CrushedVamp

That would be a tough day! I remember being at a local fair with the kids and as we were leaving I saw a young couple, 18-20 years old and she was wearing high heels. It was apparent she was already regretting her shoe choice. She had a grimace on her face and had not even made it out of the parking lot area yet. It is hard to describe, but I am sure everyone on here has seen the look, that grimace with every step with dread at making the next because she knew it was going to be painful. I felt bad for her because I knew she was probably wearing them for her boyfriend, and that is truly commendable. Not that someone should be in pain on account of someone else, but that she wanted to please her date. But considering how far she had to go, then the walking required at a fair over asphalt and grass grounds, it probably meant a trip back to the car early for her.

I might have taken @mlroseplant out of context too, at least in terms of motivation. I know he tracks his kilometers walking in heels and it is only natural when you do that, to want to increase the number. In that context, when looking at choosing between flats and high heels, it is only natural to see wearing flats as a missed opportunity to increase your overall kilometers in high heels per year. For others... like my wife... shoes are part of the outfit, and having the ability to make it formal, or informal, is part of the fun. I side with her in some sense on that because as a traditional man that dresses as such, as we talked about on another part of this forum about jazzing up the male wardrobe, I am a bit jealous of her because I think my choices of fashion and footwear are a little lackluster.

I am sorry to hear you have had a cold. I know I am quite the canoe paddle away from you westerly, but colds and flues have been going around here a lot. My wife was terribly sick with the flu just before Christmas and I have been threatening to get it. Others in the area have not been so lucky and knocked out by this year’s strain. Hopefully you will get over it quickly. I judge no one in terms of fashion from the 1970’s because my take has always been, that was an era of rebellion. Not in a bad way, just that it came on the heels of a generation that were quite strict, at least here in the United States. The 1950’s certainly seemed to be an era where conformity was expected. I say that with everyone having the same kind of haircuts to shoes. In the 1960’s, yeah, they loosened up a little bit with the miniskirt and bikini, but I think it was more out of guilt for being so uptight in the 1950’s. They had aged a bit by then and might have realized the error of their ways. But the 1970’s… that fashion era belonged to the next generation and they were not having the mandatory flattop haircuts for men, and the tea length dresses, beige pantyhose and 8 cm heels for the ladies. My take on 1970’s fashion? They were just rebelling on everything. Pants that tapered consistently? Nope: not having it! Vertical stripes top and bottom? Why not throw in horizontal stripes topside, or plaid… in a contrasting color, bottom side, or with vertical stripes? To me it seemed, my parents just did not care what was worn as long as it roasted what my grandparents had worn. My case in point? Flattop haircuts were out but bowl haircuts came in like a rogue wave! Talk about opposites! But Mary Jane style shoes? My wife has hundreds of high heels, and of Mary Jane’s, she only has one pair, which is pathetic I know, but she has them for some of the vintage photoshoots she does. I think hers are in the 9 cm range and has not complained while wearing them. I do not wear high heels myself, but if I did, I MIGHT find the strap across the metatarsal area of my foot to be annoying, but only because I got some safety shoes that hurts in that particular spot. But I still see Mary Janes occasionally in public and know a member on this forum is infatuated with them, so they certainly have endured the test of time. But the ads you speak of? I am not sure. I do not get those on this site on my computer. I am not even sure what you are referring too?

But does a person always have to be trying to get better at wearing 12-13 cm heels? I ask because its not that my wife only wears Keds; she wears high heels a lot as well and is quite comfortable in them. But I do remember a funny incident right after we found out she was pregnant. We were going to go out on a dinner-date, and she surprised me when she wore a short dress, high heels and SEAMED STALKINGS? Nothing against those who wear such stalking's, but one has to agree that in society it is generally considered quite suggestive to wear them. it I had to ask her about her last choice in any case, and she told me that she figured she was soon going to start showing so she could no longer dress like that, so she was going all out on that night. I will say, in the conservative area where we live, she did get some questioning looks. She did get a maternity dress that was nice and wore high heels with it a few times, but as she drew closer to her due date reverted to flats even with that dress.

