Big shout out today to the Red Wing Shoe Company of Red Wing, Minnesota. Red Wing is the maker of boots built to last. And brother, I don’t mean maybe.
Some time late in the last century I bought a pair of boots from this esteemed outfit. Those of you who know how much I hike should be impressed with the fact that they are still going strong. Truth to tell, they’re in the shop for a bit of re-stitching right now. But re-stitching comes free from the manufacturer, along with these other lifetime services: Oiling, polishing, gluing, stretching, laces, and eyelet/hook replacement.
I am often fond of saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But in this case, if you got it from Red Wing, just bring it in to the store and – as long as you didn’t feed it through a Fargo-style wood-chipper – they’ll fix it for free. Simple, see?
Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in the Cohen brothers’ black-comedy classic, Fargo. Not sure if she’s wearing Red Wings, but she sure as shootin’ could be.
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Today I pulled the trigger and finally bought myself a new pair of Red Wings. Based on past performance, I told the sales guy I wanted the new ones to be as close to the old pair as possible. I also told him price was no object. If you amortize it across the decades, that last pair cost me less than ten bucks a year to own and operate. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.
If I am still hiking twenty years hence – assuming Red Wing is still in business – I expect they’ll get the chance to re-stitch mine a couple more times. And when I say that, I’m referring to the old pair as well as the new.
Today’s quiz comes from the deep dark recesses of English Literature.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive.”
Who said it?
A) Shakespeare, “Macbeth,” Act 3, Scene 2 – written in 1606.
B) Sir Walter Scott, “Marmion,” Canto 6, stanza 17 – written in 1808.
C) Ida Tarbell, “The Standard Oil Monopoly,” – written in 1904.
D) Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s “Mission Statement” – revised 2017.
And the answer is…
This quote occurred to me while I read the latest Facebook muckraker piece by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker. And I, like everybody else, attributed the quote to Shakespeare, who could have said it, but didn’t. Better luck next time you get a crack at Today’s Quiz.
Bottom line, if you (like me) love piling on when somebody attacks Mark Zuckerberg – currently the world’s 4th richest man – have at it. You may even like the Lepore piece, though I don’t recommend it unless you also dig Ida Tarbell’s scathing expose of Standard Oil/Rockefeller, to which Lepore compares current-day Zuckerberg/Facebook. Me personally, I don’t see it. But maybe that’s just me? There are plenty of other reasons for getting off Facebook. I don’t need a Guilded Age comparison to help me along that particular road. But hey, if you still need convincing, you can read all about it, here. Enjoy – for what it’s worth.
For the first time since 2017…. I present you with the following, in its entirety, without interruption or further comment.
Enjoy.
Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback, speaking at the White House on Tuesday. For the first time since 2017, a Super Bowl Champ finally shows up. Way to go, Tom Terrific. If you can put the recent unpleasantness behind you, so can we. Right folks?
WASHINGTON — Until a few hours before kickoff, Tom Brady was questionable for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ celebration of their Super Bowl title at the White House. He was the most prolific winner of titles and decliner of presidential invitations in league history.
But when the band struck up and President Biden strode onto the South Lawn to meet the championship team, Mr. Brady, the quarterback and seven-time N.F.L. champion, was there, smiling in a dark suit and sunglasses, leading a small procession including his coach, his team’s owner and the commander in chief himself.
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A few minutes later he was back in the spotlight, tossing off political jokes like slant routes, mostly targeting Mr. Biden’s predecessor, Donald J. Trump, a longtime friend of Mr. Brady’s.
Mr. Brady first needled Mr. Trump’s baseless claims that he actually won the 2020 presidential election, which many Trump supporters still believe. The quarterback said many people did not believe the Buccaneers could win the championship last year.
“I think about 40 percent of the people still don’t think we won,” Mr. Brady said.
“I understand that,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Brady turned to Mr. Biden. “You understand that, Mr. President?” he said.
Mr. Biden smiled. “I understand that,” he said again.
“Yeah,” Mr. Brady continued. “And personally, you know, it’s nice for me to be back here. We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was. I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing, and they started calling me ‘Sleepy Tom.’ Why would they do that to me?”
Mr. Biden — whom Mr. Trump frequently called “Sleepy Joe” during the campaign — played along. “I don’t know,” he said.
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Mr. Brady, 43, is the most accomplished signal caller in N.F.L. history. After leading the New England Patriots to six championships in his first two decades in the league, he quarterbacked Tampa Bay to a 31-9 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in February, shortly after Mr. Biden was inaugurated. It earned him and his teammates a request to visit the president at the White House.
But as of Monday, White House officials could not say for sure if he planned to attend.
Mr. Brady missed several presidential team visits under Mr. Trump and President Barack Obama after winning previous Super Bowls. He last trekked to a White House title ceremony in 2005, when George W. Bush was in office. His attendance this time around was rumored on Monday, then confirmed by photos posted to social media on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Biden has in recent weeks also hosted the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, as his administration revives a tradition of championship invites that had grown sporadic under Mr. Trump after many players boycotted the festivities. An N.F.L. champion last visited the White House in 2017.
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On Tuesday, while Mr. Brady’s teammates stood on risers and baked in the heat of the White House lawn, the president praised the Bucs for their persistence in reeling off an unbeaten run to the championship after starting the season with seven wins and five losses.
“This is a team that didn’t fold, got up, dug deep,” the president said. “It’s an incredible run.”
He singled out Tampa Bay receiver Chris Godwin, who was born and raised in the same states as Mr. Biden. “Born in Pennsylvania, raised in Delaware,” the president said. “Where I come from, that’s a heck of a combination, man.”
