Kidney stones, lifts, and bonus book

Got my kidney stone removed yesterday. Not merely lasered to bits and I get to pee it out, but TOTALLY GONE. As Anita would say: "And there was much rejoicing." The whole thing was pretty effortless, actually. The nurse got my IV on the first try (nearly unheard of nowadays), they got blood on the second try for the obligatory pregnancy test (though it seems pointless to do it after I tell them I've been on my period all week), and I didn't wake up feeling like I was going to wet the bed (they had inserted a Foley, thank the Higher, while I was still asleep). I was, however, shivering uncontrollably when I woke up. They put this thing called a Bair Hugger on me -- it's two layers of paper (like a paper gown), and warm air blows in between the layers. Loved it. They also gave me Demerol for the shivering -- Mom thinks because it's a muscle relaxer, I think because it gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling. ::grin:: I can understand why people get addicted to that stuff. The nurse told me, "You might feel sleepy, so go ahead and sleep." In my head I said, "Just try and keep me awake," but all that came out was a dreamy "OK."

When we were leaving, I noticed a spot under P's van that I hadn't noticed when I got out. The lift had leaked hydraulic fluid. It barely had enough to get me in so we could get home. I have an email to my friend Jenni because her dad works on wheelchair lifts. I can't get back to NO until it's fixed because I can't get to the airport. I'm waiting just a bit anyway because I'm still on antibiotics for last week's "really nasty" UTI, and I want to make sure it's GONE before I go back.

And now -- the August bonus book of the month: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I had an interest in reading this even before I learned that "Joe Hill" is in fact one of Stephen King's offspring. The premise of it put me in mind of a book my friend Brian has been working on for a while (not that they're the same premise exactly, but it kind of reminded me of B's style). The story was actually pretty decent -- a semi-retired rock star buys a dead man's suit and the ghost attached to it. You soon discover that the whole thing was set up by the man before he died and his oldest step-daughter as revenge for the younger step-daughter's suicide. Seems younger woman was an old girlfriend of the rock star who was prone to depression, and rock star sent her home when he couldn't figure out how to help her anymore. The plot twists later, and you learn things weren't what they seemed with the family. For a first novel, I give it a B+. The part that startled me came at the end. The rock star and current girlfriend wind up returning to where he grew up -- Moore's Corner, LA, supposedly near Slidell. I don't know if Moore's Corner exists, but the news reporter the rocker's aunt mentions does. Dennis Woltering is a reporter at WWL, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. A tiny detail, but it lends authenticity to the story, you know?