Mental floss

Things that have been working to escape my brain recently….

Can someone explain to me the fascination and devotion that many women have to boots?  I was seated on a plane recently next to a woman wearing what looked like well-worn cowboy (or cowgirl, in her case, I suppose) boots that were a suedelike texture.  Woman across the aisle commented, and my seatmate (to whom I had not spoken a word) went on about how they were her favorite, and that she just lived in these boots, and wouldn’t even think of wearing another pair.

Separate example:  I just hired someone in another state, and she appeared for both days of our training wearing boots.  Compared to my seatmate above, though, this gal was wearing dress boots.  I didn’t think much of it until she mentioned how she so much preferred wearing boots to heels because it was easier on her knees (past injury, from what she mentioned).  How?  These appeared to have heels that were comparable in height to a pair of high-heeled women’s shoes.

On a similar note, we’ve been watching “Pan Am,” the new dramedy series on ABC, which features a group of stewardesses and a couple of pilots for the now-defunct airline back in the early ‘60’s.  Most recent episode threaded JFK and the Berlin Wall into the plot line.  But what intrigues me about this program is the accuracy of the costuming, and how everyone who flies, even kids, are well dressed and well groomed.  On my most recent business trip I had the misfortune of again sitting next to a person who looked as though they hadn’t bathed in some time, and smelled that way, too.  Very disappointing that in 2011 we still have people who don’t understand that it isn’t hard not to be offensive.

My company issues BlackBerry smartphones to its managers and folks at levels above mine, too.  My phone didn’t appear too smart yesterday when I received virtually no e-mail messages, nor could I access the Internet for anything.  This was a continuation of a problem that began in Europe and Asia and then struck North America yesterday.  If I were in a stationary location that wouldn’t matter much, but since I was traveling, it was awful!  I saw a note on  Twitter yesterday that Apple should give a $50 break to anyone trading in a BlackBerry on an iPhone, taking advantage of the situation.  Truth is, they don’t have to.  I don’t imagine my company will ever start issuing iPhones to its managers and above, as the BlackBerry security is apparently superior to anything you can do at the enterprise level on an iPhone (or an Android phone as well).  It’s working now, so I’d say the executives at Research in Motion (the parent of BlackBerry) can breathe.

I love and hate baseball this time of year, particularly when the Reds are out of it (which is so often the case).  I root for teams I don’t normally like or care about, and then am a turncoat in the next round, rooting against someone I was just pulling for.  Right now I’m interested in having the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series, but both are behind their opponents.  The Tigers face elimination at the hands of the Texas Rangers today.

Finally, for the first week in the last several, we know that the University of Kentucky football Wildcats will not lose this weekend!  They're not playing.