Coot’s News Service- US and Canadian Birthday Edition

Posted by Ralph at 12:34 Uncategorized

May 182014

Fireworks on the Fourth of July, 2009; Happy B...

Image via Wikipedia

Happy Birthday USA

OK, our country is 235 years old tomorrow and maybe the old girl is starting to show her age. Too much good living is beginning to take it’s toll. Still it’s the best place on earth and I’m glad to call her my country. What we too often forget is that our neighbor to the north celebrates her birthday just three days earlier. It is such a blessing to have that thin red line of Canadians protecting that border. These days no thinking Canadian would want to storm that border looking for a better life. They’ve been doing better than us for years now. The most they might want is to cut a few years off the wait for medical treatment. No, it’s a great blessing to have Canada to the north and populated with people wiling to stay there. The Coots want to wish our Canadian neighbors a very happy birthday.

Canada Day draws crowds from coast to coast

Here in the states, the fourth of July means eating- mostly stuff you cook on the grill in your backyard or at the park. In case you don’t have enough family favorites – or maybe you are looking for something new, check our these recipes.

Great Summer Cooking Ideas

Outdoor dining 101 – plus some hotline help

All the odd weather (and global warming is wrecking havoc this year because there is so much snow that people are still skiing on the fourth. It’s the best ski season in years. IF it keeps up maybe we can ski all year long.

Wacky West weather means snow on the 4th of July

Not only is this a happy birthday weekend for Yanks and Canadians, it seems that there is actually some good news this week. Let’s start with a lucky Brit who survived a nasty accident during a trip to Germany. I got Google to translate this headline but it didn’t come out so well. Anyway, the lucky kid is 17 and is planning to spend the rest of his life avoiding archery ranges.

crossbow arrow in the head: British (17) survived

These is good economic news too. The business of building bespoke accordions is booming, attracting accordion aficionados to Italy. If you missed this breaking trend, wake up and place your order. Each one is made to order and takes months. You don”t want to let that guy down the street be the first in your neighborhood.

An Accordion Epicenter Shrinks and Thrives

But the piece de resistance this week is a stunner. You know how everybody says that the reason that the schools are so bad is that we aren’t spending enough money? Well it turns out to be a lie. When California curt school spending, test scores went up. Maybe with a few more cuts California could get back to number one again instead of being at the bottom. I makes you wonder what else might improve if we cut spending? Got any ideas?

Public schools see paradox of lower funding, higher test scores

Happy Fourth of July and Canada Day to all. Eat big and stay out of range of the fireworks

Another Old Age Rant

Posted by Ralph at 12:34 Reflections

May 182014

Much to fix, little time

I live now on borrowed time, waiting in the anteroom for the summons that will inevitably come. And then – I go on to the next thing, whatever it is. One doesn’t luckily have to bother about that.

Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976),

Time is running out.

Getting old changes many things. I’ve ranted about many of them from time to time. You get fat. You get clumsy. You look like shit and everything hurts. It is frustrating and there isn’t a darned thing you can do about it. About all you can do is to stay away from mirrors and cameras. You may be able to forget about the ravages of time but unfortunately you can’t do anything about how you look to others. They see you for what you are – an old guy and act accordingly. People treat you like an old guy instead of a regular human being. There isn’t much you can do short of becoming a hermit so you ignore them and pretend you are still 40. You move on. Continue reading »

The One that Should Have Been on Tuesday.

Posted by Justin at 10:44 Ask A Coot!

May 042014

Image via Wikipedia

That’s right there is a nice big ball here at the coots site, and I dropped it yet again. And, if you believe Ralph, he wasn’t there to pick it up and be the big hero. But if it wasn’t for him…blah blah blah. I meant to post this on Tuesday of this week. I am writing it before the results of Ralph’s poll by the way.

So the reason for this post is to announce the topic that we will be writing on for next week, may 9-13. Wow I get Friday the 13th and writing about……The Dread of Summer! I have to say I am a little disappointed with the results of that poll, there were only 2 votes cast! 2! And I am fairly sure they were both cast by Ralph.

Nope looks like Hansi and Ralph. So I guess I should say, Thank You to Hansi for choosing this months topic. He will be filling Tuesday the 10th with his own cantankerousness about The Dread Of Summer. Thanks Hansi!

