What Hat Are You Wearing Today ?

[VoodooSan]

FIghting some kind of bad bug here...whatever I had last week has returned with a vengance. Bad headaches, severe chills. Every joint hurt... all the muscles are sore... heck even my hair follicles hurt lol. The plan is to stay bundled up at home , hydrate myself, and whine in private. Hoping its gone soon.

Ill swear this almost feels like malaria... so a tropical shirt and Akubra Lightning Ridge get the call


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My sympathies, Rick. Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[VoodooSan]

Gray Royal Stetson is my going to town hat for today.
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That's a real stunner, Timmy!

 

[Scooterz]

A few from the last week or so.

Fed IV Moonstone

Gannon Steel


Phoenix navy

 

[TimmyV]

Saturday morning stroll to the beach/pier

And inspired by @TimmyV




My Dove Gray Royal Stetson
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Nice !!

 

[carouselvic]

Stetson Select Quality

 

[TimmyV]

A few from the last week or so.
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Fed IV Moonstone
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Gannon Steel

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Phoenix navy

All three are very nice but please tell me more about the Phoenix !

 

[VoodooSan]

A few from the last week or so.
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Fed IV Moonstone
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Gannon Steel

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Phoenix navy

A stand-up triple!!!

 

[Blare]

A few from the last week or so.
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Fed IV Moonstone
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Gannon Steel

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Phoenix navy

Thanks for sharing. Great hats

 

[Blare]

Lee in a *** Prince-ish styling. The moths like this velvety finish felt almost as much as I do. I like this one both brim up and brim down.

 

[Frunobulax]

*******

 

[The Shoe]

A few from the last week or so.
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Fed IV Moonstone
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Gannon Steel

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Phoenix navy

Three beauties, but the Gannon is the standout for me.

 

[Blare]

*******

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Nice *******.

 

[TimmyV]

Lee in a *** Prince-ish styling. The moths like this velvety finish felt almost as much as I do. I like this one both brim up and brim down.

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The whip stitching is different than any I have ever seen... the way it alternates between straight and diagonal !

 

[Mighty44]

Gray Royal Stetson is my going to town hat for today.
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That’s a beauty!

 

[VoodooSan]

*******

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VERY handsome, Jim!

 

[VoodooSan]

Lee in a *** Prince-ish styling. The moths like this velvety finish felt almost as much as I do. I like this one both brim up and brim down.

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Nice one, Joe!

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Today I'm going with the Stetson Twenty-five OR.

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Awesome hat and looks great on you Don. Love the black ribbon!

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Safe travels my friend.

Thank you Timmy!

I'm so sorry to hear your symptoms have returned, Nathan. Praying that's only a momentary glitch in your healing. Safe travels, as always.

Thank you Voo, prayers are most welcome.

Safe travels my friend. Sorry to hear of the symptoms return. Hopefully you can keep them at bay.

Thank you Joe.

Sorry to hear about the return of your symptoms, Nathan. Let’s hope it’s just a temporary setback. Also a shame it’s Tokyo rather than Kansai. I was hoping I might hear some stories of your travels firsthand.
Enjoy your time in Tokyo (though you will never convince us Kansai types that it’s a patch on where we are!).

So I tried to get a ticket in and out of Kensei but it was too expensive for my budget. I also looked to take a trip from Tokyo but again expense and time were deterents. I landed last night and stayed the night in Narita. Today I transfer to Ueno so that takes at least half the day. So I have full days on the 10th and 11th and then fly out on the 12th - basically just enough time to see Ueno.

I hope to catch up with you on another trip - indeed it would be great fun to swap travel stories and hat stories. I have only ever met the combination once before (another traveler who knew hats).

Whoa Nathan. After all your diligence in alternate recovery it’s sad the return of symptoms.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail for months definitely should strengthen you some.
Hats off to your attempt.
Do they get wifi on the Trail?
Look forward to hearing of your journey.
B

Thanks Bowen. I can often get a cell signal on the trail because the AT is not so from civilization. The problem is more about preserving battery life and also the principle of living without technology. On the trail, I usually power my phone up twice a week to take a photo and send messages to family. As for TFL, my trail hat is a Tilley so not great for showing off on the Lounge, but it is perfect for the AT and the backgrounds can be stunning.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

A quick note about my long-COVID symptoms:

Without getting into politics, in September 2024 I finally broke down and tried ivermectin. This is the anti-parasite medicine that many folks have touted as beneficial for COVID/long-COVID but various government entities have poo-pooed as completely non-beneficial. No doctor in the US ever recommended I try it so it remained off my radar until I learned it is over the counter in Thailand (need a prescription most other places and it's completely unavailable in Malaysia and Bali). So, having tried so many other remedies, I thought why the heck not and bought some when I was in Koh Tao last year.

Ivermectin has been a huge game changer for me: it was like someone turned a light switch off on my symptoms. The vertigo is almost completely gone along with most of the mental confusion and communication problems. I'm not completely normal, but almost.

But this last week the fatigue hit again. For about a week, I've been sleeping ten hours a night and waking up feeling unrefreshed and extremely lethargic. I've had to drag myself out of bed and have even nodded off in public. I have no idea what triggered this but I can't drive a truck if these symptoms continue. It could be a reaction to the ivermectin, to a change in temperatures, to the stress of leaving Asia and heading back stateside, etc. I am in love with Asia and have most of my best friends either in Malaysia or Australia, so it's always hard to leave - my fatigue could be emotional.

This long-COVID stuff is a real mystery, but thankfully I am far better today than I was a year ago.

I am grateful to you all for the prayers and well-wishes.

I am in the Fed IV today. Still at the hotel in Narita but heading into Tokyo city in a little while. All the best from Nihon!

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Here's wishing you a recovery from that wretched Covid, and, as you mentioned a trucking job, a tale to make you smile.

Back in the dim and distant past, when I was a penniless student, I subsidised my meagre income by taking, and passing the UK's truck driving test. That licence gave me the opportunity to work at weekends and continue my studies throughout the week.

Fast forward a lifetime and I still have that licence even though my career has been in management, all I had to do to keep it was to pass the medical examination periodically.

A local trucking and distribution company heard of my experience, the wife of their general manager and my wife are good friends. Hearing of my retirement, I was approached: "Would I be interested in running their trucks to and from the service centre about ten miles away.?" Would I? I'll say so. I get to play truck drivers and get some decent pocket money for doing so.

This morning I was taken to the truck centre to collect a brand new vehicle, not wishing to turn up in trucking overalls or in any way that might give away the fact that I am the driver, I cleared it with the manager to turn up in a suit. He loved the idea. Unbeknown to me there was a photo shoot. Suddenly the truck was no longer the centre of attention. For the life of me, I can't think why.

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Maybe it's The Stetson Sovereign, although Simon Cathcart's shoes got photographed quite a bit.
Or maybe it's the cane, truck drivers and hip replacements, and all that.
Tina, my wife, looked at the photo: "It's your Stetson Sovereign," she opined, adding: "Truck drivers wear a cap, back to front." Well there you go, the lady is not wrong.

I am generally a well-dressed trucker, but you definitely have me beat!

Here are some of my fashions from the road while trucking. I'd actually love to try a suit of some kind, the problem is being able to clean it.