theoldcoot's profile
Who is the Old Coot? Arthur Webster (the Old Coot) is a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks who has since gone on to earn his Masters Degree and become Professor Emeritus.
The following is an encapsulation of a life story that was turned down by several publishers because it was simply too incredible. Nobody would believe it!
Having been born to a blind father and a grand mal epileptic mother, Arthur has benefited from the intelligence of his father and the simplicity of his mother (of whom it was sometimes said that if her intelligence quotient went up by one point, it would double) and is the product of a very happy home that was furnished, initially, with tea chests and banana boxes (in those days they were like wooden coffins and very robust!).
As soon as he could read at about 4 years of age, Arthur became the ‘guardian’ of his parents and was used as an interpreter when any official business had to be handled (and this did include a legal battle against the social services who wanted to declare his parents incompetent and take him and his younger sister into ‘care’).
At age 11 the first signs of the illness that has been Arthur’s constant companion ever since, manifested itself when he collapsed at home and was rushed to hospital. Strangely enough, even though he was collected in a state of delirium and the ambulance staff had seen that he was totally incapable of supporting himself, he made such a rapid recovery that by the time a doctor got to see him he was accused of malingering and reported to the school authorities for absenteeism from school.
As a result, further, similar attacks were ignored and an insidious disease was allowed to develop unchecked.
After five years service in the Royal Air Force (for which the medical was passed by a very narrow margin) which included two years in Aden it was decided that he would not be allowed to re-enlist because there was no longer the justification to allow a marginal medical pass – there was no shortage of recruits that year!
Shortly after demob. Arthur married an Irish girl. The honeymoon in Ireland was unique in that Arthur stayed with his new brother in law in Dublin while his new wife stayed with her mother in Co. Mayo trying to reconcile her to the fact that she had married an Englishman!
On return from the honeymoon Arthur collapsed in a heap with a massive haemorrhage and ended up in hospital undergoing heroic surgery that was to be followed by annoying consequential complications for some years. Shortly before the surgery Arthur heard his wife being told not to go home that evening because he was not likely to survive the night.
A couple of years later Arthur buried his first wife and married a second. Although still recovering from surgical complications, Arthur was thrown into a major crisis as he discovered that his new wife was addicted to tranquilisers. The odd tablet he had seen his wife taking turned out to be only the ones that she wanted him to see so that he would not get alarmed if he discovered that she had a small pharmacy hidden in her wardrobe. The addiction was fought for a couple of years and, after going through emotional nightmares and major bouts of withdrawal symptoms, seemed to be under control. Unfortunately this was not the case and his wife committed suicide just when everything seemed to be coming together.
Being brave, stupid or susceptible to beautiful women, Arthur married again only to have this wife killed in a traffic accident.
By this time Arthur had developed a very simple view of life, learning how to exploit every little pleasure and incident while also becoming very forthright in his views. Much of his time was spent assisting people who were going through emotional crises and also preparing people for the sort of surgery which he had undergone – especially some whose lifestyles led them to believe that death would be preferable to mutilation.
With wife number four came a period of contentment and a sustained high level of living standard but this came to an end about ten years ago when a move to Spain was suggested to help ease the symptoms that were starting to make themselves felt again. Initially the move was not expected to result in a lengthy life in Spain but, against the odds, Arthur is still here!
The respite from the symptoms lasted until about five years ago when a gradual decline in health and vitality started until Arthur is now in danger of losing his right eye and is in no general fit state to work to support himself because of a permanent headache and the inability to concentrate for more than an hour or two a day.
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Wealth has absolutely nothing to do with happiness. Happiness is a state of being. It is aglomer...
on Charity, Poverty and happiness by Guy Mclaren, 1 week ago
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Hi there thanks for the follow. I am finally going to start using Qondio more than once a year.
Thankyou. I appreciate the follow back.
Geez, how did I miss that? I thought I was already following you!
I truly do enjoy your wit and wisdom. You were the inspiration for my intel "Home-schooling - An Eccentricity?" prompted by a comment you made on Larry Barkan's intel about public schooling.
I will be following your intels from now on.
Laraine
I'm glad we're now following each other. I enjoy your posts.
I added a link to your intel about "How God speaks to you" from my intel about the blind men describing an elephant.
I appreciate all your comments, even the ones I don't agree with.
Thank you for the comment on freesitesignup. If you wouldn't mind i would like to hear more about your ideas for the Affiliate Program. I am Sort of new at this and still trying to get a handle on it and continue to learn.
thanks
alaback5
Thanks for the comment on my intel. Could you please explain to me what you meant by brewing at 8 bars?
Thanks Arthur, for your comments from time to time. I welcome your advice from the school of hard knocks
Thanks oldcoot. Your intel "I'll Make My Own" was the great insipration for me writing "FDA Allows Contaminated Foods For Human Consumption".
Hi: Thanks for connecting. I look forward to reading your book and your inte.
Hi I enjoy reading of your experiences and thoughts. I know I can a lot from you.
Up until today, I thought I was already following you on Qondio. I guess because I had seen several of your posts. Anyway, I look forward to your next one. If I only read posts from people I agree with, I would become narrow-minded. (not that I'm not that way now)
I truly enjoy your writing. Thanks for entertaining me as well as provoking me to put some thought into things I may not otherwise have considered.
Arthur Webster that is a very interesting story of your life. I hope you do recover and I would like to know more about your eyesight. I will pray for you.
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