135 Comments

I suspect the vast majority of readers of this substack have time for your writing because we feel that the majority of “competing” content has become (or rather become less secretive about being) a shill for automakers, or even worse, a shill for the current “public enemy #1” of cars and car people - the democratic party.

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I used to read 4-5+ sites, now I just look at pictures of cats and read ACF. So if Jack and his handpicked contributors can put out 4-5 sites worth of content that would be great.

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My barn has three kittens that somehow made their way in, so pretty soon we'll be able to serve ALL your needs here.

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If you had a clone of facebook marketplace then I'd really never need to go anywhere else. Only problem would be that I bet most of the other guys around here have stuff that's way too nice for me to afford.

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ACF Marketplace! Can't do any less traffic than RADforsale!

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Do you know what happened with RADforsale? It seemed like the DWA crew had a decent sized following and could have kept that site going for longer than they did. I assume it is dead now since there have been no new listings since January of this year.

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They're too busy counting their cash. Not only did Hagerty pay a reported 2.3 million for Radwood (I can't say for sure, I was removed from those discussions when I repeatedly criticized the mere idea of it) I've been told they just bought the DWA podcast for serious money.

The RADforsale platform itself was apparently mostly ignored by potential sellers because it overlapped with BaT and Cars and Bids, both of which serve exactly the same audience with more credibility.

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Speaking for myself, I make the time because I enjoy Jack's writing. But yeah, you're absolutely correct about the competition, especially Road Car Trend and their EV fetish.

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I was at a bookstore the other day and skimmed the current C/D on the newsstand. The whole issue was a special EV extravaganza - and down to about 75 pages, including ads. There's probably more raw content on Avoidable Contact over the course of a month.

I've noticed that grocery stores like Kroger don't even bother carrying car magazines on their dwindling newsstands anymore.

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I didn't think that Kroger, at least in their Hy-Vee and Fred Meyer incarnations, had any reading material available anymore other than the backs of cereal boxes....

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What this man says is the truth.

I just... don't read anything else that doesn't come from a book, outside of stuff directly related to my job; with Gray Mirror as the only noteworthy exception, now and then, when I have the patience for it.

I only read authors that I can trust and/or verify.

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it actually didn't occur to me that jack's writing was especially lengthy until he mentioned it.

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Every time I hear you talk about “only” owning so many $600 shirts or other such nonsense I have to fight competing waves of anger and jealousy, as I fight to reconcile my own six figure salary with my seeming inability to get through a single back-to-school season without using credit to buy my kids (who simply refuse to stop growing) a basic assortment of Thai and Vietnamese threads to wear to school for another season.

But hey, at least you’ve given me something to, uh, aspire to.

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Maybe you won't die in a ditch flat broke like I'm going to!

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At my age, I'm starting to feel like my life will serve as a cautionary tale.

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Buddy, you and I are in a similar boat only mine are much younger! Feels like they're in new clothes every f---ing week.

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Yeah we have four, from age 15 to 6. They’re all growing like weeds!

At least the older ones can generally pass clothes down to a younger sibling.

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Having four children is a wealth infinitely greater than having bespoke shirts. If my first wife's health had permitted it, I would be wearing Brooks Brothers as I bullied my four sons through a Jackson 5 style music-misery childhood!

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We're at 2 and, God willing, will see a third and then whatever happens, happens.

I will say, my wife is coming around to the minivan idea I floated to her before the firstborn arrived on scene. Ho-ho-ho.

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The only way to convert is to drive one yourself or have her drive one where she has to load and unload things. Any sensible person appreciates the ability to open doors and have room to do things.

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I had her test drive minivans and haul out the child seat when she was pregnant. She was still off them, unbelievable I tell you!

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The way I see it, I'm making really good money - for 1992.

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If this is any consolation: I'm trying to find some freelance tech work to keep the lights on while I look for a permanent gig. In 1999 I could easily get $50 an hour. Today that same work pays $60 an hour, if I'm lucky -- and it's infinitely more miserable, degrading, dehumanizing, and "optimized".

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The problem with tech in a nutshell is experience isn't valued. Why pay you what you're worth, when they can pay somebody who wasn't alive in 1999 $40k a year?

That's long been the case for anything involving software development or IT, which sucks since everything in tech increasingly revolves around software and IT. Conversely, the more traditional electrical/mechanical engineering job opportunities are much harder to come by for fresh grads - it's all increasingly niche (or outsourced) and the old timers in those fields guard those jobs closely.

The only work around I've found is to get yourself into a field that runs on nepotism and cronyism. Like defense contracting. I've seen plenty of decrepit, incompetent Boomer programmers pull six figure salaries in that industry well past their expiration date, solely because they were somebody's buddy. But that's a whole different kind of misery.

