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Stranger in a Strange Land


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Edo, I do hope you’ll continue to write your blog for a long time. I look forward to a quiet read Sunday mornings and enjoy hearing your thoughtful little nuggets of information. Plus, being stuck here in North Florida, I feel like I’m learning more about other places as an "armchair traveler."  Here at home, I have a lot of collected things that mean a lot to me, but during the months I’m traveling and living out of a tiny suitcase, they just fade into the background. Live in the moment. It’s a good plan. As for slippers, I’m a barefoot girl, too, but the Eddie Bauer pair, gifted to me about thirty years ago when I thought they were silly, unnecessary and frivolous, seem to come out more and more in wintertime as I get older. 

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A moving post, Edo. Your perseverance in the face of adversity has been remarkable. I'm a slipper person as well, although I find it increasingly more difficult to find comfortable, long-lasting ones. The last couple of pairs that I bought fell to pieces in no time. Your current slip-intos look as if they still have plenty of mileage left on them. I'm envious.

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I just use some flip flops for slippers. Not the kind with a strap between my toes, but cute ones.  Enclosed fuzzy slippers make my feet too hot. In the winter, I wear socks with them.  I slip on outdoor shoes for the yard, then change back at the door. Keeps all sorts of dirt and grass out of the house. I seldom need to vacuum.

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1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

I just use some flip flops for slippers. Not the kind with a strap between my toes, but cute ones.

 

I use plastic sandals, basically what's available at Maxi-Pali (Walmart subsidiary), because the floors here, tiles of various kinds, are hard on aging feet.  Can't stand the flipflops with the strap between my toes. 

 

Other house shoes have been imitation crocs, which are sold by the thousands here during the rainy season. 

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On 20/09/2020 at 19:40, John Mitchell said:

A moving post, Edo. Your perseverance in the face of adversity has been remarkable. I'm a slipper person as well, although I find it increasingly more difficult to find comfortable, long-lasting ones. The last couple of pairs that I bought fell to pieces in no time. Your current slip-intos look as if they still have plenty of mileage left on them. I'm envious.

Indeed.

 

I bought a cheap pair of slippers  from one of the German discount stores, and they fell to bits in no time. My wife then bought me a pair costing 3 X as much from M&S, but they look and feel very similar to the cheaper pair, time will tell.

 

Moving on to shoes, for years I bought a recognised British mass manufactured high street brand and got good service from them. They could be re-soled and the uppers were of such quality that they outlived a couple of  new bottoms.

 

However, despite seeing little use,  the last few pairs I bought fell apart, the uppers parting from the soles. On each occasion that happened when eating out with friends, a cause of some considerable mirth. Efforts to obtain a refund or compensation proved fruitless. They said that I wasn't wearing  them enough, and that they had dried out  - so the fault lay with  me. 

 

I will never darken the doors of that company again.

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6 hours ago, Bryan said:

Indeed.

 

I bought a cheap pair of slippers  from one of the German discount stores, and they fell to bits in no time. My wife then bought me a pair costing 3 X as much from M&S, but they look and feel very similar to the cheaper pair, time will tell.

 

Moving on to shoes, for years I bought a recognised British mass manufactured high street brand and got good service from them. They could be re-soled and the uppers were of such quality that they outlived a couple of  new bottoms.

 

However, despite seeing little use,  the last few pairs I bought fell apart, the uppers parting from the soles. On each occasion that happened when eating out with friends, a cause of some considerable mirth. Efforts to obtain a refund or compensation proved fruitless. They said that I wasn't wearing  them enough, and that they had dried out  - so the fault lay with  me. 

 

I will never darken the doors of that company again.

 

Reminds me of a story my deceased lady friend told me. Her hubby had bought a pair of expensive shoes from a posh shop, can't remember the name, and something went wrong with them so he took them back. He asked for an exchange or refund and after examining the shoes the assistant said, "But somebody has been wearing them!"😮

 

Allan

 

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24 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Maybe you were more of a traditionalist back then, Andy. Or do younger toes get cold more easily?

I think I was more dull back then, Ed, although the quest to be a dull man is always at the forefront of my mind.  I do wear some beige, although I don't own a beige sports jacket with elbow pathces... 😥

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1 hour ago, Bryan said:

Slipper wearing prevents stubbed toes, bed post, chair leg etc. For a person as clumsy as me it prevents ocasional agony!

