Stitch fix: zero. Shu-fix: one

The DIY didn’t go as planned with the stitches.

DIY tools

Turned out they were tight and tiny and in a running line so my friend couldn’t do it yesterday.  She said I should probably lie down when they come out. I couldn’t lie down on the kitchen floor, and anyway, it was more of a production than I thought. I usually only ask her if it’s a small job. If it’s more, then I go to the doctor. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t mention anything about the stitches at the Mohs center when they sent me out with the tweezers and scissors. The doctor at my local internist's isn't available, so I will see the nurse practitioner. I hope she don’t kick the can down the road, because the next place it would land would be…

Shu-Fix, 113 Hawley St., Northampton

…the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I will be there tomorrow for the light therapy on my blood. I’ll have a nurse for the three hours that I’m there. At the internist’s office, the secretary said she thought one of the nurses where I was going would probably do it. I thought probably not because they’re doing other things when I’m there at the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center. Also not their job. In any case I asked, and the answer was no.

Good-as-new clog

Today I picked up three pairs of shoes that I had dropped off at Shu-Fix, in Northampton. Many years ago, back at the paper, I wrote a story about how shoe repair shops still existed despite the throwaway culture. There were still some, not that many. Now of course there are fewer still. I had tried cleaning two of the pairs up but hadn’t done a good job. The other pair – black clogs that I wear around the house – I thought were beyond hope. But I brought them in anyway. They turned out to look like a new pair of shoes. I thought they were grayish but really they were just dirty!

The twenty-five dollars for all three was well spent. The smile it gave me counteracted the annoyance generated by the stitch problem.

This interesting story about Northampton's "sole man" explains how he learned his trade in Portugal and why he is a local fixture. I would actually call him a treasure.