What poor, little Infernal Bloggies hafta put up with!

OK, dearly beloved group - the date-challenged Infernal ILS blog agitator, er - Freudian slip - editor has now fixed the mishap with the Homecoming Friday date and all is quiet on that front. This is the kind of thing, to paraphrase Churchill's remarks apropos prepositions, up with which we shall not put!

Let me tell you - please do not take this as whining - you cannot imagine the things poor little ILS Class of '68 blog editors have to endure just because of one little, little mistake. Now far be it from yours truly to be ungrateful when someone dutifully points out a potentially catastrophic error. No sir! Grateful indeed, Bestial Brother Bill, for your careful perusing and dissecting of the offending blog entry and your quick, attention-getting email to the offending entity, enabling him to rectify matters before it was too late. It must be said, however, that since this publication caters to a very smart band - ahem, perhaps with one exception - the editor was confident everyone concerned would...figure it out!

But, allow us to return to the trials and tribulations of the Little Editor That Couldn't. It is one thing when your Bestial Buddy gently nudges you regarding a small misstep. It all began with this electronically-composed missive from Brother Bill:

"Maguito, you wrote down the wrong date. It's Friday, October 10th, not the third. Thirty years working in Social Security has done you in. When are you scheduled for retirement before total confusion sets in?"

It is another when, unexpectedly, blogger's Better Half sees an opening and fires off an unexpected salvo at her mini mate, to wit, via email:

"Bill,
Do you know anyone who can employ an over 55 writer/comedian so he can retire from SSA, yet be out of the house frequently? or should I survey the group for 'opportunities?'

Recommendations will happily be provided by all those who live and work with him.

I need help so when I have to be a 'work at home' employee, we don't have too much togetherness...

Thank you for your support! Lynne

Lynne S. Quiroga"

To which "Brother Bill the Wildebeest" retorted:

"From: urbizub@xxxxxx.xxx
To: 'Lynne Quiroga' quiroga@xxxxxx.xx
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 08:56:08 -0500
Subject: Re: Psst...if anyone got left out, please pass it on - and we thank you for your support!

Lynne, I strongly recommend he pursues politics. I'd certainly vote for him as City Councilman...or School Board member. He'd definitely get things done, albeit in a somewhat confusing manner, with his bizarre sense of humor. He is particularly good early in the mornings which is when most of these political meetings take place. I think he would confuse everyone, but with a smile.

Early afternoon power nap in the office couch or staff lunchroom like Churchill used to have, then writing letters of advice (Gawd!) to his constituents in the late afternoon. Then back home for an early dinner and then off to bed and sleep by 8. Minimum contact. Not much togetherness. Keep him busy, exhausted and sleepy. That's the ticket!

Weekends; rent lots of war movies, particularly from the 60's of German extraction. Blue Max, Battle of the Bulge, Patton, Hell is for Heroes, The Longest Day, Guns of Navarone, Das Boot, Kelly's Heroes. Those will keep him locked up in his room wearing his German helmet until dinner time. Feed him sausages and sauerkraut and off to bed. I'll provide more input as retirement day gets frighteningly closer.

Bill"

[Say, speaking of the "Guns of Navarone," watched probably 10-12 times between '61 and '63 by your WWII adventure movie-obsessed blog fiend - always wanted to know what that foul Greek word was, which Anthony Quinn spits out in anger at some Stukas trying to bomb him into Hades...sounded like "karadalos" or "karadinos"...any experts in Homer's tongue out there willing to provide a translation, discreetly...via email? Names will be withheld to protect the guilty-AQ]

Mrs. Q could not allow the above-quoted message to stand without reply...

"From: 'Lynne Quiroga' quiroga@xxxxxx.xx
To: urbizub@xxxxxx.xx
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 10:12:22 -0500
Subject: Re: Psst...if anyone got left out, please pass it on - and we thank you for your support! - Thanks - some great ideas!

Bill,
Thanks for your great ideas (and making me laugh...). I'll look forward to many more ideas as 'retirement day gets frighteningly closer.'

If he were to pursue a career in politics, we'd have to have separate residences since we're a 'house divided' - in other words - my vote would cancel out his - what a dilemma... guess nonpartisan politics would work...

It scares Albert to know I could run for President, but he could only be 'first dude'. That would really shake up Washington...

Have a good one! Lynne

Lynne S. Quiroga"


Mein Gott! To be thus mistreated by the Love of my Life! What is the world coming to? Must one turn to courting Sarah Palin this late in life? Perhaps she might reciprocate the affection if one were to dress in a moose suit, knocking on her door with a bouquet of roses in hand - no, fear instead the last sound heard would be that of a high-caliber round being rammed into the firing chamber of her hunting weapon.

Not to be outdone or outgunned, the innocent, peace-loving, and harmless editor felt compelled to defend himself with honor; thus he fired a salvo at the two partisan provocateurs...

