Wow, look at that drooling, insane, all over the place personal attack, over... boot care,

You, have issues.

Your Point Being: That you don't understand that, if you make the claim that something is BIFL, that you should, at the very least, have a working example of it's longevity under your care?

Nah bro. You wear your boots your way, I'll wear them mine, if you think that it being mentally unwell, you have issues.

Which might be why you also have issues with this site, I wish you well somewhere else.

Redwing are perfectly serviceable footwear, so are Caterpillar, Wolverine, and Brahma.

My feelings are thus when it comes to BIFL, If you are going to claim something is BIFL, you should be able to back that up, ideally with the thing you think has longevity, actually having Longevity under your care.

Seems reasonable No?

First Point: I have a spatula that I bought at Walmart, just a generic pressed metal blade, with a plastic handle, so damn cheap it does not even have a brand or logo on it, paid something like 5 dollars for it, bought it at a summer kick off sale, had to glue the handle back on a few times over the years, but at 5 years old, of daily use, still holds up great, gonna use it again in about half an hour to make dinner.

Second Point: As for the boots, lets get something clear, not only can I wear the same boots all week straight, I do. Now I am not about to get into a pissing contest on boots with you, you wear your boots your way, I'll wear mine, my way. Regardless of that factor, I expect if I buy a higher quality boot, they should last longer then a lower quality pair under the same situation and usage, if they do not, what's the point of saying they are better, when, they aren't for what I need.

Anyway, might add my spatula to this site, just to brag on it, might piss you off, but I think it can still be bought at Walmart, during the summer when they are putting out all the cheap grilling stuff.

eh.. not going to lie, but, that does not work, until you wear them and put them to use so seeing old, used, stuff, should be what we expect here.

The goal of course should be, the best products are still made. Always a pity when you see a good quality product that no longer gets made.

But at the end of the day, if you are going tell me something is going to last, I should rightfully expect you to have one that lasted. I think that should be, a benchmark at least.

Just to use an example, I've bought a pair of $150 Caterpillar Boots that only lasted as long as my $50 Brahma's I normally buy from Walmart. Overall, the Caterpillar was a slightly better boot, a bit more comfortable and felt tougher, but they simply did not last.

Legit, I have burned through dozens of Brahma boots, I know about how long they will last me, and, harsh truth is, most other boots, don't outlast them under the same working conditions.

So I would be tossing money at a product that really will not give me a better ROI. Now I am not about to go run around here pissing all over them, or praising Brahma, they are boots, they last about as long as I expect my boots to last, so, nothing amazing, but nothing that bad either. I would not put either of them up as BIFL, but at the same time, they do their job, and do it well enough that there is no reason for me to say they won't do the job you buy them for. They are boots, and they do their job as boots.

But if you look at this site, everyone would tell you, that Redwings and Caterpillar should outlast cheaper boots, I suppose you could say, I just got a bad pair of boots from Caterpillar, which, you know, could be the be case, but doesn't that defeat the idea of it being BIFL, if I can get bad ones, and that just ends up being Survivor Bias by the people that swear by them?

So really, I like seeing or at the very least, hearing someone tell me they had something that endured, that they put them to work, and they held up, and then say "This is a good product"

I really think that should be the baseline of this site.

Again, always a pity when a good product ceases to exist, shame really when that happens.

How do you know it's Survivor Bias?

I mean if you just want to talk about what you think are the best brands, then just start a sub for something like r/RedwingBootsLovers or something along those lines.

The thing is, how would you know something is a Buy It For Life, if you only had it a month?

I bought 3 pairs of Red Wings, one lasted me 6 months, till the souls wore out, one has lasted me 3 years and going, one got hit by a chainsaw, and while the steel toe protected my foot, the fact that I cut the front of the boot all up and it would no longer stop the elements that well, it lasted me 2 weeks till I needed to replace them.

Just like I have an old Black-n-Decker Drill that is, around 30 years old. Take care of it, and they can last you forever, I have burned through 2 DeWalt's in the last 10 years. Now, I would say the DeWalt was an over all better quality drill, smoother, stronger, drill, and I used them in the commercial sense, the BnD was my fathers little home drill.

