Thursday, February 09, 2006

What’s the deal with shoe laces?

Is it just me, or does it look like the aloe vera is trying to escape?I was going to write about aloe vera. I did several stupid things while messing around with the fireplace two days ago and one of those stupid things involved using my finger to determine if something was too hot to touch. Normally I treat second degree burns with cold water and ice packs but this time I decided to try tearing off a piece of my aloe vera plant and squeezing the juice onto the burn.

I always thought this folk remedy was fairly bogus, but bits of the aloe vera are falling off anyway, so why not try it. Guess what! It worked. I squeezed the sap onto my finger three times over the next six hours whenever it started to sting and the pain would go away. There’s a white bubble of skin there now, but it hasn’t hurt at all.

Anyway, I was going to write about that, but one of my correspondents told me that nobody wants to hear about my blister. (Although, now that I think of it, Dave T would love to see it and would only be disappointed that it’s not at all gruesome.)

So…

What is the deal with shoelaces?

5 pairs of eyelets: 27 inchesRecently one of my boot laces broke for the second time. After the first break, I reattached the two pieces with a fisherman’s knot, but you can’t really use this method for the second break because the knots don’t go through the eyelets on the boot. So, I had to buy new laces. Off I went to Big Buds where I perused the rack of laces.

I bought flat laces because they hold a bow better than round laces. Then I consulted the packages to determine which length to buy. Five holes = 27”. So there I am in Legal Drafting at the back of the class room and the prof is talking about sentence structure stuff that I figure I’m pretty hot on already, good time to put the new lace in the boot, I think.

how are you supposed to tie this?

Well, look at it. These laces barely come out the fourth pair of eyelets and yes, they are 27”. Why not tell me to buy longer laces? I would do it. yup it's 27 inches

still, this could be clearerOkay. I can't do it. I was just going to stop there. But in the course of preparing this piece I read the whole back of the package. And below the thing about eyelet numbers it has this "ankle boots" thing followed by the skates, etc. block. I just figure ankle boots are for women and must have more than 5 eyelets and saw "skates" in the store but missed the whole "work, hiking, hunting boots" thing. Technically, my boots aren't work, hiking or hunting boots, but I see now I should have just bought longer laces for the boots.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've gone through that problem with finding the right shoe lace length. The whole eyelet count thing is bogus. Probably a loose standard. Here's where we need some regulatory oversight. As for the second table, exactly how is one supposed to get any guidance when the choice goes from 40 to 84 inches? Have I missed something, or do you buy 63 inch laces thinking that probably is a good average? This shouldn't be rocket science but one wonders sometimes...

coyote said...

Yeah. What is the big deal with shoe laces? I find if I trim the hair on the bottoms of my feet reasonably well, it stops all of that uncomfortable ice build up between my toepads. So I don't need boots -- or laces -- at all! Hahahahahahahaha!....

Anonymous said...

I buy my shoelaces at Big Bud's too, and I thought maybe they got them at a discounted price because the size labeling on the packages was so screwy. I've got shoes with laces so short I can't do them up, and I've got boots with laces so long I have to tuck the excess into the boots.

By the way, I was at Big Bud's yesterday and they were in the process of moving the upstairs downstairs and the downstairs upstairs. Big Bud would roll over in his grave if he saw that.

David Scrimshaw said...

Zoom! I'm glad to have the warning about Big Buds upstairs/downstairs switch.

I'm not so sure Big Bud would disapprove. He always seemed to like unsettling the customers.

Anonymous said...

I saw him yell at two old ladies once who had stopped in the aisle to say hello. He told them if they wanted to buy something, then buy it, otherwise go out on the sidewalk if they wanted to chat! He was hands-down the most obnoxious shop-keeper in Ottawa. Ever.

Anonymous said...

Just when I thought you weren't going to use the word blister....