mlroseplant

Well doggone it, I DID fall down yesterday. I was in a parking garage which was not well lit, with temperatures right around the freezing mark. I stepped on a small patch of ice that I didn't realize was there, and down I went.  I am going to say that in this case, there is a good chance I would have fallen regardless. I didn't feel like the heels were a factor, unlike the last and only other time I have fallen in heels. The situation was quite similar. 

I am proud to say that, even as my 51st birthday approaches tomorrow, I was up in a flash, without much injury, just my pride. There may or may not have been witnesses, haha. 

This whole exchange was quite a bit lighter and gigglier (is that even a word?) than it sounds on paper. It could have been even more so had I not been involved in a completely different conversation at the time. I'm not losing any sleep over it. I'm still counting it as an overall positive experience. 

Well, because she was right! I shouldn't have been wearing those shoes under those conditions, but it's sort of what I do. Nobody even fusses at me any more when I show up to church on a snowy day in very high heels, walking down the very same icy sidewalk where hips have been broken.

And yes, the Sam Edelman clogs, which have a lightly lugged sole, are remarkably grippy, even compared to your average sports shoe. The Nine West pumps I wore to church? Not so much. That just relies on sheer talent and experience, and maybe a little bit of luck. Jeff B always says if the streets ain't dry, then my heels ain't high. My mantra has become, "I probably won't fall down. Damn the torpedoes!"

We had our first significant snowfall of the season starting Friday night, and continuing all day Saturday. It was a snow with a remarkable lack of violence--it just kept snowing a little bit at a time for nearly 24 hours, and when it was all done, we had about 5 or 6 inches on the ground. Did this stop me from wearing heels? Silly question. I found it necessary to venture out to my local grocery store, and I wore my new-to-me Sam Edelman "Flair" clogs, which have become my go-to shoes this winter. With the very high heel and platform, there were only a very few places where the snow came over the top of them, and they seem to have remarkable grip on the snow and ice.

My 10 year old son and I finished our business before my wife did, and we were hanging around the front door, waiting. A young mother carrying her about one year old daughter happened to pass by, and remarked, "You should NOT be wearing those shoes today!" It was kind of an interruption of my thoughts or whatever conversation I may have been having at the time, and I was somewhat surprised, so I said, "Well, why not?" "Well, what if you fall down?" She asked. "What if YOU fall down? You are carrying your daughter. At least if I fall down, I will only hurt myself." It was rather more confrontational than what I intended, but I think the expression on my face made up for the harshness of my words. It didn't feel terrible, but obviously the young lady was anxious to be on her way, realizing the absurdity of accosting a stranger in such a manner. I mean really, I probably won't fall down. I hardly ever do.

I think in the early days of one's public heeling journey, one is tempted to place far more emphasis on the fact and phenomenon of it than what it actually deserves. Do not be tempted to make such an announcement on Facebook. Not only will it not do what you hope it will do, it is just simply a waste of mental energy. What you actually want is for people to forget that you wear heels all the time every now and then. Just wear the heels, as often as possible, as well as possible. Don't draw special attention to it. People will accept you, eventually.

Even though I freely admit that I do not understand the concept of thigh high boots outside of activities like trout fishing, I rather thought the above boots were supposed to look like that! I don't see a thing wrong with them.

On 1/3/2019 at 7:21 PM, Shyheels said:

I would be so self conscious in a suit the suit would be wearing me, not the other way around. And as for a tie...

It is a long established fact that you are just not a suit and tie kind of guy. That does not necessarily get you off the hook when it comes to being teased about it. Evidently, especially about the ties! (Insert some dumb, laughing emoji here, and maybe a winky one for good measure)

On 1/1/2019 at 11:17 PM, p1ng74 said:

In my ideal world there would be heels offered in men’s shoe departments as well, but I suppose my dream that this would magically advance acceptance of heels might be lofty.  My family brought up my “women’s shoes” again tonight and I asked again what made them women’s shoes.  My wife replied with, “you bought them in the women’s section.”  I replied, “is that all?” which I think sufficiently minimizes that point, because she then moved on to a second argument, which was “they are shoes that women like to wear.”  Also a weak argument, because women like to wear tennis shoes, loafers, and cowboy boots, but does that make them exclusively women’s shoes?  