No. 1 son and GF have taken a shine to solid oak furniture. The dining table is bad enough (right knee🤩) but they have extended their fetishism to the guest bed which has solid 4" square monoliths for legs. Of course you never take your slippers on holiday🤪

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As others have already said Edo - another enjoyable blog.

 

I don't possess slippers but I do wear heavy duty walking socks as a substitute.  Just enough to take the chill off but not enough to protect against escapee drawing pins etc!. 

 

I am fortunate to have most of my treasured possessions stored in my flat.  As always, they are probably only of value to me and will most likely be dumped when I pop my clogs.  The only thing I have done is write my memoir (childhood to current) and have shared copies amongst my children.  Not of great interest to them at the moment but might be when I've gone.

 

Keep writing your blogs Edo - I thoroughly enjoy reading them.  I wish I could write like you.

 

JW

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6 hours ago, spacecadet said:

No. 1 son and GF have taken a shine to solid oak furniture. The dining table is bad enough (right knee🤩) but they have extended their fetishism to the guest bed which has solid 4" square monoliths for legs. Of course you never take your slippers on holiday🤪

 

Similar predicament, No. 1 son had an  attic room with sloping beams as a guest bedroom, should have worn a crash helmet  😣

 

Slippers on feet, kneepads and crash helmet, what could possibly go wrong? 

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1 hour ago, Bryan said:

 

Similar predicament, No. 1 son had an  attic room with sloping beams as a guest bedroom, should have worn a crash helmet  😣

 

Slippers on feet, kneepads and crash helmet, what could possibly go wrong? 

I used to own a very old thatched cottage in Dorset, The ceilings were very low with solid oak exposed beams, amazing how after the third head collision you learn to walk around the house with an old mans stoop. (which I now have coz i'm old 😁.)

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The front wooden door was open, the full-length see-through glass storm door was locked. I was expecting a workman for an estimate. I was in the bedroom doing whatever when the guy rang the doorbell 10 minutes early. I came hotfooting it down the hall, just short of a run, and rounded the corner through the door into the family room, where I could be seen from the front door.  But I rammed my little two toes into the door frame as I came through. It sounded like I hit a croquet ball with a mallet.

I grabbed my foot, hopped a few steps gritting my teeth. I wanted to fall to the floor, roll around for awhile and yell. Maybe say a choice word or two. But this guy holding a clipboard was staring through the glass door at me.

I know my face had to be purple because it was very hot, like boiling. I limped on with as much dignity as I could muster, opened the door for him, and he said, “Gosh dang, that hurt!”
 I had to tape my toes, the bruise (bleeding) turned my foot black and blue and I couldn’t wear a decent enclosed shoe for two months.

Thank you, flip-flops.

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I can feel the pain Betty, awful!

 

I can see this thread developing into one of these tales where we all try outdo each other in the severity of the accident! When I was a lad we had one cold tap to serve the entire city and the only heat in winter came from a second hand match etc.  Apologies to Edo.

 

They say most accidents occur in the home, and that has been my experience. I came downstairs carrying a basket of washing and tripped over something my wife had left there. Ended up in hospital with a broken bone and my foot in plaster. Coming from an engineering background you learn to avoid leaving hazards around the place, but my other half hasn't had that training. I occasionally see the cable for the vacuum cleaner stretched across the top of the stairs at ground level and feel obliged to lift it it up over the bannister. 

 

Maybe there is a sinister motive .........

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Where do you get the boat to where they play those Desert Island Disks? 

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/09/strange-indeed.html

 

 

DAB is digital audio broadcasting, Ed, but your set gets FM as well.. When digital doesn't work, you don't get a hiss, you just get silence.

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52 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Where do you get the boat to where they play those Desert Island Disks? 

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/09/strange-indeed.html

 

 

 

ANOTHER great blog post.

 

Allan

 

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Talking about DAB and FM radios, at least Edo and Mark were, I have a question about the two.

 

Explanation first: In the lounge I have an older hifi system with amp, tuner, tape deck and turntable for vinyl records. Just to let you get an idea of it's age.

The tuner is FM and AM only so it is always on FM. (nothing on AM). 

The DAB radio I have is in the office about 8 yards away from the lounge and set in DAB mode.

 

Experience: Both radios are on the same station and when I stand about halfway between the two the sound from the DAB radio is about 2 - 3 seconds behind the sound from the FM radio. (ie: DAB radio is slower to produce the sound than the FM radio).

 

WHY?

 

Allan

 

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