he’s less of a man for it. But for a lot of men, the only pieces of jewelry they would ever wear are bracelets for fallen war buddies and wedding rings.

So my question for those men is if you aren’t the type to pretty yourself up with jewelry, why wear a bright silver or gold wedding ring? I get the whole precious metal thing I suppose – maybe it signifies the value of your marriage. But I bet you don’t reflect on that everyday, especially after a few years when it’s tarnished and dinged up.

In the old days, a bent rusty nail made the point just as well as an expensive gold ring does now. These days there’s a way to get quiet masculine dignity of a rusty nail without the tetanus. Tungsten carbide wedding bands are sharp looking without drawing undue attention – like the barrel of a well polished gun. And you can’t beat the fact that you’re wearing a ring made out of a light bulb filament.

Tungsten wedding rings are incredibly durable compared to gold or silver, which is not only more practical considering the kind of work most men do with their hands, it seems like a better metaphor for marriage.

When tungsten wedding rings use nickel as a binder metal they are virtually hypoallergenic. This is a concern with a lot of men who have had reactions to silver.

Tungsten rings haven’t been around for very long but I think they’re a great choice for the less flashy men out there. Guys like Mr. T can have all the attention they want. Men’s black tungsten rings let your quiet confidence speak for itself.

Mens Tungsten Online
Ph: (800) 699-8076

I’ve never been squeamish about being in a locker room or the lack of privacy that comes along with being an athlete. But for whatever reason, I can’t have my physical done at the Kaysville family practice where I’ve been going since I was little.

I know it’s just a quick turn your head and cough and that my doctor has done it for a million different guys just like me. But I can’t bring myself to have him do my physical. Maybe I’m afraid it will change our relationship somehow. I remember being excited to go in for checkups because he was so friendly and the receptionist always gave me a balloon as I left. I guess he’s too much like a family member.

The first time I got a sports physical my regular doctor was out of town so I went to another Kaysville family practice. I think all boys are pretty shocked the first time they get checked for hernias, especially if you don’t know it’s coming. I left pretty embarrassed. Maybe that’s why it’s such a big deal to me now.

Fortunately, there are a lot of places to go for a Kaysville sports physical. When I was younger I started to tell my mom I didn’t like the clinic I’d always gone to because I didn’t think the doctor was very good or I didn’t like the smell of the place or some other excuse. Eventually, I didn’t go there for anything else either, and I started to miss them.

When I got old enough to drive, my mom had me take my little sister in for a checkup. The staff was happy to see me and I enjoyed talking about how I was doing in sports and my plans for college. My doctor pointed out that it was close to time for my annual physical. I guess he read the look on my face perfectly. He came in close and said with a smile, “Some things are better left to strangers, eh.” And he slapped me on the arm.

The other day I went to my family doctor for a bad case of athletes foot. We had a good visit. But goes without saying when I need a physical, I go to a Kaysville sports physical specialist.

Kaysville Clinic
120 South Main St.
Kaysville, UT 84037
Ph: 801-544-4227

When I was a kid the thing my friends and I talked about more than anything was building the ultimate clubhouse. What we were all picturing was the tree house built on The Swiss Family Robinson. They had convertible roofs, swings, a nearby natural water slide, and monkeys. It was a kid’s paradise.

Now I know it wasn’t feasible considering they were shipwrecked with minimal tools and supplies, but I’ve never given up on the idea of building a bucket elevator like the one the Robinsons used to provide running water.

It’s pretty similar to any conveyor belt you’ve ever seen. You will need a cord that won’t rust and won’t stretch when wet. Stainless steel cable is ideal, rubber belting works, a thick non-nylon rope would do. You need a couple of pulley wheels, several buckets that can be firmly attached to the cord that won’t rust, and a propulsion mechanism.

Choose a solid place to install your bucket elevator where it will be useful or you can build a frame and make a mobile conveyor. Place the bottom pulley wheel a couple inches above the water source. The two wheels need to be solid and well aligned to maintain the tension of the cord.