My wife uses that argument also, and it's about 80% of her case in support of why she doesn't like what I wear. If I have the need to buy something androgynous, like a pair of flat loafers or jeans, I just make sure I obliterate the tags before she sees them, then it's no problem. A bit frustrating, because there is absolutely nothing to be gained by arguing or logic. It just is. Luckily, I must be an OK guy otherwise.

On 12/9/2018 at 3:59 PM, swedeheeler said:

Have been eyening on some new leather shoes or booties around 150 to 200€.

Why that? Most pairs I have are either sandals or otk boots in various styles.

As I cant decide which style is more "to go" than the other I need some inputs. Clothing for me is often tight jeans and t-shirt, what I should call casual.

Ankle booties or oxies. Both styles speaks to me. Well I'm bringing some linkies to two pairs that interests me.

https://www.high-feelings.de/oxford-pumps-grau-pu060050?c=2238 Gray oxies

https://www.high-feelings.de/stiefeletten-blockabsatz-nappaleder-schwarz-sw060007?c=2238 Black ankle booties

The oxfords look remarkably the same as my Nine West "Sizzle" oxfords, and if that is true, you will find them very easy to wear. I highly recommend! At least the heels themselves appear to be either regular calf leather or patent, so you have a fighting chance of not trashing these. 

4 hours ago, Cali said:

 

"I really like your heels"

I pulled up a pant leg to show her my Freebird Blaze and I got the familiar phrase

"I wish I could wear heels that high."

Since we are regular clients, (our nail artist is booked out to April) she told me she had seen me before and always admired my heels.

I also get this all the time, and in a number of cases, I offered to help them along a path that would allow them to wear heels that high. Not a one of them ever followed my advice. While I'm sure that many have physiological problems that actually prevent them from wearing heels, most just don't really want to badly enough to go through the effort it takes to master the skill of wearing anything higher than 3 inch. In much the same way that people often say, "I wish I could play the piano," it's just an idle remark, signifying very little. 

2 hours ago, Puffer said:

From what I can see, the damage is not limited to the metal shank.   But if it is little or nothing more than a snapped shank, can't you replace it?   A strip of tempered steel of similar thickness should not be that hard to find?    (But it may be that introducing the necessary curve into the steel, without losing its strength/rigidity) will prove to be (literally) the stumbling block.)

You're right. The damage is not limited to the metal shank. However, it WAS limited to the shank before I ripped the shoe in half with my bare hands! I am not nearly gung-ho enough to fashion a replacement shank, even if I hadn't destroyed the shoe. 

I have now discovered why one of my favorite pairs of sandals (for actual walking, anyway) has bitten the dust. One day, without warning, no tripping, no stumbling, nothing like that, the heel on one of the sandals became quite loose, to the point where they were completely unwearable. But they were loose in a very weird way--the actual heel appeared to be firmly attached to the sole, but for whatever reason, the heel was flexing wildly, as if the screws holding it on had come loose or broken. They sat on my shelf for a few months, then during a rash bit of cleaning up, I decided that I wasn't going to dump any money into them, that I would find out what was wrong with them, even if this meant destroying the shoes and having to get rid of them.

First, I peeled up the inner footbed liner where it covered the screws that actually attaches the heel to the sole of the shoe, and, as expected, everything was tight and solid. So what was causing all of this sloppiness in the heel? I remembered taking a pair of well-worn pumps which had a similar problem, and asking him to tighten up the heel, but he said there was nothing to be done because I had bent the shank of the shoe, likely by tripping over something and catching the heel hard. I didn't remember doing that, but it could have happened. I reluctantly threw those shoes in the trash. Could it be that somehow these sandals had suffered the same fate? I know for a fact that I hadn't tripped or stumbled on anything. Do shanks just bend on their own after extensive use? After pondering this for a minute or two, I impulsively took the heel in one hand and the front of the sandal in the other and bent. Unbelievably, the whole sandal snapped in half without all that much effort, revealing its secret.

