It’s been the fifth time I attended HH’s annual dinner. I have never placed much hope or interest in this yearly event: food was never attractive, performances were boring, and lucky draws were none of my business. The last bit changed tonight. I won my first cash prize in a lucky draw, ever.

It’s not a large amount. Lucky draws in corporate annual dinners never intend to make you rich so you can fuck your job and quit the next morning. No, it’s only a small sum of money, which will get even less given that everyone in my clinic witnessed what I got and I’ll have to donate some of that into their afternoon tea fund. (They even went so far as to take a picture of me on stage so I won’t deny it.) Despite all that, I consider myself a legitimate prizewinner given my hard work at this company for the past five years.

Speaking of luck, there is a different form of luck. Bad luck.

Queen Elizabeth II said it was “bad luck” for the police commander who was in charge of security during Xi Jingping’s state visit to the UK in 2016.

Yes, when you do a job, sometimes it’s inevitable to handle things that turn an otherwise perfect day into a nightmare. Fractured root during extraction for an obnoxious patient; an out-of-control kid whose parents regarded him as an angel and wouldn’t accept referral to a specialist; RCT on 17 for a middle-aged woman who wouldn’t open her mouth; you name it. If it’s lucky for me to win a small prize in a lucky draw, that luck can only partly compensate for but not totally balance the bad luck I’ve experienced throughout the years.

But perhaps there’s a better reason to explain my sudden good fortune. Anzyme.com turns 14 today and I still have money to maintain it. This site itself has perhaps become a much smaller part of my life than it used to be, but Anzyme will continue to exist in some form. You see, my sole proprietor trade name is called “Anzyme Dental”, and so as long as I continue to work as a dentist, Anzyme won’t be forgotten — if I don’t pay my taxes on time, the IRD will surely find out and sue Anzyme Dental.

Cheers. Happy 14th.