I'm To Be Crowned!

My dentist is a great guy (pun intended, his last name is Guy). He is a very gentle dentist, I've been a patient of his for nearly 20 years.
My first experience in his chair was to have a tooth extracted. Eventually I began to keep regular 6 month check-up appointments with a few visits in between for more extensive work. I've got decent teeth despite heredity.
About 2 weeks ago I visited my dentist's office for one of those regular 6 month check-ups. I expected to walk out after hearing the usual, "Everything looks good, see you in 6 months." No such luck. X-rays showed a stress crack in a back molar that needs to be crowned. What fun.
So, today I went back to the dentist's office for the first round of grinding, chipping, drilling, slobbering, painful excitement. Three shots of happy juice and my entire face was numb... for hours! That was fun. Temporary crown on, can't chew anything except my cheeks and tongue.
The happy juice is worn off now. Pain is my friend and I'm not so sure I want to go back for a repeat to have the permanent crown put on. Maybe my memory will fade by then - yeah, right.