Gasoline, Schmasholine

Everyone is complaining about high fuel costs, but my tale of inflation is worse. Oh so much worse!

I had to pick up this scant amount of art supplies, and it cost $36 friggin’ dollars!

From now on I am doing pet portraits with finger paints. The Bitey Dogs will have to go naked and be black and white. Sheesh, talk about highway robbery…

I can’t speak for Illustrated Me, but Real Me likes going nekkid.

The Closet (The Coat)

I had though that the season change was off to an auspicious start when I was able to repair a purse for under $0.50.  Surely this was a sign of good things to come!  Not.

A quick perusal of other Winter gear showed a coat with definite cold spots.  OK, it is at least 12 or 13 years old.  Surely I could at least think about possibly finding a new one?  Maybe one with a hood?

Thinking is about as far as you can go these days about new things.  With all of the talk I hear about the flourishing economy and American-made pride, I thought I would be overwhelmed with great choices.  Choices yes, but certainly not great ones.

Anyone who lives up north knows the value of a warm coat.  Sadly now I do too.  It is approximately a mortgage payment.  I had always been lucky enough to find something at an outlet store, but there don’t seem to be any around here anymore.

A check online showed that not only are coats super expensive, but for some reason every manufacturer has decided that current coats must a) be very form-fitting and b) have a zippered turtleneck.  Models demonstrate the coats’ attributes while wearing stilettos and nothing else.  Really?  Are we supposed to be wearing our down coats over cocktail dresses?  What happened to dressing in layers?  How are you supposed to fit a wool sweater under one of those?  I find this level of stupidity very frustrating.

And then there’s zippered turtlenecks.  That is all you can find.  I loathe zippered turtlenecks.  They catch on your hair.  They catch on your earrings.  They constantly poke you in the face.  Seriously?  No one could think to buck the trend and place a zipper to the collar bone then a snap-closed insulated collar?  Even if I could afford a coat I would either have to hate it as-is or commit surgery and void its warranty.

So, my unfortunate puppies are closet orphans for another week as I try to once again fix what I have.  Toby enjoys going through my fabric bin with me and pulling out different insulators trying to find something to help.  If I can’t find anything, maybe I’ll just stuff him in there.  After all, my boys are always bragging about how warm their fur is.

Cairn terrier pup standing in snow.

My fur is warm.  N’yah, n’yah, n’yah!

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Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Poopiter!

  Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

Available at Amazon.  Makes a great holiday gift!