Things are going to get muddy and I'm going to need something that can handle that. Also today we bid farewell to Hollie the wonder dog and how good is Aliens the movie?
DO YOU HAVE A PAIR OF BOOTS FOR MUDDY CONDITIONS?
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| Mud + my usual shoes - not a match made in heaven |
Checking to see how I'd fare for day one of the Henty Field Days tomorrow, Lu asked me this very question this morning off air.
And the answer was a resounding 'Um...no.'
Because my choice of footwear usually follows the following lines: barely weighs anything, stupidly easy to remove in an emergency and packs as much obvious grip as a racing slick tire.
Which ultimately means my usual go to throw on shoe options will not go well in the possibly soggy, potentially boggy, just as saturated as the rest of the area is currently - conditions at Henty. They'll fly off in the mud faster than clothes on a stripper when the 100 dollar notes appear.
And so with a budget of stuff all, I've been trawling just about every footwear emporium across town looking for...well I'm not sure what I'm looking for really. Some kind of work boot/hiking boot/gumboot hybrid resistant to oil, petrol, mud and coolant that still looks stylish and will prevent injury if I drop an air compressor on my foot, which nobody has invented yet but that hasn't stopped me looking for it.
Oh and it's got to be $50 or less too because like I mentioned above, my budget is tiny on account of a surprise specialist medical bill to the total of $425.
The shoes at Myer were too classy to go anywhere near a mud pile let alone a smattering of dust somewhere while TK Maxx seemed to have all their men's shoes under a clock of invisibility and I left my reveal stone in the car. Aussie Disposals has some cracker deals on Magnum boots...but only if you have tiny or super large feet (on account of shoe sizes left) and it's online orders only and that won't work well for tomorrow. Kmart and Target had some okay options so they're a possibility, as is Rivers...which I was set to visit until the school called me and asked to pick up my son because he wasn't feeling well. I've had some hit and miss shoes from there previously but hopefully we'll still find something affordable/workable.
(He's feeling better now, so we're about to check what's available at Rivers.)
EDIT: Well we found something!
Everything I walked in to find was unavailable or only available for Stone Giant sizes and so after searching and searching and searching some more, I found a cheapish pair ($40) of these boot things that came with some tread and no returns - 'You know they're on clearance and you can't return them right?' the sales lady asked. Considering they'll probably be up to the laces in mud as soon as I set foot in Henty, that'll be fine.
Plus they also have a reinforced toe which will come in handy the next time I find myself in a tables, ladders and chair match at work.
WE'RE GOING TO THE HENTY FIELD DAYS (TOMORROW) - A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE THERE!
As mentioned previously, we're not there to look around at tractors and eat everything in the food tent (although given the chance, that's a challenge I'd give a red hot poke at!) we're questing for the Golden Gumboot this year and trying not to fall over while doing this in the muddy conditions (hence the search for boots with grip above.)
Apparently there's a chance of winning $1000 too by taking a selfie with the two of us and uploading it to the station website which I find hilarious, given how much this hasn't happened in my life outside of my wife and kids (although a shout out to the famous Australian Radio announcer with the tiger mica orange selfie stick who loves to take a selfie with everyone and snapped me on a couple of occasions, hope you're doing well Minty you legend).
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| That'll be me in the middle after my fifth selfie of the day.. |
'Who's that bald guy with the fresh looking boots?' will be a question that will echo down the ages of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to come. Provided mum and dad or the grandparents don't delete it seconds after uploading it of course..
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Look not every show is going to be an award winner and no show is perfect - before ours even started someone bumped a mic button on and a one sided conversation went to air, drowned out by whatever song was playing at the time. Luckily we weren't slagging anyone off when that happened, instead getting into Lu's bi annual haircut - really exciting stuff to listen into on the pre 6am cruise into work..
Then the local footy guru thanked a radio station for their support and coverage for the year, momentarily forgetting that he was on with us, the rival radio station at the time. He apologised profusely after he did it too but it's all good.
I'm not going to list the number of times I've moved radio stations only to accidentally blurt out my previous stations call signs. Also I managed to call the Warnambool Seahawks basketball team many other things in my time talking about their upcoming games back when I was working in the region, mistakes happen.
And if you move on without giving them any attention, people forget pretty quickly.
AND HOW GOOD IS ALIENS?
A week or so back I finally settled down and got into the very fast paced but utterly entertaining The Movies that made us: Aliens on Netflix, reminding me of how good the 1986 sci fi blockbuster really is. And I walked away from watching this with a new appreciation of the work involved, learning so much along the way:
-Someone forgot to see if Sigourney Weaver was available for this film which is pretty important given she's the sole survivor (well her and a cat) of the first film. By the time they did call her and talk terms, she was well aware of how much they needed her and priced herself accordingly - brilliant move!
-To prove his directing chops, James Cameron put on a screening of another huge film he's been a big part of: The Terminator. None of the UK crew actually turned up to watch it though...
-The smart gun harnesses were held together by gaffa tape. So much gaffa tape.
-The mother alien was originally created with black bin liners.
-They had problems with personality clashes, smoke machines, one actor getting caught with heroin, smart gun harnesses falling apart (it's fine, just grab the gaffa tape..), almost punch ons and a crew walkout.
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| Champion on set and in the movie! |
And yet with all of that, they created a suspenseful masterpiece. I'm currently watching it as you read this, enjoying just how good this truly is 36 years on (Sigourney in protective mother mode is awesome!) and it's just as good as I remember. Although if I could change just one thing (okay two things) with my current viewing:
-The version on Disney+ is not the extended directors cut/special edition. And having seen this for the first time last year, I'd love to watch that again with the sentry guns and the colonists getting about before someone makes that horrible discovery..
-Also the last time I watched it was on a TV far sharper than mine. The details were crisper than fresh lettuce, the sound sharper than zesty cheese. Maybe this was in conjunction with the blu ray but whatever it was, it looked incredible. That would be reason enough to buy a newer TV I feel... (although my current Samsung has done really well for itself given it's coming up to ten years and still going strong..)
AND THANKS FOR COMING HOLLIE!
Over the weekend we've been dog-sitting our mates beautiful Border Collie Hollie - mad about sticks and anything thrown, besotted by the cat (cat not really besotted by dog though) and packs more energy than a fully charged proton pack.
What I've loved about her weekend stay though is that she's motivated my kids to go for walks, walking her. Normally they'd complain about having to walk from school to home but when there's a dog involved? That inconvenience is clean forgot. 'Can we take Hollie for a walk?' sure we can!
She'll be sorely missed but it's never too long before we get to play with her again. See you soon Hol!
Okay, better break these boots in for tomorrow!
-Almigo
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