Whatever you use as a cord you need to make sure it won’t twist as it moves around the system or it will cause real problems when the buckets meet the wheels. If using a rope, splice the ends together and use a couple of O-rings to keep it tight. Once the cord is secure, attach the buckets. O-rings work well with rope, or whatever metal clasps you can find that fit your particular cord material. Make sure they’re lined up as to not fight the pulley wheels.

The last thing to think about is your propulsion system. The Robinsons’ was hydropowered, which works well where you’re drawing from a brook or river. You’ll have to construct a circular paddle system for this. Other options are manual power (an old bicycle works well for this) or to attach a motor (boring but more practical with a mobile conveyor).

You may be thinking, “A simple pump would be much easier to install and do the job better.” If so, you are missing the point. This way is much more satisfying and could be a great project to do with kids. So good luck and enjoy your home-made bucket elevator.

Cambelt International Corp.
2820 W 1100 So.
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Ph: (801) 972-5511

I’ve always wanted to work in hospitality. I just couldn’t get a job. It was hard to accept that the reason I couldn’t get past a first interview was that I just wasn’t an attractive person.

You might think I’m having delusions of persecution or I’m oversensitive about my body image, but accepting that I was homely was the turning point in my life and career. My grades in college were excellent; phone conversations always went great. But the simple fact is hotels, resorts, and restaurants only want to hire beautiful people.

This realization came to me shortly after I finally got a job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I wore a Mickey Mouse costume. One day while watching an episode of “What Not To Wear”, it occurred to me that the reason the only job I could get was wearing a mask was that I was really hideous – repulsive even.

I’d been denying this for my whole life or hating others for being superficial. But they were just acknowledging a fact that I couldn’t. I was really ugly. I determined then to change this.

I immediately had my eyebrows waxed, got advice on dressing more stylishly, and got a gym membership.

But my problems were deeper than that. My teeth were grotesquely uneven. I knew I needed intense reconstructive dentistry, so I asked around for a good dentist in Orlando. A year of working out, improved grooming, and reconstructive dentistry later, I was a new person. I started getting noticed for being a snappy dresser and for my confident smile, and I recently landed a new job as a host at a hotel (without a mask).

It was hard to accept that I was ugly, but as soon as I did knew I could change it. Confidence is an addictive feeling and it shows. Now I love my life, my job, and my dentist in Orlando, Florida.

Dynamic Smile Design
1600 E. Hillcrest Street
Orlando, FL 32803
Ph: (407) 956-2522

Utah is the wrong place to test DUI laws and enforcement. Not that it’s good anywhere, but sentencing a DUI in Utah is like golfing to a judge. It’s why they get up in the morning. Here are a few tips that can help you stay out of their way and avoid a lot of trouble.

1. You don’t have to have a blood alcohol content over the legal limit (.08) to get a DUI. Driving over the limit is a separate charge. A cop can issue a DUI no matter what your level is based on your driving and possibly failure to pass a few motor tests. If you’re going to be driving within a few hours, don’t take a drink. It’s not just that you might cause an accident, it can become a pretext for a DUI whether you feel drunk or not.

2. Don’t take the threat of a DUI lightly. You won’t get a slap on the wrist for a first offense. A likely scenario with your first Utah DUI is that you’ll go to jail for 48 hours (not including the initial night), receive a fine of $700, lose your license for 120 days, and gain a lifetime mark on your record that immediately makes people think you’re an out-of-control alcoholic.

3. If you are arrested, hire a good Utah DUI attorney. I imagine highway patrolmen’s mouths start to water when they see a car drifting over the line on a Saturday night. This kind of motivation is good for catching drunk drivers. But if you are in the category of “He’s not clearly intoxicated, but better safe than sorry,” it can ruin your day for a lot of days to come. This is when I feel OK about recommending getting a Utah DUI attorney. They are experts in police and court procedure and can make sure you don’t get swept away in the zeal to rid the streets of drunk drivers. And don’t worry, you’ll have time to do this between the arrest and your court hearing.

David Rosenbloom/ Utah DUI Attorney
7620 Royal Street Ste. 202A
Park City, Utah 84060
Ph: (435) 649-9300