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THAT'S why software sucks? Inexperience on the part of the developers?

I assumed it was because programmers are deeply dysfunctional people who equate complexity with capability and view the learning curve necessary to master that complexity as fun.

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That was true from 1955 to 2005. Today software is a cut-and-paste product of normies from low-wage countries who treat it with all the passion and interest I used to show while cleaning the dumpster at Rax.

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My problem is that ever since I was 16, I've been stuck in an abusive relationship with the CONCEPT of employment.

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From the Car Talk guys.

Ray: My brother has always said, “Don’t be afraid of work.”

Tom: Right. Make work afraid of YOU!

Ray: And he’s done such a good job at it, that work has avoided him all his life.

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The more I hear about your hosts at Substack, the more I respect them. They are demonstrating a commitment to free speech. They also seem to be thus far resistant to acquisition.

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As someone who tends to get lost in the comments section, it’ll be interesting to hear others’ takes on my insipid opinions. Hopefully it gets more to join up. More money, more racecars, more problems, more stories. I’m all in.

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Well shucks, looks like non paying haters don’t get to see me talk shit about certain grotesque so called automotive journalists. Or pretty much everything else that exists that I hate.

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They can still read me doing it, though.

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Will there be a Playa Hater's Ball at some point??

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"...if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go home and put some water in Buc Nasty's momma's dish. Good evening."

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Silly jc. You know Playa Haters don’t have Balls.

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In my more cringeworthy moments, usually after getting over-involved in fiction, I daydream about publicly challenging all my detractors, anon and otherwise, to trial by combat, they can pick the weapons from Space Invaders to Russian Roulette with three chambers loaded. But then I remember how they all got together and begged the PR people not to let me come to press events because they didn't feel safe. If you're scared of a 50 year old cripple you aren't going to accept any challenges of any sort.

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It's a reference to an old Dave Chapelle show episode lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIwj1TQmFs

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Which in turn is a reference to a real thing!

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Best Chappelle show skit ever

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Either that or Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood stories.

"Would you fellas like some grapes?."

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I am sure the Substack reps have developed a best practice model, however, I question whether it is at all applicable to a creative product. In the old days of blogs there was the publishing schedule advice. Print magazines had supposed marketing experts advise which color would sell more issues. I can't imagine it wise to tell a jazz musician to keep a track under 3:30 because that is what popular music on the radio plays for. The 55/45 stat says everything about what needs to change of the output, which is nothing.

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I suspect you're right. They showed me a lot of other successful Substacks with 50,000 readers and whatnot but most of them were aimed at women or young people who are looking for advice, tips, whatnot.

Most of my readers are more successful than I am, many of them know a lot more than I do. At best I serve as a way to focus their own thoughts, as was the case for you and the outstanding things you wrote as a Riverside Green reader.

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I found this entry from Ted Gioia fascinating. He’s publishing his next book on Substack.

https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/10-reasons-why-im-publishing-my-next?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

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It truly is, although this idea that you can make $100k a year with 901 subscribers doesn't quite work in real math.

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really liked the piece about the compressor. that kind of engineering fascinates me. a silver lining of the long emergency / great unwinding may prove to be that the gumption (is that the word?) of early generations to make more from less may return to our world. also, at the risk of sounding misogynist (as in, "wow, a girl turning a wrench!"), i genuinely appreciate a woman's perspective on engineering topics plus now i know what a balayage bob is...

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Grace is a once-in-a-generation talent. My intention was to promote her to my job before she turned 35, so the department could have a young leader who was also a writer first and foremost. I don't suffer from the typical Boomer/Xer "HURR DURR I WANT TO PROMOTE WOMEN SO I'M THE LAST WHITE MAN IN THE JOB" -- had she been born a man I'd be of the same opinion. Maybe more so, I can't help being a caveman.

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I've always admired her writing, but since automotive journalism is dead, and Hagerty is such a niche site, where does someone with her talents go to have a successful career? I do not mean to pigeon-hole her as just an automotive writer, since I'd bet she could write well about any subject that interested her.

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I'm working on an opportunity for me, and her, as we speak. Who knows if it will work out...

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She's also a very good editor and more often than not she improves my work. Writers are supposed to complain about editors but I can't really complain about most of her edits other than the time I referenced the Beatles' and Rolling Stones' 1964 appearances on the Ed Sullivan variety show and she made it into a talk show on NBC. Her parents were probably not even alive then, so I'll attribute it to her youth.

Her piece on driving a 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL was outstanding.