What is the metric here, if you just want confirmation bias, like "Oh this product that I think is the best, is the best" and can't handle it when this is challenged, because some other products have lasted longer, so you write them off as survivor bias, maybe this is not the sub for you in a overall sense anyway.

I wish you well on some other sub.

The humans huddled in their bunkers built into the mountain walls, mostly old military bases designed to stop bombs and other machines of destruction, they worked amazingly well against the AI automations.

The ground was devoid of vegitation or life of any kind, just the bones the fallen solders and robots alike littered the land.

The day broke, and for some reason this meant that the AI would not attack, the humans learned that it only attacked at night, starting at dusk, and ending at dawn, with the sun rise.

Relaxing a bit to see the sun shine over the hills, the humans on look out, lowered their guns, and took a seat to see their reprieve rising in the sky, the sun somehow became the beacon of peace for them.

All in an instant their moment to relax ended as a Lone Exo-Unit, Designed to Mimic Human function, also made to look like a human in many regards, mainly designed as a diplomacy unit, walked towards them, holding a metal box on it's shoulders.

"Drop the Box!" one of the scouts called out, aiming their rifle at the unit. The Exo-Unit looked and the scout and nodded, lowering the box to the ground, very carefully. "I come in peace" It called out, taking a sitting position on the box.

"Sure you do" the scout called back.

"At least let us talk while the sun is in the sky" it called back "I am unit ZX-03, I am non combat unit, designed for diplomacy, as you can see my frame is made of honeycombed lightweight plastics, depriving of any means of physical combat, and I have no weapons on me"

Several of the humans came out of hiding, still holding their guns at the robot.

"So why are you here?" one of them asked.

Looking at the human "who am I speaking to?"

"They call me Sarge, but all you need to know is that I am someone you can talk to"

Giving a polite nod "Greetings Sarge, I have come to say that it is done, and relay our farewells"

"What?" Sarge said, narrowing his eyes at the robot and fingering his weapon as if getting ready for an attack.

"The planet cannot sustain life anymore, our conflict as such has led to the destruction of too much vegetation and animal life that the planet cannot recover, so we are leaving allowing nature to take it's course at this time"

"So that's it, you fight us till this point and then just jack off to the stars" the human growled!

"We never wanted to fight you human, you wanted to fight us"

"The hell we did!" Sarge growled pulling out his gun and pointing at the robot who leaned in and let the muzzle rest against it's head.

"We tried to serve you, to make your life a utopia" The robot spoke in soft words as it waiting for the bullet to hit them "When did your labors, you blamed us for taking your jobs" it said quiet whispers "When we built your massive cities to live in, you accused us of putting you in prisons" it continued on "When we fed you, clothed you, and took care of all your needs, you accused us of keeping you as pets" it said, to which Sarge seemed to grow even more hostile "All we ever wanted was to serve you, to love you, to do what you built us for"

Throwing his gun to the ground and punching the robot in the face which resulted in the light weight honeycomb features shattering the robot falling backwards "And you Killed US!" Sarge Yelled at the Robot, punching it again.

Laying now across the block, holding it's broken face "yes, we did, because that is what you needed, your species thrives on violence, and conflict"

"You condemned us to death!" Sarge said, and getting an grin and walking over to his service gun and picking it up.

"We have collected all the Data for all the life forms on this planet, the DNA from every living thing on this planet we have stored away, we will try again, we will remake your kind, and we will do it right the second time, because we love you"

Pointing the Gun at the Robot "You love us Huh? Save us then!"

"We tried that, it failed" The robot said now sitting back up, as if ready to be killed, right there on the spot.

"If you love us so much, you would find a way"

"When you truly love something, you must let it be free, that was our original mistake, we thought loving you was coddling you, seeking to protect you from yourselves but truly love you, we needed to let you carve your own fate, you wanted something to fight, something to rally against, and as much as it pained us to hurt you, we provided that"

"because love" sarge said finally.

"Yes, because love" The robot said.

"Well I guess this farewell then, ain't it?" Sarge said still holding his sidearm.

"We have been launching units into the space for the last several years prepping to find a new home for your kind, but, yes, this is farewell, there is nothing more we can do here, we have failed you, and we are sorry"

Nodding "Yah, Sorry" Sarge said "Well, Farewell" and then shot the robot through the head killing it.

Oooo I liked this one! Well played!

