Just Blogging Along

     Very concerned about my brother-in-law working in Iraq, during his last visit, I signed him up on www.matchmaker.com  A divorced gentleman and stubborn about continuing his dangerous work, I thought that perhaps only the power of a woman had the potential of keeping him from a career of dodging missles, bullets and other assorted projectiles.  As I said to Ralph, “man does not live on I.E.D’s and MRE’s alone.  We found a very nice young woman who I perceive to be a fine person, intelligent, humorous and attractive.  What more could a man ask for??

     She and Ralph have exchanged emails for the last several months.  Ralph sent her some Iraqi souvenirs.  They have finally exchanged phone numbers.  The stage is set for a meeting!!

     My wife and I have been playing matchmaker.  Hopefully now, Ralph and the unnamed woman will discover some mutual compatibility!  Stay tuned for further updates, assuming this writer is not annihilated upon Ralph’s possible discovery about his business being posted.  :o)

     Slightly more than an hour ago my wife left me a voice mail message.  “He’s back!”  Ralph has returned from Iraq.  Ralph is part of the international law enforcement effort in Iraq.  He’s back on leave for a couple of weeks.  A large physically imposing man of few words, with a Sylvester Stallone type of demeanor, his often rather gruff exterior is well balanced by a mushy center with a heart of gold.  Ask Ralph a question like, where were you last night until 2:00 a.m. and you’ll likely get a response to the effect of, “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you”.  His responses to my feeble but persistent attempts at humor are often statements such as, “Why me?” or a pleaful yell to his sister, “Will you do something with him?”  My wife assures me that the only time for concern is when Ralph doesn’t tease you.

     You know, Ralph and Rudy have a lot in common.  Both are large white living creatures who are physically imposing, intimidating in appearance but gentle in manner.  Both are as strong as an ox.  Neither verbalizes a lot.  Ralph, a man of few words; Rudy a canine of few barks, growls or moans.  Both will give you a warning, but once they do; look out.  Neither will strike without provocation.  If they do strike, you don’t want to be the object of their aggression.  Both can be kind and very compassionate.  Rudy persistently pushed my wife’s head and ravenously licked her face to bring her back to conciousness when her blood sugar dropped dangerously low earlier this week.  Without even being asked, when my mother passed away in Jan. ‘04, Ralph drove my wife and I about 1300 miles round-trip to attend my mother’s funeral.  Welcome home Ralph!!  You’re one of the good guys!   :o)

     Rudy is a very handsome dog.  He’s very athletic, extremely powerfully built, runs like the wind and is very gentle.  Until now I did have some questions about his C.I.Q. - Canine Intelligence Quotient.

     Yesterday, Rudy climbed the ladder on that scale, in my eyes.  My wife is okay but she did pass out very briefly yesterday.  Apparently her blood sugar dropped very low.  When she came to, Rudy was ravenously licking her face and nudging her head.  He quickly brought her back to conciousness.  She got up, checked her blood sugar and it was in the forties.  She took appropriate measures.  Thank G-d for Rudy!!  I was at work, but Rudy was ready to resuscitate.  Even before she passed out, she said that she could not shake the Borzoi.  “He was sticking to me like glue for about a half hour.  He even insisted on going into the bathroom with me.  He’s never done that before.  Rudy must’ve known that something was wrong.” 

     They say that there were almost no dogs that drowned in the tsunami.  Through the ultra-sensitive pads on their feet, they apparently knew that something was wrong and all ran away from the water.  You know, dog is G-d spelled backwards.  :o)

     The diners were good.  They always are in New Jersey.

     We stayed under the Red Roof.  They’re one of the only motel chains that accept dogs.  We had Rudy, Trouble and Max with us.

     One woman approached me while walking Rudy, saying, “he’s so beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like him.  He’s so big.  He’s like a horse.”  Par for the course.  Another woman asked about Trouble.  She marvelled at how cute he was, at his confirmation and my wife told her how wonderful he is as a companion dog.  Then we started to tell her how neurotic the breed is.  She backed away.  Max was sitting in the van staring inside of a McDonald’s.  A trucker said to me, “It’s been a real tough couple of days.  My truck broke down, I’ve been here 2 days and I’ve got 2 cents to my name.”  He seemed credible.  He just gave you the feeling that he was completely emotionally drained.  Then he said, “I don’t think I’m hallucinating, but is that a guerilla staring at me?  The reference was to Max, his studious stare and his long thick black fur.  No, he’s just a Belgian Sheepdog.

     Let’s not forget Dad.  He was the most important part of the trip.  He’s out of the hospital and in rehab.  He’s medically stable but weak.  We had several nice visits and enjoyed his usual Henry stories.  They broke the integrity mold in 1913.

     We’ve been home since Sunday evening.  I guess it was just a case of blogcastrination.  That’s when your blog is delayed.  He’s still got his manhoood.  :o)

     Dad’s now in a rehabilitation facility following his approximately 1 month hospitalization.  There he began undergoing dialysis for the first time in his life.

     My wife and I are heading to Jersey to visit him.      While there we’ll look into whether it’s possible to receive some justice in the Jersey judicial system.  We know we can get a lot of great meals at the abundance of Jersey diners.  We’ve had plenty of the latter.  We’d like a little of the former.

     Back within the week.  :o)