I was catching up on the Boots on Line board yesterday, and saw that someone asked about “the bumps” on a pair of full-quill ostrich harness boots. He asked, “Does ostrich leather come with bumps? Or are they added?”
And the answer is…
Continue reading
This image demonstrates that the boot manufacturer that wraps itself in the American Flag as one of the main supporters of championship rodeo has “gone over” (as they say in Oklahoma) to what makes them money.
For those without much experience in interpreting the printing (or stamping) inside boot shafts, let me explain how Justin has joined many other well-known American bootmaker labels by having products made in China with low-wage labor and cheap materials.
Continue reading
It has been a while since I have blogged about my partner’s long-term recovery from the consequences of contracting a disease from a tick bite. His illness has been extraordinarily challenging for him, and for me as his primary caregiver, best friend, confidant, and health care advocate.
Continue reading
I had the opportunity to lead a motorcycle ride for my club on Sunday. I was delightfully surprised by the large turn-out. 17 people and 14 bikes showed up. These rides are listed on a website, and people decide if they want to come as they have time and availability.
This was a great ride for me, and let me live up to a self-challenge. I admit, I have problems with…
Continue reading
Having worn Chippewa Firefighter Boots (station boot style) for six years now, these boots remain my number one choice of boots to wear when I ride my Harley.
As I was explaining to two staff at my local Harley dealer the other day, these boots:
Continue reading
For the past several months, my left heel has been hurting a lot when I take the first few steps when I rise from bed, and later in the evening, close to bedtime. The morning pain has been sharp and quite irritating, but it subsides soon enough.
I knew something was wrong, though, when the pain persisted. I’m no dummy… I figured I had plantar fasciitis, which is an inflammation of a tendon that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel to the ball.
I was being a general goofball guy, hoping it would go away, while concentrating on getting my partner over his long-term illness. Now that my partner is feeling better (not recovered, but better than before), I thought that now was a good time to see a doctor and get this problem addressed.
Continue reading
While the record-breaking heat of the past two weeks has abated, and I have returned to riding my Harley regularly for commuting and errand-running, it’s still summertime warm. So why would I consider snow boots this time of year?
Continue reading
Closing the story from yesterday’s post, my two senior pal visitors and the cats have gone back to their respective homes, now that power has been restored to each of their homes after seven full days of their power being out. I am glad they are able to return to their usual lives, and let my partner and me get on with ours. Not that their visit was a problem; it’s just that we are not accustomed to having company, especially the matronly type (giggle.) No worries, we were good boys, and giving them a safe and comfortable place to stay was our pleasure.
Since we had some time to ourselves yesterday, I got my partner into several pairs of boots and…
Continue reading
Sorry, not much time to blog… I have “collected” yet another senior pal who is camping out with us. This is my other senior pal’s neighbor. First senior pal came to our home at my insistence on Thursday when I discovered that her power had not yet been restored and she was becoming ill due to the effects of high heat and humidity. She did not want to go to a public shelter, and could not afford to pay for a hotel room.
Now, her next-door neighbor has joined us. I learned by speaking with my friend that her neighbor was in the same situation as she is: no power back on yet after last week’s storm, living alone, and on a fixed income. I went to the neighbor’s house on Friday evening, and discovered at my horror that she had hardly enough energy to answer the door. She was refusing to leave her home since she did not want to leave her cats alone. But it was well over 90F (33C) inside her house.
Damn… I couldn’t just leave her there…
Continue reading
The weather here in Maryland, USA, has been less than cooperative lately. Just when I thought we had the best Spring — with delightfully cool but sunny days, and crisp nights — all the way through June 22 — hell hath been wrought on the region.
The weekly rains stopped, the heat turned up, and here we are, in a full-fledged heat wave. Tomorrow (Saturday), I was going to go on a ride on my Harley, but I will heed a lesson learned on Thursday afternoon when riding in 100F (38C) heat…
…that is, ask myself, “are you nuts? You want soaked boots again?”
Continue reading