Zola and fishbone in my throat

Yet another eventful weekend (this time in an ironic sense)... 

Made dinner for family and friends on Friday night, duck with plum sauce + salt baked sea bass, we were having a good time until I swallowed a fishbone... I didn't think it was a big deal, given that it's happened to me before and there were guests around.  So I did what my mom taught me long time ago, I shoved in a fistful of rice and swallowed it without chewing.  Normally, it'd have done the trick, except that this time my throat felt funny.  I wasn't sure if it's gone down or the bone was still there.  It felt uncomfortable but not to a point that I had to end the evening...  Anyway, the next day my throat still felt uncomfortable/sore, so I googled online and tried almost every suggestions that I could find - rice, bread, lemon juice...  The weirdest thing is, I just couldn't tell whether it was a scratch or it was a bone, it was really weird...  I finally went to the ER on Sunday to just get it check out.  Since I'll be flying soon, I just don't want to have a fishbone inside my throat while I'm inside a plane...  long story short, the doctor numbed my throat and tongue with some really nasty stuff, then he poked and looked around and finally told me that there is no bone, but just a scratch.  He told me that the human throat doesn't like foreign object and can't distinguish between a scratch and an actual object, so that is why I felt the way I felt.  Always learn something new...  

Onto another less grotesque subject.  Any Emile Zola fans out here?  I love him, just finished re-reading "Theresa Raquin" (while I thought the fishbone was still stucked in my throat!)  What a great book!  I think I have another Zola book lying around somewhere, I might just dig it out and take it on the plane with me...

Can't wait to see The Bear at the office!  (I think we ought to get more bears in the office... "go bearS"... get it!?)

And of course, can't wait to see all my beloved friends (Eva, T, Pat, Mark, Stephen, Boon....)  =)