Catfoot Blog

Are we Men Or Mice?

Every so often we see a blog asking where are all the REAL men on this site and when I read some of the blogs posted by men, I have to agree with them .

And I know that men also have feelings and that we should express them but does that include asking for sympathy?

Ladies, I know you won’t but please skip the next 3 paragraphs.

Come on guys, we are men; not mice. We don’t walk around complaining about how hurt we are and how lonesome or sensitive we are. We accept help when offered and may ask for help when needed but we never ask for sympathy. We want women to like us; not to feel sorry for us.

I’d rather be disliked than being pitied. Rejection is easier to handle when you simply lift the anchors and sail when the tide goes out; without a 21 gun salute. There are other harbors to offer a safe anchorage. What happened to our self respect? Let’s be the men we are and act like it.

If it is sympathy we ask for then sympathy is all that we shall ever get and it won’t last for very long either. Women eventually get tired of listening to our whinges.

Next time, before you write one of those cry baby blogs or comments, think a bit of what women really think when they write those sweet comments on your blog. Women are softer and more compassionate than men. They don’t always say those nice things because they like you. Sometimes it is merely to console you because they feel sorry for you. Is that what you want; pity?

This is a dating site and women come here to find somebody they can look up to, respect and lean on when the need arise. Somebody they can depend on when the going gets tough; not a cry baby who needs a dry nappy all the time.

A great and wonderful day to you all.

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Aug 2014
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A Single World Language?

Every Tom, Díck and Harry claims to be a computer expert. Meaning everybody think they know a lot about computers. But who was Tom, Díck and Harry; or was it just 3 random names that somebody once grabbed out the air and it stuck?

We have a similar expression in my mother’s tongue but with three different names; Piet, Paul en Klaas. It was probably inherited straight from Dutch which was the foundation of Afrikaans. I did not research the origin of it.

It is expressions like this that makes a language rich. And it also makes a language very confusing to newcomers. If I should tell a newbie to English who bought a horse that turned out to be blind that he bought a cat in a bag, he will not know what I’m saying. He will probably think I’m stupid if he does not understand the elements of the language. After all, how does a blind horse relate to a half suffocated cat tied in a bag?

It seems that we are moving closer towards one single world language and it would be sad to see the jewels of our languages disappear but I guess all these expressions will be taken up in such a language, even if it is on a regional base.

But a single world language is still very far off. Currently there are about 6900 languages being spoken worldwide but the number is not conclusive because it is hard to distinguish between languages and dialects. Half the world speak 13 languages while the other half speak about 6887 languages.

I personally cannot see a single language being implemented worldwide. The moment it is installed, regional dialects with start developing and soon we will have different languages again.

Somehow I think we were meant to speak in different tongues.

Have a great day out there.

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Aug 2014
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Artificial Friendship?

I was newly struck by the artificial nature of being online after reading the responses on a recent blog named ‘Dinner For Six’.

What particularly struck me was the way some of us – I include myself here – apologized to our other friends for not having them on our invitation lists. Others refrained from giving names at all in fear of offending friends. Is the bond of friendship online so frail that we are too scared to invite some friends and not the others?

If you were to win such a prize in real life and you had 12 friends, would you rather stay home and forfeit the prize so not to offend our friends? I think not. Would you, in real life, ask the sponsor or organizer to expand the guest list to 12? No, you won’t.

You will invite 5 friends without even having to apologize to anybody, knowing they will understand. And you will come back bragging to them about how you enjoyed the evening. After all, the prize allowed for only 5 guests and if they are true friends there will be no ill feelings.

If one of your friends got 5 rugby, soccer, opera, cinema or whatever tickets and does not ask you along, will you be offended? If you are offended then you are not such a good friend at all. You cannot monopolize your friend. Like you, he/she is entitled to other friends as well.

So why do we want to treat online friends better than in real life? Friends who use names we’re not sure about, pictures that may be fake, doing a jobs that may not be true and claiming to be where they may not be. What is so special about online friends that we want to wrap them in cotton wool?

I wonder if you could guess how much time I spend finding the right words in a comment and how many euphemisms I use; only not to alienate myself from friends… but in real life, I call a spade a spade.

True friends take much more to be offended.

Stick around. Friday is still a long way off.

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Aug 2014
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Being Old Fashioned

I used to frown when people said I am conservative. I always saw myself a liberal and free thinking. After all, I pressed my students to explore and investigate the unknown; not to get stagnant.

But did I practice what I preached? In a way, yes; I have a very inquiring mind and I always wonder what makes things tick but I seldom adopted what I have acquired in my findings.

I am resistant to change. My old habits die hard. I don’t like changes and I adapt to them slowly. I hang onto the values taught to me as a child, regardless of how the world has changed.

