The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

I'm going to spend an obscene amount of money on boots, sometime before next April. I've finally talked myself into it - I need a pair of boots, and my attempt to find a decent pair of hiking boots that actually fits my feet last week was a miserable failure. They were either too narrow for the (deformed) ball of my foot, or they were too wide for the rest of my foot and rubbed horribly. I'd have blisters before I walked a quarter mile.

So, I'm going to save my money, and get a pair that's actually built to my feet - never a cheap proposition. There are enough things in the "Pro" side of the ledger, with cost being the only thing in the "Con" side. I had decided on something very like this pair, when I stumbled upon something that's going to make me cry when I get the quotes back...this.

I require the very best of both worlds. I'm going to use the same color scheme and design of the first pair, but with the leaves. I'm going to keep the natural toe, back, and cuff, because I like them. I'm considering adding irregular piping behind the leaves in a nice tan - probably the palomino buffalo, or maybe the cream bullhide. Or smoke elk - I'm not sure yet.

Part of me wants the celtic knot buttons, but another part of me is thinking about how neat the antler buttons would look with that design. Still a third part of me, the part that's probably going to win, is saying that the antler buttons are Really Expensive, and that I don't need to be adding that much to an already absurdly high cost. Plus, I can replace buttons if I decide on something else later.

Oh yes, they will be mine. And I will never, ever tell anyone how much they cost. Especially my mother, because she would kill me. But for a pair of boots I'm going to wear several times a week, that actually fits my horrible feet (there's a reason I wear sandals until it snows), and will last twenty years or more with proper care - it's worth it.

I'm dying of bored. Erik comes home Monday. It's going to be a long, long weekend.

Stacey assures me that I'm not, in fact, insane for planning to get the boots. I did tell her how much I think they're going to cost, too. Of course, Stacey got engaged a month after she met Thomas, so she might not be the best judge of that.

She's also having insane work trouble. Being the Executive Director of a non-profit in as bad a shape as the one she's been put in charge of is a nightmare, and one I'm glad I'm not living. She has the experience to run the thing, but not to rebuild it from the ground up, and the Chairman of the Board isn't giving her the permission she needs to do what she has to do. I'll probably never meet the man, but I already don't like him. I have learned far more than I ever thought I would have to know about the process of applying for grants, and how they have to be used.

Speaking of work that sucks, this was worth more than a few laughs today. Especially the part that says:

“The Navy really got a hell of a deal,” said one EDS executive. The service has a better, more robust network, with better security than most government agencies have, he said.

Many outside the partnership agree with that assessment.

“One way to look at NMCI is to say the government got a great deal, that the Navy got an incredible bargain,” Suss said. “From the government’s point of view, despite all the challenges and ups and downs of the contract, [the Navy] ended up making out like a bandit in a lot of ways.”

Woo! You have just had a dose of Bizzaro World! What was in your fruit loops this morning?

Thursday I had to sit through a meeting that invovled me only peripherally (and taught me to never do an extensive lower body workout the day before a three hour meeting) that was, for once, someone else's nightmare, rather than mine. Huzzah! Then Boss Man and Buck came back from the NMCI conference and rained on my parade slightly. But only slightly.

But I'm still bored.

Text of email:

Danielle,
Those are beautiful boots! Who made them? Yes, I can make them, just like you see them, or with color changes etc. A quote for a 7 button height is $(base price), that design would be $(suprisingly small, comparatively, number), you can look at the button choices to determine what would work best for you. So, about $(smaller amount than anticipated) - 10% if you pay in full when ordering = $(big number) + $20 shipping = Total $(bigger number).
Your other options don't exactly go with this finished leaf design pattern, but a natural cuff is $30, as is the natural full heelpiece, a toecap is $15, and an additional edging for the front piece is $15 (if done like the #28, not an underlying highlighting of the leaf pattern which I would not even be willing to consider). If this is the boot you want, the total would be the $(smaller amount than anticipated) as above + $90 = $(bigger number) - 10% = $(still bigger number) + 20 = Total(largest number, but a good $100 below my lowball estimate).
I hope this is helpful and not too confusing, and I would love to make a pair of these for you.

Why does this email please me so? Other than the fact that it's cheaper than I anticipated, I mean. One, he's clearly excited about the work, which to me is the mark of an excellent craftsman-artist. I like that. Two, he's not shy about his opinions about what would or would not work. I like that even more. My recalculation taking his quote and advice into account puts me at $150 below my lowball estimate, and $250 below my "realistic" estimate. I can deal with that.

Still feeling a mite insane, though. Also bored. Expect the second to continue through Monday.