Robbie Thomas
Where’s My Unhappy Meal?
TL;DR: I had shingles. Looking to write another novel. Troubles at my so-called professional life. Lost a friend. Went to a Pow Wow.
Enjoy my title for this thrilling blog post? Yes, it’s not positive but as I say in recent times when dealing with troubling times, “things will improve.”
When doing my EAS flick Return Of The Zombies, I had my own due date of 25th of August. But while “directing” my flick, I had this inkling that something will come up around that time. I didn’t have any idea what will happen, whether it was good or bad, but something will come up. So, while not burning away at my job, I spend a lot of my free time putting that EAS Scenario together and got it done at 2 Aug 2023. I think my rush job didn’t bold well with some of my fans, it does have a low view count.
On Tuesday the 22nd of August, I was seeing some red spots on the left side of my head and getting headaches.
I went to Urgent Care the next day and the doctor said I had shingles. One was on my left eye and I needed to get to the Emergency Room right away. Just before I walked out, the doctor urged me to go to a hospital about 45 minutes away from me in a heavy traffic area for the best results. That, I really didn’t like. Instead, I went to the hospital one mile away. One of the things that scared me is the scientific name for shingles is called Herpes Zoster. For a short moment, I thought to myself: “Did I get herpes?” That wasn’t the case, that’s a big plus.
My hospital stay was less than an hour, it wasn’t busy. They sent me to an eye doctor 25 minutes away from me. From me leaving the hospital to that eye doctor place, it was sunny and nice. After I left, there was thunderstorms and rain. I was there for nearly two hours due to a many people around. Plus, I was the youngest person in the waiting room. I wonder if I passed my shingles to somebody there. Did the long drive back to a CVS that didn’t have my prescription but a different one two miles down the same road. Got hit hard by the rain.
One of the assistants at the eye doctor’s office there told me that he has been seeing people in their 30s and 40s (that’s me) getting shingles lately.
The Wednesday 23rd of August was by far the most painful day of my life. The shingles made me wail in pain all day. Living alone didn’t help much. Even watching Rush’s Clockwork Angels concert and even some episodes of Major Crimes with the lovely Mary McDonnell couldn’t help. Say I was lucky enough to have Mary with me at this troubling time, holding me in her arms telling me, “It’s going to be okay.” And me screaming in pain, “No it’s not, argh! The pain.”
Wouldn’t blame Mary McDonnell for running out of my house saying, “Fuck this dork.”
Thursday 24th wasn’t awful but I was able to get some sleep. Even a Julianne Moore flick couldn’t give me much comfort. I put on Billy Madison on about 2am the next morning. I recall watching the part where Billy talks gibberish to Eric while at that meeting. Next to close my eyes and seeing Eric pull out a gun during the game show portion of the movie. I guess I got about an hour of sleep.
Me that Friday:
It’s bad enough I’m an ugly guy, but those pictures makes it worse. Imagine me approaching Mary McDonnell or Julianne Moore while in that state. I think they run in fear, wouldn’t blame them.
On the 25th, the pain frequency was less and sadly I had to miss a concert I was going solo to. Thirty bucks down the drain. I also had plans to go to a separate concert a day before at a different venue in the same city. Sadly, they would not sell me one single ticket and I had to bring at least one person with me. By the time I could get one person to agree, that concert was sold out. That would’ve been a double fucking whammy right there.
Saturday the 26th, I put on a pair of sunglasses and a hat on and ran a few errands. And I got my oil changed and did a Walmart pickup. I started to sleep 4-5 hours a day and did some exercises. My eye improved big time by the 28th and I returned to work with a big bandage on my head. The Valacyclovir (Valtrex) helped.
From mid-2021 until the shingles coming on by, I told a few people that I do have some intentions of publishing books six and seven by the end of this decade. I have done five books (Mourning In Hochington Volumes 1 and 2, Thirteen Years Of Gray, and The Gambler Volumes 1 and 2). And when I say some intentions, I was saying that I will give it a try, but if I don’t complete the task, oh well.
I watched a little bit of Ozark during my time off and had a convo with one of my best friends about senior citizens who do hard drugs as crack, heroin and fentanyl. Yes, that is probably rare but I’ve ran into people 62+ that seemed to be on some drugs and acting rather silly. In the 2000s, pills for depression were flying off the shelves and quite a lot of people were jumping all over them. I would hear about people I know 50+ taking those pills and a few of them were acting awfully strange. With the mix of the pills they have to take for health purposes, that can cause some bad reactions and many side effects.
And also this article.
That said, I’m currently working on a manuscript with the working title Burn Down The Town. So far, this potential future book follows four people living in suburban Detroit with drug problems. Plus, a female police officer trying to stop it.
Returning to work was a pain in the ass besides the occasional pain strikes from the shingles. To keep it short, we had some changes and it took me some time to go along with the operation. But it doesn’t work well other people involved with the assembly line I’m attached to, are not doing their jobs or going too slow. Also, one day, a female wasn’t doing her part and was at one point running in circles and dancing and bumped into me twice. If she was on drugs, I want some of that shit. Gimme gimme!!
Yes, I’m aware of the UAW strikes. As of this blog posting, it’s not affecting me. I can deal with a one or two week layoff, but if goes any further than that, it could screw with a few of my long-term plans. Including buying a used car next year. Sorry to the few people bitching at me about not buying a house. However, it’s my money!
Since the 28th until the 13th of September, at home, I had been focusing on exercising. Also, my upcoming book and my investing. On the 13th of September, a best friend (not the one I mentioned earlier) lost her mother. Myself, the friend and her mother went to Canada quite a few times together. Going to many Pow Wows and a Tigers game as well. On Sunday, I took that best friend to a Pow Wow at Walpole Island in Canada, so she can find some calm and tell her family members there about what arrangements are being made for her mother. I was glad we did that as I found it to be calming as well.
RIP Delores Ermatinger
24 April 1946 – 13 September 2023