Cantankerous Old Coots

Up with Getting Started

Posted by Ralph at 04:47 Uncategorized, Up With

Sep 212013

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.

That will be the beginning.”

–Louis L’Amour

So what is so hard about getting started?

Are you stalled?

When I was a young sprout, there were ideas everywhere, or so it seemed to me. Everything was new. I couldn’t tell a fresh idea from one that was worn out. They all seemed exciting to me. Moving on through life, I gained knowledge and judgment. I began to form opinions. I got picky about ideas. I got sophisticated. College taught me that all the stuff I learned as a kid was crap, my parents were dumb, unsophisticated hicks and I shouldn’t trust my instincts unless they were first verified by The New Republic. But college doesn’t last forever. Sometime you have to start paying the piper. I had to get a job.

In the workplace it was different. So much for new ideas. Nobody even wanted me to think. It turned out that those smart college profs didn’t have any better answers than my parents. All the social profiling and posturing that seem so smart in college just didn’t seem to work in the office. I bought into all the new ideas, got creative, encouraged people to become raving fans and quickly discovered that my boss didn’t want my ideas. He wanted me to do what he wanted, when he wanted it, stop complaining and suck up. So life continued. I hunkered back and just coped, muddling through my parenting years, reeling between one crisis and another, cautiously taking baby steps without making any big commitments.

Now here in my Golden years, I find that I’m pretty set in my ways. I don’t expect to be a world beater anymore. I just want to get along. It’s what worked for me all these. Whatever success I got in life, I can attribute to taking no initiative, grabbing no limelight and following the person who can do me the most good. And then I retired.

I thought I was all finished with life. I thought all my battles were fought and lost. I thought there wasn’t a challenge left to face. I thought it was all over. Then I discovered I was wrong. Retirement makes you start all over – unless you are ready to die and get it over with.

So now, in retirement, nothing much matters. It’s just you. There is no job, no status, no followers. Whatever you had before is gone. Who are you? Who cares? Why do you get up? It’s all over if you let your job define you. If you don’t have a role in your family or your community, you might as well have died on our last day at work.

So the good news today about finishing is that it always signals a beginning. That is the problem that retired people face and the answer they choose makes all the difference. You know what ended with retirement and if you stop there all that is left is to ride that end down to the grave. On the other hand, if you choose to begin something, all the excitement and opportunities of life fill you with excitement and optimism. How can you begin something at the end of your life? The question begs the answer. You can’t. If you begin something new, you can’t be at the end. And if you don’t begin something new it is all over, whether you know it or not.

Today a Video

Posted by Ralph at 04:47 rants

Sep 212013

Today you don’t get a rant.

One thing and another and I just didn’t manage to get my thinking to congeal around a post today. Still, Wednesday is my post day and so for a fallback I prepared a video. All things considered, by the time I got the editing done, I might as well have written a post. Still, with each one thing and another, I am getting more familiar with my new video production software. Today is more of a whine than a rant but if you like the blog, then give us a heads up about what is working and what isn’t.

If you have never left a comment, then just say hello down below.

Up with Idealism!

Posted by Ralph at 04:47 Uncategorized

Sep 212013

“I’m an idealist: I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on my way.” Carl Sandberg

Many times in my life I’ve been struck with the thought that I’m a remarkable human being who is going to make a mark someday. Equally often I have been slapped in the face by the reality that remarkable human being or not, if I don’t get off my ass and work hard, I’m not worth shit. That notion helps me get out of bed each morning prepared to work toward my goals. Whatever happened I remain optimistic about life- my life at least – and firm in my belief that that moving ahead will bring me closer to the ideal life, whatever that might be.

It is great to be a positive person, someone who looks for and expects good things to happen no matter how extensive the contrary evidence might seem. I try to be an positive person, optimistic about the future and encouraging to my fellow man. I believe that being positive gives a boost for a satisfying life. I believe that good things come to those who are looking for them whether by cause or effect. I think being positive attracts other positives- both people and circumstances. A positive attitude won’t keep bad things from happening but I believe that positive people handle bad events better by facing them full on, dealing with them and moving on without whining or complaining. I’m not always positive but I try to look for the best at all times and keep on moving forward past the bad. Continue reading »

Down with Cash Cow Cops

Posted by Ralph at 05:57 Down with, rants

Sep 192013

Got a traffic ticket lately?

