This blog post is short because I have been very busy. These Timberland work boots are on my feet while I am laying Italian tile in our kitchen. All 460 square feet of it...
What you see in these photos is what the subfloor looks like after original old linoleum was removed from it. I am laying rectangular tile that has the appearance of wood on the floor, cutting it with a wetsaw as necessary to fit angles and edges.
My partner had a good day on Wednesday and was able to go to his office for a few hours, which gave me a few unexpected free hours. I decided to make a video during that time. I can't make videos when my partner is at home, as he has a low opinion about YouTube and videos in general.
In response to a request, on my new video, I discussed my opinions (based on experience) about the similarities and differences between Wesco "Boss" engineer boots and Chippewa engineer boots -- both the tall and short versions of each.
For your convenience, the video appears below. Watch, learn, and enjoy!
Any guy seriously into boots has been seeing ads and promos in various media about Legendary Boots. Man oh man, what great-looking, high-quality cowboy boots!
Okay, I admit, I had been drooling over images I had seen of their boots. The price, though, was beyond what I was willing to pay. The boots are great quality, hand-made to custom sizing and all that, but even considering all those outstanding aspects, my inner-self kept saying, "really, you want a pair of boots that cost even more than custom Wescos?"
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
My partner understands... really understands me well. He heard me talk about these boots and I showed him some of the photos from their Facebook page from time to time.
Knowing that I've sacrificed a lot of my time and attention for him, working to get him well and past this horrible illness he has been dealing with... my wonderful, caring, thoughtful partner got me a gift.
They arrived the other day. These custom boots are 16 inches (40.6cm) tall, have a full quill black ostrich foot, and dark blue shafts with yellow stitching. Smooth leather soles with a 2.5 inch (6.35cm) cowboy heel complete them.
I haven't taken them off. Well, I have ... when I go to bed ... or when I ride my Harley ... but otherwise, these puppies have been worn and enjoyed, very much.
How lucky I am to be in love with my best friend, who knows my inner "boot soul" so well. More photos of these boots are here on my website.
Someone sent me an email recently asking what I thought was a legitimate and good question in this context, "since you have said on your blog that you don't go out to leather events like IML or MAL, what do you do with all that leather gear you own? Since you've got the gear, why don't you attend these events? I'd like to hang out with you."
Thanks for the questions. I like to meet new people, too, and based on our email "conversations," you sound like a guy who I would enjoy meeting and speaking with. You respect that I am in a closed monogamous relationship, and I respect that you like to hang out with guys in leather.
You think I make this stuff up, but here's proof that even in the cowboy boot-wearing capital of the United States, there remains people who obsess about whether or not they can wear cowboy boots. In Texas of all places! Sheesh!
For the past decade, my partner left on Good Friday to drive to Pittsburgh to visit his mother for Easter, returning on the next Monday. I would have a free "batchelor's weekend" where I would ride my Harley on Saturday and take some elderly friends to church for sunrise service on Sunday, then having some more free time before returning to work on Monday.
There was a book by the title of this blog post that I read many years ago, and decided to re-read this past weekend. I was amazed how relevant its words of wisdom are today as they were on the day I first read this book, though some of the content is a bit dated.
The book's subtitle is "predictable crises of adult life."
While I do not intend to add a "book reviews" column to this blog, I want to relate how I am feeling about the passages that my life, and the life of my beloved partner, have been going through.
As readers of this blog know, I am a biker -- I ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I've been riding for some 30 years.
I also enjoy wearing leather. The motorcycle was the inspiration for getting a lot of my gear, and as I have aged and settled down, most of my leather these days is worn for protection and style while riding, not for fetish interests.
I have received inquiries about my recommendations about various items of leather gear for bikers. I decided to take my "Guide to (fetish) Leather Gear" and create one specifically for (straight) bikers. I left the fetish stuff out and wrote more about the design and function of leather that bikers may choose to buy and wear.
Whiling away the hours here at the local hot-spot coffee destination, sipping a Venti-Trenti Latte (with soy milk, of course), I was surfing on my new smartphone, and what did I see? Such a fantastically stylish find in men's dress footwear!
Aren't these boots from Allen Edmonds cool? Notice the ventilation in the stylish design? Smooth leather sole, lace-up, dress-shoe appearance. Who would know these are boots?
