CrushedVamp

Wow, that is crazy. Up until last Friday I worked at a large hydroelectric dam and knew the realities of being sucked into the intakes in the forebay of the dam. We NEVER wore life vests when working in that area because it was so dangerous that we wanted death to overtake us quickly! And because of freeing debris coming down river we worked there a lot! We had 2 divers get killed doing what that woman went through in some ways. It is known that all dams leak but on the front of a dam the water pressure is so great that even a hole too small for a person to pass through can kill you. The pressure sucks you up against the dam and pins you there. These divers ran out of air before they could be unpinned. There is a plaque on the headwall that forever depicts their deaths.

My wife is an attractive lady, and while older now, at the time she always wore high heels and was 30 years old. She however, has a heart condition. Just a heart murmur, but pregnant with our last child, they were concerned the extra strain of the baby would put both at risk, so she was sent to a cardiologist for examination. So she has her short skirt and over-the-knee boots on, and she has to take them off. I am sitting in a chair overlooking her, but behind her is this older doctor who gets mostly older people in his office and she is unzippering her long boots and wearing a pretty short skirt since it was early and not really showing even a baby bump yet. and oh the smile that was on his face! He definitely liked her struggling to pull off her boots!

I just found out yesterday we once had a canal system close to where I live. It was not very long, only 38 miles with 27 locks, and only ran from 1773-1850, but was built and a working canal system. I was getting the wife’s car fixed and in the waiting room was a book on hidden local history so there it was. No doubt there is a novel lurking in that wee bit of information somewhere! 🙂

We were not laughing at your expense as much as you allowed us to an example to use. But you can certainly blame me, and can only hope you accept my apology. I should have, and certainly could have; used myself for an example instead of your belly-piercing. A regretful oversight. Like me walking. I used to be a fair-weather walker for health, then one day I just decided I was going to be more committed. No matter the weather, whether a blizzard at -20 below zero (f) and blowing 20 mph, I was going walking, or 90 degrees (f) and not a bit of a breeze to cool me off. And if I didn’t, I would wear blue socks for a year. In that situation no one is going to die if I cave on my daily walking plan, nor anyone know if I wore blue socks the next day or not, but its just my way of holding myself more accountable. When I was younger, I lacked that. I am just trying to be better at follow-through. Accountability. Character. Integrity… whatever it is, this is just me trying to do what I say I will. And that really is the point here. NO ONE CARES. They don’t care if I wear or don’t wear blue socks. They don’t care if I walk everyday or not. They don’t even care if I wear polish on my toes, shave body hair or wear high heels… people are so busy with their own lives and problems at best they notice, but care… nope, they got their own lives to continue on with. It has taken me far too long to learn that, but I am now better off because of it.

We used to have this circus come to our town, which was a tiny little place with less than 1000 people. But that circus knew how to glean money from a tiny town. It was probably more wrong than right, but this circus had the acts that entertained the kids, but did so announcing acts with a lot of innuendo that talked over the kids and made the parents laugh. Then they always had a aerial performer come out wearing five inch high heeled mules who wore a costume that was 90% see-thru so little was left to the imagination of the fathers. The mothers got to watch both kids and husband smile so yes: everyone was entertained. But I liked it because it was like an 1880 circus, sitting right up front where you could see things instead of 17 miles back like in a hockey arena, and where you paid more money to see less than what this small circus allowed you to see. A circus where the woman doing the aerial act sold tickets, did the dog act with her dogs, a pony act, while the announcer and two other guys did everything else that had to be done. A true 5 person circus. But sadly they were at a small town in New Hampshire one year, a microburst exploded and the wind took the big top and flipped it over and a woman was killed. No fault of the circus company at all, but they were sued and that ended the fun little circus that used to come to town. But I am glad my kids got to see a fun little circus during their childhoods.

My wife has talked about getting some new heels... but because we are headed into winter, she wants some heeled boots. I dismissed her talk the other day, but apparently she is serious because she brought it up again. She has a favorite sweater dress that is grey, and her thoughts were, a pair of over-the-knee boots would look nice with it. Probably grey in color as well. The sweater dress kind of has a funny story to it. We were at the mall and eating at a food court when we saw it hanging high in a store beside us. My wife and I are best friends, so we banter a lot and soon that started; with her thinking it was a typical sweater and me saying it was a sweaterdress. Well we typically end up in these wagers to deduce who is right, so with dirty dishes to be done on the line, I went over and asked the clerk if it was a sweater or a sweaterdress. She said it was a VERY short sweaterdress, but was one, and if we wanted it. Needless to say it came home with us. Sometimes my wife will temper the look with a pair of legging underneath, but on some dates... she will wear it by itself even if it is very short. So she has been thinking it would look good with over-the-knee boots. Sorry to hear about your pending layoff. Where I was working, the company just sold it to another owner who has every intention of tearing the facility down. It will remain in operation for a few years, but I have no interest in riding a dying horse. Again I am sorry for your economic downfall of pending doom.

I have multiple reasons for full-body shaving, but one of them is because my wife and I were competitive swimmers. I know some ladies would probably think its odd to see a man fully shaven, but for her its not because swim teams often have "shaving parties" for swimmers just before major swim meets. She is used to seeing men completely hairless. Whether or not you actually get meaningful faster swim times I am not so convinced of. Myself, I think it will gain popularity. I just shave, but just because I am cheap and it is quick and easy. Once it's done that first time, it only takes a few minutes to keep the hair off.