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RG and AC did spend too much time discussing car Twitter folks that few of us care to read about. This has been better. It’s tough to avoid with posts like this: https://www.evpulse.com/opinions/alternating-currents-im-done-with-ice

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Fat Brad has all the emotional vulnerability and volatility of a 15-year-old girl, minus any of the reasons you'd put up with it.

He has never completed a project, never written anything worth remembering, never won or even entered any sort of competition, never gotten a job for which he wasn't the lowest bidder (including the current one) and never accomplished anything other than helping some West Coast scumbag reproduce a local church car show in Northeast Ohio using a copied logo and some cringetopia marketing. He is the polar opposite of "making your moves in silence". He pretended to be some kind of socialist Hero Of The People right up to the moment he fell backwards into someone else's money, at which point he cheerfully and immediately transitioned into a Cleveland slum lord.

Finally, he has publicly stated that he can and will physically attack me the next time he sees me, despite the fact that he's never attacked anything in his life besides a can of Crisco.

It is my curse in life to have every one of my self-proclaimed enemies be a complete and total pussy. A few years ago at Laguna Seca I thought I was finally going to have a chance to scrap it out with some real bad dudes from Jersey but to my chagrin we ended up becoming friends before we could actually get the fistfight done. Oh well.

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I don't think you need to worry so much about spamming our inboxes - Substack has an option in the settings to turn those notifications off if it's truly bothersome to someone.

I'd much rather get an extra email about an article by some random guest author as opposed to the usual marketing crap. Spectrum alone sends me two emails a day trying to get me to upgrade. And I'm sure anything published here will be more appealing to me than the movies Netflix thinks I'd like.

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More "Sherman McCoy" content, s'il vous plait.

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Anything special to get to the website? I just read the emails, didn’t realize there was a site

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You're on it now! Just click the "Avoidable Contact Forever" on top of the page to get the main page.

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I eagerly await the next update on your Radicals. And all your latest exploits!

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Sir, I'll be YOUR competitor at NCM, in the Super Unlimited class! Just let me know whom I need to block so you can take the championship.

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I do so hope that you can get another moonbat commie liberal progress wingnut to write again about how fantastic the plan is going. Bonus points if they are part of academia….More importantly how everyone that disagrees with their worldview is a lover of tiny mustached man. Or even how we are holding back the ascension of the country into Utopia despite really turning into a lawless 2 tier criminal Justice hologram memory of a country that once existed.

Lastly, how wonderful cities are to live in with their rivers of fecal matter, piles of trash, rampant homeless, accepted corruption, grifting, propaganda, violent crime and now poisonous water that is largely due to white supremacy (somehow)…. Or how Memphis was not an anti-white murder spree last week….

Just for the interactions in the comments.

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I doubt we will see David Sanborn any time soon; like most unrecognized Super Geniuses, he is locked in a deadly battle against the idiots in his own family who refuse to pay him the proper deference due to someone who can cut and paste a CNN opinion column link.

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I look forward to seeing the Radical in person, no matter how handsome it looks, not to mention the coaching.

I’m a seldom commenter but I try to read every comment on every story. Thank you Jack for posting compelling articles that foster such in-depth discussions and I greatly appreciate the thoughtful responses of my fellow readers. I suspect the guest posts will be no different. I also have no problem receiving notifications via email for when these are published.

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We are just ten days out now!

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I'm still looking forward to your fiction. I'll pay for that, too!

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Yes please.

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Let me write something you can read for free and we'll see if anybody wants to pay to continue :)

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So I had the opportunity to buy a T&A tie (probably just a branding exercise) while in London about 20 years ago which was damaged during a ruckus in a deposition recently. Never get within arms reach of a pompous associate trying to bill who is wielding a fountain pen. The hearings after that were interesting. Took the high road but did earmark some money after the verdict to buy my first few shirts and a suit once I get the opportunity to make it back. Looking at having the tie “restored” for sentimental reasons.

Let me know of you have ever had shoes made. I have considered but the Allen Edmonds work well, are American made, have been resolved several times and fit my size 15 hooves.

I think I should send a photo to the fine gentleman not to rub it in but to thank him for providing the means to upgrade my wardrobe. Will probably wait until the tie is restored to inform his lasting impression was not indelible.

If you find good writers that interest you then that will be more than enough for us. We are simple folk ya know.

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I once lost a Ferragamo tie to a similar injury.

Nearly 10 years ago, I was a junior cog in the sizable investment banking division of a very large commercial bank. I happened to find myself alone in the elevator with a man destined for corporate greatness (he is now one level below the C suite of the entire edifice). I had a little bit of familiarity with him, because I had begun my career working for an old nemesis of his; he had prevailed in a power struggle over my first boss, and I shared his sentiments about my former master’s abilities. He dropped by on my first day to regale me with stories of their shared history.