I don't remember foot changes with pregnancy with my wife, but I have heard of it happening. Interesting that they never returned to pre-pregnancy size though. I remember getting into trouble during that time period with her weight. I teased her and called her "whale belly" because she was into workouts and fitness when she got pregnant. I asked the OBGYN at the time how much weight a woman should gain during pregnancy, and he said between 15-25 pounds. I thought my wife looked huge, so I asked her how much she had gained and he said, "15 pounds". That was when I knew I was in trouble! 🙂 But I also teased her about the baby-weight not coming off after the baby. She wanted to prove me wrong so bad that after giving birth it was 22 days before she lost her baby weight. She had to modify her exercise routine, so she did not cause damage to parts of her that had passed a baby, but I thought 22 days to pre-pregnancy weight was pretty darn good.

We get plenty of wind here; I mean this is the third gale we have had this week, but being living on an island as far out to sea as we live, you cannot dry anything outside unfortunately. The sea air has too much moisture in it, and salty moisture as well. Salty moisture always feels like your clothes are damp so why everything has to be washed in fresh water. I saw a used dryer yesterday at my local appliance place for $150 USD and might consider something like that. Room is just so tight in this small house though so we shall see.

Just as a follow-up we ended up buying an AI based washer/dryer combo. The jury is still out on whether we like it or not. It is far more advanced than I ever thought it would be. It can shut down for the slightest of reasons if everything is not perfectly aligned which can be problematic here with our water quality. But we like the small footprint of it, as we live in a small house, and how easy it was to set up. Just 120 volt, no special wiring required since it uses a heat pump, and no dryer vent to hook up, again because it is a heat pump. So we like that. And every load of laundry is clean and dry and comes out absolutely perfect, which considering the brackish water we have on this island, it is a true miracle. But... it takes an awfully long time to dry. It is a very small washer combo and it does not matter if it is a tiny load, or a small load, you put it in today and it will be done in a week. Well not quite that bad, but at least 4-5 hours. (By small load I mean what me and the wife would wear for clothes on a given day. Yes, that small) She put in 5 pairs of leggings... that was it, and it still took 4 hours to wash and dry just that! The washer part is fine; it is the dryer portion of it. We might wait and see how much room we have after we get our new water desalination system installed, and if we have room, we might just buy a conventional dryer.

This may anger some on here, and it certainly is not meant too, but my wife switches often between wearing a particular dress with high heels and maybe sneakers. They are a specific type, what we call Keds here, but other call plimsolls in other countries. It depends on her mood because what she wears for shoes changes the whole meaning of the outfit. High heels just naturally look more formal, whereas the Keds give her a more youthful, informal look. I give her my opinion on what she should wear, but it's just a suggestion: I am not the Shoe Police that is for sure. Here is an example. She is wearing a sundress and Keds (plimsolls) in this photo. She thought Keds would look more informal because it was her maternity photoshoot for our daughter. I am in no way saying high heels would have been inappropriate, but it was one of those fashion decisions that she made. But she likes her high heels and will wear them too. Does the shoes work with the outfit for the scope of the photoshoot? Please: be the judge of that for yourself.

Yeah, that was why I mentioned what I had learned: I could see it going in both directions. Feet getting longer because of unsupported arches, and yet with strengthening and heel supports... like high heels... your foot could actually get shorter. I was glad I had my foot sized checked as I have been buying the wrong size sneakers for the past several years.

I was back a member in the late 1990's... but then left for many years. Not upset at anything or anyone, just lost interest. I recently came back but had forgotten my username and password so I started all over. I am not sure that counts anyway. But I do remember the early years!