As you can see in the accompanying photos, the metal strip which runs the entire length of the sole had completely broken in half. Total and utter failure. That accounts for a Good Deal. It Explains Everything. It is also very disappointing, given the fact that when new, the retail on these Vera Wang Celeste sandals was about 300 USD. A bit overpriced for what you get, but still not cheap-ass shoes. I didn't pay anywhere near that, by the way. I want to say about 50 bucks. Anyhow, after many, many miles of use (they are great walking shoes), metal fatigue evidently got the better of this reinforcing strip, and that was the end of the line for these.

It all comes, I guess, of actually walking in shoes that were not really engineered to be walked in. I was surprised to discover that the entire stiffness and strength of the substantial-looking sole was essentially provided by that thin strip of metal. I have an identical pair in black. We'll just have to wait and see if they end up suffering the same fate. Hopefully, it will be some time before this happens, if it ever does. The black pair has a lot fewer miles on it.

I have included a shot of what they used to look like in their intended environment.

19 hours ago, AZShoeNut said:

Mlroseplant,

Great shoes and a pretty lady.  Very cool.  Also very cool experience at the show.

Though it sounds like the evening went off well, I would love to hear more about your coworker's reactions that night and after.

Best,

Larry

2 hours ago, jeremy1986 said:

same  

My memory serves me well some of the time. I thought that I posted about my outing to the bar nearly two years ago, and I was right! My memory of the event is still pretty accurate, and a more contemporaneous memorial of the event can be found on page 7 of my thread "The High Heeled Ruminations of Melrose Plant." I don't know how to link it to here, if it is even possible. Basically, only one of my colleagues accosted me on the night in question, and I owned up to my fashion choices right away, made some jokes, bought the fellow a drink, and that was the end of it. Over the course of the next week, my actual friends at the job site said that my name had come up a couple of times, but everybody decided that I was just my own man, and there was nothing more. I remember it that way, and evidently I got it pretty much right, having refreshed my present recollection by reviewing my posts made in the last week of February 2017.

What I did not remember at all is that the "pretty lady" wearing my mules is a recycled photo, originally posted on page 8 of my thread, a few months after the bar/coworker/lady who tried on my shoes story.

I have only had this happen to me once, at least in the way that the question was presented. I was out with my colleagues, which is to say construction workers, at a pretty large bar to see a certain band. It was one of those times when I hemmed and hawed around about what shoes to wear, as most of these fellows had never seen me in heels. Do I wear some blocky heeled type boots, or do I just forego the heels altogether, and make my life easier? I wound up doing neither, choosing my insanely high (5 1/2"), slim heeled loafer pumps to wear with skinny jeans. Or maybe it was skinny dress pants. In any case, the whole shoe was on display, but it caused way less reaction than I thought it would, and relatively little behind my back the next few days afterward. However, there was this particular lady present that night who was not part of our group, but sure noticed my heels right away, and approached me several times during the evening just to comment on them. She was not the heel wearing type, and admitted as much, but eventually she wanted to try them on. I thought to myself "I'm going to regret this," but I didn't. She happened to be about my same size, so I stepped out of my shoes, and she put them on. What happened next was pretty comical for me, but luckily nothing bad happened, either to her or the shoes. She simply could not even stand up in them, much less walk in them. So that put a stop to that nonsense pretty quickly, and a good time was had by all, as far as I know.

The only person who ever tries on my shoes otherwise is my good friend and shoe buddy forever, but she doesn't even bother to ask anymore. I'm sure I could do the same with hers, but for the fact that she's about a 5 1/2 US, and I'm a good three sizes larger. Here she is trying on my Aldo mules, which of course are too big for her, but seem to look good anyway in the picture.

3 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Thanks!  I had thought about just attaching a regular plug to the load side but didn’t know if that was good practice or not.  Since I need a GFI for another location I might swap it out and save a few bucks, and this time wrap the outlet with electrical tape.  