Years later, we entered the elevator together and rode up to my floor; he was - naturally - headed for the uppermost of our firm’s floors. We both noticed at the same time that we happened to be wearing the same tie - a fetching slate blue Ferragamo number with dove gray seahorses in a repeating pattern. I said “nice tie,” to which he responded quickly: “Do not ever wear that fucking tie again.” Noted.

Upon returning to my desk, I removed the tie and placed it on the back of my cubicle, just as a temporarily absent-minded peer who sat behind me was struggling with an ink pen (she favored purple ink, but probably not in emulation of Enzo). She somehow purpurated that tie, ruining it. She felt so badly about it that she offered to replace it. I am so complaisant that I assented, although I suggested selecting a different pattern. She salvaged the ruined tie into a headband.

As for your hunt for footwear: I have always preferred Alden to the comparable Allen Edmonds option. I have a good friend who once worked for the PE firm that, ahem, harvested value from the once-venerable Wisconsin brand. I also like Carmina, a Spanish shoemaker that makes better Gucci loafers than does Gucci (at ~40% of the price, as well). I cannot vouch for size 15 selections at either, however.

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“Do not ever wear that fucking tie again.”

Hate that whole tough guy dick measuring contest thing. It's especially common with the former SEC frat boy types that are the bosses for a lot of our customers. I'm trying to do better at dealing with it in a way that doesn't feel like me being a loser and doesn't get me fired. I don't deal with the bosses much but it's enough to be annoying.

The only time I've handled it well was when I was an intern and I went drinking with some of the electricians at my old job. They didn't believe I used to wrestle so I wrestled 2 of them and went 1-1 and handled myself reasonably well. In their minds I went from "pussy engineer" to "slightly less of a puss but still doesn't know anything". I may have misinterpreted it but it seemed to help my working relationship with those guys.

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From his point of view it was probably above my station as an analyst (someone making ~$150K / year in his early 20s) to wear a ~$200 tie. He went to a top liberal arts college and then HBS before returning home to Atlanta after spending a few years at a bulge bracket in NYC.

At the same time I had TWO Porsche 911s (993 Carrera, 997 GT3), and I had to leave one of them at work at all times because I only had one parking spot at my apartment. Analysts usually arrive at work relatively late (9 to 9:30 would be early, 9:30 to 10:00 would be acceptable most days) because they work well past midnight on most weeknights (I worked all night dozens of times over my years as a grunt). Because of this tendency toward late arrival, we would have to go all the way to the top of the parking deck to find a spot. I would just park whichever of my 911s I happened to be driving in visitor parking up front, confident that the building would not tow a Porsche 911 from visitor parking (I would later move my car to another spot, usually around lunch).

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On the one hand, I'd be hesitant to wear flashy menswear, much less flaunt my Porsche around a place like that as a nobody. Hell, I ended up on the permanent shit list at my first job because some retired light colonel got mad that I addressed him by his Christian name when saying hello to him in the hallways.

On the other hand, fuck that guy. I couldn't stand to work in an environment where I have to burn the midnight oil and still worry about what my necktie says about me.

Of course, my MBA isn't prestigious enough to get me in the door of a place like that to begin with.

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This was an investment bank, so most junior employees dressed like I was on that day. In my group alone there was another analyst with a 911, and a senior guy with a dozen Porsches who races at the Monterey Historics annually. It was par for the course, but the BSD wanted to gate keep.

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People get really weird about the whole "pecking order" thing. I would have thought that the banking world cares more about how you can make them money than who's ego is stroked.

I'm glad is more of a "show up, fix this, go home" type deal. Seems like I side step a lot of that stuff by moving around a lot.

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What gets me is that there's no such thing as professionalism. It's a myth. And the way you can tell is the sheer number of supposedly educated men who'll throw tantrums and swear like truckers to get what they want from their subordinates.

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It exists, but it's endangered because it isn't effective in the corporate environment. Squeaky wheels are greased. Bullies are promoted. The reward for quiet competence is the chance to do the work you did last year, plus twenty percent, for no raise.

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It seems like a dude can be as much of a dickhead as your work product lets him be. I'm still new at my job so it behooves me to sit down and shut up, but the guy who can fix anything can do what he wants.

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I will second the nomination for Carmina.

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It is amazing how I like some people are. Appreciate the point out to Carmina. My feet may be too big, but but my son saw them and he is in luck and can fit so that is a win!

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I've done two dozen custom A-E orders, but that was before private equity soaked the company to the bones.

My last 4 pairs of shoes were three sets of Edward Green and one set of Alden cordovan.

If you need to match an old tie, I have some contacts who might be of service at T&A.

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