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The Old Dog is Off the Porch and Running – Stand by for Ralph Carlson

June 11, 2010 By

(Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes)

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

I think that’s a load of horse puckey. Anyone can learn, at any age. We may get a tad slower as we get older (we might not), but mulishness persistence and indominability, both qualities increasing with age, win the day. As Ralph Carlson is demonstrating.

It turns out I met Ralph a couple of weeks ago. He had driven down from the Sierra Nevada foothills where he lives to give a social media presentation. Within his group, he’s the relative expert because he knows more than they know.

And by the way, I don’t think Ralph is “old,” not for any value of old. He has a few years on me, but I hope I don’t feel old when I get there.

Here’s my impression: Ralph is energetic and engaged. If you haven’t figured it out, he has a rapier-sharp, exceedingly dry wit. Ralph is observant, he sees what’s going on. If that’s “old,” I’m down for it!

So, let’s meet Ralph Carlson.

WiaW: Why blogging? What motivated you to start?

Ralph: I used to listen to a lot of political talk radio. Hugh Hewitt wrote a book about blogging and said that everyone needed to blog. I thought my original topic would be the adjustment from So Cal to No Cal because they are very different. I got bored with that and veered into politics. I originally thought that I might be able to make a difference with politics by blogging. It was very diverting and gave me the feeling of mattering but it was an illusion. I had no great insights or vision to add to the conversation. I was just passing along ‘good stuff’ with an occasional rant. I wasn’t providing any real value and I knew it.

WiaW: Where did you start? I’ve seen some of your earlier work, I like it. I think you’re on to something with the plants. Why not take it further that direction?

Ralph: After I burned out with the politics, I converted to a garden blog. The big problem is that gardening in El Dorado County is like gardening in an old quarry. My yard is all rocks loosely glued together with some bluish clay. We freeze in the winter and it is blazing hot in the summer making the plants that I loved for 30 years in So Cal difficult to impossible to grow. I think that niche gets just too tight to find an audience. Plus while I was working I really didn’t have much time to work on the garden. I may actually get back to using some gardening topics as I go forward,

WiaW: Where you want to take it, do you have a vision?

Ralph: Do vou mean aside from the LSD trip where Hubert Humphrey was a giant grasshopper eating Kansas?

It is actually coming together. I have been frustrated for about a year because everybody in the blogosphere keeps nattering on about niches and I didn’t know what mine was. I joined David Risley’s Blogmasters Club and am slowly working through the materials there where I found a video that clued me in. It is me. Not that anyone cares about me personally but there are people like me facing the same stage in life where somehow the promised pot of gold just never appeared.

So what do you do about it?

I figure that the experiences of an old guy tottering around the blogosphere making a fool of himself might help others decide to do the same or at least get themselves into something new; design their ideal life and make it happen or just get on Facebook and hook up with old high school friends. And that is where my other blog comes in.

WiaW: What are some of the actual steps you’re taking?

Ralph: Now that I have a vision for my blog, it is clear that I need to create a story line. I started with a revised and expanded ‘About’ page filling out the details of my life experience and where it is leading me. Then I need to provide a better organization of topics and themes. By now I am spinning ahead of real plans so stay tuned.
(In the time since I originally wrote this paragraph I have moved forward some. I do a nostalgia post every Friday- mostly 50′s related but I intend to get into the 60′s as well. The 60′s were as evil and subversive as the 50′s were innocent and positive. Both influenced me. I intend to continue with my story as it evolves and include issues relating to aging well and creating a well rounded lifestyle design. What that means in reality will depend on reader response. I think that there are people who will relate to this mix but I guess I will find out.)

WiaW: If you’re comfortable with sharing, what’s your background on your corporate career?

Ralph: I finished undergraduate with the absolute knowledge that I didn’t want to get a job and didn’t have a clue if I was worth anything so I went to graduate school where I failed one year and got drafted into the Army for two years defending our country from the beaches of Honolulu. This was eye opening for a kid who had never experienced much outside my protected little cocoon. Back to graduate school where I met my wife, graduated and headed for Los Angeles far away from the provincial East Coast.

