h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Went to get my winter boots and riding boots resoled today. They both had cracked soles that let the wet in. But....they wanted 32.50€ *per pair*!

I'm considering not getting the new soles and just buying new boots, it's almost cheaper. What kind of a strange world is this where new shoes are cheaper than putting a new sole on? And it's not the cobbler's fault, he's just trying to make an honest living, I believe that the price is realistic with materials and labour...

So my conscience dictates letting him do the job, but my wallet is groaning


Then went to the supermarket. The woman in the line behind me dropped her carton of eggs (*after* paying for it) and didn't want the survivors, she'd have just thrown it all away. She sent her bf in to get a new carton, and I *think* they were getting that for free, so was I stealing by asking whether I could take the whole eggs left in the other carton? Or by taking the tin of macademia nuts that was orphaned on the packing table (after asking everyone there whether it was theirs and they'd forgotten it, and trying to give it to the cashier, who waved me away?)

Simple. The boots are made originally by slave labour. (Practically.) So they're cheap to buy.

The repairman, however, lives in another country and has to earn a living.

I say, if you like the original boots well enough to keep them, and if the repairman does a good job, let him repair them.

What I hate are the boots you love, and then *can't* get repaired, because they had a unit sole, or some such garbage.

If you ask, you ain't stealin'. Just not wasting eggs. The hen would thank you, she did the work.

Exactly, that's what I was afraid of, that buying new boots just fuels exploitation, etc Still seems a lot of money to fork over, but at least he says he'll guarantee the new soles for a year (and I usually manage to wear through any shoe sole in 6 months, this could be lucrative )

Probably. But they were eggs I'd never buy, I only buy free-range

This is the rotten capitalism for you. I have been warned about it for half of my life.

True. It's very dangerous. Just like the rest of humanity

I guess I'll find out next time I enter the shop whether they considered it stealing. I never asked the cashier for the eggs, just the woman who bought them...

I guess that would depend on whether the cashier wanted those for herself or not.

true

I calculated that my current boots (which I've had resouled once already), are only worth resouling once more; two times more and I'd have spent as much as the boots origionally cost on resouling them.... Mind it is kinda* worth it as they were an expensive pair that I actually took time to find and buy, rather than my useual picking the first pair of boots/shoes I see and buying them... actually it might be worth spending ten times the cost of the origional boots on resouling them if it means I never have to go into another shoe shop

That's an excellent point. I *hate* buying shoes. And these fit.

>>I have been warned about it for half of my life.<<

I thought this was something to with radioactivity...

Something to do with halflife of plutonium or something.

Does that mean you should have a hazard logo on your back?

MMF

Am I radioactive because I was told capitalism is rotten and bad? Will I glow in the dark, too? I would love that!

Hard to say, I only saw you in the light!

But if it's half-life, maybe you only glow in the daytime half, now wouldn't that be a waste!

Absolutely! I want to glow in the darkness, then I could find my firewood in the shed in the afternoon. By the looks of it I can't heat my house today.

Don't think you're a Mal. I doubt whether they would've been able to sell the surviving eggs.

I once had a pair of shoes I liked so much I kept repairing long after the cobbler told me I was wasting my money. I hate shoe shopping! Nearly as bad as shopping for a bra!

shoe shopping is slow

See, I dont mind Bra shopping, so long as they HAVE MY SIZES! I like the joy of finding a new one that fits and is comfy...

... Which reminds me, next time you go, even if you think you know your size, get a fitting anyway, you might have changed or they might have some fit suggestions that help you feel more comfy in the bras you choose...

Oh the joys I have to look forward to now I have reached that age whereby my man boobs need a bit of support. I've already started pulling my trousers up to meet them Simon Cowell style

Urgh, true, buying bras is the worst. Why are they all padded? I don't want padded, I'm too well padded as is

I like buying socks Colourful, cheap, and you don't have to try them on!

See, I LOVE padded bras! But Freya are really good, they do not padded bras up to a J cup, and I find they are well built, pretty and compfortable. They do everything from sheer pretty ones to plain satins etc... Try a department store for them. People are always telling me to go to M&S (S&M as I call em) but I dont like their fit and I find they rarely ctually have the size range I need, I go from a 38-40 from a DD to an E, it depends on the type and make of bra and when they only go up to a DD, you dont have the choice so you dont get the fit. Or if you do they are ugly OTSBHs...

(Over The Shoulder Boulder Holders)