Yup, it was a very good to meet up!
Matthew neglected to mention comparing notes on some of the more incompetent people one encounters while TAing.

The only dim point of the evening was that as it progressed a minor toothache that started two days ago as I set foot on US soil got steadily worse.
I'm debating whether to make use of the extra healthcare coverage I purchased for going into the US (you don't go to the US without making sure you're covered ) or waiting until I get out of the airplane in Toronto (tomorrow afternoon). It'll depend on how it develops during the evening; right now a maximum dosage of paracetamol (that I actually couldn't find because it's called acetaminophen down here but ended up buying by accident anyway) is keeping the pain down and my head clear.

Meanwhile I've passed the time until I can see a dentist by looking up all sorts of horrible causes for toothache on wikipedia, many of which are described as "self healing" after several days and causing "excruciating pain" in the mean time.

In good news and if all goes well, I should be staying in Toronto itself next week Tuesday-Thursday (I'll be there on Friday but will want to go back to Hamilton in the evening). At least one of my nights is booked by an official dinner (I'll have to look up which one). Those of you from the Toronto area who are complaining they couldn't make it to the awesome Chicago meeting can let me know.

My guess, based on personal experience, is that the cuts didn't heal properly and the place where your wisdom tooth used to be is now full of food, causing a lovely infection. Any dentist can quickly and easily suck all of that out, and give you antibiotics.

That's what happened to me three to four weeks after getting my wisdom teeth extracted (full bony impaction, eww).

Of course, if you were in Europe, you'd have to wait one year to see a dentist, and die in the meantime.

You mean ... I'm ... aging?

Ok, now I'm curious!

The one in my profile, say?
Which is really old by the way.

It could be. I was rinsing with chlorhexidine from the day prior to the extraction and the week after, and then again towards the end of the week after the dentist had looked at how things looked. Since you're not supposed to use it for a long time I didn't take any back to Canada instead had to rely on regular brushing and dental sticks again. Most of the gum was pretty badly inflamed by that time already, but it didn't actually hurt...

That would fit the time frame. I noticed the stitches are gone, but there is still a deep opening in the gum where the tooth used to be and what looks like an ulcer at the end of it.
What worries me is the pressure sensitivity of the tooth next to it (even on paracetamol I can't chew on that side), but hopefully that's just a result of the swelling of the gum.

It feels a little bit better now than it did this afternoon, so I'll sit out the short plane flight to Toronto on pain killers and see a doctor as soon as possible after that.

Luckily I'm from the Netherlands, where typically my dentist has time to see me on a one or two week notice, unless it's an emergency (this would qualify), in which case they either fit you in (I think they have time slots reserved for emergency cases), or redirect you to an emergency clinic.
Of course in the US, I'd have my problems seen to and then have to spent the rest of my life paying back the bills. Or I could go to Cuba, where apparently they provide charity healthcare to US tourists.

I considered it, but where I'm from ibuprofen (in those dosages certainly) is prescription only, so I'm hesitant to buy it by my self (I know I can here). Ibuprofen does work better, but the paracetamol seems to be fine so far though.

One annoying thing: you're supposed to wait 6 hours between dosages. After about five hours the effect starts to wear off (in both paracetamol and ibuprofen). :X