Have you noticed lately? Politicians are so desperate to get more of your money that they are turning cops into cash registers. They have tweaked the timing on the traffic lights so you can’t possibly make it through before it turns red. There used to be no problem at an intersection. If it changed to yellow after you entered, you could feel confident that there was time enough and even when it turned red it was OK so long as you entered on a yellow. Those days are long gone. Not only is the time too short for you to make it through on a yellow, the money changers have turned our crime fighters into cash cows. They must have some pretty hefty quotas because somehow they are always right there when you run that light.

It’s not chump change anymore

It’s not trivial money either. My son recently got a ticket which ran him over $600 before he was finished. This is for running a red light or to be more accurate for failing to go fast enough to get through the intersection on the almost non-existent yellow light. First there was the fine itself of about $300 or so – pure gravy for the city since the cops are already a sunk cost. Then the court gets involved to get your incident appropriately recorded. Of course, to keep the ticket off your record you have to sign up for one of the approved traffic schools. That takes another $200 or so. Then when you think you are done and you try to pay with a credit card online, they charge you another $18. There is so much wrong with this whole process, I don’t know where to start. Everybody knows about the legendary speed trap cities in the South where the cops would ticket travelers to fund city operations. You can understand that. Fleece the travelers and the locals will love you but when you fleece your own taxpayers just because they balk at raising taxes is a sure way to disaster.

Remember Andy Griffith?

Cops have always been good guys. They stand between you and criminals. They protect you from danger. We always tell our kids to look for a cop if they are in trouble. Anymore I don’t know about that. I can’t say that my son has the warm fuzzies for cops every since one chased him into our driveway and ticketed him after he unfastened his seat belt when he turned into our block. Now after his recent ticket, I don’t think his first thought is that the cops are my friend. I don’t think he is alone in that thought. I don’t have much respect for cops with a mission to collect my money either. That isn’t what I pay taxes for. It doesn’t make me feel secure that they are still spending any time stopping real crime. I am suspicious about their prime directive and I no longer trust them.

The breakdown of civilization

For me that is the problem with turning cops into cash cows because what make civil society work is the belief that wrong doing will be punished and that the cops will protect us. It is hard to hold that belief when all around we see that the cops see us as merely as sheep to be fleeced.

Down with Pessimism!

Posted by Ralph at 05:57 Down with

Sep 192013

“I’d be astounded if this planet is still going by 50 years from now. I don’t think we will reach 2000. It would be miraculous.” Alistair Cook

Alistair was the spokesman for the BBC Masterpiece Theater Productions on PBS for twenty years until the 90’s. He was the epitome of British erudition for middle brow Americans in the 70’s and 80’s where he would introduce each episode of those classy TV shows. I never knew that he was also a credible reporter and an American by choice but he represented British class for me growing up. Apparently he was a pessimist as well. Despite his pessimism, he lived to the ripe old age of 96, fathered Janis Joplin’s manager and confidant and lived in a rent-controlled New York apartment until his death. He didn’t die until 2004 well after his predicted end of the world. There is no record that he revised his drop dead date.

: Image via Wikipedia

It is fashionable to be pessimistic. It is also hip and cool to be pessimistic. It is also safe to be pessimistic because nobody ever demands that you pay the price when those predictions are wrong. Look at Malthus and Paul Ehrlich who were sure that over population would destroy the plant momentarily. We are in far greater risk from under population than over population these days and the economic damage of low fertility is apparent in Japan and Europe. China is overpopulated with horny young men because of their one child birth control program but the regime still thrives. Pessimism may be costly but no one ever seems to pay the price for it.

It’s the same story with the doom and gloom about the health of our poor planet. I can’t get excited about the idea that anything done by man will have much of an impact on the earth’s health. Every dramatic change in the past has been caused by some cataclysm much more significant than anything man can do. The earth may end as we know it at any moment but if it does, it won’t be because of anything I did or didn’t do. Nevertheless we glorify anybody who suggests that the earth is going to hell in a hand basket and beat ourselves up about plastic grocery bags.

The evidence is pretty good that the pessimists are wrong. They might appear right in the short run but the planet and the human race seem intent on continuing to keep going strong. You may get short run satisfaction with pessimism. You might get adulation and money like Al Gore. Still you have to remember the long term. If you are a pessimist like old Alistair, be careful about publishing your predictions. You might just out live them.

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