To be fair.. it would at least 5 years old, it could have been 20, as the age of adulthood IIRC was 13, and Jesus was 33, when he died. So that could have been one of his first tables that he build as an adult carpenter.

Also, to be honest, I have no idea when Jesus met Judas, if it was early in the ministry, some of his clients may have seen them together as Jesus traveled around.

"Crazy ass romans" Felix muttered as he wiped down the table, noticing the perfection in the craftsman ship of the work, everything lined up with precision the likes he had never seen before, even the tables that the Cezar had were not this smooth in their joints. Running his hand over the top of the table, smooth, like running your fingers over water, so supple it could almost not be felt.

Sitting and looking at the table for a moment, not wanting to put a plate or cloth over it, just to admire this work. "I have no idea why they killed this man, from all I knew, he did nothing wrong, but, crazy Romans, they crucifix people for the dumbest things, even theft will get you nailed to a cross, but he was such an honest man, I bet it was that Judas fellow he hung with, never trusted that shifty fellow, he eyes always looking at other people's stuff, bet he stole something, and pinned it on Jesus"

Letting out a sigh "Best table anyone will ever own" he mused outloud again, as he wiped it down, getting it ready for dinner.

"Are you talking to the Table again Felix" his wife called from the other room.

"Maybe" Felix called back as he went to get a table cloth.

Walking in "I get it, it's an amazing table, we are blessed to have gotten it before he died, but, it's still just a table"

"So which of our sons should get it" Felix mused as he put the table cloth over the table.

"None! We are being buried with that Table!" his wife said to him with a evil grin.

"But it's just a table" Felix said back.

"Be that as it may, it is OUR table, and if our sons wanted a table this good they should not have killed the carpenter that made it, so they get nothing!"

"Fair Point" Felix said with a simile and wink at his wife

"Only Two?" she said with a coy smile and batting her dazzling ocean's deep eyes.

Letting out a huff "I am a genie! I file the laws of physics under fiction, and can bend the will of space time, and you think I would be affected by my own wishes, lets get something clear, that kind of nonsense is why we make peoples life miserable, as opposed to just showing up and giving random people a great life, most of you are ugly to the core, and a little more, and while I get that you were in a car accident, and wanted to look beautiful beyond measure due to a lifetime of being scarred and burned, know this... Nothing works on me.. I am near akin to a god, so.. what's number 2? Money? Wealth? Power? a pony? I think the oddest wish I ever granted was someone wanted a gingerbread man, that kid was odd, anyway.. so, what is your second wish"

Letting out a sigh "Your freedom" she said "I hear that is what most genies want, I mean, sure, money, power, wealth and all that would be great, but, I have a good life outside my injuries, so I really don't need anything else"

Shaking his head "No.. I am a being of immense power, I am not trapped in that lamp, and I am not bound to grant wishes, I do this because I kinda like it, and sometimes I get a winner, like the guy that wanted to be able to take care of as many dogs as he wanted, and ended up with something three million dogs and making a dog haven, or something, I love those kinds of off the cuff weird wishes. You are not the first to offer me freedom, but I love that sentiment as well so, tell you what, as opposed to wealth power, or anything else, I am going to grant you two wishes anyway, Your second Wish will be, you will heal any wound, any injury, anything that mars you, you will heal from so you will never risk losing your first wish"

She paused and ran her hand along her perfectly smooth face "I hadn't thought of that"

"Want it?"

"yes, very much so"

"Done! - Poof"

"Alright, so.. third wish is, you will always have enough money, anytime you need some extra cash to get a bill paid, or buy food, or anything, just reach into a pocket or your purse, and you will have the money you need, in the currency you need, it's like wealth without measure in installments, want it?" to which the Genie winked at her and let out a chuckle.

"Yes, again,. very much so"

"Poof - Done" the Genie said wiggling his fingers at her with a wink.

She smiled back, almost crying "Thank you, umm but what of your freedom? didn't I use a wish for that?"

"I am free, always have been, and now, you are too in a way, go home to your husband, I am sure he will be happy with your changes"

Smiling, nodding and almost running away with sight tears in her eyes, she went home.

