Route 66? The Mother of all roads?
Aries and Aries and Aries…
An Aries woke me up with a perceived emergency. There’s no I-40 in El Paso. Map’s wrong. No problem. (I-40, Albuquerque – Amarillo – OKC, I think.)
I rolled over and went back to sleep. Another Aries woke me up to tell me she was running early, what a shock. Except that I’d forgotten about the lunch date. Would’ve made it on time, anyway, but she was early.
Which leads to Aries Number 3, can’t have one without the other, right? Another long-distance client, just chiming in that life was still pretty rough. Three for three. I think it’s all about attitude, though. Aries attitude for a Wednesday. 3 for 3.
Which leads to the hair question. Around my birthday, last year, I was with Sister and she had no hot water for day, so I went without shaving. After I got home, I was just a little more careful when I did shave, leaving a patch of fuzz under my lower lip. A lower-lip beard, if you will. And I will. Or have, so far.
In my entire life, this is the most hair I’ve had on my face since I started shaving.
Anyway, while with Aries #2, in the daily sequence, I asked if she liked it.
“Didn’t you always have that?”
No, but the opinions are streaming in. Bubba Sean noted it for the first time, and he allowed as how it was a good look for me. But in “Sean-speak,” I’m not sure if that’s good or not.
I wonder what the other signs shall say?
The five, redux.
It came at the tail end of Tuesday night’s ramble, but it really sparked some good questions for myself. Pick five products or companies that you’d be comfortable endorsing, like, say you were a celebrity spokesperson.
As I took the list apart and put it back together, I kept coming back to a reinforcing concept, buy locally. A couple of big companies come to mind, companies that I do like.
Aforementioned Apple Computer (1). Three months ago, I didn’t understand why an iPod was cool. Now I use mine almost every day. But I’ve been a on Mac for years. That latest e-mal virus? Didn’t originate here.
Starbucks (2). I have a love/hate relationship with Buck’s, but they have boldly gone into markets where others have failed (or not tried at all). And, from what I’ve gathered, Buck’s does treat the employees with a degree of respect. Like, when you’re stuck in the Phoenix Airport? On a Saturday night? For starters, the coffee will be dependable. Not great, but not bad. Certainly not bad. And the person serving it? Not an underpaid, underappreciated third-world alien with no insurance, as Buck’s does tend to take care of employees and, at least on the surface, do a green business. As green as a company can be that serves bazillion cups of coffee in paper cups. Buck’s doesn’t really do an Italian Roast correctly, but then, at least the French Roast is done right.
Southwest Airlines (3). I started booking on SWA’s website back when there was two – for – one frequent flyer miles offered. In the precarious world of airline travel, SWA’s lean and mean business model has paid off. It’s always changing and none of the flight schedules seem to be engraved in stone. Last time I checked, American Airlines had a ten dollar cheaper fare to El Paso – but the flight went through DFW, with a layover. Anyone who’s ever been through DFW knows that it might just be quicker to walk to El Paso instead of trudging all over that airport. SWA isn’t everything to everybody, and on crowded flights, I feel like cattle. But the cattle car arrives on time and intact. SWA is like that Motel Six commercial, not always the cheapest, but the price is always right down there.
Amazon (4). Love their service. Early on, I had a few pissing matches with customer service, but eventually we got that all sorted out, and I’ve been happy with the automated delivery of texts. As long as I don’t have to deal with a live person, at three in the morning, it’s the best place to shop. There’s another problem I have with Amazon, seldom observed, about what it takes to get a book listed with them. In order to get my romance book up on Amazon, I’d have to have a cover price of about $27. Which is just way too high. Book’s only worth $9.95, or $12.95, but the price it little higher because it’s a “print-on-demand” thing. But $27? Even in mercenary moment, I couldn’t do that.
Bass Pro Shops (5). The only Bass Pro Shop I’ve actually set foot in was in Oklahoma City. It’s bigger than Wal-Mart, for chrissakes, I mean, the place was huge. Right at the intersection of I-35 (north and south) and I-40 (east and west). The “boat wing” was like a little shed, sort of tacked on the side, and it was bigger than the last boat show I went to. Huge place. Mega-corporation. But at 3 in the morning, if you need a certain wiggly, plastic thing used for catching fish over-nighted, it works just fine.
But those are big corporations. A more realistic list? How about Jo’s Coffee, Bouldin Creek Caffeine Dealer, 503, Flipnotics, Halcyon, Little City, The Hideout, Ruta Maya, and the Flightpath? Each one of those places is very individual, has it’s own flavor, and most of them get their beans from Texas Coffee Trader.
My all-time favorite pair of sandals was, indeed, a pair of Teva’s. Old school Teva’s. Made during the off-season by river guides in Northern Arizona. That first pair was basically expensive flip-flops with an ankle strap. Loved them. More recently, though, the Teva’s wear out faster, and the last pair? Made in some third-world manufacturing company, that sucks dollars out of American pockets and the sandals aren’t quite as good. Or so it seems.
I’ve had my eyes on Piper Sandals for years, and when I finally got a pair, they worked, right out of the box. Better yet: they can be resoled, like a lifetime guarantee. Bonus: handmade in San Antonio. That’s some good stuff.