New Blundies

            I woke up at 3:00 on Thursday and lay there for a while to see if I could go back to sleep. Since I was wide awake, I got up at 3:30. I did my yoga and then at 5:00 I got back to working on my essay. At 6:00 though I felt sleepy again and so I went back to bed for 45 minutes. When I got up again I didn’t feel as fresh as I wanted t but I dug in anyway. There was a road crew working on the sidewalks on either side of Dunn Avenue and on the south side of Queen, but I was able to zone out the noise. My hope had been to have my paper finished in time for Professor Black’s second to last lecture at 11:00, but it didn’t work out that way. I had to settle for the option of delivering my essay to Professor Black’s essay drop box at St George and Bloor before 15:00.

            It was raining when I headed out but I managed to make it to the Jackman Humanities Building without getting too damp. I got the paper into the drop-box twenty minutes ahead of the deadline.

            I had brought along my Blundstone boots so that on the way home I could stop at the Australian Boot Company and exchange them for a new pair of Blundies.

            As I rode down Bathurst I passed a little antique organ that someone had put out on the curb in the rain. It’s a good thing I don’t have a pickup truck or I might have taken it and then I wouldn’t have room for it and it probably would cost a few thousand dollars to fix if it wasn’t a total write-off already.

            There was a bit of confusion when I walked into The Australian Boot Company and told them that the manager said that I could get another pair of boots. Finally, after looking through Casey’s emails they found that she did approve awarding me a new pair under the warranty. I was told I could take any pair with a chisel toe, which gave me about eight choices. There was only one pair that was truly black so I picked that one and told the salesperson I’m a size ten. She asked if it was a UK 10 or US 10. I told her it’s a Canadian 10. The guy that seemed to be in charge at the time told her to check my old boots and then confirmed that they were UK 10s. 

            I’d never tried to put on slip-on Blundstones before. They are extremely narrow at the top and I couldn’t get my foot inside. The salesperson showed me how to slip a finger each of the little handles that are attached to the front and back of the cuff. Even that was difficult but I managed to finally get it on. Immediately I could feel that size 10 might be too big, so I asked to try the 9. That was too tight and so I asked if they had a 9 and a half. I was warned that the 9.5 was only wider than the 9 but not wider but I felt more toe room when I put it on. The 9.5 was the size for me. 9.5 in the UK size is 11.5 in US size.

            The salesperson told me to take out salt stains with vinegar and water, which is useful information.

            It’s pretty sweet that Blundstones have a lifetime warranty. The slip-ons are very comfortable, but I don’t think I’ll get much ankle support, which I need if I do a lot of walking. So I’ll probably also have to get a good pair of lace-up boots too.