Down with Negative Thinking

May 162012

If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.

Norman Vincent Peale

The Power of Positive Thinking

Norman Vincent Peale, Christian preacher and author of The Power of Positive Thinking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back in my formative years (the 50′s) positive thinking was the rage. It was like the world had discovered something brand new- the power of positive thinking. Of course it was new to me. I was a teenager and everything was new- even if it wasn’t. Still there was lots of buzz on TV, my mother;s book club and even on the street. It was a big deal and in those days, a big deal lasted for months, not hours.

Like most big deals, it didn’t have a lasting effect on me, possibly because when I went to college I learned how superficial such thinking was. I came out of college full of sophistication and negative thinking about just about everything. Not only was I not positive about the world around me, I wasn’t even positive about myself. The 60;s did nothing to reduce that negativity, The world was a mess. You couldn’t trust anybody over 30 and the world was in a conspiracy to put you down.

Then I got old.

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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Down with skinny young guys

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May 102012

Originally posted 2010-08-18 09:11:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

: Image by vanessa_hutd via Flickr

The arrogance of youth

You know the ones I mean. Those skinny high school and college kids you see working at the supermarket or fast food place. The ones with the skinny asses barely big enough for one back pocket, let alone two. They can hardly keep their pants up because there is nothing to hang them on. These guys can and will eat anything and never gain a pound. With the arrogance of youth, these guys believe that they will never let themselves get out of control. They will never get fat. They look at old guys with bellies as failures. You can see it in their eyes, drawn to your bulging belly when you order a tasteless salad and diet coke. They are thinking “Fat loser.” A pox on those guys.

Getting big is inevitable

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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Down with computers

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May 092012

No. I really don’t mean that.

the personal computer

Computers have become like women. Absolutely essential, high maintenance and utterly impossible to understand. Today I intended to get some writing done. I was just planning a quick survey of email before I started and then everything got complicated.. My computer told me that something needed updating. Did I want to continue? You know how that goes. You can’t win. If you update, you have no idea how long it will take and what may actually be required. If you decide to pass, you get annoying reminders and sometimes the computer will go ahead anyway at a time even less convenient. I decided to go ahead. From there on it was hurry up and wait while it checked for viruses and other mischief. Meanwhile no writing happened.

So much for my plan!

My plan for the day was simple. I got up early, inspired to write. I had a few ideas competing in my head while I showered and had breakfast. I got to the computer at 7:00, inspired and ready to rumble. By the time the update was finished it is 9:00. My computer is once more behaving but the muse is dead- or at least on vacation. I don’t remember what was in my head. It wasn’t my fault. It was all because of a silly computer. These days we are completely depended on the darn things.

Where did it all go wrong?

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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Down with Spam!

Down with, rants 9 Responses »

May 062012

Originally posted 2010-10-29 10:41:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

This is not a new topic. This is not even fun. There are probably ten million posts about the evils of spam and here is another one. Evey morning for the past week or more I have been bombarded with over 400 of the same message, from the same sender. And they all are about viagra.

I really have tried to unsubscribe from these but I still end up with a ton of email. It is easy enough to delete but still, it takes so much time sorting through the crap. I know each and every one of you out there are sick of it too. Monty python has a slightly different take on spam:

That is still one of the funniest sketches ever. Now, onto email. There are those lists you get on that you may even opt on for that send you so much $#!^ every day they might as well be spam. And these guys are the ones who say how much they hate spam as much as you do. Maybe that is why our email list here is so anorexic.

These “bombardment marketers” (hey I coined a new phrase let’s get that out there) give everyone a bad name. We have been trying to grow our list here at the coots and so far, it is pathetically small. It is populated only by those who write here at the coots, plus a pity subscribe from Dr. Doolin from website in a weekend. Even Bob was ~~assimilated~~ er invited to join the coots after his joining of the list.

Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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Down with varmints

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Apr 292012

Originally posted 2010-07-19 08:25:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Don’t hurt Bambi

In the Northern California foothills, the varmint most discussed is deer. Bambi love on the part of the 99 percent of Americans who never see a wild animal means that those of us who live where they do are powerless to stop them from eating their landscaping. Deer are not the problem in my patch of suburbia dropped in to the mountain wilderness. Too many fences and dogs to make it worth their while. No, the big problem in my environs is voles.

What the heck is a vole?

Those were my exact words upon moving to Nocal and chatting with the local nursery man. It turns out I had seen them but had thought they were mice. Voles are related to lemmings and muskrats, I learn and are omnivores but as I am also learning this year, they love plants especially mine.

Population explosion

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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