I can see where high heels would actually be good for the foot. I recently had to get some work boots and decided to get professionally fitted for them. It was found out that my feet have gone from a size 9 to size ten. When I asked how that could be the guy told me its because my feet are flattening out and so my feet are getting longer, but also thinner. So I could see where with heels, and your arch being formed solidity, it might actually help your feet, especially against backpain. I once worked at a job where we had to wear steel toed boots with steel metatarsal plates and EVERYONE went to a chiropractor. It protected your feet from dropped steel, but also kept your foot from flexing with each step. Add in 10 hour days and something had to give and for all of us, it was our backs.

I am not all that great at technology, but I never felt resizing images for this place was a big deal. It's another step, but easy to do. Once resized I still have sizable pictures that show the details that I hope to show. As I have always said: people suck! Sorry you have to deal with them, but have a great New Year!

So sorry to hear about your losses. I like dogs too, but now have a cat that is very, very, very spoiled. I fully understand that losing a pet can be difficult. The shoes are very cool though and I cannot wait to see a picture of you wearing them!

Oh for sure… the greater the risk, the greater the reward, so sitting on real estate can be scary, but time everything well, and it can work well to your advantage too. Years ago, a person would buy a home to live in it, and now that notion is gone and so people buy and sell homes in order to work the most equity out of a place. My wife and I have bought and sold (7) properties in the last four years but it is not our main form of income. You are right too in calculating in interest gained from your own money. It works a little different for me and my wife, but yes, if we took the same money and invested it into a certificate of deposit for instance, we should off-set those gains in a guaranteed way. To be fair, it would have to be a CD or something guaranteed because while there are other higher forms of investments, there is no guarantee you would pick one that gained instead of loss. In looking right now, the best CD rate is for 12 months at 4%. So instead of putting $50,000 in a house over two years, we could put it in a CD for a year and then redo the CD again and get $4000 extra. So at the end of two years, we would have made $54,000. We would be silly to do that though because you are failing to calculate one important point… you have to have a place to live. With a house, you live there rent-free AND make $70,000 in financial gain in two years. If I rented an apartment I would have made $4000 on my $50,000, but also spent $24,000 on rent over the same past 2 years. But it is even worse if you live in a forever-home and never sell it. All those improvements needed for the home over the years, never get deducted so it really ends up costing the homeowner a huge amount of money. It is $50,000 spent over 20 years instead of 2, but it can never be deducted because the owner dies before they sell. And that is the real price for constantly buying and selling homes: you never get to live in a nice home that is all fixed up. Once it is nice, you pick up stakes and move on. You are not paying a mortgage or rent, and making investment money too granted, but only because you are constantly doing work on the place. There is no such thing as a free lunch…

Here in the United States, we can deduct anything contributing to the improvement of the property. We cannot however make that deduction until the property is sold. It does not matter if it is 2 years after purchase, or 30 years after purchase, only when it is sold and not as a yearly deduction. Because of that, it is as I said: what the improvements costs are; can and will be deducted from any income derived in the year the property was sold. We do not have to pay captain gains tax either as long as it was a primary residence. That used to have to be for at least 2 of 5 years, but that has since been rescinded by Trump in his Big Beautiful Bill. A property investor himself, this was not surprising to see. As for interest, that has no bearing on me as I do not finance any property I buy. I have a deep hatred for debt, so I do my level best to stay away from it. My aversion to financing (debt) is that I have to pay 100% of the money I borrow back, plus 3-5% of my own in the form of interest. NO THANKS! This applies to cars, houses, equipment, anything. It is like the movie War Games of the 1980's. In the end of that movie, the first about the dangers of AI, the computer states, "it seems the only way to win the war of thermonuclear war is to just not play". It is the same way with borrowing money. The only way to truly win is to just not play their games. Sorry to hear you got snow. We got a dusting last night, the first for us this year although it did get cold. One day last week it was -14 degrees below zero (F). For those elsewhere, that is -26 below zero (C) But I was pleased. My house out on this island was a summer-only house for many years. Despite this, the water in the house or in the crawl space never froze making me quite content. Other houses I own did not fare so well. Some had frozen pipes.