I have not used Windows 95; I stuck to MS-DOS. In fact, I still have a DOS simulator on my machines. When I finally accepted Win98, I stuck to it, bypassing Win ME as well as Win 2000 - when it finally arrived - going straight to XP. Now I’m still stuck with Win XP.

Oh, I looked at all the other platforms but I did not like them. I always had them on another partition and could dual boot with them but I never used it. I did not like them. Just like I don’t like Win Vista, 7 or 8. Now I have acquired Linux but I do not get as far as installing it. I still want to cling to Win XP.

While being conservative can create some stability, it certainly puts you in a groove that is hard to escape from.

Well, the weekend is nearing its end but enjoy the new week.

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Aug 2014
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Dinner For Six

Let’s stand still for a minute and imagine that there was a competition and you had won the first prize which is a dinner for six in a posh restaurant. It is to be a pure platonic outing and you may invite any 5 CS members to join you; all expenses – even airfares – paid.

According to the rules, you may invite neither your lover nor anybody else you have met previously.

If I should win such a prize, I would suffer a small pang of regret for the one person I would really love to meet is no longer with us. When I first arrived here he was mounted on a horse and wore an equally fearsome horned helmet. Yes, you guessed it. Ms Delatude would have been my choice was he still here and if I could invite only one person. Alas, he opted to leave us and I miss the old geezer.

But now he’s left and I can invite 5 friends. So who will it be? Five friends is cutting it fine and a lot of good friends are going to be left out; not because I don’t like them enough but rather because I am more inquisitive about the following people.

In alphabetical order:
Fotinia, Simmo, Ummka, Welela & Zmountainman.

They are 5 very different people but why them; what do they have in common with me? That is simple, they were all considered to be trolls at some stage. Guess what we will be talking about all night!

Ok, I left out a few other trolls but remember, I may only invite 5 people.

Also note that these people were all here when I first arrived at CS and played an important part in my settling here. No offense to my other friends; When I win the competition again you will certainly be on my list next time.

I trust that your weekend is going exactly according to plan.

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Aug 2014
in Society
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My Cat Is Back!

No, this is not one of those stories of a cat walking 250 km to go home and crossing a mountain and two raging rivers in the process. It would not have worked; home is not where it used to be when last he was there.

This little bastard hitched a ride, or to put it more correctly, he stowed away.

After an impulsive phone call Sunday evening I got into my car yesterday (Monday) morning at 4 am and hit to road to my friend’s farm. I told him I’m coming for a quick visit but he probably guessed it was not to see him but rather the animals.

I could only spend 4 hours there before returning and when it was time to go, the cat was missing. In the end I left without being able to say bye to him.

While coming down the mountain, three quarter way home, I almost overturned the car when something sneaked up between the two front seats.

Monsieur – that is his real name but he prefers to respond to Meneer – announced his presence with a loud meow and settled on my lap as if it was the most normal thing in the world, purring as loud as a diesel engine.

He must have gotten into the car while the wife of one of the farmhands cleaned the car inside. He often slept in or on top of the car when it was parked on the driveway.

My sister was not happy but there was something soft in her eyes when I told her how it came about during supper. Her only comment was that the same story won’t work with the dogs.

May you have a great day and don’t be cattish.

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Jul 2014
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Playing Sick

I played sick today and had my Sunday lunch in my room. Though I have my own kitchen, my sister more or less expects that I should have the main meal of the day with them in the main house.

I have a separate entrance with a spacious room and my own bathroom (shower, basin & toilet); it is a nice cozy place and I should not complain but I miss the space and the privacy of my own place. And I miss my cat and two dogs.

I don’t think one should live too close to your family. I don’t want to worry all the time about my friends or my music being to loud. I don’t want to sound ungrateful because my sister cooks well but I want to eat what I feel like at the time and not what is dished up on my plate.

Initially the plan was to stay here until the end of the year but I think it is time to start looking around for a place of my own again. I want my animals back.

May you all have a great Sunday!

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Jul 2014
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Catching A Liar

It is said that if a lie is repeated often enough, it will eventually be believed as true; no matter how big the lie. And the worst is that the bigger the lie, the easier it is believed. It sounds so unbelievable, therefore it must be true!

Lying is a repetitive action. A lie left on its own will soon betray itself. It will quickly need another lie to cover some of the inconsistencies of previous lies. This is what makes some people such excellent liars; they will tell a small lie at first to pave the way for a bigger lie to follow, which is then swallowed hook, line and sinker.

Because one lie leads to another, and another and another to keep up continuity, the liar needs to keep track of his lies. This is best done by believing his own lies. At this stage lying had become a way of living and the liar’s entire life is a lie.

