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Some time back, I decided that I no longer wanted to tie shoes anymore. I also decided that I am more comfortable wearing boots. I like the support over my ankles. I got rid of most of my shoes. I got those "no tie" elastic shoelace replacement which turned normal shoes into slip-on shoes. I added zippers to boots.
In the days of my youth, I wore Dr. Martens. A lot of kids wore them. As opposed to wearing "girls' shoes"..... aka Reebok high top, step-aerobics, sweating with Richard Simmons shoes. I thought then, and I still think so today, that Doc Martens boot soles "feel right" when you ride a motorcycle and you need to put a foot down. I still have the Docs I wore when I was in school. Nothing sentimental. But they are still wearable. Weird that they can last for decades. Dr. Martens boots have always been expensive. But not $1,000 expensive. I think I've gotten my money's worth from this pair. I may even re-sole them if they ever wear down.
Extra cool on the SW side of the coast range here today. Got down to 52 last night, and it doesn't look like it will get over 70 right now. Almost perfect in my estimation.
Extra cool on the SW side of the coast range here today. Got down to 52 last night, and it doesn't look like it will get over 70 right now. Almost perfect in my estimation.
Agreed! I'll take that every day of the year.
Here's what I like to wear. Well, the ones I have are a little shorter but pretty much the same thing. They slip on and off very easily and are great for everything except side-of-the-hill work.
My friend is in New Orleans for a few days so I am doggie sitting Rip. Rip is Archer's littermate and right paw dog. Here's a great pic from when they were pups. They think they're Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kit, but they're really more like Dumb and Dumber.
I came of age during a much more innocent era. There was no AIDS. There was no fentanyl. Crack cocaine wasn't even around yet. The worst thing that could happen to you, was catching something while using a public toilet. Our family was not wealthy. We didn't have much, but we were never hungry. Luckily, this was light years before "brand names" became "a thing". Nobody walked around with logos printed across the front of their shirts. It just wasn't important to have the right jeans label on your butt. We shopped at Sears. For many, many years, well into my adulthood, I wore shoes from Sears. They may have hurt other people's feet. But they felt good on my feet. When the last Sears store in my area was closing, I made sure that I bought 1 last pair.
I don't have a palette for fine wines. $1,000 a bottle is about the same to me, as Trader Joe's $2 wine. I don't appreciate the finer things in life. I lack sophistication. That's why I am eating discount meat from the supermarket, instead of grass fed Angus, prime grade steer, or that Japanese cow which gets massages and beer. Cheap boots on my feet, are sometimes just as comfortable as a boutique brand shoe. My local cobbler told me that it would cost more to resole these boots, than what I paid for them. So now, like an idiot, I'm trying my best to carefully wear these for their last few miles. Hoping that I don't beat them up too much, so that I can enjoy them until they fall apart. Like when I was child, trying to stretch out and savor every last Quaalude, after they stopped making them.
According to my Sears account, which is still online, it was in 2018. Pre - Covid 19. Life was simpler. Innocent. And everything costs less. I bought the boots for a little over $40. The same year that I bought a pair of jack stands for $10, and a single Craftsman wrench for $0.30. Just what I needed for fluid exchanges on the girlfriend's Honda. With hindsight, I should have bought more than 1 wrench. I should have bought a few more, in different sizes.
When Sears went into bankruptcy, they started selling off their assets. Craftsman Tools were sold to Stanley, Black & Decker, DeWalt. The DieHard boots were sold to a company named HandPoint.
Sears had a "lifetime warranty" on their work boots and work clothes. They honored it. I had overalls where a buckle broke unknown years after the purchase. They didn't need to see the receipt. They assumed that I did not shoplift it. They gave me a new pair of the exact same overalls. From what I recall, a lifetime warranty on the boots did not cover "wear and tear". Only "obvious defects"; things that would normally never break. In the case of a boot or shoe, it would probably only be stitching or the welt, where the boot attaches to the sole. Laces would not be covered. If you somehow manage to rip or tear the leather, which happens when you actually do heavy labor, that's wear and tear. Insoles you would have to buy and replace as needed. The soles wear out, and you can resole at your own expense.
Allegedly, there is still a lifetime warranty of some sort. The prices are low enough. I don't know how they will honor the lifetime warranty. Who knows how long this company will be in business. If they are like Wolverine, where 20 years later, they send you a free pair of boots...... then I'm in.
I remember many years ago, I had a Craftsman socket break. I took it into the local sears store and showed a salesman. He grabbed another one off the shelf and handed it to me and said "Have a nice day."