Here in the United States anyway, "women" bikes do have step through frames were as "mens" bikes do. Some bikes are a sort of hybrid where they are nearly step-thru but not as low as a women's bike style. My daughter's mountain bike is that way, halfway between the two extremes.

I wonder deeply if it has to do with litigation? I see that everywhere, for instance new cars. It really is hard now to tell if a car is a Honda CRV, A Toyota Rav4, or a Ford Escape... they really all look very similar. And the reason for that is litigation. With ever car having to abide by the same crash worthy testing procedures, along with strict gas mileage allowances, etc, in order for everyone to meet the new standards, the creative box they can fit into means car's profiles, unibody, and seat makeup pretty much will be the same. Not sure what I mean? Consider the making of a pair of high heels. Lets say we come up with a contest where we all make a pair of high heels. The first pair has loose constraints. A pair of high heels, 13 CM tall, with Stilleto heel. In that, there would be a huge variation on what we all create. But, add in more parameters like color, made of leather and plastic, must enclose the toes via points, and have a closed arch, and suddenly all the shoes become incredibly similar. It matters little if it is cars, high heels, or even houses... everything to me is becoming bland because of fear of litigation. Couple all this with a more entitled society and I can envision a woman slipping on a banana peel, claiming it was not her fault because it was actually the style of shoe she was forced to wear, and soon everyone is wearing sneakers/trainers.

To me... and this is quite judgmental I know, it just seems those who are less disciplined enjoy AI whereas others of us do not. I do not even have voice recognition toggled on my phone, whereas my wife does. She has not typed a thing into her phone for a year and it is quite comical. A person without patience she screams at her phone often because it does not understand what she is trying to say and I just laugh because had she typed it out it would have just been wayyyyyyy faster. But as a teacher she uses AI for everything, especially establishing her lesson plans which to me means, she is proving she has little value. But she wants quicker/easier on everything in life. Me, I am more disciplined and like to work things out for myself. Often, when faced with easier to do or harder, I chose harder because life experience has shown that is the better path to take long term. A case in point: I walk 5-7 miles a day for weight loss, she uses medical injections. As for Fuzzy Logic and AI, I think that was a form of early AI. The washer and dryer combination units I see advertised as AI do indeed spin faster if they detect shaking, but also detect the moisture content of the clothes inside. There really is no fuzzy logic there as it either is or is not under a certain percentage of moisture content. But I think the AI part comes into play where the logic in the PLC allows it to keep going, or stop, based on what those sensors depict.

Because how much money you put into the house is immaterial because it can be wholly deducted off your taxes. It is however, a good way to show how much work had to go into a property. It is not perfect I realize, as it is possible to put in $50,000 worth of electrical work and be something no one would ever notice, but as a rule $50,000 generally shows a fair amount of work went into a property. $10,000... not so much. It is why I used the amounts to show how much work went into the place. But the actually amount spent has no basis on the profit of a house. It can be completed deducted off your income taxes.

I am NOT a shorts wearer either, no matter how hot it is outside. Here, I do not think I am in the minority, but a few men do wear shorts all year, enough so that no one gives them a second look. I remember being at my chiropractor's office and a man came in wearing shorts, I remember because he kind of looked funny stomping off his shoes because we were having a snow storm and six inches of snow (150 mm) was outside. For dressing up, which you guys and gals know I do almost always, for truly formal events I do wear true dress shoes, but about 80 percent of the time I do wear plimsolls. The reason is simple. I try and match my shoes to my pants. With so many color variations of plimsolls, I can do that easily. And they are comfortable, easy to wash, and look good in my opinion. In super formal settings, not so much, but they are a huge staple of my fashion sense right now.

