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No, they are talking about bare feet - no shoes, unshod, dirty calloused feet. They are not concerning themselves with sandals. The fact that people need to be told to put something on their feet when they are going to fly is dispiriting. I don’t wear shorts out and about anyway, but I cannot ever imagine flying in shorts. I don’t think smart casual is too much to expect

I would say that Chelsea boots can be flat, or have Cuban, block or stiletto heels. The 'Chelsea' aspect seems to relate to the elastic sides, although zip-sided boots are also called 'Chelsea' style. These (Calvin Klein) are sold as 'Chelsea boots' (and would surely look good on many men):

I’ve been living on my boat for over a year and in that time I have seen only one boater in heels and that was only just the other day - a woman in black leather knee boots with chunky 2.5” heels. Not high heels, to be sure, but then high heels really would be dangerous if you’re mooring and operating locks. In her case she was piloting the boat when I saw her while her partner was footing the mooring - although I don’t think that division had anything to do with her wearing heels. More like it was just his turn. i wear black leather knee boots when I'm moving the boat, but low heels. My lowest are about 3.5” which is just that bit too high for doing the locks. Had I boots with the heels she had I would probably wear them

I think this is a first for this thread! We've gone as far as vintage outboard motors before (nod to @pebblesf), but this is a whole new level! Which is somewhat ironic, because outside of cruise ships, heels and boats don't really mix all that well. Although I do remember travelling on a narrowboat in Thailand, and there was another passenger who was wearing sandals with impressively high heels. I suppose that's a little bit different. It's not like she was piloting/crewing the boat, she was a tourist passenger like me. I wonder if I could find that picture somewhere? It probably got lost on a hard drive that blew up at some point.

I kind of wonder what auto restorers/hobbyists will do in 30, 40, 50 years' time. I am already irritated by my fairly old (2004) car's climate control system, which actuates little servos to change from hot to cold or from heat to defrost. What was wrong with cables to do this? Nevertheless, the system is still serviceable. In other words, I can fix it with some time, effort, and a little bit of money. I cannot imagine relying on a single touchscreen to do every function of the car. Number One, you have to physically look at the touchscreen, and Number Two, what happens when that screen fails? You don't drive the car. At all. We won't even talk about the expense or the complexity of putting it all right again. I do understand that a lot of these cameras and sensors have actual benefit. I can still easily swivel my head/body around to check my blind spots, but that is not the case with everybody, including my dad. He says he'll never buy a car that doesn't have a backup camera. At least if the camera goes out you can still drive the car without issues.

I completely agree, although I am a little older than you - so even more of a dinosaur! In the 12 or so years that I ran my last car (a fairly basic 2003 model), I never did get to understand or master many of its features, despite having an owner's manual about 1" thick. I then bought a later (2015) and slightly more refined model of the same car (with another 1" manual), which has even more features that I cannot really understand or access. That said, some of the 'standard' features - such as warning bleeps when manoeuvring near obstacles - are very useful. If we are still allowed cars (and I'm still fit to drive one!) when I next need to change, I dread to think what bells and whistles it will have. And don't get me started on modern gadgetry such as (so-called) 'smart' phones and the like ... 🤬

Narrowboats are different beasts! I've mainly a 12v system, but a 240v washing machine and 240v plugs which I use only for charging the laptop. Ive a 3000w inverter for those.

Admittedly "old school" and stubborn here for sure. Nonetheless, I feel that much of this AI/tech stuff is highly overrated and actually a hindrance to everyday life. How the heck does anyone drive a newer car these days... All this "stuff". Trying to learn how to operate it is quite the undertaking. The vehicle owner's manual seems to explain the stuff only about 80 percent effectively, usually leaving me with more questions than answers. And in the end, what does it accomplish compared to the more basic vehicles of years gone by. The darn heater/AC control on my newer car is so complex, and the problem for me is that I can not really operate it without looking down on the control panel, not a great idea when driving. Showing my age here, but operating the heat/AC/defrost on my old 73 Chevy could be done "by feel", you knew what you were controlling by the feel/positioning of the levers/detents/positioning of the fan control. Now tell me what features this newer car has that make it any better than the old one? "Dual zone" temp control?? Now that is a darn nuisance. Now you have two temp controls to deal with that are oftentimes competing against one another. How about controlling the radio?? Forget about it... Still reading the manual on that topic. And this new/fancy radio surely does not have better sound quality than the older car, and lousy signal strength as well. So many screens/options that really offer no big advantages, just add to confusion/frustration. I wanted to get the more basic trim level on my newer car, but gave in to the fancier trim level for two options that I do appreciate: I like the blind spot warning system in the side view mirrors, and the back up camera. And the beauty part of these features is there is nothing to control or adjust, the feature is either switched "on" or "off". Like you say, I will get more onboard with this crap when it can do the mundane stuff like emptying the trash or cleaning the cat box... For now, I think the so called "advantages" are just an illusion.