Day +92… One and a Wakeup!

Well, with the exception of the blood work scheduled for tomorrow AM, I am done with the week’s testing. The P.E.T. scan went OK and the Pulmonary Function test was OK, too. You have to work hard on that one… I didn’t think I could blow out any more air and son-of-a-gun, I found the strength to squeeze some more out… whew… what a workout.

My TR friends are not going to believe this: While Ruth Ann and I were waiting for the PFT, who comes strolling in with his wife, none other than Charlie Brown! I first met Charlie when I was president of the Connecticut Triumph Register… he and Carmie had driven from Goldens Bridge, NY to Manchester, CT for the annual CTR picnic and concours at Wickam Park. He had (and still has) a TR3A that he massaged from ratty to nice over the years that he has owned it. For all those who think that British sports cars are too small for them, consider this: Charlie is about 6’6” and fits into the TR3 just fine.

Anyway, he and Carmie moved from Goldens Bridge to Danbury several years ago, and had a place in Clearwater Beach. They sold the place in Danbury about 6 months ago and are now living permanently here in Florida. I had talked to him several weeks ago and it looked like we could meet up at Moffitt Cancer Center one day. It didn’t work out that day, so it was a real surprise when he walked in… with Carmie in tow. So we had a nice chat and caught up on his travel… Bermuda, Hamptons, etc.  Life is good for Charlie… except for the freekin’ cancer.

I sure miss those CTR shows and all the other shows that we had in CT. There was the MG show in New London in early Spring on the water (they used to have it at Gillette Castle), and their other show in Bethlehem at the fairgrounds in later September. Who can forget British on the Green up in Granby… 300 British cars! We even did the Norwich show at least once, and I went to the Lions Club show in Southbury once (1200 cars!!!!). Ours was still the best… we had the best trophys (Armetal plates and cups) and in the early years, we even gave out free food for the participants. Later we gave the food concession to a Boy Scout Troop from the area and we let them keep the profits… they made a ton! Gary LaRue used to come and help with the food, too.

The last time I went to a CTR show was probably ’06 and I showed up with my ’58 Alfa Spider Veloce. I think it was that same year that Bob L., Larry R. and  Gary D. went to the Alfa show in Manchester NH… me with the TR6. So in one year, I went to an Alfa show with a British car and a British show with an Italian car… go figure, huh?

Day + 90 "Orlando Daydreamin' "

THREE AND A WAKE UP!!!!!

I can’t believe what I’m typing (not that you can call my 2 or 3 fingered disaster typing)… three days, then I get the word. I’m as nervous as a new bride. I’m praying my little buns off that all goes well.

I have my P.E.T. scan tomorrow… that will take up from 11:30 till 3 PM, and then the pulmonary function test is at 4. I’m going to have to get up at 5 AM to get some breakfast and I can’t have any carbs. So it’ll be a couple of eggs and some bacon, without toast.

I mentioned Ernie a few weeks ago; Ernie is a guy who has been a friend for a very long time… since 1964! We first met in a summer math course at the UConn Waterbury branch before we started engineering classes. We struggled through engineering together, and both changed our direction at the end of our first year… he to the business school, me to liberal arts. We also went through ROTC together and in our second year, I was a platoon leader and Ernie was my platoon sergeant. “Eric the Terrible” was our cadre leader, and Ernie and I shared many a story about him.

When I got to the Storrs main campus for my third year, I walked into my room… Ernie was my roommate! We lived together for one semester… he moved to another fraternity house and pledged there, I stayed where I was and pledged there. When I went through hell week, Ernie provided a bed for some uninterrupted sleep… that is, until another “friend” from Waterbury ratted me out to our pledge master (they were friends). Through all of this was the ROTC connection and when we got our branch assignments we had both gotten assigned to the Signal Corps.

Larry Schriffres (still another Waterbury friend) and I made arrangements to travel together to Fort Gordon for our first assignment in November 1968 and we arrived in Augusta, GA a couple of days ahead of time… bought some fatigues and got the lay of the land. We walked into the orderly room of the training brigade and who’s standing there… you guessed it, Ernie!!! So we did Fort Gordon together, and then moved on to Fort Sill for the next school. I left school early, but Ernie and I stayed in touch.

