mlroseplant

I'd use it as an excuse to visit the UK! Think my wife would go for it?

Wouldn't be the first time. . .

Yes, they are coming back, but they're only offering up to size 10.

I would buy those boots if they didn't have them knee pads attached to 'em. That's right, you just heard Melrose Plant say he would consider buying boots. It probably won't happen again, and winter is almost over.

A little off the subject, but it's a funny story. Years ago when my ex-wife first moved to Iowa from Southern California, we were driving through the countryside and she idly asked, "Where are all the irrigation rigs?" I chuckled and said, "We're very innovative here in Iowa. We have come up with a new system of irrigation that doesn't require expensive equipment and a distant supply of water." "Oh, really? How does that work?" "It's something we like to call 'rain.' "

I've mentioned this before in the distant past, but the grocery store I usually use has some really, really slick spots on their polished tile floor, and I know where they are. Right in front of the deli, and right in front of the meat counter. I am loathe to wear brand new shoes there, until I've really tested them out to discover their coefficient of friction. I remember one particular incident when I got a new-to-me pair of Nine West boots, and I didn't think I was going to make it out of there upright. After a reheel with Vibram heel tips, it was no problem. Best to use a shopping cart in that situation, even if you don't need it! I suppose it's kind of like a walker.

Oh, no! That's included in the ticket price. 2 tickets (Mama and Son) x 2 checked bags each @ 50 lbs each = 200 lbs. Normally, with me going as well, we take 300 lbs of luggage! What I should have done is to have worn my other pair of knee high boots. This particular pair is absolutely TERRIBLE on the ice. The other pair, which cruises on ice much more easily (seems to have a grippier rubber sole and heel), is looking a bit ratty these days.

You are right, 95% of the weight was gifts for friends and relations, as is expected in Asia. This gift giving business is a nice sentiment, but thankfully, I don't have to be a part of that nonsense this year, except for the brief use of my muscles to get the packages on the scale at home (some of us are prepared and do NOT bring overweight luggage to the ticket counter), then into the truck, and then onto the cart at the airport. We quit using suitcases years ago, now opting for heavy duty cardboard boxes. They have a much lower tare weight, and you don't worry about the airline trashing your nice luggage, probably busting one of the wheels off in the process. And now, here's a sight you won't often see: Me wearing boots. Since it was so freaking cold today, and since I have two pair of perfectly nice kneehigh boots, I figured I'd better wear them. So I did. I had to clean all the spider webs off them, though.

I just dropped off my wife and son at the airport. They will be in Vietnam for three weeks. For the first time ever, I will not be going with them. My job presently will not allow the freedom to take that much time off all at once. So, on the one hand, I don't have to have my Annual Farewell to Heels post, but on the other hand, I won't be able to report about heels in Asia, either. Incidentally, I did not drop them off at the airport in heels, but rather snowboots--it's THAT kind of weather, and I had to move 200 pounds worth of luggage. Luckily, they got really lucky and got out of here between snowstoms.

You won't ever catch me at the grocery store in flats, unless I'm stopping off on the way home from work to pick something up. I don't know that I find pushing the shopping cart in heels particularly "fun," but I have to admit that I'm one of those silly guys who still rides the shopping cart through the parking lot on the way out to the car, kind of like this woman from a 1982 No Nonsense pantyhose TV commercial:

I do not remember any girls wearing any substantial heels in 6th grade (and I would have noticed), but by 7th grade, there were a few girls who started wearing heels regularly. By that, I mean at least once a week. This was 1980, and the style at that time here in the Midwest U.S. was sandals with a small platform and somewhat chunky wooden heels, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 1/2 - 4 inches. Always worn with nude or suntan pantyhose, which seems very strange to me now, but that was what they all wore, summer or winter. The girl who wore heels the most was Tiffany F., who dressed up at least three times a week and always wore the same wooden-heeled sandals. She was definitely a child of the eighties, with feathered back hair that you could probably bounce a basketball off of from all the hairspray, and remarkably long fingernails. I also recall that at that age, she suffered from fairly severe acne, something I myself was thankfully spared from.

Believe it or don't, we spent quite a bit of time studying this issue when I went to law school, even here in Iowa, where we have basically the same "riparian" water usage law as Merry Old England, from which the whole idea came in the first place. Obviously, something different was needed for the arid areas of the U.S.

Finally, a dude outside of HHP that actually looks like he belongs in heels, and not no Harry Styles "pretender" heels, either! I did, however, want to keep yelling at the video, "Git yer damn hands outta yer damn pockets!"

I have had this same problem with Chinese shoes before. In my case, the shoes I bought fit remarkably well, except for one thing: There was about an inch of sandal remaining in front of my big toe, as if it were meant for somebody 2 sizes larger than me with freakishly long toes. I have also had shoes where, as you say, the sole of the shoe didn't match up with my foot. In every case, the reason why was because the shoe was designed for somebody with longer toes than me. Is this the case with you? It would be helpful if you could explain in a bit more detail exactly how they don't fit you.

I suppose there are endless possibilities to disagree about terminology, and I will cite but one example. I always thought 'brogue' referred to the little holes that are punched in the leather of the shoe, whereas 'oxford' and 'derby' referred to whether the doohickies that hold the shoelace eyelets (that's the formal term for them) are sewn underneath the vamp, or they aren't sewn underneath the vamp. So to my mind, they are indeed brogues. . . which also happen to be derbies.