Challenge Accepted

I toodled down to my favourite store yesterday -- no, not for another dress. For socks.  After getting a heat rash on my ankles three times in a row, I figured I better do something about it.  I had several days in between each and it clears up in about four days, but I have no idea what would actually happen if I got a heat rash on top of a heat rash on top of a heat rash.

So the Wigwam merino wool midweight hiking socks I've been wearing for the past year had to go.  'Cause I'm pretty sure I'll be running into some smokin' hot temperatures, especially in September.  See the problem with the Wigwams is that they are long in the leg and I have to fold down the top. Basically it's like having two heavy socks on around the ankle.  But I also want that really nice thick cushioning on the bottom and the toes.  Partly for comfort and partly because my books are wide and roomy and I don't want to be moving around inside.  That's just asking for blisters.

So I picked up a couple of pairs of Darn Tough hiking socks made from 100% fine gauge merino wool.  Nice cushy sole but oh so light in the leg part. And they actually come with an "Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee."  Seriously.  Lifetime.

Here it is, right on the package..."If you can wear these socks out, we'll replace them."

Free of charge, they say.

No questions asked, they assure.

For life.

Pretty bold statements if you ask me, because I'm thinking about all the socks in my sock drawer that are down to single threads covering the balls of the feet.  Or all those pairs that have at least one hole where the big toe has busted through.  And basically they're telling me that if I were to own one pair of these socks and wore them every single day of my life, they would give me a new pair if I wore through them.  I'll accept that challenge.  Not that I'm going to wear them every single day for the rest of my life.

But hey, 800 kilometres across Northern Spain should give them a pretty good run for their money.


Book Review:  After having read Herman Koch's The Dinner, I was really looking forward to his latest -- Summer House With Swimming Pool.  Koch has created yet another wonderful morally ambiguous cast of characters and let them lose upon each other.  I love his first person narratives for reasons I can't say without ruining something of the reading experience for you.  I was semi-disappointed in the ending but I'm thinking maybe I missed something. You know how that can happen.  I just need someone else to read it and give me their take so I can go, "Oh right, now I get it!"  And there was definitely one thread that didn't get dealt with that I was thinking was going to have a major impact on the ending, hence my disappointment.  But I would recommend this book for the characters alone.