"From: Quiroga, Alberto
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 11:21 AM
To: urbizub@xxxxxx.xx; Lynne Quiroga
Subject: RE: Psst...if anyone got left out, please pass it on - and we thank you for your support!
I VILL get back to bozz of you about ZIZ...mein liebchen Frau, I haff a notzion zu eet ze sausages mit zee sauerkraut (das ist der ganz korrekt spellink, Herr Wildebeest!) und der Schwartze - or Black - beans und zenn you muss leaf mit dat, no?

I LOF you bozz? I don't know! You make me sour Kraut-Kuban today!

Kleiner Albert

Back zu zee trench..."

Oh, well...you think you know the heart and mind of your life-mate, of your good brother, classmate, friend...alas no; poor little blog-editor must come to this sad conclusion...

"I know NOZINK!"

Permit me to annoy you...

Tripartisan Congressional Committee discusses implementation of the 700 billion bailout...in hopes of keeping the economy afloat

Just a short reminder - of course it is short - consider the source - about Friday the 10th of October, starting say, around 4:00 PM EST at the ILS grounds. This refers to the Alumni Pig Roast and Homecoming game; blog-editor's unnamed sources have informed him the roasting honors will be carried out by Virgil Fernandez, a post-'68 grad; there will be an Alumni flag football game, but, not to worry, no one will be flagged and flogged into participating - the roster has already been established, all contracts and draft waivers are in place.

There was an email sent to our great group earlier; this is merely a more graphic reminder - it would be nice to see as many of you there as can make it; think of it of a post-Reunion Reunion. We - your Infernal Committee friends - realize it is neither possible nor practical for a substantial number of our graduates to show up. Still, we'd love to see your faces even if only for a short while, give each other some back slappin' hugs, talk, catch up, eat, drink, be merry, and all of that sort of stuff. Editor boy will be there, camera in hand; bring your magnifying glass so you can find him easier, and watch where you step! Bring your mobile phone too; if everything else fails, attendees can connect and rendezvous in cellular fashion. If you paid attention to the preliminary email, you have this classmate's number - so does the FBI, no doubt. Should you not have it and for some inexplicable reason still want it, "pop" an email to ils6468@gmail.com - "ask and you shall receive." No text messaging! Have enough trouble punching the right number keys already...

By the way, for those of you who may have a Facebook page, Immaculata-LaSalle has a presence on Facebook as well - and they have sent invitations for this Friday fun to all ILS friends through that medium. Yes, it is possible to be an "oldie" and have a Facebook page...it's rather fun, and as a good friend, another smart Immaculata gal - except she's Class of '73 - puts it, "I got my page just to piss off my kid!" There must be something to that, as my kid refuses to be her dad's Facebook friend. Guess she thinks he's more of a fiend. She may be right...

Let us have pleasant conversation, avoiding religion - well, that may be a hard one on ILS grounds - and politics whenever possible. However, your blog fiend is not averse to discussing economic issues and/or bailout packages. He is trying to figure out how to engineer his own monetary bailout. Any assistance and/or advice which may help make that reality will be gratefully appreciated! Anyone wishing to donate one of those presses from the Bureau of Engraving, Department of The Treasury...see me!!

And now, a more serious and more personal annoyance - please indulge the writer, all kidding aside. On Sunday the 5th, an email was forwarded to all of you on our email Contacts List, originally sent by Maria Restrepo Forte, Class of '66. This was regarding baby Faith, granddaughter of Norma and Willie Cueto, both graduates of Immaculata-La Salle. You were asked to keep all of them in your prayers, and invited to visit the Faith Memorial Foundation web site.

This is not an attempt to "guilt-trip" anyone about making donations to the Foundation, but a gentle reminder to - again - keep this family, this child in your prayers. We are all one Big Family, the ILS Family, regardless when we graduated. For the writer, this has added significance. You see, as with baby Faith, my - and wife Lynne's - baby was born in St. Mary's Hospital, West Palm Beach. Unlike Faith, Lauren had no problems and has been blessed since birth. She and her mother had the best care anyone could have hoped for from the warm, caring staff at St. Mary's. This may not matter much to anyone but to us "little Quirogas;" nevertheless, if your heart calls you to help with this beautiful remembrance, know that whatever you do will be for a very, very good cause. Before closing, and since we're on the subject of remembering and praying, do not forget our classmates - and their families - who need us to keep them in our thoughts and requests to the Almighty. And as this goes to press, by now most if not all of us on the Class email list have heard from our classmate Laida Arcia Carro, with the wonderful news her husband Jose, AKA "Pepin," Class of '67, is slowly but surely improving. Laida is very appreciative of all prayers and concerns towards Pepin and the Carro family - so let's keep that prayer wheel turning; Somebody is listening!

A link to the Faith Memorial Foundation has been added under the "Interesting And Useful Links" header for your convenience; hopefully this should also generate more visits to the web site.

Love and God Bless all of you, my ILS Family

Albert