Yes, that is a very normal thing to do with a double duplex outlet like you have, and it will function like you expect. Where people run into trouble is when they try to "slave" many outlets, maybe even an entire circuit run, off of a single GFCI outlet. That will often cause a lot of nuisance tripping. But just running one extra outlet within the same enclosure will be just fine. Of course, you'll have to get a different faceplate, but those are very commonly available and cheap. 

First, you don't actually need two GFCI outlets in the same box. You could have used one GFCI and one regular outlet, wiring the regular outlet on the "load" side of the GFCI, which will protect both units. 

However, since you've already got two GFCIs installed, I wouldn't bother changing it now. What I always do as a matter of standard practice is run a couple of layers of electrical tape around the entire outlet, in order to cover up the terminal screws. That will eliminate any reason for concern, and your wife can be happy as well. A win/win!

1 hour ago, SF said:

Google is a monopoly, a scary one, and needs to be broken up....  sf

It's a Christmas miracle! An economic policy statement by sf that I am actually down with! Maybe there IS hope for opposing sides to find common ground somehow. Of course, I wouldn't stop there. While we're at it, let's break up Wells Fargo, BP, and Glaxo-Kline-Smith, or whatever they're calling themselves nowadays. 

And now, we return to our regularly scheduled program. Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year! Whether you celebrate them or not, best wishes to you and yours!

I started wearing pink t-shirts to work (construction) in 2013. I remember the time frame because it was the start of construction work being available again after the Great Recession. I didn't wear pink shirts every day, but at least one day a week. These range(d) from pastel pink to fushia. I personally think fushia ought to be acceptable as a third high-viz color, bright orange and lime-green being the officially OSHA recognized two. 

At any rate, there were a couple people at work who gave me some grief about wearing pink shirts, and one of them was pretty serious about it! I think he seriously believed there was something seriously wrong with me. Today, 5 years later, no one mentions it...EVER. 

I went Christmas caroling a couple of days ago with members of my church choir. In heels, of course. Big ones. We hit several nursing homes, and made it to approximately 15 shut-ins' private homes. I was tired from working a 10 hour day, but I'm glad I made myself go--I think we spread some actual cheer to people who may not have a lot of it these days.

We had the church's short bus, but we had one more person than we had seats on the bus, as the back third of it is devoted to space and equipment to carry two wheelchairs. I volunteered to be the standee the entire time, which was just fine now that I'm 6+ years into my heeling journey. 6 years ago, I would have been barely able to walk by the time we got back to the church, but today it's just a normal thing, especially in the Sam Edelman clogs, which are really comfortable despite their height (5 1/2") and their steepness (4 1/4"). Being as I had to hang on to a railing to keep myself upright, one of the ladies yelled back at me to do some pole dancing. I yelled back, "You know how [choir director's name] is always telling us to avoid unintentional singing [meaning to sing with purpose and without apology]? Well if he doesn't slow it down going around these corners, I may be doing some unintentional dancing!" That got a hearty laugh from all.

How many people notice? I guess that depends upon whom you ask. My wife is convinced that everybody notices, and that they all stop what they're doing for a second or two and stare in malignant disbelief. I, on the other hand, think only a few people notice, and few react. The truth is probably somewhere in between. This is a useless statistic, but I'm going to put it out there anyway--I think about 10% of casual observers notice from any sort of distance, but of those, 90% do not have any sort of visible reaction.

In addition, I think it's becoming less and less of a big deal to wear heels out in public. I have noticed less and less reaction as the years go by, and when I do get a reaction that is big enough for me to even discern, it's been positive.

However, I don't pretend that people don't talk about me later on, after my encounters with them. My son, who works part-time at Wal-Mart while he's going to school, told me about a month ago that one of his coworkers came into the stock room and told him, "There is a man in the store who is wearing high heels!" My son evidently asked the coworker, "This man.  .  . was he with a little Asian kid?" "Well.  .  . yeah, as a matter of fact. How did you know?" "That's my dad." My son didn't really say how negative the comment was, but the way he told it, it was more surprise than anything.

3 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

The last time I was in a fitness facility was in high school.  Based on all of Macky’s experiences I will continue to stay away   That is way too much drama just to get some exercise.  I’ll stick to my private routine and maybe go on a run in my boots...