Started working for an architectural firm that threatened to lay me off every other week. I wasn’t that bad an employee. The economy just sucked. I went to work for the City of Los Angles doing urban research, learned programming and had fun playing with numbers until they turned my organization into a grant getting mill.

I’m a one trick pony (or was). I went back to school for an MBA which got me to the Department of Water and Power where I spent 20 years setting water and electric rates. I thought it was the best job in the world and we had 20 years of no politics until Tom Bradley retired and dumb politicians ruined DWP. I retired on my 55th birthday. My intention was to find other work but I bumbled around for a few years with no real direction. Finally in desperation I took a job doing rates work at an agency in Sacramento and eventually relocated from LA to Sacramento. It was an ideal job because they paid me for not supervising anyone. This was great until they hred an incompetent fool to be my boss and I retired again. I was already blogging and saw the potential for business on the web and here we are, still seeing that potential and doing everything I can to make it real.

WiaW: What are some of your biggest frustrations you suffer as you work to master building your own business?

Ralph: The blind spots that I don’t know i have until I get so messed up that I am forced to discover them.

I am also pretty good about accepting help most of the time but quite often I pigheadedly decide that I don’t need the help or just won’t take it.

I have been using a coach to help me with this and it is helping big time. I get easily overwhelmed by the complexity of the big picture. and I just get stopped. None of the little steps seem like they will make a difference so I dither. With my coach, I get some of these small things done and amazingly they do make a difference.

Questions for Ralph?

Let fly. He’s game.

And by the way, Old Guys Rule (Google it).

Don’t forget to visit.

Filed Under: Building community Tagged With: ,

Comments

  1. Dave Doolin says:
    June 11, 2010 at 12:45 am

    Ralph, thanks again for taking the time. Let me know if there are any other links you would like to have.

    • Ralph says:
      June 11, 2010 at 9:13 am

      Thanks so much Dave. It is so much more fun when someone asks you about yourself than when you are telling your story because you so much more comfortable thinking that they are actually interested and you have a topic to follow instead of having to make one up.
      I clearly have to be careful with this rapier wit thing. It might end up in Eleanor’s jugular.
      Thanks for letting me have all this fun.
      Ralph´s last post ..Wake up and smell the – Verbena Bonariensis

  2. Eleanor Edwards says:
    June 11, 2010 at 3:02 am

    Great interview guys. What I really want to know though is where that wit comes from? It’s drier than Bond’s favourite tipple ;)
    Eleanor Edwards´s last post ..Friday Friend: EBay ‘Petal-Est-2007′ aka Sadie

  3. Dave Thackeray says:
    June 11, 2010 at 3:53 am

    Ralph, I adore this. You’ve really nailed what it takes to communicate and build community.

    You have rapier wit, an astonishing personality and lots of experience at life. Exactly what people need to learn from.

    I’m on you, my man. Not literally, or figuratively, even, but I’ll definitely be readin’ and a-lurkin’ round your electronic pastures these days…
    Dave Thackeray´s last post ..Is there a team in you?

    • Ralph says:
      June 11, 2010 at 9:28 am

      Dave T,
      I have to confess something. Your posts here at WIW drive me crazy and I don’t know why. They drive me to make snarky comments and then not sleep well. I told Dr. D about this because I didn’t think it made a very constructive comment after the Three E post. Then I sat down yesterday with a pad and paper and I wrote the three E’s at the top of the page, thought about who is my target audience and then wrote. It beats me if I included any of the E’s but check it out on Monday and let me know if any of them made it. Thanks for the encouragement. All I get from Dr. D is ‘why don’t you learn to write better.’
      Ralph´s last post ..Wake up and smell the – Verbena Bonariensis

      • Dave Thackeray says:
        June 11, 2010 at 9:57 am

        Ralph, how you make me titter so.

        I can’t wait to read your Monday post. Do leave a reminder somewhere prominent so I can recall we had this brief virtual discourse. I suggest the home page of Google, if you can make it happen.

        Meantime go and have a productive and infinitely satisfying end of week.

        Dave – I dread to think what Ralph will make of the next one… ;-)
        Dave Thackeray´s last post ..Is there a team in you?

  4. Jean Sarauer says:
    June 11, 2010 at 7:23 am

    Ralph,

    I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your comments around the blogosphere and the great content on your blog, but this interview was simply stellar. You are a fascinating character all around.

