Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Shoes and Nibs

What is it with mothers? I mean, perhaps it a mother/daughter thing and most of the readership is spared this horror, but mothers are, well, annoying. Not that I don't love my mother (at the risk of turning into the cliched bar room drunk, I love my mum, I really, really - hic - do) but she suddenly got a bee in her bonnet about my shoes. What?! Apparently the bog-standard choice of footwear I've always relied upon on all occasions is simply not good enough for The Wedding. Eh? It's a wedding, not the second coming. But she whittles away at me until I feel compelled to at least look.

And against all the odds I suddenly manage to turn the fortunes of this week right around by finding not only some mother-acceptable shoes, but they also turned out to be half price. That, my friends, is a miracle. Couldn't quite bring off a double miracle in getting her to accept the more comfortable shirt over the one she said I have to wear, but we'll call it a score draw.

Seriously, I'm too old to be this bossed around by my mother. It's like a really bad comedy film. The sort that only makes you laugh in a thank-goodness-that's-not-me sort of way. Rather like one views clowns. Joy; I'm a clown. Ack, I may have to resort to getting through the rest of this week in a haze of alcohol as the only way.

Still here? More fool you; I'd get out of here if I was you. I would, if I could. Okay, in woodworking news you can pop over to the Old Tools Archive and see the galoots getting all snipe-y and irritable with each other over saw nibs. This one's particularly lovely. Yeah, I did keep out of it, but only 'cos I know the answer. No, I can't tell you, but it has something to do with cutting tails first...

3 comments:

  1. That piece about the saw nib was delightful - the suggestion that its purpose was to scratch one's arse is as plausible as all the others that have been put forward over the years.

    Cheers :-)

    Paul Chapman

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tails I say - that thar nib is for marking out the tails first. That's how I was taught, so you therefore must be wrong.......


    (Ok. I admit it - I have never tried pins first. One day I must try cutting pins first.... I taught tails first because you can gang cut tails.....)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Or perhaps "Her Nibs and Saw Nibs"?...

    -Old Baleine

    ReplyDelete

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