Charge!

Flirtatious: "Don't let my 'horny' reputation scare you off."

Real Mood: Flirtatious

Prediction: One day a Rhino will learn to count to ten. ( I saw one count to five at a zoo once. No, really!)

In case I or Peggy 'Instant Message' any of you, don't be surprised if a goofy Rhinoceros greets you.  It's another one of those life enhancing extras AOL tosses into the package. Those of you old enough to remember the Groucho Marx show will remember the little game of , "say the secret word and win a hundred dollars?"

Well there are 18 secret words that If we inadvertantly type, will produce some bizarre "never gonna happen" Rhino expressions.   "A Rhino that's embarrassed?"  I don't think so. ( AOL offers  more Rhino expression options than it does human moods. Go figure.) 

I don't know if I've told you the whole story of my Rhinoceros connection, hence "prhinos" screen name?

Well it's one of those things that tells you in life that you've made it.  It's a nickname. Good or Bad a nickname acknowledges you exist.  You belong.

I picked up the label while I was in high school.  One's first assumption might be the closeness of an animal in name,  to my surname.  Reinertson.....Rhino? Well that makes sense.  But it wouldn't be accurate. 

I became Rhino when I was playing football.  I played right tackle and you might think, "oh, of course. He blocked like a rhino."

No!  But "Rhino" did have an athletic origin.

A bunch of my buddies were basketball players. Once in a while they would let me play in summer league games. My prowess in those games was to just go in and knock everybody down underneath the basket.  That would include my own team mates. 

"He plays like a ____Rhino."

So that's the origin of the nickname as I remember it.  It was a long time ago. What's clearer in my memory bank is what happened to that nickname. It expanded like a virus throughout my family. My sister had to live her entire high school years socially known as "Baby Rhino."   My parents became "Mama and Papa Rhino." And as a family, in many circles, we were simply known as "The Rhinos." Many people had no idea we would appear in a phone book known as Reinertsons. 

Only my older sister escaped the label.  She'd already graduated from high school and didn't get snared in the label trap.  ( I've never really asked her if she was relieved or felt left out. Well, Theda?) 

I've learned a great deal about Rhinos since that time. Without getting specific, let me tell you they are likely the most dramatic and enduring lovers on the planet. Strange reputation for what we think of as "frightening, charging beasts." 

Here's a little TV style tease for you.

"Would you believe the Rhinoceros is the World's Greatest Lover. Tune in on Valentine's day and find out WHY?"

Let me spice that up a little bit for you.  "It's a story you almost CAN'T tell on TV."

You might ask yourself why oriental cultures consider ground "Rhino Horn" to be an aprodisiac?

Anyway, Peggy and I travel the planet now collecting Rhinos. The beast really does inspire a wide range of artistic visions. You can do a lot with a head that big.

So that's the Rhino story. You get it for FREE. No CHARGE.