Groundhogs and Old Leather Coats

It appears that "Phil" saw his shadow this morning, meaning six more weeks of "Winter"....so I'm thinking, if we have 6 more weeks of winter, like the past 6 weeks....Hell I'm all for it!

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/punxsutawney-phil-isnt-always-122732863--abc-news.html

On the other hand, if he's wrong, that's even better....bring on that Global Warming fix....

Old Leather Coats.....

No doubt regular readers of this blog have seen photos of me in a worn out leather coat.....lots of rips, abuse, and scars, from the past 25 years it does have, kind of like me.  I purchased it in Lima, Ohio, 25 years ago...and was weighing about 175 or 180 pounds when I purchased it.  I wore it for maybe 10 winters, but weight lifting and accompanying weight gain, to the 215-220 pound mark, put it in storage.  Eventually I figured I would not be able to fit into it again...so I handed it down to oldest son Sam when he was in High School....he wore it, putting more marks on the leather for a few years, and then he quickly outgrew it....not a chance he would be able to fit that thing over his 240 frame...so back in the closet it went....broken zipper, ripped sleeve cuffs and all.  There is stayed for another decade until the winter of 2009-10, when I pulled it out.  Having lost 25 or 30 pounds I could slip back into it....but the zipper and sleeves made it good for only wearing in mild winter weather, when outside smoking a Cigar or walking the fairgrounds, when the temps were rather warm.....this winter I decided to make one more effort to keep that leather jacket alive and in use.

Just before Christmas I drove the 20 miles to Wapakoneta and took  the coat to the Goodyear Shoe and Repair Store, and asked the lady in charge what she could do..."New zipper, new cuff sleeves, and not much else", she replied.  Today, 6 weeks later, I picked it up...$48.15 was the cost...at the same time, I turned my black leather coat in, and requested a new zipper for that one...after all, I have three leather coats, and if they can be repaired, why not?  A site less costly that buying a new one, at least a new one that is worth a tinker's damn...plus there is something ultimately nostalgic about abused leather coats.

Now the major problem with the old brown St. Johns Leather Coat is...the new zipper makes it a bit more snug, and with my recent gain of 10 pounds, putting me back around 195....I am going to have to lose that 10 back to wear it in comfort...so, a reason is set to lose that extra baggage....and hopefully by the time next winter rolls around, that "snugness" will be a thing of the past.....meanwhile I can still wear it, just it is more comfortable without the zipper being zipped!

Back at the basketball wars tonight, as I travel to Elida, and work a girls JV game, a rare Friday night off tomorrow, and then Saturday afternoon I make the long drive to Antwerp for a boys contest.  After that, just seven more dates of roundball, and the season is finished, and I can rest up a few weeks before baseball comes calling.

back later>>>>

Photos-Top, Today, me the newly repaired and zipper replaced leather coat, that I purchased in 1987...the 25 years of wear and closet storage has, IMO, made the coat a classic, now if I can just drop the few pounds gained over the holidays, to fit comfortably back into it....last winter, with the damage zipper, it wasn't a problem, see photo #2