I once wrote a novel where the murder weapon ended up being a stiletto heel. This husband and wife were going on a dinner date when they stopped by to pick up a check from a con artist. Things played out and realizing they were being scammed, the woman got so incensed she struck at the man connecting with his corraded artery in his neck, killing him. Well, I write fiction, but I had to wonder if this ever happened so I looked it up. You only need to ask Ana Trujillo of Texas who had stabbed her boyfriend, Dr. Andersson 25 times with her size nine, five-inch, blue suede high-heeled pump. By the time paramedics arrived it was too late to save the doctor. She was sentenced to life in prison where she now wears flip flops and not high heels... thankfully.

Was it a Honda CR-V? The wife has one, and just the way the gas pedal is, I have to turn my foot at an odd cant to push on the gas. It works, but on longer drives it really can start to pain my foot. On really long drives it causes it to cramp. And like someone else said, the modern cars, including the Honda CR-V in this country anyway, has a variable transmission, so cruise control does not work great on it at all. It can never find an idea shift point because it is not locked into a particular gear.

Oh, okay. That is very interesting. I would have never considered the unavailability of high quality, high heeled shoes at a reasonable price. It makes sense though. I am sorry that you can't find those heels and are working so many hours. I got the opposite problem: I am in between jobs and in between different houses (the movers come on Thursday) so I don't have a lot going on.

As promised here is a cropped picture of them...

To answer your question… whether it be getting a belly-button piercing or shaving a huge portion of your body, despite it not being seen by others there is a very tangible benefit… you see it. That in and of itself is self-care. But that need not be in and of itself. For instance, I shave from the neck down, which is a secret no one really knows about me. But there is more to it than just disliking body hair. I like how it makes me feel cooler in the summer, and how shaving greatly reduces body odor. It takes some time to accomplish, but a reality is, once its shaven it takes very little time to keep shaving. For me, all that is worth doing and even if no one sees that, it still has tangible benefits. I am by no means trying to convince you to get a belly-button piercing at all here, but that too can have self-care properties to it with no need to show it off. Myself personally, I have a HUGE interest in integrity, which is following through with what I say I am going to do. So for me, if I had deemed that was something I would do after obtaining a flat stomach (a lofty accomplishment by the way), I would feel less about myself for not following through with the rest of it. But that is me, and only me; I have a huge amount of self-discipline. It is called second-order thinking. If I declare to myself I am going to pierce my belly button, and then don’t, it makes it easier to not go through with further declarations down the road. No… I will do it. I might not keep it pierced, but I will do what I said I would do. But that is just me, I want to be true to myself which has an inverse action to it as well. I won't lightly make a declaration like that from the start because I will have to do what I say I will do. But I suspect men who do secretive things do so for their own well-being. Some wear panties. Some paint their toes a bright color. Some wear leggings… all manner of things that make them feel good, and not to show others. I don’t fault men who say, ‘but why not show off what you do and to heck with what others think’, and to those I have great respect. But I also understand men who like doing or wearing something no one knows about too. They don’t have a need to rebel against societal norms openly, but they are doing it only for themselves. And that's the great thing about this thread, we realize statistically a lot of men are not cookie-cutter men... and that is a VERY good thing.

Silly perhaps, but just because it is not something you might do, does not mean a person cannot appreciate the skill, bravery and determination that it takes to take a hobby to the next level. As an example, while you love being on a canal boat, do you not appreciate the beautiful lines of a well crafted wooden kayak? A handsome barrque breaking through heavy rollers? A bateau laid up with striking planking? as it scoots down whitewater? There is complaints on here of people no longer wearing high heels because it is inconvenient and challenging to wear, yet this woman is not only slacklining in high heels, but jumping in them... on a slackline... and balancing upon a series of soda cans. It may not be skills any of us necessarily need to enjoy our lives wearing high heels, but I can appreciate the skill and determination she has in being able to do it.

Well, there is no reason why you should not be content with what you currently have for shoes. You seem to really do well pairing them up with your other clothing to make combinations that really work. For my wife and I who dress well most times too, it is always great to see others who put some considerable thought into how they dress. With what you share on here, you certainly do that. I am always impressed! Or do you feel like you are just in a funk and everything just feels “off”? It certainly is a personal question you do not have to answer. I’m struggling lately. I am not upset, just caught in the middle right now. Everything is changing for us as this week we are moving from a big Victorian home on a river, to a tiny house on a distant island in the ocean. The wife and I are both changing jobs and with so much downsizing there is little point to buy clothes for the tiny closets we will soon have. A lot of what we have must be thrown out or given away as we just don't have the space. It's good, it needed to be done, just a lot of changing. Normally I pour myself into my writing at times like this, but I just finished up a really good novel, so anything I start seems to be lackluster. But I know, soon all this will pass… If that is the case for you, I hope too it will also pass.

You probably are right on the percentage. It is almost ironic that everyone craves to be different in life, and yet so many do the same old thing as everyone else. In that regard I am guilty just as much as anyone else. Sooooooo... to have colored toes where no one can see? Whether a married man who has a wife who does not care, or perhaps the man lives alone, or just does not care who sees... yes, perhaps the percentage is even higher. Adulthood is boring, so I could see men loving having a little secret... painted toes. A case in point is myself. As I have said many times on here, I wear leggings a lot because of the comfort level of them. I won't go to Walmart wearing them, but around the house I do. Well an emergency arose so I had to go see my neighbor, and with no time to change, I was at his house wearing my leggings. I was little apprehensive about it, but it was a full-on emergency with no time to change. To my surprise he came out of his house wearing leggings too. It is why I love statistics. 15% of men fully shave. 5-15% of men paint their toes. 66% of men shave a personal part of themselves. 47% of men have tried on clothing traditionally worn by a lady. It all paints a picture that men are more open-minded than what is openly revealed.