The poll for June should be up but is having issues, it will be up as soon as I can get it working. That poll will run through Memorial Day and ready for posts June 6-10.

Thanks for reading, if you haven’t, leave a comment or share your favorite posts from this site with your friends on Twitter, Faccebook, Stumbleupon, Digg etc. You will be glad you did, and we will be glad as well!

Down with Deadlines

Posted by Ralph at 10:44 Down with, Reflections

May 042014

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Douglas Adams

American life is a string of deadlines- hard cut-offs which restrict moving on in life. We Americans live by schedules and time lines, starting with the first day of school and ending when we put in for retirement. We like to think that American’s are ruggedly independent, forging forward through chaos and distraction to win the day but the truth is more mundane. We are much more like lab rats running a series of mazes put in our path, competing against our brother rats for rewards. Those rewards seem wonderful at the time but don’t provide long term satisfaction- not so much diamonds set in gold but zircons set in brass- and with each deadline we move on the the next maze.

Successful people get conditioned to this pattern early in life. They embrace the competitive environment of the deadline and it becomes their life model. Everything is about the end and nothing important is happening along the way. Success is crossing the finish line, in first place if possible, but definitely finishing. Americans like finishing what they start but there is more to this lifestyle than just crossing the finish line. You also have to finish within the allotted time. For that reason, Americans invented the term deadline- the drop dean point in time when finishing no longer matters..

Americans didn’t invent deadlines.

There have always been deadlines whether from natural processes or human design. But until modern times no one ever applied a name to them. Continue reading »

Happy New Year from Cantankerous Old Coots

Posted by Ralph at 10:44 Uncategorized

May 042014

: Image by Express Monorail via Flickr

New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

Mark Twain

Coots are ready for 2011

Well, it’s almost New Years Eve and the Coots are ready for 2011. Not that we are complaining about 2010, mind you. It’s been a fine year. First Justin got the hair-brained idea that there was a market for cantankerosity and then built a stable of cranky, opinionated guys to do the work. Between maintaining his virtuosity on the kettle bells, running his web commerce sites and adding a fourth kid to his household, he has a full plate. Well, the man is obviously a genius. Coot’s isn’t even a year old but each month sees the readers growing as does his stable of hacks.

The Team of Hacks

So far, Justin has snagged me and Bob into regular participation and occasional posts from Jen to give a feminine touch. Over the year , I have enjoyed the opportunity to release my inner curmudgeon- letting it all hang out so to speak. It surprised me that saying what you really think is harder than you would think. There have been times when I have had to sweat in order to dredge up feelings suppressed by years of employment. I find that I actually do have some opinions and that they aren’t the ones I see in the news. As I get older and free from the constraints of a job, I’m finding that the more I see, the less I like.

Bob, the newest addition to Justin’s stable is a young pup too but the man has a lot of experience under his belt for his tender years. He has taken some hard knocks and popped right back up. He has had lots of experience and has done his share of pushing the envelope, surprising me and maybe even himself at every turn. And the man has opinions that just won’t stop. I can make an outrageous statement and he can come back in a second to bury my puny outrage with an avalanche of pure cantankerosity. I can’t imagine what Bob will be able to do when he gets a few years on him.

Looking forward

As the year winds down for the team at Coots, we are just getting our second wind. We have learned some things and forgot some others, We have gotten some things right but we are still clueless about many others. For 2011, we want to take Coots to new heights of cantankerosity. We want to make Coot’s University a real resource for those who are cantankerously challenged. And we want to get down to your core where true cantanerosity begins and shake up all that conventional wisdom. Our loyal readers deserve no less.

Happy New Year

On behalf of all the Coots, I wish you a very cantankerous New Year. The world needs more people to say “Hey, wait a minute. That makes no sense!” when they listen to the news. It needs more people to tell it like it is. It needs more people to stop taking crap and smiling about it. It needs you. You know it’s true. You know you’re a pussy. So make a resolution to make Cantankerous Old Coots a regular read in 2011.

And give us feedback.

Finally, Coot’s want you to tell us what you need. What do you enjoy most from Coots and what could we do to increase your enjoyment and help you become a Cantankerous Old Coot (whatever your age)? Is there a cantankerous corner that we have missed? Let us know.

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