    I didn’t know you were in Blogmasters . . . me too . . we could have fumbled about together :)
    Jean Sarauer´s last post ..Empire Building 101 Series: Growing a Prosperous Community

  5. Karen says:
    June 11, 2010 at 7:25 am

    “I figure that the experiences of an old guy tottering around the blogosphere making a fool of himself might help others decide to do the same or at least get themselves into something new; design their ideal life and make it happen or just get on Facebook and hook up with old high school friends.”

    You are definitely not ‘old” or a “fool’, Ralph!

    I love the thoughtful comments you leave everywhere and your amazing ability to translate your experiences into engaging artciles on your own site. It’s so refreshing to have an a person who has really lived and had such varied experiences write and share their stories. Don’t stop sharing what you know because there definitely is an audience for your voice.

    Well done!

    Karen
    Karen´s last post ..Friday’s Links

    • Ralph says:
      June 11, 2010 at 9:33 am

      Karen,
      I am glad that you appreciate my comments. I have tried to always add something to the conversation or just pass.

  6. Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella says:
    June 11, 2010 at 7:49 am

    Well I am getting a little long in the tooth myself, so I thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Ralph. Us old dogs are perfectly capable of learning new tricks, as Ralph’s journey demonstrates. You just have to speak a little louder so we can hear the instructions…

    Eh, what’s that you say? Hit submit to torment? Sure thing, I can do that! lol
    Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella´s last post ..Is There Software That Can Help Improve Your Blog Writing Style?

    • Ralph says:
      June 11, 2010 at 9:36 am

      Joella,
      I think it is very important that those of us who have been around the block provide a little wisdom. I am looking to build a community of people who don’t stop learning and growing with people just like you,

  7. Ralph says:
    June 11, 2010 at 8:58 am

    Where to start? I couldn’t help breaking into my morning writing session to see if the interview was up and if anybody left a comment. I am overwhelmed. I do have work to do now but I promise to come back later and respond to all those kind comments.
    Ralph´s last post ..Wake up and smell the – Verbena Bonariensis

  8. Carlos Velez says:
    June 11, 2010 at 9:17 am

    Eleanor…(stop me if I’m embarrassing myself with this question)…what’s a tipple? Is that a British thing?

    Ps. I’m glad you’re back.

    Ralph, I love your self-deprecating humour…as long as you know that underneath it all you’re a high-flyin old badass. I am intrigued by your new direction with your blog. It’s a good one. Rock it out.
    Carlos Velez´s last post ..It’s How You Use It (Understanding) That Counts

  9. Justin Matthews says:
    June 11, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    I have to agree with the kudos so far…Ralph is a great guy who brings a very different view to Blogistan. I really like the Friday nostalgia posts, I wasn’t born then, but I like to think I know a lot about the time because I really like it.

    Ralph has been a Great collaborator over at Cantankerous Old Coots and is out head of Cantankerosity. He brings a totally different vision and voice to anything I have ever thought of!

    These interviews are great Dave, I can’t wait to read more!
    -Justin
    Justin Matthews´s last post ..I’m not taking your @#^$ing survey!

  10. Heather says:
    June 12, 2010 at 3:12 am

    We should have a Ralph fan club. Specifically so we can demand podcast interviews. (Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not dying to hear his wit too?)

    Great interview, and it was interesting seeing where you’re coming from. I’ll admit that I read your stuff more often on Coots than your own blog, but I do keep an eye on it too.
    Heather´s last post ..Semester Scramble: Aftermath

  11. Valentina says:
    June 12, 2010 at 11:00 am

    Ralph and Dave –
    A most inciteful and delightful interview – thoroughly enjoyed the read. Ralph, I’m going to have to make sure that I log on on Fridays for all that super nostalgia stuff :-)

    … hmmm, gin and/or vodka? But Bond’s my boy and I positively love the new guy and talk about dry! (and lethal – aha, therein the reason for vodka)
    Valentina´s last post ..Those Doggone Blogging Blues – Having Nothing More To Say

  12. Dave Doolin says:
    June 12, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    You have to go to Scotland to get the good stuff. The Japanese sometimes buy out whole lots of it, never gets to the states.