Remember Puzzle Rings?

I am, today, a victim of fashion (or, lack thereof).

It is October in Oregon, it is raining, and it is time to wear boots. Every year I buy a new pair of boots, well mostly since the pair from last year is literally worn out, leaking, shabby. Cause I wear them every single day, lacking any originality, they must suffice for 180 days till the start of spring, which I will call March 1. The day the blanket comes down off our attic (also known as bedroom) windows, the day the space heater can be retired. Oh to have a bedroom with heat, and without drafts - sigh, some day..

I secretly (not so secretly, I just like that word of late) bought a copy of Lucky magazine. Just like old times. From this I have learned that there are spas now in places like Chicago, where you can, for $100, get yourself pampered in a spacious establishment with bright hardwood floors, cushy couches, even a wine bar. Along the gold coast in Chicago.

My one experience along the gold coast in Chicago, was when we trekked there from Evanston, college kids that we were, to see a movie. OK lacking money for popcorn or pop, we brought out own. Even our own pop, that was fun. Even our own ice. So before the movie we got out our plastic cups, put a couple ice cubes into each one, and opened the liter of coke (hiss!), pouring our own. And some snacks (well that will be a perennial tradition - bringing my own snacks, as in for-ever). Not exactly up to gold coast standards but hey.

What else I noticed in Lucky magazine, the magazine dedicated to shopping! Which you can do, even if you don't have daughters at home (you can read it, but can't afford to shop, really). I noticed the new Nine West look, "vintage", but what they mean is a distressed western look. Yuck, who would want that? Do I want to look like I live in Eastern Oregon? Why would I want that? I'm not trying to run as a Republican candidate or anything (though I may vote for one for governor, which has some people I know up-in-arms, and others happy, so I guess its a no win no matter what. Alas there is no Progressive party candidate, which would piss absolutely everyone off, then they would all just let me be).

So what do I find at the mall in terms of boots. The tall (long tall lady in a black dress) type, can't wear those - my calves are too fat (muscular, as I would like to say, from those bike rides up Rolling Hill Drive back when I was in high school - isn't it possible this muscle has stayed with me all these years??) The other choices were either the distressed western look, or the biker gal look with chains. Oh and the (you know what me now) boots with spikey heals. Nope, not looking for that type of look at work either.

I did succomb to the distressed western look, if only cause it will save me buying yet another pair of boots that will wear out in exactly 180 days, or less. I told my husband last time I paid $99 for boots (and, they were Nine West too, cosmic!) I had left them in my car. My car was broken into, the boots stolen. Since then (that was 23 years ago, which is also cosmic as it is my favorite number, and no this has nothing to do with Michael Jordan, that is merely coincidence). Since then its been cheap boots all the way.

But the real benefit of these boots is their weird lace up styling. The laces go up, then they wrap around, them come back in front to tie. So, since I tend to whine about not having "spatial reasoning" or "mechanical ability", I figured if nothing else these boots would give me, on a daily basis, a spatial/mechanical exercise to strengthen these skills. And I promise I will not leave them in an unattended car next to a vacant lot in a marginal section of Chicago.

Puzzle rings promised mechanical (or was it puzzle solving?) ability back in the day. The Indian shop in Morristown sold puzzle rings. You could wear them, if you took them off the 4 rings would come apart, and you couldn't wear them again unless you solved the puzzle and learned how to re-assemble them.