That is great to hear @Puffer but atlas with my new home, all that is here is woman wearing much boots it seems. (Lots of fisherwoman). But as the saying says, "what is seen in Europe, will be seen in the United States the following year. I saw that myself. It was around 2008 when I was in Ireland and saw a new fashion trend I never saw before, the miniskirt worn with leggings underneath it so those who were more timid could feel a little more secure. I liked the look, and it was but a year later it was suddenly all the rage in the United States... in 2009!

This is so true and yet I find myself rather jaded. As many on here know, we buy and sell a lot of property. Not really flipping them, but in a way too... kind of. This last house though, to be closed on in two weeks, really did it for me. I bought it for $180,000, (154,000 Euro) put $50,000 (43,000 Euro) into it in just materials with me doing the carpentry work, and ended up selling it for $250,000 (215,000 euro). It took me 2 years to do, working at a full-time job, which is not bad, an additional $70,000 (60,000), or $35,000 (30,000 Euro) a year for what amounts to a part-time side-hustle. But it seems like a lot of work and effort for $35,000 (30,000 Euro) a year? With this new house, located on an island on a point of land where every window has an ocean view, we paid $116,000 (99,000 Euro). It needs a lot of work though, which I think will be around $40,000 (34,000 Euro). The insurance company tells me the replacement value for this house is $203,000 (174,000 Euro), so that is only a gain of $87,000 (75,000 Euro), assuming I can sell the rebuilt house for that much money. It is good to stay busy, and I like carpentry, but I am not so sure the numbers are really working. Maybe I am just getting old though and tired of building new kitchens and bathrooms! I am not losing money, which is good, but it just does not seem to be a huge moneymaker for me either. I am really starting to question my life choices.

I think when it comes to the high heel height of what is acceptable to wear or not, I get the win for being the most dumb! When I first met my wife, and found out she LOVED high heels, I wanted to get some for her as a gift. At the time, about 2012'ish, there were far more choices in stores, but the clerk working there was not a whole lot of help. So when a woman was there buying shoes I asked her what would be an appropriate pair for my wife to wear to church. She helped me pick out a pair and said something I will never forget, "just remember, for heels at church you never want to go over 3.5 inches (9 CM)". My wife does have a few 10 CM's, and a very few 12 cm's, but when I buy her shoes I never go over 9 cm so she can wear them on dates as well as to church. But yes... my height standard for church was set by some literal random stranger in a store 14 years ago! Yep; that is dumb! (Edited after I found a picture of her in those first heels I ever bought for her. The lady in the post above helped me pick these shoes out. Just keep in mind this was in 2012).

This in no way relates to what many of you are seeing in scale, but I was talking with a doctor; a woman who told me she was 29 years old. When she found out where I lived, she mentioned she had been there to hike the many trails. Since I walk the 4.5 mile loop every day, we got talking about the difficulty of it, to which she said, "it's not a difficult hike. Not one I would do wearing my high heels though..." It just surprised me as she looked a bit more earth-based and yet used high heels to make a point on the trail's difficulty. In the office she was wearing high heeled knee-high boots so I guess it should not have been a surprise. I was glad to see and hear the younger generation at least has some in their closets!

I love sweater dresses as a whole. My favorite dress of my wife's is one. You would have to know us, but we banter back and forth a lot and often make these silly bets. Well, we were at the local mall and eating at the food court and beside us was a small woman's boutique. Way up high they had this sweater and so it began. I said it was a sweaterdress, and the wife said it was way too short to be a dress and was just a long sweater. So after eating we asked the clerk and sure enough I was right, it was a sweaterdress. A good clerk, her next words were, "would you like to buy it?" Sure enough, one in her size went home with us. I actually see it in several pictures now. We buy and sell a lot of property and on one such purchase, we are pictured with her wearing it. She likes it because she can tame its truncated hemline with leggings for a demure look, or go sassy and leave it short pairing it with pantyhose/tights.