When I got my orders for Viet Nam, I called him (he was at Ft. Meade, I at Ft. Dix). Sure enough, he had his orders too. We were manifested on the same flight from Travis AFB, AND assigned to the same unit in Viet Nam! While he ended up in Quy Nhon, and I ended up in Nha Trang, we were still with the 21^st Signal Group. We did get together a few times while there and went to Hong Kong on R&R together.

All these years, we’ve stayed friends (even in the same business for part of our careers). He’s living in Danbury and of course, through the miracle of the Internet, we keep in even closer touch than ever.

I left out the juicy parts of our relationship (Lawton, Storrs, San Francisco, Hong Kong etc.). That would take up much more space than I care to take up here, and I worry about the censors.

Day + 89 "All Revved Up and No Place to Go"

Sorry for the delay in getting this out… Bob Lombardo is here and we got tied up watching a Clint Eastwood movie… Absolute Power. The book was better, I think, but hey it’s a “Clinty”. My good friends, Clark and Toshia Struve from Carmel, CA, thought I would be bored and sent me a 35 DVD set of Clint Eastwood movies… movies that he starred in and some he directed and produced. There is virtually everything from “Dirty Harry” to “Invictus”. We’ve had a chance to watch quite a few and within a couple of months I’ll have seen all of them.

Clint owns a golf course in Carmel that he built several years ago... Tehama. Clark is a member there and runs into Clint on a regular basis. Clark has sent or brought me a couple of hats and a shirt. The hats have the phrase “Fac Diem Miem”  (for you Latin challenged… “Make My Day”) embroidered on them. I love showing them off and quizzing folks on the Latin.

Bob cooked for me last night… penne aglia e olio with broccoli. He also brought some really great fresh Italian bread. My turn is tonight. I’m going to do the seared scallops with risotto. I have to go for my CT scan this afternoon and I’ll be plenty hungry by the time we get back here. Tomorrow is PT and Friday is the P.E.T. scan and the pulmonary function test. I think my lung function has improved… when Ruth Ann sets the pace, I’m breathing pretty good. I did three laps with Bob last night and felt good. The last test is the blood work on Sunday and then we meet with the Doc on Monday AM. She is also starting me on my immunizations on Monday… first one is a pneumonia vaccine. The rest will come in about 6 months… measles, mumps, etc… all the juvenile vaccines, all over again.

We met with the PA yesterday and he hadn’t seen me in probably a month. He couldn’t believe how much better I looked! I can’t see it, because it’s been so gradual. But, my walking is better, I have some fuzz on my head, I have to shave about every other day, my legs are better (less swelling, especially in the left one).

A quick, Clarkie and Donny story: When Clark and I were playing all that tennis in Viet Nam, we were wearing some cutoff Bermuda’s, but we thought we needed some “real” tennis shorts. I wrote to Ruth Ann and asked her to pick up a couple pair and send them to us. She went into a sports store in the old Waterbury Mall and picked out a couple and asked the sales person if they could be returned. He said “sure” in a reasonable length of time. When she told him they had to travel halfway around the world to Viet Nam, he about fell over. War is hell, huh?

Day +86 “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”

So many of my Viet Nam hooch-mates sang this at the top of their lungs after downing more than a few cold ones. The Animals; who thought they would become our favorite group (oh, but there were the Doors, too).

Viet Nam was a pain… 370 days of anticipation of going home, not sweating 100% of the time, really getting clean, and especially wearing something other than GREEN! There was one bright spot, however. The Air Force Officer’s club had two tennis courts. They and the surrounding BOQ’s were built early on in the US’s involvement… all the rooms were air conditioned (as was the club) and the courts were lit! Our Battalion Commander, LTC Davis, lived there and liked to play tennis. We had a standing game EVERYDAY at noon in the HOT SUN. It was MAJ Hodge, our Exec, with Clark, my roomie, against LTC Davis and me. I was, and still am, rather weak in my tennis skills. But, LTC Davis DID NOT like to lose, so I learned quickly and we won. I think Clark and MAJ Hodge threw a few points just to keep peace. He was our boss!

