HappyinHeels

my Iowa neighbour,

Others have said before so I'll refresh everyone. Firstly once one has practiced a new discipline thoroughly and completely then confidence kicks in and people notice that. Secondly once one has done something enough the novelty to others wears off and that person simply blends into the background of what's expected. There may not be many men who wear high heels in your small Iowa town but you have become that different yet expected part of the background. Just what you wanted all along. Think about what Cali has said about what happens if he doesn't wear heels where he lives and works. People around town including merchants come to know you and they would miss that quirky contribution to the local scene. HinH

mlroseplant,

I saw you mention NineWest in your post. I used to shop both an outlet store as well as a specialty retailer NineWest store in the Hawthorn shopping center in Mundelein, IL but all NineWest stores I knew of or shopped have been closed. NineWest went into receivership some time ago and part of the plan to recover debts was for other reailers to market NineWest footwear. This explains why I've seen NineWest in places DSW, Macys, and Nordstrom Rack. You've seen me so you I wear heels as high as yours. Luckily I bought many heels back in the 2009-2012 time frame when the economy wasn't good but heel heights were the highest since the 1970's. I have an arsenal of heels above 5"/12cm to choose from, When Bakers was going strong they sold many shoes with a 5.5"/13.5 cm heel before eventually selling some 6"/15cm heels. So many shoe venues have disappeared like NineWest, Bakers, Shi, Steve Madden (scaled back), Charlotte Russe, Sheikh Shoes (scaled back), BCBG (scaled back) and others. I wrote in another post how at the same time the US shoe market is changing and not for the better the shoe market in Mexico is thriving. Lovely shoes of wondrous heights and made in Mexico and on sale for very low prices. HappyinHeels

I would think any black or brown tall wedges would work or a chunky heel sandal in the same colours. A snakeskin print sandal like the JS Dany Dijon I posted recently would go very nicely with snake skin jeans. Both bold choices for sure but I know you're not shy. HinH

AHOY!

GOLDMINE

All have made the case that clothes alone do NOT define a person or their sexuality or put them IN or OUT of the ever-evolving LGBTQ community. The community to which one most aspires to belong is the one which accepts you for who you are so long as you treat others with the same basic respect decent human beings require and deserve of one another. 

RESTAURANT

Tall and very sexy! Have only one pair of wedges that high, a pair made for me by Karos Shoes of Los Angeles which I posted on 01 Mar 2019 in the "who has bought new shoes" section. They are exactly 7" or about 19.6cm high. Have only worn them in public three times but more often in private homes. They look very fun indeed. 😃

MEXICO

Seeing both these guys doing their thing certainly makes me think this is precisely what most of the members here would like to see. Men expressing themselves with fashion in ways that are neither underwriting any gay status nor trying to "pass" as female. Sort of like how females have been wearing things obviously intended for men and just go about their business without worry of some hierarchy placing some of label on them. But really the only way to find and enjoy yourself and that new sense of fashion freedom is to get out there and do it like these two are and the way many of our members do.

As for you mlroseplant, my Iowa neighbour, I know how you look since I've seen you in-person a number of times now. You are unafraid and unapologetic but at the same time don't appear "threatening" to anyone. Your best trait I suspect is the good heart you carry. Not untypical of many Iowans really. That is what truly matters once we are gone and the only fabric left of our existence is the knowledge (and perhaps the wisdom) we shared with those around us. The undeniable need to interact with others, to listen and be listened to, to watch and be watched, and to use the five senses to the best of our collective ability seems to be the foundation of the human experience. It is the unspoken reason why forums like this one exist. It may not help all who view it or post on it but the fact it has helped many many people understand themselves better than before and given rise to something else needed to properly enjoy the human journey: CONFIDENCE. It only come from experience and knowledge. Confidence inspires people all over the world and this forum does a pretty good job as a conduit of human kindness and understanding. And that's what I have to say about that.  HinH

CONVERSE

That's right. A tornado comes along and those homes get mobile really fast! HinH

REVERED

Classic Iowa comeback! I like that. There actually are at least two areas I know of in the MIdwest where the majority of fields are irrigated. A small area is in Northern Indiana. Another larger area is the Central Sands Area of central Wisconsin. It stretches from Wautoma to Stevens Point and Weyauwega to nearly Marshfield. The soil is such that it doesn't hold water well at all so there are irrigation ditches and canals and all sorts of irrigation equipment as if one were in an arid or semiarid area. Not a desert but the soil mimics what happens in the desert. HinH