The president could not resist sprinkling in a few stories of his own, less accomplished football career. And he could not resist ribbing Mr. Brady — and himself — about their ages.
“A lot has been made about the fact that we have the oldest coach ever to win a Super Bowl and the oldest quarterback to win the Super Bowl,” said Mr. Biden, who at 78 was the oldest person ever sworn in as president. “Well, I’ll tell you right now: You won’t hear any jokes about that from me. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with being the oldest guy to make it to the mountaintop.”
Eventually, Mr. Biden gave way to the team owner, Bryan Glazer, and coach, Bruce Arians, and then to Mr. Brady and his comedy routine.
When the laughter from the relatively small crowd on the lawn died down, Mr. Brady and the Buccaneers prepared to give the president a customary personalized jersey, with “Biden” across the back and the number 46, for Mr. Biden’s presidency. The band prepared to play Queen’s “We Are the Champions” while players, including the quarterback, posed for photos with onlookers including several Florida politicians.
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But first Mr. Brady had one more joke, about how he planned to make the most of the remainder of his time at the White House.
“We’re going to challenge — 11 of us — 11 White House interns to game of football here on the lawn,” Mr. Brady said.
“And we intend to run it up on you guys, so get ready to go.”
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Hmmm, first time since 2017? What happened in 2017?
Last night we considered grilling on the back porch. Instead we decided to go out to eat at an old favorite nearby haunt, Virgillio’s. Hey, it ain’t In-N-Out, but it’ll have to do. On the way there we passed any number of fire trucks coming in to the hood. We commented that the air smelled a bit like another favorite local place, Brad’s Pit BBQ.
After a lovely dinner – I recommend the linguine and clams paired with a glass of their finest Merlot – we headed home, only to be greeted by a big smoke plume and about a million flashing lights a little further down in the park. The tale was told by West Metro Fire Department and 9News, here. The drone footage is actually pretty remarkable.
A faulty propane connection. An evening intended to be spent grilling on the back porch. And poof: Another multi-million-dollar home bites the dust. Sure glad it’s not been as dry here as in some other parts of the west this year. It’s grilling season, and even though it’s been a pretty wet one so far here in our little corner of the world, it bears repeating: Let’s all be careful out there.
Our crews on scene of a structure fire in the 10300 blk. of Totem Run in Roxborough. Fire caused by faulty propane grill. Leaking propane ignited- with flames extending to the house. House is total loss. There were no injuries. pic.twitter.com/KDnZzh7N16
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) recently made a splash defending Atlanta-based Chick-Fil-A after students at Notre Dame protested the addition of the chicken chain to the University’s menu of on-campus retail dining options. The good Senator said he’d “go to war for the principles Chick-Fil-A stands for,” but declined to specify what, exactly, those principles might be. The ND students, of course, follow in a long line of Chick-Fil-A opponents who decry the company’s history of anti-LGBTQ+ lobbying and staunch Right Wing political postures. Somehow, this also inexplicably includes always-closed-on-Sunday: REALLY, Chick-Fil-A? Fasting on Sunday is now a family value? Full story is here.
The chicken sandwich wars aside, and all due respect to Sen. Graham, but maybe he’s backing the wrong fast-food chain, at least from a stay-true-to-your-roots standpoint? Case in point, see the Forbes feature here on In-N-Out Burgermistress Lynsi Snyder, granddaughter of the founders, and a devout Christian who actually sports Bible verse tattoos on her person. She even sneaked Luke 6:35 onto the coffee cups a few years ago.
The most remarkable thing, though, is that In-N-Out still has only 15 items on the menu, just one more than at the time of the chain’s founding in 1948: Hot chocolate was added in 2018. Oh, and In-N-Out has an extremely devout following in the states where they do business. They do a very few things very, very well. Taken together that has made Lynsi Snyder a billionaire with a 99% approval rating among her 26,000 employees. Take THAT, Elon Musk.
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Alas, In-N-Out doesn’t currently do business anywhere near South Bend, Indiana, where Notre Dame is located. The fact is, they only recently expanded to Colorado, currently with just four locations in-state here. The strategy at In-N-Out has always been slow careful growth coupled with a reliance on the principles that started them off: Consistently high quality food, meticulous customer care, and an unwavering loyalty to their employees.
Consider this: Entry-level burger-flippers at In-N-Out make about a third more than their full-time hourly counterparts at other national fast food chains. And the average In-N-Out store manager has been with the company 17 years and makes $163,000 annually. In case you were keeping score at home, that’s more than the typical dentist, accountant or financial advisor in Southern California, where In-N-Out is based. All this, and the double-double actually costs LESS today – inflation adjusted – than it did 30 years ago. They must be doing something right.
Bottom line, Chick-Fil-A is OK as long as you don’t have a yen for something to eat on a Sunday. But In-N-Out? It’s the best of all possible worlds: Family values and fresh-cooked meat, seven-days-a-week. I say, those are some principles worth fighting for, Sen. Graham. And you can quote me on that too.
Hmmm… Notice any similarities between the In-N-Out logo above and the South Carolina state flag? Just wondering, Lindsay Graham.
A tip of the cap to friends and family gathered in Ida Grove, Iowa today for Denny Anspach’s memorial. Born in 1934, he spent many happy summers sailing and swimming nearby in his beloved Lake Okoboji.
The gang gathered at The Lake.Work it, Ben – WORK IT!
It has been far too long since we’ve let loose with a blast of good old fashioned snark. Well, never let it be said that we here at dewconsulting.net/blog have neglected to provide you with your hearts’ desire. Enjoy, but not too much: After all, you just never know when your 9-1-1 call is gonna get rerouted. And THEN where will that leave you? SOL, that’s where.