But wait till I tell you the story about the tennis shorts.

Seven and a wakeup… love those single digits. Back in high school, Bobby and I (remember Bobby?) hung out at a local gas station. One of the guys who worked there, Dave C., had served in the Air Force and spent most of his time in Okinawa. Dave told a story once about guys getting “short” and what they would do. Back then, the bottle of V.O. whisky had this gold and blue striped ribbon around the neck. Evidently, somehow it came to be known as a F.I.G.M.O. ribbon. The short timers would wear the ribbon in their lapels. All the NCO’s knew what FIGMO meant… “F*&k It, Got My Orders”…  or, “Please leave me alone because before I get a chance to complete this task you are assigning  to me, I will be on a big silver airplane giving you the finger as I look out the window.”  Funny thing is, several months later, Dave decided to move on and Bobby and I presented him with his very own FIGMO ribbon to wear.

Well, I don’t even know if the ribbon is still on the bottle, and I loathe whisky (I’ll bend the rules for a good single malt scotch), so I won’t be buying any anytime soon, but I’ll make-believe I’m wearing one.

Oh, I did three laps tonight. We got rained out last night. Went for labs this morning. Everything seems to be OK, but my magnesium level is a bit low. It’s not low enough to adjust my meds, but we’re going to keep an eye on it.

To all who ever have and those serving in the military now, to those in the Peace Corps and Doctors Without Borders, public health workers and everyone else who works to keep our country free… THANK YOU. You and every one of the citizens of this great country are living the dream of Thomas Jefferson and the signers of the Declaration of Independence over 200 years ago.

Day +82 “Nine and a Wakeup” “ I see those harbor lights!”

As you may imagine, I am really getting excited. Just to get home and to be around my stuff, and my neighbors, and to sleep in my own bed; to hang out on the lanai (in the shade with SPF 30, Doc). I’m just hoping that the scans and other tests go OK next week.

We have had some really heavy rain in the past two days so walking has been dicey. I had PT yesterday, so I didn’t feel too bad about not being able to walk. The skies finally started to clear tonight and we went out with a very slight drizzle and by the time we did one lap it had stopped. Ruth Ann set the pace and I had to really strain to keep up… she never strolls… always the press. Two laps and I was done!

We did have a great meal tonight, too. I did a risotto with seared scallops. Tony said my risotto with scallops was as good as Bin 300… Ruth Ann agrees. I get to do it at least one more time before we leave, when Bob is here next week. I hope Richie isn’t reading this… we might have to have a risotto-off. He does finish his with truffle oil… I need to get some of that.

I told you I had some “Tony Fodder”. He is so easy; this is going to be fun:

If you know Tony, you know that he tends to be a “little” anal. For instance, when he was still working, he took a sandwich to work every day. But, he would go to Stop and Shop and tell the deli person that he wanted exactly 10 slices of ham and 5 slices of cheese… God forbid, there was anything left over at the end of the week! One time, the deli person said: “You must make very precise sandwiches”. Now that he’s retired, he refuses to eat a sandwich, preferring instead to eat some deli stuff on a plate with crackers! Oh, that’s another thing… when he eats soup; he butters EXACTLY 10 Saltine crackers to eat with his soup… not 9, not 11.  What a character… but I love him. Even when he stiffs the waitress at Westfield Airport!

Ruth Ann and I had a wonderful visit with a cousin of mine today…Joan Marie. She and he family are staying at the Caribbean Beach hotel at Disney. She left her family early this morning and came here.  We spent several hours catching up , talking about our relatives, her job, etc. She’s a great gal, and I welcomed the visit. What stories she told about Auntie Mary (my father’s older sister). She lived with Joan Marie and John until she passed away a couple of years ago. Stories about her lady friends and bringing her around to visit her friends… again, what stories!