Jon Houston

. Hey there, Teecee: Well you certainly do have a discerning eye, Sir. It IS an Akubra. I have about 15 or so of them, wouldya believe, in different models. That one's a "Territory" model that was getting old, so I experimented with it and cut the wide brim down a little. Didn't like it being so narrow, so I relegated the hat to Dirty, Grotty Jobs status, and haven't worn it much since. I developed an eye problem, some years ago, and found I couldn't bear overhead light -- sunlight, or the lights in most stores and shops. But my head's a real "melon" -- Size 8, or 64cm!! -- and I couldn't find any hat to fit me. Standard ball caps and the like looked like little yarmulke's, perched on my bloody-great loaf. So I went looking for a "real" hat, and one in my size, and thanks to the magic of the Internet, I discovered the Australian Akubra brand, and their marvelous hats. Eventually, I more-or-less settled on the Territory as my hat of choice, since it doesn't look too "cowboy-ish", yet it has a nice, WIDE brim to protect my feeble old looking gear. But I recently ordered a new model, called The Boss. If you're interested, try this: Go to Akubra's site at >http://www.akubra.com.au/ Click on Products Click on Western Scroll down and you'll see the Territory. Scroll a bit farther and you'll see The Boss. Click on the image for a better, zoomed view. Kinda nifty hat, imho, and it suits my personality, now that I've gotten accustomed to hats. Alas y'can't buy directly from Akubra, but only from approved distributors. I've had wonderful luck and service from a marvelous woman named Joy, who operates from her Website at >http://www.aussiebushhats.com.au/catalog/default.php Click on Hats / Hats List, and there are two sections of Akubras listed there. For me, one of the really nice things about Joy's site -- in addition to her good service and sterling reputation -- is that her site accepts PayPal. And btw: If you ever should order one, be sure to stipulate (in the comments section) that you want the hat to be Lined. That's a free option that gives you a nice satin interior to the hat. More information than you wanted, Teecee, but there y'go. Just in case anyone else was interested, maybe I've saved them some scrambling and searching. Cheers,

. Hi, Folks: My name's Jon Houston, and I live in Nova Scotia (pronounced "Nose Kosher"), in eastern Canada. Born in Ontario, I joined the Canadian Forces in the Fifties, and came "down east" here to fly (non-pilot) for 35 years. After that I was a small-newspaper editor for a long while before retiring to prune the bushes and mess with computers. Started with the VIC-20, and never looked back. Started tinkering with Flight Simulator back in the Eighties, when it was all line drawings! You'd think that after continually boring holes in the sky for 35 years, I'd have picked another hobby, but I found the challenge of navigating from the (virtual) cockpit was just too strong to resist, so I've been hard at it ever since. My nickname's "HighGround", which has a rather nifty history: Canada's last aircraft carrier was HMCS Bonaventure, and I flew in the back seat of CS2F Trackers (aka "Stoofs") for a number of years. One of my jobs was long-range communications with the Ship, whose international callsign was HIGHGROUND. I just couldn't let the old girl's callsign disappear entirely, so . . . . Nice to see the faces that are so well known in name! Good to see you, Emmsie, Tailgunner, et alia.