On Thursday, I had an accident in the Burbank Mall parking lot. I have no idea if that triggered what is happening now, or if the events are unrelated, but I am having a sequel to my initial kidney stone from last year.

Friday morning, I woke up with screaming pain. I could tell almost immediately that it was another kidney stone. Dammit! The pain lasted all day. I was trying to “man up”, and just work through the pain, but - damn. It was just insane.

Saturday. Wake up, and I was only slightly constipated (hey - don’t complain - this is a full disclosure blog - you will get details like that!). Yay. False alarm? Seemed like it. Went upon the daily routine.

Sunday morning, 4am. Woke up starving…and in extreme pain. Fuck. Spent most of the day drinking water and lemonade, eating (with, sadly, no food leaving my body - bloat!), and in agony. By mid afternoon, I was lying in the shower, spraying scalding hot water on my abdomen (kidneys). It was the only thing slightly easing the pain. By 8pm, it was too much. Unlike the previous kidney stone, I needed medical attention.

I checked in around 8pm, Sunday night. I was asked my pain level (1 to 10). It was a 5…and growing!

After waiting over an hour in extreme pain (my pain level was around 9), I finally got some pain meds. I say finally because of all my fun allergies. Thanks Mom for being allergic to most pain meds, and passing that along to me! Another 20 minutes, and I was finally starting to relax, though the I.V. hurt.

I guess we have finally hit the future. No x-rays here. A fancy catscan machine (Toshiba!?!).

After waiting for close to another hour, we finally got the results. “You have a kidney stone”. Duh! I know! Remember? I said that when I walked in! A 7mm stone (slightly bigger than a quarter inch) is currently trying to make it’s way down, but was lodged. Fun.

Thanks to my new friend Vicodin, I am typing this blog up. Sadly, thanks to my new friend, I am typing this. The explanation: The meds they gave me in the hospital were great, and got rid of my pain. That, sadly, is not what the doctor gave me to take at home. The Vicodin got me to sleep, but I woke up at 4am (again!) in screaming pain. Another round in a hot shower, and now I’m doing somewhat ok (at 5:06am).

I’m going to be a bit hit or miss online for the next few days. I will report when this thing finally passes, and I can hopefully be in a pain-free world again.

Fuck. Getting one of these damn things sucked. Now another one? UGH!

A few notes on the last picture. I grabbed the first shirt I could find to put on to go to the hospital. Figures it was Mode. And, as for the candy…it was on sale. $1 a pack. I’ll have treats for months. Hey - I deserve it. I’m friggin’ giving birth here!

So I went to the Burbank Mall on Thursday. I’m leaving Bed, Bath And Beyond and heading back to my car. I see a puddle, and thought nothing of it. Sadly, my Adidas sandals did not agree with the oil and water mixture of the puddle…

I slipped with my left foot, and ended up landing on my right knee. As I was falling, I could tell my right knee would end up nailing the pavement hard, so I tried to instead lean into my right fist, and have that soak up most of the fall. Sadly, I forgot I was holding my car keys in my right hand.

It’s a few days after. My right knee/leg is sprained, and my fingers are bruised. Even typing hurts.

Grrr…..

Stupid puddle!

Ok, so I put out the call on the official DM Forum, the Depeche-Mode fan forum, my Twitter and my Facebook accounts to all the Depeche Mode fans. Let’s hit Twitter with a LOT of #depechemode related traffic. Not “spam” per se, but let’s all type a lot about #depechemode.

And you know what? While we did not make the Trending Topics on Twitter, we all got DAMN close! According to hashtags.org, while we did not crack the “Top 10″, we did peak at a very respectable #17! Not bad for very little preparation, and doing minimal promotion. Imagine what would have happened if I had promoted the event on DM’s official Facebook profile (over 800k people)!

So, say you were one of the people who participated today (and there were a good size number of you all). Say you want to keep doing this. Well, it is easy to keep doing this…

EVERY time you send a “tweet” on Twitter, include #depechemode. You can type it #DepecheMode, or #depechemode. Just make sure you do not type a space between “depeche” and “mode” (#depeche mode - that is wrong!), and make sure there are spaces between what you type and #depechemode (I love Shake The Disease #depechemode). Also, for the most effect, DON’T mention the other Trending Topics in your tweet! A few people did that today, and all that essentially does is waste your tweet.

I might organize another Twitter Blitz soon. In the meantime, thanks to all who helped out on the experiment, and keep tweeting #depechemode!

Hey Depeche Mode fans. I am looking to conduct an experiment, and I need your help…

This is something that I, as a fan, am doing, and not something officially related to my “9-to-5″ job.

I want to see if we, the Depeche Mode “masses”, can take over Twitter.

I don’t want to spam Twitter, but I do want to see if we all can talk about Depeche Mode enough to make #DepecheMode a “trending topic“.

So, here goes.

Monday morning, starting at 9am EST (eastern time), I want you all to log into your Twitter accounts and spend THE DAY “twittering” about Depeche Mode. Don’t spam, but just talk about Depeche Mode…a lot! Link to recent videos of the Tour Of The Universe on YouTube. Link to your favorite music videos (all available in the video area of depechemode.com). Put a link to your favorite songs on iTunes or Amazon. Just make sure you spend the day (and I mean the full day) “twittering” about Depeche Mode.

What’s the point?

First, I want to see just how much the “masses” can affect Twitter. If this works, I want to conduct a test afterwards to affect the Singles charts. Second, there’s something in this for you. For your time, and your “twittering”, I will reward you…but ONLY if #DepecheMode appears as a “trending topic” on Twitter. If I see that happen (find me on AIM to alert me - username “bratmix”), I will pick five random people on the list, and send them a Depeche Mode prize (promo CD, stickers, et cetera).

I want to see if we can really cause a trending topic to happen. And I want to do it without blatant spamming! I just want you to talk about #DepecheMode a lot.

Examples of what to “Tweet”:
#DepecheMode lead singer Dave Gahan is hot!
I love Shake The Disease by #DepecheMode
I’m watching Waiting For The Night from #DepecheMode new tour footage (tinyurl link)

Remember, starting at 9am EST on Monday, July 6th (and for the day, or until #DepecheMode is a “trending topic”), start Tweeting! Let’s get #DepecheMode noticed!

“Tweet” this to all your Depeche Mode friends on Twitter:

BRAT wants to do a #DepecheMode tweet test, and he needs our help: http://tinyurl.com/ms4p87