Gimme Somethin' For The Pain.

Man, doctors. I mean, when you're a kid you think of doctors like your parents - all-knowing, ominscient, their word is gold. But then, at some point, you realize that doctors are just like you and me, except they went to medical school. Which is good, sure, but it means that they are fallible, they are on occasion wrong, and sometimes, you really do need a second opinion.

So of course, after several days of being under the impression that I had a kidney infection, I go to a specialist today who says that, no, it his opinion that I, in fact, do NOT. He thinks that the pain in my back and side is likely due to some kind of damaged disc in my back, which hurts in the side due to the nerves that extend from your spine to your side. Which is interesting, since I've been taking Cipro, an anti-kidney-infection antibiotic, since Monday night (and a drug, I might add, which I had to miss the first half of the Prisonbreak season finale to procure ...). In a way, I guess it's a relief to think that I don't have kidney problems. On the other hand, if that was what I had, it seemed like it was simply a matter of a week of medicine and be done with it, whereas with the back this could be an ongoing problem that will bug me for a while, even if its not as potentially serious in the longrun.

But it just baffles me how a doctor at a walk-in clinic AND a general practice doctor could both come to this potentially faulty conclusion. Just so weird, and disturbing because that means time and money that I wasted and a lack of proper care for what IS actually wrong with me. It just makes me even more skeptical of doctors than I already am. It's like with my car. I know, weird comparison. But it's like every time I go to get something in my car fixed, a few weeks later something new is wrong. It's like why can't they just do a full diagnostic, charge a flat fee, and fix EVERYTHING in one fell swoop? Same goes for me. I just want a full diagnostic where I never have to worry about nay health problem for at least a few years. I mean just tell me everything, all at once, I can take it.

One thing that is really weighing on me, so to speak, is that if I'm mostly immobile, I am going to REALLY have to watch what I eat, because I won't be able to get much excericise. Not that I usually get so much, but I was really hoping to really try to get more active in the next few weeks before this problem really took hold.

But yeah, I feel okay today. Tuesday though --- not so good. I was exhausted from a long day of work, my back / side was really causing a lot of pain when I walked, and I really just wanted to go home after work and collapse... but the engine coolant warning light on my car had bene blinking and i wanted to get that checked out ASAP so my car wouldn't explode or something. I go to good ol' EZ Lube (hehe), and they tell me it looks like I have a leak in the water pump. So I head down Olive to PepBoys, where I tell them my story and they say they'll be able to look at the car in about an hour (aka 8 pm). I agree, and end up sitting and waiting forever. Finally I ask them what's up, and they say they won't, in fact, have time to even look at my car, let alone do anything, before they were set to close at 9 pm. Gaaah! So I head home, tired, hungry, in pain, and with nothing to show for my efforts. All I had was a tight basketball game between the Clips and the Suns to get me through the evening.

So Wednesday, I have my general doctor's appointment in the morning, which seemed good enough at the time (at least my randomly selected physician seemed like a really nice guy ...). Then I hit up Pepboys to bring in my car, which actually worked out okay. But ...

Sidenote: One thing I hate about being in CA and so spread out from my friends: when those situations arise where you REALLY are in a tight spot and need help with something, it's not always easy to get the help ya need. I was DESPERATE on Wednesday to get a ride to and from work to Pepboys, and let me tell you it was not an easy task to find willing helpers. Thanks to those who did end up helping me out, but man, it was one of those times when you just wonder if anyone is willing to help a man when he's down without having their teeth pulled.

So today I went into work like usual, then at around lunchtime went for doctor visit round 3. This guy like I said, was a specialist, and like I said it was he who planted seeds of doubt about whether or not it's the kidney that is bothering me. And so it continues ...

TV STUFF:

LOST:

I actually kinda liked last night's episode, for the simple reason that it seemed much more tightly scripted than usual. Even though it maintained a slow pace and was clearly a building-up-to-the-big-finale episode, almost everything, especially the flashbacks, seemed relevent and important and interesting, and I rarely got the feeling that what I was watching was pointless. Sure, there were a few moments that just screamed "get to the POINT already!" -- did we really need yet another montage of Charlie contemplating his heroin addiction before discarding the remaining containers of his drug of choice? But I did enjoy the flashbacks this week, since they dealt with directly relevant events and did not cover redundant territory or feel overly contrived. In fact, they would have made sense even if the show did NOT follow its inhibiting formula of forcing flashbacks into EVERY episode. The stuff at The Others' camp was actually pretty cool, and did pose a few intriguing questions, that actually got me thinking up theories rather than just feeling like I wanted to bang my head against the TV. Walt's appearance, the mysterious Ms. Clue (or is it Klew? Cheesiest name ever, I know - very comic book-y), all were something new and somethign interesting, that actually brought new elements into the plot that seemed to move things FORWARD, for a change. In addition, the characterization this ep was spot-on, much more so than last week's "let's make Eko and Locke as dumb as possible" installment. Locke was once again distant and mysterious. Jack was sympathetic and not so pig-headed. Hurley was grounded and emotional, and Sawyer was the antihero everyone loves to hate. Michael also was portrayed very well, and the flashbacks did a lot to explain his manic state of mind. I know, it stil doesn't quite explain his murderous behavior, but at least it makes things a little more clear. All in all, it was a good build up to next week's finale, which really has to be spectacular in order to make up for last year's disappointment of a cliffhanger. At two hours, there will be plenty of time for action and answers to some of the mysteries, and I really hope for some good twists and turns. As for this ep, it did its job of laying the groundwork for the finale, and got in some great character bits before what is hopefully a very plot and mythology-centric season-ender. My grade: A -

- As for LOST theories, I read one online today that would be super cool if true but it's prob waaay too out there to ever be used ... but, what if The Others were all descendents of the crash survivors, who have drawn them to their future in order to alter it, or maybe because they need their ancestors' DNA ... Far-fetched, but would be kinda sweeet. As for what I think about why those particular 5 castaways were chosen to be brought to the Others, I would guess that each have been EXPERIMENTED on as part of Dharma's machinations, as could be implied from the various flashbacks. What if Jack's seeming healing abilities, Hurley's numbers-induced string of bad luck, Kate's run from the law, and Sawyer's long con were all actually part of Dharma's manipulations, perhaps augmented by the psychic abilities held by the Walt-like test subjects that the group constantly uses as human guinea pigs? Yep, I'm the man.

- Nice to see that MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE did a pretty decent rating for its finale. Shows you how FOX never took advantage of what they had, instead filling the 8:30 timeslot on Sundays with crap like The War at Home.

- Looks like CW is in fact going with the much-speculated Gilmore / Veronica Tuesday night lineup. So following the GRAVITAS of Mondays, it's once again emo-rific Tuesdays for me.

- Speaking of which, THE OC finale tonight should be interesting, as pretty much everyone already knows who's gonna bite it, but the question is how, and if it'll be interesting enough to hook me into watching one more season of this once-great but long-past-its-prime show.

- And oh yeah, tonight is the ACTUAL last-ever That 70's Show. So long, Fez and the rest.

Well, I am out. Sorry to bore you all with my personal dramas. But don't worry, good back or bad back, I'll BE back, ya' best believe.