Kim du Toit - Daily Rant

Joel Was Right:

Joel Leggett warned me about this.

I think that any self-respecting individual should take the time to ensure that their grooming and apparel standards are up to snuff. Nevertheless, I categorically reject the idea that an obsessive concern with the latest fashion trends is the hallmark of gentlemen. That is the hallmark of a fop. Remember, the concept of the gentleman comes the tradition of chivalry, which was itself an ethical system for fighting men, not fashion models.

Exactly right, I said -- but since we've never discussed it before, we can hardly be charged with "obsessive concern." Just trying to sort out the rules, once and for all.

Well, it seemed reasonable at the time. I now see that this kind of thing gets out of hand quickly. Today even Kim du Toit is giving fashion advice:

I have only one simple fashion rule: Never, never wear Realtree camo after Halloween. It has served me well.

That's good advice. I myself have only four rules, which I'm going to lay out here and then leave the topic forever:

1) Khakis and cowboy boots for "work" at the office, blue jeans and ropers for real work.

2) Boots and belt should match the sheath of your knife or pistol, unless it's going to be concealed anyway.

3) Never leave home without a good hat. Not only will it protect you from wind, sun, and rain, but if you get too cold it will help you stay warm, and if you get too hot you can fill it with water and dump it on your head.

4) You should either wear a beard or moustache, or you should shave cleanly and properly. Trying to look like Aragorn, when you haven't actually been living in the Wild for the last few months, only makes you look like a jackass.

There you go.

Next topic: First Aid Kits. The Geek with a .45 asked for advice, and Doc came through with flying colors.

I don't have anything to add to Doc's comments, which are far better informed than my own ideas about such things. Like the Geek, I took First Aid and Lifesaving in the Boy Scouts. I took away a different lesson from him: instead of needing a proper first aid kit, my instructor suggested that you could fix most anything that can be cured with one of these and one of these. Splint a limb? Rig a sling? Bind a wound? Make a tourniquet? That's all you need.

My sense is that Doc has the better idea, but I'm not sure I'd know how to use an epi pen -- what is one, anyway? "A disposable drug delivery system," so the page says. Looks like one of those Star Trek injectors. I'm a fighter, not a doctor, dammit!