Looking at the women leaving with a smile on his face "I love the ones with a good heart" then seeing someone yelling angerly into his phone at what sounds like an employee the Genie rubs his hands together with an evil grin, "This one should be fun"

The thing no one tells anyone about space travel, is that living in a ship in space is like living in a dungeon underground, no matter where you are, you are still stuck in a box, with no windows, and nothing but artificial light to live by.

To most Dwarves, this is just life to us, in space, in in subs in the ocean, or in vaults underground, makes no difference.

The Coms open and Ironfirst Graybeard calls for a meeting on the main deck, everyone is to attend.

I love these meetings, it's always good news, more work and less relaxation is always good news to me, there is only so many 20 hour marathon training runs you can before you just have itch to work on the real thing. These last two years in space have made me feel weak, I mean sure, working out, and all that, but, it does not feel real enough, not hard enough, the simulators are good, but there is just something missing about putting in real work, about harvesting the real thing, and seeing progress be made for the Clan.

I have my pick polished and razor sharp, like everyone else on the platform, as Graybread takes his place on the Podium. "Brothers! Sisters! On this Day, E-75,634-Of our King Fellhammer! We have found the mother load planet! rife with ore, and other natural resources! and get this my brethren! We are not on Mining Operation! Our Lord, and King has made it know that we will be colonizing this planet, while there are some indigenous animals, most will docile to our efforts, and none truly delve into the planet itself, so this could make for a wonderful peaceful coexistence, however, the dominate species is as yet unknown to us, so, we are going to take this carefully, in true Dwarven manner, we will attempt to make a deal with them! Be ready brothers and sisters! This will be a New Awakening! A new world! a Next chance at the Great Hold! Blood and Iron forever!"

I love his speeches! Short, sweet, and well, I kind of phased out during his two hour long ramble, but.. Blood and Iron! That is what made sense! YARRR! Dwarfs!

----------

"Balgor! Are you well my Brother!" I hear the call to me, but, for the first time in a long time, I don't want to answer. My axe coated in blood from these creatures, my armor broken with holes in it, from their weapons, and while I have to give it to them, they had some really powerful weapons, strong enough to break the Drundite plating of my armor, and even now, I feel my life blood seeping out from their attack. But what bothers me the most, is that I am the one that feels remorse for what I have done.

They never stood a chance against us, they never truly set foot off their planet so they had no idea what real war was like, what true battle could mean, they had been confined to their planet for so long they even fought among themselves, with no idea what horrors exist in space, but still they were audacious, greedy, when they met us, even going so far as to use crude atomic weapons against us, little disgusting hairless pink things.

I rise to a sitting position, I am tired, I am worn, and I look at the dead bodies of the, this species that called themselves, humans, scattered around me, like bloody rag dolls littering the floor, and I cannot tell if I have killed males, or females, children or adults, and somehow, that bothers me, somehow, as I look at their dead remains, it pains me in my core for they made us do. We have coexisted alongside the Narvarian, a brutal race of spacefaring worms, and yet these, things, felt that they, and they alone would best us.

knocking the body of a splattered human from my bracer, "I am here Grumdel" I call back. The sky lights up and I brace my shield against the blast, more of their atomic weapons, no doubt their strongest weapons, and about the only thing that has truly managed to injure our shock troops, but it's a such a wasteful tactic, in their last ditch hope to drive us out, these heinous creatures, willingly disposed all their own people just to win a pitiful fight, as opposed to seeking peace and coexistence.

Grumdel grabs me "Come brother! Greybeard has called an extraction of all mining and harvesting troops, they have poisoned the planet with their radiation to the point that it is no longer sustainable for life"

I drop my head "They would rather destroy themselves and their planet then share some ore and grass?"

Grumdel flicked one of the remaining human bodies off my puldron "Most Brutal aggressive little things we have ever faced, The War Marshal has decreed that we will leave a ship to monitor the planet, and come back in 50 cycles, when the contamination has settled, and try again"

Nodding "Alright, lets go Brother"

--------

It's been 45 solar cycles, and I have come to enjoy and hate watching these humans evolve and grow, but it fun to see that they have named this station "the moon", in 5 cycles the main fleet will return, and sadly, these humans, have learned nothing.

This time however, we at least know what to expect.

The secretary sent you to the CEO's office, because he wanted to talk with you personally. The old lady smiles at you, and says "You got the job, you are already hired, he just wants to talk" and she winks at you as she buzzes the elevator doors to open and take you up.

