Sunday, October 26, 2008

Me Andrew. Me sell boots.

Today I sold my first pair of custom boots. A gentleman from Vancouver bought 2 pairs of custom insoles, a custom liner, a custom boot, and a pair of socks. All things considered I felt I did very well for my first time. However, this particular gentleman, I'll call him Ned, had very short, VERY wide feet (257mm foot, 110 mm wide, if that means anything you to, great). Basically his foot is the length of a 7, and the width of an 11 or 12. This creates problems.

The downside is it took 4 hours to get his boots perfected. The upside I learned a ton of stuff and reviewed all the things I already knew. The process went like this:

Ned enters store.
I greet Ned.
Ned says he wants new boots.
I say great, take off your shoes.
I measure Neds foot.
I take the impression for the orthotic.
I take the impression for the orthotic 7 more times because I'm not practiced at it.
Ned is very patient.
I am very grateful.
I make the orthotics.
I help Ned into the boots, I foam the liners (foaming the liners is a story in and of itself)
Ned tries on the boots.
(elapsed time to this point 1.5 hours)
Ned says the boots hurt.
I think "no small wonder." It's like shoving a hamburger into a hot dog bun.
I tell Ned a width expansion will take 2 hours.
I learn to do a width expansion.
I do a width expansion.
I eat lunch.
Ned tries on boots.
(elapsed time 3.5 hours)
Ned says there is pressure over the instep.
I tell Ned it will take 30 minutes to fix.
I learn how to fix this problem.
I fix this problem.
Ned tries on boots.
Ned is happy with boots.
Ned pays lots of money for boots.
I am told by manager that that was a very tough fit, possibly one of the toughest for the year.
I am happy.
I go home and eat pumpkin ice cream cake.
I am even more happy.

As you may have deduced, I made pumpkin ice cream cake from the pumpkin goop I stewed last week, and it is de-licious. My only complaint is that it has an icy texture, not smooth and creamy. I don't know how Janey got it to re-freeze and be so smooth. The cake makes for excellent currency in the house. I came home today and Rico had made an amazing lamb roast with a garlic onion wine sauce. I traded him a piece of cake for a juicy slice of lamb. Oh yes.

Tomorrow I'm hiking Wedgemount Lake in Garibaldi National Park. The lake sits just below Wedge mountain, which is the peak directly north of Blackcomb mountain. It should be brutal and beautiful. I'm bringing a camera so I'll have a full entry tomorrow complete with photos.

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