Shabbat Shalom !

Robert - thank you for your kind words.

On the Lucchese Boots if I am not mistaken those are the completely made-to-order with a custom fit boots that some customers wait a year or more to get? The Saville Row of cowboy boots?

I do believe that in general, the uglier the footwear, the more comfortable they are!

I forgot to mention that I believe both chaplains and medics are 2 professions in the military that don't get the recognition they truly deserve.

Hello!

I just stumbled upon your blog, and am ever so glad that I did.

I cannot wait to find some time and read some more.

Shabbat Shalom!

Melissa

Unfashionable my shoes may be... but they are ideal for (brrr!) the penetrating cold of a Jerusalem winter. (By the way, they are shoes, not boots. The tops come to just below my ankles.)

Maybe I should send you a photo of my clogs. Same kind of leather -- supple and comfortable -- but with a pretty metal buckle. Also a bit thick-soled, as my shoes are, which provides protection from the cold pavement. And then there are my black Mary Janes from Hush Puppies.

On a much more serious note: thank you for the story of the Four Chaplains. I hadn't known about it until I read it here. May their memories be for a blessing.

Thanks Robert.

Bill, your boots are dazzling. What is your polishing procedure?

Earl - there's even a story behind those boots. This was taken at Ft Bliss, Texas, where I took my training for an Air Defense radar operator. Ft Bliss is in El Paso, Texas, (in the extreme south) right next to the Mexican border and Juarez, Mexico.

We had a Sgt from Puerto Rico named Carlos Ruiz, had been there practically forever. Anyway he would have us at a formation in the cold desert air - 05:00 - while we waited for the mess hall to open. During which time he would tell us when the next inspection was for our barracks (seemingly too often; the linoleum floor would look like glass) - and he would always end the talk with....

"....And I want those boots SPEEET SHINED!" (long "E", of course).

Shining boots in the Army is a time honored ritual, of course.

To get them to that kind of gloss would take many hours - and we always filled the empty top of the shoe polish with water, and would wet the cloth, dab just a bit of wax on - and in a circular motion work the wax into the leather. Don't think we'd "spit" (ugh) on them, do you? ;-)

I believe the wetted cloth would work the wax into the lether grains. As you build on each successive coat a layer forms that gives it the gloss.

And work on small sections at a time.

As with all waxing jobs - be in car or shoes, the secret is the thinner the coat the better the gloss. Some people think the more wax you can throw on the surface, the better it is.

Not true.

What part of the land of Oz do you reside?

Years ago (seems most of my good stories always start with the preface "Years ago", but I had gotten sacked from a job and rather than look for another one in Dec of 86, decided to take Qantas up on a special they had ($1400 for a ticket that allowed me up to 20 stops in the South Pacific), anyway I proceeded to stop in such locales as Tahiti, NZ, Oz, Fiji and Hawaii, sending my now ex-boss a post card at the various stops.

Spent about a month and a half in Australia, staying at a friend's house in Melbourne, then Sydney, up the coast through Brisbane to Townesville (where I stayed in an old Hotel that MacCarthur used while directing the battle of the Coral Sea) - the place was that Queensland architecture with the old creaky wooden floors, slow-moving ceiling fan, and a cat that slept on the manager's desk) - then went to Alice Springs....

Loved the country....

Anyway gotta cut my rambling short as I volunteered to take my car club on a "first Sunday of the Month" drive, forgetting that today is Superbowl Sunday (sparse turnout expected), but a promise is a promise...

Bill

I'm loving your mother-in-law's booties...and having met her, I can "see" her wearing them.

I think some line dancing will go nicely hand in hand with that smart-looking footwear.

Oy vey. She called them "infamous!"

Bill
Thanks for the tip. The water is the missing ingredient. That and time (four pairs boots, two jackets, one set motorcycle leathers - hello, boot campers, help me out here?). I'll reflect on Sgt Ruiz' "SPEEET shined" dictum.
Sounds like a great trip you had. I live in Sydney - this was a different place in '86, but weren't they all?
Any particular kind of car club? You missed a good Superbowl - unless you're a Colts fan.
Earl

Hi Earl - well, I made it back for the 4th quarter - and it was a good game. As I follow "our" football only sporadically I still can't believe the Saints were in the Suoer Bowl - much less won.

For decades they were so bad that fans would come to the stadium with bags over their heads - so they couldn't be recognized!

On Sydney - this was before 9/11 of course - I remember flying from Auckland to Melbourne - and started talking with the flight attendant on how much I liked aviation - the pilot ended up inviting me up to the deck of his 767 - what a time!

That was the era of highly-leveraged "wealth" - not only in Australia but all over the world. In fact we can probably say that that era lasted until very recently - who was the billionaire there who owned a lot of breweries? Kerry something, I think.

A lot of these people are "Gone With The Wind" now. And good riddance. A lot of them were/are rather pompous and self-important.

I had a friend in Melbourne who was a reporter for the Age - does Melbourne still have 3 newspapers? Here they are dying out.

I always compared Melbourne and Sydney to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Have real estate prices in Sydney come back to earth?

I am in the Mercedes car club but before you think I am "putting on the dog" my MB is 24 years old with 337,000 miles. It is a rather common model - a 300E. In fact this morning I am going to see if I can solve a cold start problem.

I resisted joining it for years thinking it would be full of snobs but it is the opposite - we have some members with Gullwings from the 50s and some with 24 year old "bread and butter" cars like mine - but we all just have fun.

To tell you the truth I haven't shined a pair of shoes but a few times since my Army days - I think doing it regularly like that gets the urge out of one's system ;-)

Hey Bill
Kerry Packer was a media billionaire, Alan Bond owned breweries, then it all went pear-shaped for him. The man went broke selling beer to Australians! Go figure.
Two papers in Melbourne now, The Age and The Herald-Sun, a tabloid that outsells the Age 5 to 1. The Age is struggling, not unlike The New York Times - they share the same silly editorial view.
Real estate in Sydney has settled down somewhat, a mate recently bought a place in the inner-west for $585K, it would've been $750K two years ago.
I know what you mean about the shoe shining. When you're forced to do something, you ditch it as soon as you're able. I had to wear leather shoes to school for 12 years and haven't worn a pair since. It's been leather boots or Converse Allstars for me ever since.
I wouldn't mind one of the sporty Benz coupes from the 70s and saw a 60s 600, the superlimo, out on the highway a few weeks ago. That was a bit of a thrill. I'm a car nut, but motorcycles are more my thing, joining some of my smelly leatherclad mates for a roadtrip down to Phillip Island for World Superbikes in a few weeks.
You reckon Archie Manning's been feeling a little conflicted this week?