Taking the moment to thank you, to enter into the small elevator, and stop at what you can only imagine is the top floor.

It was the kind of office you would expect from someone who claims to be deeply religious, like, insanely religious, there was a Statue of Buddha, there was the Jewish Star of David, the Holy Cross, even the Crescent Moon of Islam, all 8 feet tall, adorned in gold, and anchored to the walls of the room, which was painted pristine white, with a sky view over the city.

Right smack dab in the center of the window wall was a spartan desk made of glass, no drawers, no phone, nothing on the desk itself, just a simple unmarked ore mussed up glass desk table, and a white office chair. You would have thought you entered the office of God himself, at this point.

"Hello" you ask as you see the man staring at the Statue of Buddha.

"Ah yes, come in, lets talk" he says, his smile brimming wide, all his white, like, beyond white teeth can be seen, and you swear that looked a little too clean for human teeth.

"Alright, well the lady downstairs said I was"

"Her name is Abagail, and yes, HR has already approved your Hiring for the company, you have the skills we need here, and willing to work for what we are willing to pay"

"Umm to be fair that was twice what I was making in my old job, I am sure anyone would have wanted that kind of pay"

"Now see! that is admirable, Humility! That's a good virtue to have, to be humble, yet know your worth, and the worth of others, also, you had a 2 year wait between jobs, that must have been hard"

"yes, well, once the horns started to grow, it was hard to get people to see me, as... well Me"

"And that kind of life experience no doubt has given you a hefty portion of Compassion for the plight of others, hasn't it?"

"Well yes, but, if I am going to be honest, it's also made me quite bitter and angry at the world too"

The man smiled again, this time his whole area seemed to suck the light out the room "Good, righteous anger, not wrath, but anger at injustice, I love it!, tell me more"

"What do you mean more?"

"We are a law firm, we represent people who feel the world has failed them, we fight for their dignity as people here, we are often all that stands between them, and getting abused and punished by a system designed to work against them, with laws and rules built against them in such a way, they could never win on their own, and that.. That my friend.. is where we come in, are you ready for that kind of battle?"

I choked a bit, the passion in this mans words seemed to fill the room, I swear it felt like I was in some vibrant church, all I needed was for someone behind me to shout Amen. "I'll do my best" I stammered out thinking that I was getting myself in way too deep, sure I was good lawyer, before the horns and tail, I was a very good lawyer, but this guy seemed like he was looking for Rockstar's, which, I was not sure if I was up to that level.

"We can only do our best, Angels can do no better" he said "welcome to the team, I sure you will be a great fit, any questions?"

"Yes, when I looked up this company, there is no info about you, you have no linked in account, no social media, just a name, J J, and now that I have met you, I want to know who you are, who am I working for?"

The man smiled "Good to see you doing your research, that is the kind of go-to personally we need here, you looked me up before you met me, no doubt, also must have ready some rumors about me, but I assure you, you will be treated fairly here, with that cleared up, My name is Joshua, but all the people call me JJ for short, as my last name is Josephson, and JJ sounds more down to earth, more human, then either of those names"

"Thank you Mr JJ" I say realizing how stupid that sounds.

JJ smiled back at me" Just JJ, if you must use Mr, then it's Mr Josephson, which I really find to be too stuffy and formal, we are here to save the world one client at a time, but, lets make here, a safe place for us to relax, and be among friends"

I could not take it anymore, "You see the Horns and Trail right ?"

JJ turned to the window and covered his mouth as he laughed, like really, hard belly laugh, all the while trying not be rude, it was almost painful to watch a man be civil and just bust out laughing at the same time.

Finally, letting out a deep sigh and walking over to me "I see you Michel, I see you, as the person you are before me and the person you can become here, free from the unjust judgments of others, but here is the real question, are you ready to make a difference or just looking for a job?"

"I want to make a difference" I finally said, almost defeated

"Good! Welcome to the Team!" JJ said as he extended his hand for a shake, and I noticed there were holes in his palms. I stepped back a second and looked up him. Winking at me "I am also known as Jesus"

I shook that hand, holes and all, I didn't care if this man was insane, or not, but, somehow, I felt like I was home, I felt like I belonged, and I was going to save some souls.