REAPER

FOUNDATION

mlroseplant,

I'm not sure if you're a painter or not but I have to say you are mastering this particular canvas my friend. Very well depicted indeed. I can almost see the proverbial fireworks from where I sit now. HinH

CHrisPap,

One would think with my classic French surname that I would have made it to France a long time ago but it didn't happen until December of 2012. Had some business in London and took the train over and spent the entire day in Paris. From my Algerian taxi driver to various folks in restaurants and two fellows in a pricey shop where I tried on some heels just before closing I encountered nothing but friendly and engaging people. Don't know if it was a rare day or they just reacted well to French with a Quebecois accent to it. I have heard over the years of Parisians being arrogant or snooty because your French isn't like theirs or some such nonsense. I encountered none of that. As my taxi driver put it something like "The long-lost cousin finally makes it to the dinner invitation. What the hell took so long?" I do think a common ancestry and being conversant in the language made an enormous difference but so does a positive attitude. I think also a certain event not long ago where three average Americans from Sacramento, CA made a very positive impression in France. People remember these things. I will definitely return to France with my wife and spend much longer there. HinH

These are a 2020 version of the "Dany" line which Jessica Simpson launched around 2010. I ordered the Dijon pair which are the colour of the famous mustard. They should arrive on Thursday the 25th of June. I rarely order via the internet unless it is something I am already familiar with and I have a pair of Dany sandals from back in 2010. A chunky 6"/15 cm heel which is deceptively cumfy with whatever you are wearing it. I know our friend in the Toronto area, w6ish, has talked about these very fondly over the years. I apparently bought the last size 11 pair they had in this colour on the Zappos website. Didn't care for their activist banner but they are known to be speedy and reliable. My first purchase with them and my first internet shoe purchase in quite some time. Look forward to wearing these with different jeans this summer. HinH

Whenever I stay at my sister's home in south central PA I take care of their problem with poison oak, ivy, and sumac. That part of the state is the mildest area and they have all three growing there. Apparently I have an immunity to it but I still wear long sleeves and gloves as to not take it into the house after finishing. HinH

Seven decimal places is the practical working limit for most commercial surveying and the seventh decimal place of longitude at the equator is around 11.1 mm but at 45 degrees north latitude this becomes 7.87 mm or 0.3". That is about three credit cards thick. So the 1/8" accuracy they're telling you appears to be check out. They're doing some berm work across the road from our house and the fellow running the bulldozer said his machine had GPS equipment on it so that they don't need to stake out construction sites the way they used to. He said theirs is accurate to within an inch or 25 mm. How things have advanced! HinH

There is something about certain heels which work well for running errands and doing everyday things and the importance of holding onto them as long as possible. Cali understands this as he adores wedges and I do too which is why I have tried to post more photos of me wearing them as I thought they were underrepresented. A pair of heels which works for anyone of us doesn't always to have look gorgeous or sexy or anything since none of us live in Hollywood or Cannes or in a four-star hotel HinH

BOM VIAGEM

I know the number of steps measured can vary but this is a function of the error range of consumer-grade electronics. I live about 3 miles/5 km west of the 88th meridian which crosses our road. I sometimes slow down and look at the GPS coordinate data on my car's display screen and can see a variance of up to 100 feet from other readings. Although the satellites themselves are accurate our consumer-grade devices have a built-in error rate. It is only when one gets to military-grade, and scientific-grade devices where absolute accuracy is required. I'm talking about going to six or seven decimal places in locator data instead of three or four. The health data is based upon the satellite function found on our phones. My point was to use something which so many people already have. As to having more than one phone I'd mention a method  I use in my weather observations and my work as a COOP observer with the National Weather Service (NWS).  I have three thermometres and take observations from all three. I add the results and take the average of all three which is an accepted practice within NWS. I suggest the same for anyone wanting to replicate our esteemed Danish member's experiment to get a more accurate result. HappyinHeels

A "Ring" camera or some other sort of camera device may clarify if a package was truly delivered as claimed or if a "porch pirate" took possession of it. Before we went out to Yuma, AZ the second time there was a delivery at our house and I met the fellow. He was not in a vehicle emblazoned with any sort of logo or company information and was wearing no such uniform or insignia. He was, in fact, driving his own vehicle and delivering Amazon packages. I was told this is a method used in some areas where the deliveries are sporadic. So many of these delivery companies have GPS tracking capabilities so it would be interesting to match geographic coordinates of a delivery vehicle with those of the intended recipient. I'll bet there a lot of anomalies. HinH