HA! I'm with you there. I was a member of the YMCA for a while, mainly because they had a pool, and I thought I might like to try triathlon at the time. Made some pretty good progress, but a change of job and 60-70 hour workweeks put a stop to that in a hurry. 

Nowadays, it's just me doing yoga by myself on the kitchen floor at 4:30 in the morning before I go to work, and I like it that way. I hate other people watching me struggle. Plus, the kitchen floor hasn't stayed this clean in years!

By the way, I wear boring black cotton leggings and a t-shirt, albeit a close-fitting one so that it doesn't flop in my face during inversions. I often do (upright) balancing poses in heels 'cause it's fun, and also helps heeling in the real world. Don't think I'd do that at the gym...

22 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

mlroseplant,

I remember not seeing any boots so I'm wondering have you not considered buying some? While I like open-toed sandals I would say wearing boots in the snow is far better both for warmth and stability. I didn't have any boots before 2011 but have about ten now with half being knee boots and half being ankle boots. I think you would enjoy the difference. Maybe think about it?? HinH

I have several pairs of boots, including about three pairs that are actually suitable for walking in the snow. I haven't had to use them yet, however!

23 hours ago, pebblesf said:

Believe it or not, I am interested in this electrical discussion....Just wish I knew a little more about it...I have done some wiring in my house, but also appreciate the importance of have a professional sometimes to keep me out of trouble.  I have rid the house of most of the darn "knob/tube" stuff, just one run of it left on the second floor...Was easy to get rid of trouble on the first floor, just come up from the basement....Easy to get rid of stuff on the third floor, just come down from the attic.  The rats nest is in the second floor ceiling...Somewhere there is a horrible junction that connects knob/tube to newer wiring.

Do not feel even a little bit bad. Half of my house still runs on knob and tube wiring, and it will probably stay that way until something forces me to replace it. There is nothing wrong with knob and tube per se, it just depends on what kind of shape it's in, and who's cobbled on to it and how over the years. 

It's easy for me to say now that I'm glad I became an electrician, because there is no shortage of work due to the good economy and the coincidence of several companies wanting to continue to build large data centers here. Back up about 8-10 years and it was a different story. Construction is a weird business. It's the only job I know of where your job is to work yourself out of a job!

15 hours ago, Pumped said:

It isn't all all complicated when you deal with it daily. Most homes are just wired for lights and outlets at 120 volt, then add a clothes dryer at 240 volt and air conditioner. You wire the larger 240 loads as an individual circuit, so the breaker and wire is sized for the load. The USA allows home owners to do wiring in there own homes, so it can not be too terribly difficult. (although you should see some of the messes they create!)

The 208/240-460 volt three phase is commercial wiring and pretty much only seen there, but all the basic rules apply as for breaker and wire size.

10 hours ago, Heelster said:

I did my whole new home - - - !!

 

I put a new service in my first home, basically because I couldn't find an available electrical contractor at the time. This was before I got into the trade, and was one of the several factors that led to my becoming an electrician. However, I went into the industrial side of things, and I absolutely hate messing with residential. It's boring and/or frustrating, depending on whether you're dealing with a new house or an old one.

I can see a certain amount of sense in the European/Asian setup of having basically just one system of approximately 240/415V. I did some reading to discover that the reason why North America uses 120V (used to be 110, many people still refer to it that way), and it seems we're still tied to the original 100V Edison DC lighting system. We'll never change now, but it doesn't matter much. The current system works. 120V is good enough for most things--our toasters and hair dryers work just fine, and 240V is available for the larger things like electric stoves/ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, and air conditioners. I was going to let it go, but I feel the need to correct some misinformation. People often refer to the North American dual voltage setup as being "two phase." This is not correct. It is single phase, only the secondary transformer coil is split in half with the neutral or grounded conductor to create two possible 120V legs, and you'd better keep them distinct from each other in your wiring, unless you want to blow stuff up. This is completely different than "two phase," which does exist, but is very rare (I've never actually seen it in the field) because it was a stupid idea. There were lots of stupid ideas in the early days of electricity.

