For once in my life, I was fashion-forward

I can't remember just when I last saw my spouse in high heels. Maybe not this century. Sister? At my own wedding, also not this century. Primary circle of friends? Nope. Professional colleagues during my engineering career (now retired)? Quite unusual even then, and mostly for contact with outsiders (conferences, trade shows, interviews, etc.)

Sure, there were certainly other women in these workplaces wearing heels, but they were concentrated in traditionally female positions. Those moving into my traditionally male field, ditched the heels as soon as the hiring interview was over. Just as we guys ditched the ties.

I hope they are not ballet-flat flats. Those aren't good for the feet either.

 

I think spell check got you. resoled?

 

my wife has never worn heels, otherwise, she'd be taller than me. we enjoy nothing more than sitting at a sidewalk cafe, watching women try to hobble down the street in their heels, it's a great show.
of all the things men have stolen from women fashion, this one has not yet made it.

 

I've always been in work cultures were decent blue jeans are just fine.

 

Wifey just "tackled" me Monday morning and asked wasn't I going to work. I said sure.

She looked at me in disbelief and said "Dressed like that?"

I stuttered a bit, looked at my somewhat ragged T-Shirt, somewhat more ragged blue denims and my Danner hiking boots and said "Sure."

She said "You look like a homeless hobo." I countered with, "Well, you know sometimes, when we are short-handed, I have to take out a truck because I am one of the few people at the office that can drive a manual transmission -- especially one in a big truck. Then, I have to unload junk and get all sweaty and stuff."

She wasn't buying it -- she knows I keep two spare sets of "get dirty clothes" in the car and I could change into those if need be.

She won the discussion. I changed into black wool-blend pants, black wingtips, a long-sleeve blue oxford shirt (worn over a pristine white T-Shirt).

Next to the director and assistant director, I was the best dressed guy there. Of course, now the rest of the guys in the office are upset at me, thinking I may get a "mandate" handed down addressing workplace attire.

As for me, it is either pay the dry cleaner to wash and starch those shirts or start ironing them myself -- a task I hate. Ah, T-shirts.

My only experience with high heels was Halloween circa 1983 when I was in college and decided to dress up as a woman. Shaved my legs, wore hose, heels, a skirt and blouse and faux pearls.

Funny thing, the women were all over me that night. It was a good night. Not so good when the hair on my legs started to grow back in.

 

In 1987 I worked at Honda Canada and I had to wear dress coat and tie the entire year.

When that contract was up, I started looking for employment where I could be 'casual'. and answered an ad "small town, remote location, programmer needed", thinking I would like to work in Alaska. They flew me and my wife to Elko, Nevada and drove me 50 miles to the mine site, and I got a job with a new firm at a gold mine. (290 miles to Reno, NV, 290 miles to Salt Lake City, UT, 290 miles to Boise, ID, and 420 miles to Las Vegas, NV) As it happens they grew rapidly and we went from 200 employees to 2000 in the 14 years I worked there. (we mined 21 million ounces of gold, so growth was inevitable)

https://goo.gl/maps/g2qPzPGwDU42
Goldstrike mine - Wikipedia

You are required to have a hard hat, safety glasses, and steel toed boots, the only employee I ever saw in in a tie was a official in the LDS church who had church duties right after work.

Back then, the Board of Directors did not wear suits in the annual report. It is all suits now, and I don't work there.

https://barrick.q4cdn.com/808035602/files/annual-report/Barrick-Annual-Report-2016.pdf
(Goldstrike is on page 54, 55 of the PDF, page 52,53 of the report)

And yes, Goldstrike is the least remote of any of their properties. No one finds gold near civilization anymore. (One of my continuing mantras was "At least I am not 16,000 feet up in the Andes")

 

I spent 7 months in a Casino room until I had a mobile home imported from Idaho. We would get safety notices when the water we were not drinking was actually unsafe to drink, and when it was safe, but we still weren't drinking it. Odd to have 137 F water come out of the C tap. Flushing was 'different'.

 

Elko Nevada. I worked for the US Forest Service in that region in the 1970s/80s. Freeport mine was the biggie at the time in my Ranger District. I lived in Forest Service housing in Mountain City and for the big city lights we would go to Twin Falls.

Mountain City itself was a fair distance from Freeport's pit. Rio Tinto had mining operations adjacent to Mountain City, which turned the town into a quite lively place. At the time I was there, I think there were five bars, two motels, two groceries, a USPS post office, three or four cafes. When the mine was shuttered, Mountain City pretty dried up and went away.

Good times. Met some incredible Basque families who really had a way with cuisine (some beautiful daughters if I recall, also ).

If you want a good read about Elko, which around 1960 Lowell Thomas called the last real Cowtown in the West: Elko, Nevada - Description & History, from The Complete Nevada Traveler by David W. Toll

A great book about Mountain City: Roughing It

 

Yes, when I got to Elko, both Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan were bigger mining concerns.

I often claimed Elko was a 6 casino, 5 brothel, 4 gold mine kinda town. I loved the Basque food and Basco culture.

I am afraid, for me, Mountain City was part of the journey, never the destination. I did stop in Owyhee some times.

 

... and 1 wife

 

Not a bad description of Elko. Bing Crosby owned the PX Ranch nearby, I think and spent time in the town in the 1950s/60s. Brothels were and are still legal there. I lived for a short-time in a brothel converted to a boarding house in Elko. It was in the Red Light district and of course, adjacent to three brothels and the Star Hotel.

You would see the working "ladies" stroll in their finery to the church nearby each Sunday morning and often see them other late mornings taking the brothel dogs for walks, etc.

The train track were mere feet from my room. It was nice to get to my Forest Service housing in Mountain City, after that, although I did miss the girls.....

Ever see White King the Polar Bear at the Commercial Hotel?

 

When i moved to Elko I needed to get a physical exam for employment, I hear the Dr. in the next exam room "Now, go to bed, but don't work."

I did visit the Commercial*, but not as much as The Stockman's Casino (24 hour restaurant) Mostly I gambled at the Red Lion as they flew gambling junkets in so my relatives were gambling there. I ate many a meal at the Star, but I preferred the Nevada Dinner House and Bil Toki for Basque food. I think only the Star is still in business.

*When they went to Direct Deposit in 1992, 97% of the employees signed up. The others were cashing their checks at the casinos for a free spin on roulette wheel and keeping money under their mattress. I told my bosses that if they let me have 'direct deposit' to the Commercial Casino, I could get 100% enrollment. 5 years later they agreed, and the Commercial agreed as well. We never cut another paper payroll check.

 

Well, I could ramble about Northeastern Nevada for days, but...back to the thread.

Earlier on this thread I posted about how wifey complained I looked like a hobo in my T-shirt and jeans as I was getting ready to go to work on Monday. So, I changed to slacks, oxford shirt, etc. and off to work I went.

Today I had to work a half-day. Was going in at 1 p.m. Was getting ready to go to work when wifey came home for lunch and said "I thought you were going to work this afternoon?"

"I am," I said, as I finished tying my dress shoes.

"Well, why are you dressed up" she asked. I mentally shook my head. But all I did was say, "Well, I just felt like getting dressed up."

I gotta tell you.....

 

You got to ditch ties? !!

Could that be because the ladies don't get excited by the sexy look of stiletto pumps on a guy with a paunch and vpl.

 

Whenever we saw someone wearing a tie, the reaction was to look around to see what special occasion was happening. VIP visit? Special customer? Someone interviewing elsewhere?

 

In my work environment, that was pretty much the question when someone out-of-the-blue came to work sporting a tie.

 

In uniform, I wore a tie every day at work for 37 years. Since retiring, not so much!