Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Coat Arrived
The new wool coat arrived yesterday, and as usual when UPS flubs the delivery, it simply showed up in my mailbox, foisted off by UPS onto the US Postal Service. Oh well, at least it's here.
And the coat is a thing of beauty. Wool that will wear like iron and last a lifetime. Practical. Functional. And did I say beautiful? I'd been wondering if I'd ordered a size too large, but over a heavy sweatshirt it fits just right. I can see I'm going to get a lot of use out of this coat, in fall, winter, spring, and with layering even in the depths of frigid winter.
Not cheap. But I'm a firm believer in buying quality, quality that will last and will serve your purposes and then some. Wool. Forest green. Buttons, not zippers. Rather retro. Pockets, pockets, pockets. It's a Filson Mackinaw Cruiser, and I couldn't be more pleased with a new wool coat that will keep me warm out here in the cold boondocks. Will keep me warm and will last.
And the coat is a thing of beauty. Wool that will wear like iron and last a lifetime. Practical. Functional. And did I say beautiful? I'd been wondering if I'd ordered a size too large, but over a heavy sweatshirt it fits just right. I can see I'm going to get a lot of use out of this coat, in fall, winter, spring, and with layering even in the depths of frigid winter.
Not cheap. But I'm a firm believer in buying quality, quality that will last and will serve your purposes and then some. Wool. Forest green. Buttons, not zippers. Rather retro. Pockets, pockets, pockets. It's a Filson Mackinaw Cruiser, and I couldn't be more pleased with a new wool coat that will keep me warm out here in the cold boondocks. Will keep me warm and will last.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Coat Awaited
Well, so last week I ordered a new wool coat for winter. And if you know me, you know that means I ordered a coat that is simple, basic, high quality, and rather retro. Wool. Buttons, not zippers. First made in 1914, and the design and specs haven't changed since. It's even made in the USA.
So. Said coat was sent by UPS. Sent from Seattle. In this day and age, that means I can track the progress of the shipment online. Looked like it was going to arrive yesterday, but no, the package (in UPS-speak) "experienced an exception." So I'm hoping it will be arriving today. Which would (excluding the weekend, when it just sat) make four business days that it took to get here. Four business days, when looking at the map and various UPS charts, I can't for the life of me see how it could take more than two business days to arrive. At the very most.
So. Said coat was sent by UPS. Sent from Seattle. In this day and age, that means I can track the progress of the shipment online. Looked like it was going to arrive yesterday, but no, the package (in UPS-speak) "experienced an exception." So I'm hoping it will be arriving today. Which would (excluding the weekend, when it just sat) make four business days that it took to get here. Four business days, when looking at the map and various UPS charts, I can't for the life of me see how it could take more than two business days to arrive. At the very most.
Wood Heat
I was talking last night with a young couple from the area who tell me that they heat their home with wood.
It occurred to me that this is probably a very wise move on their part. Look at the shenanigans of the malefactors of great wealth, who nearly dragged our economy under in recent times. Look at their stooges and enablers, of either political party, in government. Look at how nothing is really being fixed, and how record debt keeps piling up. If I were looking ahead and planning for the future, I wouldn't heat my home with fuel oil or with electricity. I'd heat my home with wood. I'd have a garden and some chickens out back, too. And some guns and ammo stored away.
Not that I'm so foresightful. (Is that a word, foresightful?) Though I am damn glad that I live in deep rural America, far from any city, far off the beaten path, in an area that people don't pass through to get to anywhere else. And that I'm surrounded by good neighbors I've gotten to know over the past ten years. Given the profligate and unrepentant ways of our plutocratic overlords, I'd be real surprised if in the next ten years we don't find ourselves living through what the Chinese used to call "interesting times."
It occurred to me that this is probably a very wise move on their part. Look at the shenanigans of the malefactors of great wealth, who nearly dragged our economy under in recent times. Look at their stooges and enablers, of either political party, in government. Look at how nothing is really being fixed, and how record debt keeps piling up. If I were looking ahead and planning for the future, I wouldn't heat my home with fuel oil or with electricity. I'd heat my home with wood. I'd have a garden and some chickens out back, too. And some guns and ammo stored away.
Not that I'm so foresightful. (Is that a word, foresightful?) Though I am damn glad that I live in deep rural America, far from any city, far off the beaten path, in an area that people don't pass through to get to anywhere else. And that I'm surrounded by good neighbors I've gotten to know over the past ten years. Given the profligate and unrepentant ways of our plutocratic overlords, I'd be real surprised if in the next ten years we don't find ourselves living through what the Chinese used to call "interesting times."
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Death
Or not actually that I'm dead, or about to die any time soon. Though my ongoing recent encounter with health issues has put me in mind of my own mortality. Saw the doctor again yesterday, and overall he's pleased with my progress. Though some aspects of my condition aren't responding as quickly as he'd like, so he added yet another medication to the witch's brew he's already got me on.
Taxes
Back last spring around April 15 I was quite busy, so I filed for an extension on my tax paperwork. Now October 15 is looming up, and my tax forms are most definitely coming due. As I find myself even busier than I was six months ago. This week is going to be hectic, the week following at least as rushed... well, I'll just have to find time to do those tax forms, even if it means a stray hour squeezed in here and there between other tasks.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Juicy Fruit Gum Is Yellow?!
Recently I bought a pack of Juicy Fruit gum for the first time in ages. I mean, for possibly the first time in decades. And I was astonished to see that Juicy Fruit gum is now colored a bright and distinctive yellow.
When did this happen? When did they decide to color Juicy Fruit yellow? I mean, the package has always been yellow. The taste is the same. But back in my day, Juicy Fruit gum, like any respectable gum, was a pale and nondescript light tan. When did it turn yellow?!
Though somehow, in a twisted way, it makes sense to me. We have to dumb everything down. Coloring Juicy Fruit a more... garishly Juicy Fruit color is sort of like color-captioning for the thinking impaired. It makes sense that, in a world of reality TV, and three plus three added by calculator, and high school graduates who can't read their own diploma, Juicy Fruit gum had to be "color coded" for the sake of those who would otherwise go into terminal brainlock over why a gum that tasted yellow didn't also look yellow.
When did this happen? When did they decide to color Juicy Fruit yellow? I mean, the package has always been yellow. The taste is the same. But back in my day, Juicy Fruit gum, like any respectable gum, was a pale and nondescript light tan. When did it turn yellow?!
Though somehow, in a twisted way, it makes sense to me. We have to dumb everything down. Coloring Juicy Fruit a more... garishly Juicy Fruit color is sort of like color-captioning for the thinking impaired. It makes sense that, in a world of reality TV, and three plus three added by calculator, and high school graduates who can't read their own diploma, Juicy Fruit gum had to be "color coded" for the sake of those who would otherwise go into terminal brainlock over why a gum that tasted yellow didn't also look yellow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)