The biggest problem with the North American system is when you need 3-phase service at the small commercial level. Because the phases are 120º apart in the typical Y-type transformer wiring, when you add any two legs together, or all three for a 3-phase motor, you get 208V, rather than 240V. This is because you must multiply the base voltage, in this case 120V, by the square root of 3, due to its angle compared to the other two phases, rather than just simply doubling it as you might expect upon first blush. Single phase motors that are designed to run on 240V do not really like to use 208 AT ALL. Heating elements and other purely resistive loads don't care, but they are super inefficient at the lower voltage. There are several different ways to deal with this problem, but ongoing headache it is for small commercial installations. That's one of the differences between commercial and residential appliances here, besides the warranty conditions.

OK, Puffer's probably right. This excursion has been fun, but it's probably getting old for those who are not really interested in such things.

So I was shopping in Walmart the other day, wearing my Sam Edelman clogs, pictured below. These have turned out to be my favorite shoes of the season, and I'm glad that I have two pairs, in black and brown. It just so happens that it was snowing, and it was the first significant snow of the season. It turns out that the Edelmans are perfect for snow and ice, because they have a fairly aggressive sole, and they come stock with a tough rubber heel tip. We haven't gotten more than 3" of snow yet, so I've been able to get by with them so far.

At any rate, when I was checking out, one of the female employees, a 20-something, approached me and complimented my shoes, and also said she didn't see how I negotiated the weather conditions while wearing them. She said she liked to wear heels, but dared not do it in the snow. I held up one of my feet (while balancing on the other foot, unsupported--a trick I've perfected by purposeful practice), and showed her the lug sole, and assured her that it wasn't nearly as hard as it looked. I failed to mention that the one time I have actually fallen down while wearing heels, it was in that exact store under the same weather conditions. Well, I've learned a few things since then!

We had a short pleasant conversation about wearing heels, and then I was finished and on my way out the door. It is snowing as I write this, but it's not cold enough for much of it to stick, so I'm not planning on breaking out the boots just yet, and it's December 2! How long can I hold out?

2 hours ago, at9 said:

It's worse with 3 phase. The phases are brown, black, grey. Instead of the old red,yellow, blue. You're working in a 3 phase environment and there's a blue wire. Or a black wire. Whoops! There are meant to be labels showing that mixed colours are used in an installation but you still need to take care.

In different countries at different times all sorts of colours have been used. In the past the Germans have used red for earth (ground). In the USA black is (was?) live.

You are quite correct--black is not only used as a live, or "hot," as we call it here (technically it is an "ungrounded conductor"), it is by far the most common color used as a live. However, per the National Electrical Code, you can use any color you want as a live, with the following exceptions: Earth must be green (we call it a ground), neutral must be white or gray. Or black with white stripes, come to think of it. Any other color is fair game for any live. 

However, and this is the funniest thing, EVERYBODY uses black as the live, just by convention. No need for a code, everybody just does it. Black-red for 120/240V residential, Black-red-blue for 120/208V 3 phase, brown-orange-yellow for 277/480V 3 phase (using gray instead of white for neutral). Rarely do you ever see anybody use something different. Oh, except for the above-mentioned Delta 120/240V 3 phase, where your B phase is 208 volts to ground. That has to be orange by Code, and marked clearly in the main panel. And yes, everybody over the age of 40 has a story about somebody blowing something up by hooking it to the "high" leg of a Delta service. 

Wow, my thread is HOT again for the first time in years! Sigh.

Even as an industrial electrician with 22 years of experience, I admit I had to look up what in the heck ring circuit vs. radial circuit wiring was. I'd never HEARD of anyone wiring in this way, outside of some fire alarm systems, which are 24V anyway. Once I read a couple of paragraphs, I now realize why I've never run into this before. It's because it's effectively prohibited here (though not by direct language), so no one would really think of doing it that way. But thank you @Puffer for bringing the subject up, I have learned something I didn't know before.

Though this HOT! thread has gotten WAY off the subject, it makes me realize that in all reality, high heels, though I wear them every day and consider myself an enthusiast, are a very minor part of my life, looking at the big picture. Sometimes I'd rather talk about other things of interest.