Thursday 31 August 2017

Ralph Says - Goes Mobile

Ralph Goes Mobile

Well it looks like Ralph will be moving into a mobile home (or trailer) in Santa Cruz in a few months, (much to my chagrin). Know this, it is my intention that this will only be the briefest of stays in such a place for him...A stopgap, at the most.

Ralph is a man who has worked hard (not necessarily smart) his whole life, and now, well into his eighties, he's little to show for it. 

Truth be told it's more than a little heartbreaking to witness, and realise he has arrived at such a destitute place.

He has no savings, property or investments...well you might say, apart from me, (Thea). 

Having moved halfway across the world to Scotland, it has been challenging at times for me to survive on my own. Cue: dear old dad.

There is little doubt in my mind that Ralph would be financially better off if he didn't have to help me, as much as he has, and for as long as he has

That, as you might imagine, is a heavy burden of guilt for me to bear. 

It is undoubtedly why I am so determined to make Ralph Says Things a success and to be able to "pay" him back.

It's my turn to support him if you will.

Ralph Says Things - Domain

Ralph now his own domains. I hadn't registered any before because I wasn't really sure what I was doing and where it was going. I'm still not, if truth be told, but I did think it was "high time" he had his own domain name so he does. I registered a couple but his main domain is ralphsaysthings.com...

For now that just brings you here but as inspiration arises, it will perhaps lead you somewhere else in the future. I envisage a community that will share content not only of Ralph's, but of other golden oldies who are disrupting ageing too. Content that will inspire people, and make people feel good, ultimately. If you come across anything you think is wonderful then please share it on social using #RalphSayThings - and I'll be sure to find it.

Old's Cool & #JSSAMO First Sales!!


#RalphSays - #Old's Cool & #JSSAMO - first t-shirts sold!

Woke up and had an email that we had our first sale on Redbubble. I couldn't believe it. 

The designs have been up for a month or so (on a few sites actually), so I guess that is not too bad...

No idea who bought them, but "Thanks so much" to whoever you are. 

We really appreciate it. We've been talking about other designs we could make too. Still waiting to be approved by Amazon's "Merch" but any day (week?) now I guess.

Watch this space.

Ralph Says TV

This week have been toying with the idea of a Ralph Says TV show. Slightly inspired by '50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy' (a Sky TV show in the UK) - I do wonder if we can come up with some things for him to do too. 

You know, like, Ralph Says Things could become Ralph Does Things, perhaps? 

Only slightly less ambitious and adventurous than the stuff Baz makes his "mammy" do...I can't see ole Ralph jumping out of an airplane in his 80s...but you never know, I guess?

Not sure what we could have just yet, but some ideas are brewing...

If you have any cool ideas to further​ the Ralph cause, then please get in touch.

Finally What about "Ask Ralph"?

Do you have any questions for Ralph? You could maybe ask Ralph for advice, thoughts or opinions on your life or his. 

Questions can be serious or silly, easy or hard - the choice is yours.

I think he'd come up with some pretty quirky or random things to respond with, but I am not 100% sure.

Let us know...

Remember to catch Ralph on all good social media channels as Ralph Says Things. FB is the biggest community so far..

Saturday 19 August 2017

#RalphSays - Share Your #SelfieSaturday Snap

It's #SelfieSaturday Time Again

Hey guys it's that time again, Saturday, and time to share your #SelfieSaturday Love with us on the FB page. It started last week with this one...

Saturday Selfie # 1

The first Selfie Saturday Shot was us at the Capitol Flea Market last summer. Every visit to California always has a trip to the flea market to get dad a new wallet. He's very particular about the kind of wallets he gets. Never try to buy him one, you won't succeed. So we make the trek every six months for him to pick out a new one...


Saturday Selfie # 2

I have just posted another one that Facebook kindly reminded me this morning was taken exactly two years ago today. Good ole FB. (Well, sometimes.) So I posted it an boosted it and I am grateful other people have been sharing their selfie love with us. Thanks John, Alison, Kelly and Melanie.


Share your #SelfieSaturday snap on the Ralph Says Facebook page

Slowly, Ralph Gets It...

Slowly but surely ole Ralph is getting into the swing of his own "Ralph Says" brand

It helped that he went out to visit a customer this week, and told her to go look up the hashtag (which he always still calls a "Pound Sign") #JSSAMO...When she did, she was apparently killing herself laughing at all the posts and pictures and merchandise. 

