Working Through the Pain

It's been a tough time recently, so the posts haven't been as frequent. I've been dealing with a few different medical issues, and a terrible amount of pain. The medical "profession" has been of little use, except to assure me the problems aren't life-threatening.

Hah! Fat lot they know. Last night the pain was so intense, I'd have done anything to make it cease, so it was indeed life-threatening.

Consequently, didn't get much done yesterday.

Today was merely a dull ache, so I plowed through and got back to writing. Made some progress on book #3 of the Zack Taylor series, A Shadow on the Wall.

Would like to get back to health. This current situation sucketh mightily. Feeling the pressure of not knowing when the dials are going to light up is awful. And when it hits, it pretty much wipes out any other activity.

Other than that, though, things are okay, I guess.

Sick Day

Sick day today. Yesterday morning felt a cold coming on after a great weekend, and at two o'clock it hit me like a freight train hauling a ton of bricks. A generous friend at work drove me home (since I'd carpooled) so I could rest and not infect others. Am sneezing my brains out, leaking from my nose, and achy.

Another friend noted my increased output of recent stories and said I was starting to sound like Heinlein. From your lips to God's ear, my friend. Damn, that man could write! Books and short stories galore, and many of them superb.

Pain Part 2

Okay, I've gone from being opposed to shots of cortisone to believing it's the wonder drug of the ages. Because it worked for me. For four days I had a glowing ball of agony in my swollen shoulder joint, a lump you could feel. Not moving hurt, moving hurt a lot more. Touching the lump made me gasp.

At night, I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. It was not a pleasant week.

So yesterday I broke down and asked for it, and got injected. Minutes later, there was noticeable improvement. A few hours later, I suddenly realized I couldn't feel pain unless I moved around to try to find it. Yahoo! Have been off painkillers for over 32 hours now, and actually got about 6 hours of sleep last night. It's a whole new world. I can move my arm to over 33% of what it should be. Up from 3% yesterday.

So we're sometimes opposed to things, and have to change our minds when conditions change. A good lesson to learn, and I'm happy to be able to be flexible enough when it matters.

Pain

Haven't posted this week, because I've been in severe pain. I've got calcific tendonitis in my shoulder, and it flared up to a severe degree this week. Have been in constant pain and unable to sleep much at night. So I got a cortisone shot today, which I didn't want to do, but relented.

More pain after finishing the 21-CD audio book "The Religion" by Tim Willocks. Okay, I officially hate him, because he writes so much better than I, I might as well give up. He's even done more stuff thanI have. Holy crap, I thought I could get historical, and the guy depicts a medieval battle so well, I felt like I was in it. If you like historical action with a timeless but offbeat love story and grand sweeping themes, get this book.

It's not usually my type, but I lost my carpool driver, and have been driving myself, and needing good long works to listen to, while I navigate the Massachusetts road. Glad I did, this is awesome. You'd think the guy was there, 400-plus years ago!

Would someone please send a copy to Dan Brown, to show him how cool, interlocked, multilayered stuff can actually be well-written? Reading his books, that's pain, but for a different reason. He's as bad as Tim Willocks is good. Read any piece of Dan Brown bilge and then go through "The Religion." The contrast will blow you away. DB is fast-food swill, TW is a gourmet meal, rich and full and memorable. Yes, more people go for the cheap swill, but those who love things of a higher caliber will prefer the better work. And them's the ones that matter.