Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Even More Small Stuff

I just stuck my head out the door... my whole body, actually, seein' as how I took the garbage out... and I've determined there will be no outdoor Happy Hour today unless the current conditions change radically over the next couple o' few.  The temperature is almost exactly the same as it was yesterday but the sky is overcast and the wind is up, two conditions that make it right chilly outdoors.  I knew this run o' good weather had to come to an end at some point.

Snow is in the forecast for tonight so it's a good thing I decided NOT to wash the car while I was oot and aboot yesterday.

―:☺:― 

DFAS (that's the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, for youse who have no clue) really has its act together this year, in that I already have my 1099 in hand.  Those wonderful folks also advised me that (a) I DID get a raise this year and (b) my taxes went up.  The tax increase ain't all THAT much, amounting to about three beers or one good cigar.  We like to consider increases like these in tangible terms, yanno?  That said, my taxes did go UP.  And here I thought Obama was gonna ensure the middle class wasn't gonna get a tax hike... what happened?


―:☺:―

A minor mystery:



Here we have two pairs o' Levi's, size 29x32, both bought at the same time, both worn equally, and both worn through... which is to say there's an incipient hole... in EXACTLY the same place, that place, and nowhere else (yes, I DO dress right).  There once was a time when my Levi's wore out at the knees first but that's no longer the case.  It looks like I have a lil patching to do in the very near future.

Speakin' o' Levi's... there's this:

Trendy... Or, What Goes Around Comes Around

We all have our quirks, habits, and a certain way of doing things. One of my quirks/habits is the fact I've worn only Levi's jeans since I was in my teens, and only Levi's 501s for about the last 25 years or so. I also did that Dr. Hook kinda thing back in the early ‘70s… which is to say:
I've got a freaky old lady name o' Cocaine Katy
Who embroiders on my jeans
 
Except there wasn’t a Cocaine Katy in my life (well, there wasn’t one who did embroidery work, anyway)… I did my own stuff for the most part, and it was less embroidery and more patching… with different colored swatches in paisleys, bright red, green, or whatever sort of rag was lying around. And hip store-bought patches too. My jeans needed patching, as I kept them until they were literally falling apart. But I came by all the holes, worn spots, rips, tears, and the like honestly. “Stone washed” and “aged” denim hadn’t appeared on the market… yet. 
 
So… I’ve been known to buy my jeans direct from Mr. Strauss’ company out in SFO and I’m on their mailing list as a result. Here are a couple of shots from an ad in this morning’s in-box:
 
Heh. Commercially-provided age... complete with rips and tears… all yours, for a price. And note the frickin’ price in the second shot! One hundred eighty-five Yankee Dollars for “Tokyo Worn” jeans. By contrast, here’s a pic of “Portales Worn” jeans, which cost substantially less:
 
I think I’ll stay with the above. Alternatively… if you’d like to give me $185.00 for ‘em (size: 28x30), drop me a comment and let’s talk. I might could be persuaded.
There were 20 comments to that old post, but no offers for the jeans.  I even gave you Gentle Readers a second chance, too!

16 comments:

  1. Toby fell in love with me when I was wearing 29x30 Levis. Then it went up to 30x30 and so on. Levi's got too pricey for me eventually. I have been buying Wrangler jeans at Tractor Supply for $18.00. I try to die at any jean over $30.00. Such a farm girl!

    The weather is wet here - not too cold, but a bit chilly. I lit a fire this afternoon. The dogs love it.

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    1. TSMP and I wore the same size Levi's up until she left, when she was age 42. I don't think we wear the same size any longer, based on what I saw this past summer. That said, every once in a while she'd say "Are those MY jeans? DON'T wear my jeans, dammit! I don't want them wearing out in the crotch!"

      We'd have gotten a boat-load of snow last night if it had been ten degrees colder. But all we got was rain, thank The Deity At Hand.

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  2. I wore 501s almost exclusively until about 1977
    Then I started working in a place next to a clothing store that sold Wranglers
    I tried a pair
    They fit so much better than Levi
    Then there's that thing about how most of the working folk around here wear Wrangler
    Anyhow, today it's whatever Costco has on sale that fits (36x34 at the moment)

    I remember my first pair of 501s... and that was the sole style... were $3.75
    I thought it was outrageous when the went up to $4.25

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    1. I think the price of Levi's is outrageous these days. But it's hard... impossible... for me to consider anything else in this space.

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  3. Quit scratchin'. ;) You'll go blind!

    I had heard a few years back that you could send the 501's directly by mail to their Guarantee department and get a new pair in return for the ragged ones. Which explains the source for those Japanese Antiques...

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    1. You'll go blind!

      I just did it enough to wear glasses. No more than that.

      Interesting about the return thing... I'd never heard that.

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  4. never did get my "picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone", guess I never will. :-)

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  5. Do you carry your keys in your right pocket? If so, you have to start alternating pockets!

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    1. Nope. Keys never go in my pants pocket, in fact the only things that I carry in my pants pockets are folding money in the right, change in the left, wallet in the left rear. That's it.

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  6. “yes, I DO dress right”

    Damn…Holly sh*t, now I know where I’ve seen you before. You were a porn star once named “Buck Naked”.

    Wore Levi’s up until a year or so ago. Found out they contribute to anti-gun causes. ‘Nuff said.

    Now wear Carthart, including the most fabulous lined type since I live the land of brutal winters, WNY.

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    1. I know all about yer winters, given they used to be mine, too. For a few years.

      Thanks for outing me... I've been tryin' to live that porn thing down, what with my life in exile. ;-)

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  7. I wore Levis in HS and through college, but sometime after marriage began to wear other brands, especially Wranglers which I've settled into now. I do avoid cheap jeans or any other "designer" types with small back pockets. Hate those.

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    1. I would feel the same about small pockets... but I don't really know, since I've worn nothing but Levi's. I guess I'm just not very adventurous in certain areas of life.

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  8. Curvy girls, like me, don't like jeans. I do have one pair and they aren't Levis or Wranglers or anything else like that. Designer name, designer fit. :-)

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    1. I gotta disagree with you. I love curvy wimmen (as you well know) and the ones I've been great good friends with loved their Levi's, too.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.