The Two Most Dreaded Words

Kidney stones. Two words you never want to hear. You might remember two weeks ago, we took a little break as Mike was going on vacation. No sooner did Mike hit the road when I began to feel a tremendous amount of pain in my back. By Monday evening, my wife, Betty, drove me to the emergency room where I was diagnosed with having kidney stones. I've had these before, and for those of you who have never had them, it's the closest thing for a man to feel giving birth. That's what a female doctor once told Mike (he's had them, too).

A week ago today I had a procedure done, which I will not go into detail about, to blast apart a 7 mm stone with a laser. Most of the stone has "passed," but until all of it disappears, I am forced to drink the most putrid-tasting liquid 3 times a day! In four weeks, I go for another x-ray and, with fingers crossed, if everything's clear, I can stop drinking this stuff. In fact, Mike has been nice enough to type this over the phone while I rest up from home. I would personally like to thank all of you who have called, emailed, and sent letters and get-well cards. I was very touched by all your thoughts and concerns. I will be back Monday with a vengeance, so not to worry.

Other happenings while I was away, it was extremely busy at Hocus Pocus, and I have to say I was (and still am) extremely impressed with how well the entire team handled the workload while I was away. So many new products have hit our doors recently! One of the things I thought was extremely cool was the Houdini action figure. Check it out below:



If you're a Houdini buff or your kids like magic, this is a really cool item to have, either in a collection, or for the kids to play with.

Another thing you should really take a look at is the beautiful Alan Wakeling Automaton on our web site. This automaton was hand-made by the late Alan Wakeling, and when you see it operate, you would swear it's really alive. It's truly a thing of beauty!



You may have noticed on the front page of our web site that our own Tony Blanco has started a blog of his own, entitled "Tony's Picks & Tips." There's a ton of valuable information Tony will be tipping, including honest product reviews and solid performance tips and advice, etc. Well worth checking out!

Last Sunday, Max went off to his second week at YMCA Summer Camp. My oldest son, Cole, drove both he and his best friend, Joe, to the facility in the beautiful mountains near Kings Canyon National Park. Max took along with him two sacks filled with novelties. As soon as he arrived, all the camp councelors greeted him and remembered him as the life of the party last year. What they didn't know was that one of those bags of novelties was filled with 100 stink bombs! Oh, I'm sure they'll remember him next year as well...

I'm looking forward to going back to work Monday after two weeks off. This was not my idea of a vacation. I just have to remember that "slow and steady wins the race."

Finally, Mike will leave you with a snapshot memory from his vacation.



Until next time,

Paul