As the Old Meatloaf Song Put It. . .

No, not a new suit, but new buttons!

As the old song by Meatloaf went, two out of three ain't bad on this Tuesday before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States. First, the two. . .

I picked up the above suit from my tailor's on the way home from campus this morning, where he had sewn on new buttons to replace to the original, truly awful solid tan buttons that came on the suit when I purchased it some years ago. It looks like a different item! I've always liked enjoyed the suit, but the better buttons take things to a whole new level.

Next, I dropped by the bank to deposit an actual check (remember those?). Not one, but two of the 20-something male tellers, one who was the greeter, and another who actually helped me from behind the counter, had on full suits with neckties and leather dress shoes! You could have knocked me over with a feather. I can't recall the last time I observed male bank employees, who were not the branch manager, in actual suits. The early 1990s? We'll forget that one guy wore bright tan shoes with his charcoal suit, and the other guy wore a black suit, and simply marvel at the fact that they were trying to up their style game. Well done late millennial males!

I complimented them both as I concluded my business and prepared to leave, asking if their attire reflected a change in corporate policy. The greeter smiled, thanked me, and simply replied, "No, this is what we do." Clearly, there are two more people out there who get it.

Sadly, the run of good fortune ended there. A stop at the barbershop, which is closed on Mondays, revealed that everyone else besides me had the same idea about a pre-holiday trim. I didn't feel like waiting for the five men in front of me before I could take my place in one of the three chairs. I'll try again after the holiday next Tuesday. Maybe I'll have better luck then?

Last of all, a quick check of my voicemail once I arrived home resulted in learning that an approaching dentist appointment for November 30th needed rescheduling thanks to a new computer system due to be installed at the dental practice on that day, which means they cannot see any patients because. . . everything is now computerized. No paper records or appointment book.

Normally, I wouldn't mind so much, but this particular dentists' office already changed the same appointment on me once at the end of September, pushing things back by two months before they had an available opening I could actually make. It was also difficult to get the appointment set up in the first place when I initially made it back in July. Sigh. As the song went, two out of three. . . And yes. I realize my math is off, but it's the spirit of the thing you understand.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

Classic Style

Search This Blog