He felt a little special then, I think. Sometimes, I guess it takes someone who is not our own family or friends to point out something is cool or that we should or should not be doing something. 

Then we start to believe it...Funny that.

What Is The "Ralph Says" Mission? 

I have been taking some time to ask myself "why" I am doing this...In other words "what is the Ralph Says Mission" - personally and professionally.

There are several reasons.

1) I think most daddy's girls strive to make their father proud. I believe that, even as a middle aged woman, that is part of my "mission" with this. 

2) I also want to help him both in terms of having a "reason for being" and eventually, with a bit of help, "financially". 

3) As a sort of "joint venture", it is a chance to bring us even closer and it's FUN!

4) The aim is to be uplifting and inspiring - not just for myself and him but anyone who sees the content.

5) It's building community with other people - some who never had a parent like Ralph, some who have lost a parent (or both), some who are going through the challenges of the role reversal between parent to child, and just anyone who, like me, thinks "Old's Cool".

What Ralph Says does, is that it gives us something new to talk about every day on our nightly Skype calls. How many fans he's got, what comments he's had, and so forth. To be honest, he doesn't really understand the whole "likes, comments and shares" thing, but he does like being able to go to Google and type in "#JSSAMO" to see what comes up...(more and more things by the day).

He thinks that's pretty cool. Now he'll find this. "Hi Dad!"

What We're Watching...

Most nights, well when I am home, we watch TV together. The joys of technology. We stream shows on Netflix or Amazon or what not. He's been banging on about 'The Sinner" which other people have mentioned to me too (Alasdair and Kimmy). I thought it would be too intense, violent, graphic etc for me but it hasn't been. Enjoyed all three episodes to date - so that'll be one we can both watch.

We also love Suits. Great to see that's back every Wednesday night which means we can watch it Thursday (due to the time difference).

And we're both excited for the return of the fourth and final series of Halt and Catch Fire today! Anyone else digging this edgy computer series? Can't wait to see how it all ends out with the gang!

Well, that is all for this update. Thanks for following along with the Newcomb's journey!

Follow Ralph Says Things Here:


All blogging and social media for Ralph done by daughter Thea @newthea on Twitter.



Friday 11 August 2017

#RalphSays - #JSSAMO - Just Say Sh*t and Move On

Buy #JSSAMO - from Zazzle

#RalphSays - #JSSAMO 

So #RalphSays - #JSSAMO...but what's it all mean? Ralph turned to me some months back and says, "I've created a shortcut". he paused realising that was not the right word...

"A shortcut?" not following his line of discussion.

"A hashtag?" I eventually asked.

"Yeah that...Want to know what it is?"

I nodded.

"JSSAMO" he spelled out slowly.

I continued to stare blankly not even attempting to guess what it means.

"Want to know what it means?"

Naturally, I did, so affirmed that to be the case...

"Just say shit and move on".

He laughed - obviously quite proud of himself.

Turning JSSAMO Into Merchandise


For weeks, we've been talking 'bout t-shirts and various things that we could sell under the #RalphSays banner. Ralph played along to a point and then simply said "The only shirt I want is with #JSSAMO on it."

Fair enough...My old man asks for very little, so when he actually states something he wants clearly, I do try to make it happen...so a simple #JSSAMO design was born. It was then uploaded to a few places but no efforts have been made to really promote them as such.

After the design was made it was uploaded to a variety of places - including Cafepress and Zazzle. A few products were ordered, such as the pyjamas, a travel mug and long-sleeve shirt. The items will arrive today in California via his CP store. It's a surprise. Can't wait to see his little ole face! Via Zazzle, ordered some stickers too. Those should be fun.

Not to be left out, I quickly uploaded the #jssamo design to VistaPrint, so I could order myself a mug, baseball hat and a long-sleeved t-shirt too. These arrived yesterday and were shared on the Ralph Says Instagram...How fun is that?





Slowly Getting Somewhere

The social media channels are slowly building and we're up to almost 90 "fans" on the Ralph Says FB page. That's awesome. He's pleased - even though he doesn't really know what it all means. Took some time to edit a one-minute video so you can get a "feel" for who Ralph is...in his own words and humour.


Well that's all for this wee update. Took me a bit longer to post this than I'd liked (or promised) but as I mentioned I only got the goods last night and his arrive today so I was waiting for them.

Until next time lovelies...Thanks for stopping by.

#RalphSays - Ralph's Ultimate Flight

#RalphSays - Ralph's Taken the Ultimate Flight You could be forgiven for wondering if Ralph was still alive - given the fact I...