The problem is that the liar not only lies to Mary, also to Peter and Paul. But Mary, Peter and Paul are very different individuals with different circumstances and therefore need different lies to fit the situation. This can work ok if the liar can keep track of his lies… until Mary, Peter and Paul get together one day.

Liars tend to repeat their lies. And they will invent new lies to justify old lies. They allow their lies to grow by adding bits of detail every time the story is told. This is where the small inconsistencies come to light. Their undoing in the end!

To catch a liar, never challenge him. Let him believe that you believe him. Ask for detail if you must but only superficially. Never interrogate him. Given enough rope he will hang himself in the end.

I am a good listener, especially for what is said between the lines and for what is not said at all. That is what normally betrays the accomplished liar. Lie to me once and I will never believe that person again; not even when he speaks the truth but he will never know that.

Relax man, it is weekend.

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Jul 2014
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A Rampant Cow

In 1948 my father’s mother was killed by a cow. Yes, a cow - not a bull. The very same cow that she milked twice a day, gored her in the stomach. My father, who was the youngest child, had already flown the nest by that time.

My grandfather found her about 20 minutes later when she did not return to the house. She was taken to Groote Schuur Hospital where she died two days later. She was in her late 40s.

By the way, Groote Schuur Hospital came into the spotlight about 20 years later when Dr Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant.

I never knew her as she died 4 years before I was born but the part of the story that intrigues me most is that for some reason or another the cow had to be killed – and it was eaten.

I know those were hard years immediately after the war but I will have to chew very hard on the animal that killed my wife.

Tomorrow is Friday

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Jul 2014
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Stabbed In The Back?

You cannot be betrayed by your known enemies. You expect them to stab you in the back and therefore you never turn your back towards them. It is natural behavior for them to undermine you.

It is those whom you trust that betray you; often a good friend.

Julius Caesar must the ultimate example of a betrayal. First his friend Brutus was one of the main conspirators to his assassination. It is said that when Caesar saw his friend amongst the traitors, he covered his head with his cloak and offered no further resistance.

And then his other friend, Marc Anthony, proposed to the senate that the assassins be pardoned. The proposal was accepted; a double betrayal.

Caesars had many enemies and his last words portray that. Et tu, Brute? And you too, Brutus? Better translated as: Even you, Brutus?

You are seldom betrayed when you are strong and firmly in the saddle. It is when you are weak with plenty of enemies, when you can least afford it, that people betray you.

So, by the same definitions, can you be betrayed by your lover? Apparently not; you should expect such behaviour because they say all is fair in love and war.

A wonderful day to you and shoot the traitors like in the olden days.

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Jul 2014
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It Drives Me Mad

Don’t you just love it to find a lot of junk installed on you PC after you have installed one of these free programs?

They mostly have a dialog box to ask you if you want to install the third party software but sometimes there is not warning at all. Other times they hide to option to decline the offer so well that it is easily missed.

I have switched from Internet Explorer 8 to FireFox a few months ago. Yesterday I decided it was time to remove I E 8. While removing it, I was provided with a list of programs, installed since I E 8 was installed, warning me that these may no longer function. And true, a few of them did not work. I was left to re-install them. A few were of these free versions.

After reinstalling the not-functioning programs, the new unwanted applications started showing up; mostly downloaders, diagnostics and back-up utilities; popping up at the most impossible times.

I spent all morning getting rid of the thrash and the traces they leave behind. Uninstallers seldom remove everything and never clean up the registry behind them. Bad entries in the registry not only slows your PC but also may cause it to hang.

I run a very neat and carefully tended PC (internally) and don’t have a load of junk sitting on my hard drive.

I really think software vendors should be forced to display their intentions more clearly; not everybody has the know how to clean up afterwards.

We're getting closer, it is Wednesday.

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Jul 2014
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A Silly Question

Why do people post 2 or more blogs per day – as I did now – when the most recent posting will always remove his predecessor from circulation while it should still be exposed for everybody else to read? After all, we are not all in the same time zone.

I have done it a few times before and every time it was with the specific reason to hide another blog that I did not want to delete.

What puzzles me most though, is how many people will see this blog. Do people ever get to see these ‘hidden’ posts?

Do enlighten me please. I would love to know.

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Jul 2014
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This is a list of Catfoot's Blogs. Click here for Catfoot's Blog List

Catfoot Blog (616)

Are we Men Or Mice?

A Single World Language?

Artificial Friendship?

Being Old Fashioned

Dinner For Six

My Cat Is Back!

Playing Sick

Catching A Liar

A Rampant Cow

Stabbed In The Back?

It Drives Me Mad

A Silly Question

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