The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, mlroseplant said:

There isn't much going on here lately, so I decided to spend a few minutes and compile some personal high heel statistics. As I told about 2 1/2 months ago, I managed to walk approximately 350 documented miles in heels in 2024. I know that over the last 12 years of this adventure, my heels have gotten incrementally higher, so I was curious about what percentage of those 350 miles I walked in "high" heels vs. "mid" heels. My definition of a "high" heel is 4" or greater difference between heel and toe, subtracting out the thickness of the platform, where applicable. A "mid" heel to me is 3 - 3 7/8", using the same metric.

So here are the numbers: 56.9% of the mileage was in "high" heels, and 43.1% was in "mid" heels. 0% for anything less than 3". I was able to get this information because I keep track of how many miles I walk in specific shoes, in addition to keeping a running total. I do this to keep track of how many miles I get out of heel tips, and ultimately the shoes themselves. For anybody who is curious, my most durable shoes to date are my True Religion mules, at 243 miles and still going strong. They are barely "high" heels with a 5" heel and 1" platform. In second place are my Nine West Sizzle oxfords at 196 miles. Those, unfortunately, are no longer with us.

In other non-high heel news, I'm going back to work Monday. I really didn't want to take this job, but given what's happened in the last seven weeks, I figured it would behoove me to have a job, while there is still one available. At least I'll have friends there--it's not like I'll be a total stranger. I met a brother at orientation yesterday whom I hadn't seen in years. I hope we manage to get tooled up together.

Very impressive indeed.  Hoping the new job works out...

[Shyheels]

Impressive statistics! 

It certainly has been quiet here lately. 

Not much high heels news from my part of England. 

[Cali]

I think it is that there are very few first for each of us.  I plan to fly this coming week for the first time with knee high boots. Expected no issues. Another reason is there are very few high heels in the market place. I have been looking for many months and so far had to return 5 pairs and the 6th one sold out before they send it. DSW is now devoted at most 20% of the floor space to shoes with heels.

[Shyheels]

Yes, heels are definitely in a downswing. I suppose I am fortunate in that my tastes run to chunky heeled boots in the 3-4” range for which there still seems to be a reasonable market - albeit not in my size range.

it still surprises me though they there are not more active members here. This is a friendly and welcoming forum and I’m certain there is a latent desire out there to at least try high heels and see what all the fuss is - was? - about.

[mlroseplant]

Yeah, I know that I don't have a lot to say that hasn't already been said. That's why I have to invent stuff like statistics, and even that only goes so far.

I am wondering how my new job is going to affect my walk schedule. It's 58 hours a week, so that means that many hours plus commuting time will be spent in flatties. Will I be able to average a mile a day in heels or not? I'm hoping that I can, but I can also see it going by the wayside.

[Shyheels]

That’s a mighty long work week. Especially if you’re also commuting any distance. I hope you’re being well compensated. I should think a lot of things in one’s personal life would go by the wayside under such a regime.

[pebblesf]

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Yeah, I know that I don't have a lot to say that hasn't already been said. That's why I have to invent stuff like statistics, and even that only goes so far.

I am wondering how my new job is going to affect my walk schedule. It's 58 hours a week, so that means that many hours plus commuting time will be spent in flatties. Will I be able to average a mile a day in heels or not? I'm hoping that I can, but I can also see it going by the wayside.

Please don't allow that to happen!

8 hours ago, Cali said:

I think it is that there are very few first for each of us.  I plan to fly this coming week for the first time with knee high boots. Expected no issues. Another reason is there are very few high heels in the market place. I have been looking for many months and so far had to return 5 pairs and the 6th one sold out before they send it. DSW is now devoted at most 20% of the floor space to shoes with heels.

Be sure to update us, sounds like a great adventure/trip for sure.  What airline?  

[mlroseplant]

22 hours ago, Shyheels said:

That’s a mighty long work week. Especially if you’re also commuting any distance. I hope you’re being well compensated. I should think a lot of things in one’s personal life would go by the wayside under such a regime.

The commute is about half an hour each way. I did this for years in the past, and I thought I was done with it, but I guess fate had other plans. My plan is to work all the hours for at least a month, and get a feel for how management feels about people working less than that. I am not the only one in my orientation group who feels this way. We are paid quite well enough to more than make it on 40. OK, I'm signing off right now. Here we go!

[Cali]

Only 1/2 hour commute. I commute over 3000 ft 'hill'. Good days around 35 - 45 minutes depending on the traffic a road. Bad days 1+ hours. This summer I have a 55 minute (minimum) each way. But only 16 more months till I retire and the pay is very good.

Some of the commutes I have done have been over 1 1/2 hours each way.  But this is California, the land of freeways.

[pebblesf]

19 minutes ago, Cali said:

Only 1/2 hour commute. I commute over 3000 ft 'hill'. Good days around 35 - 45 minutes depending on the traffic a road. Bad days 1+ hours. This summer I have a 55 minute (minimum) each way. But only 16 more months till I retire and the pay is very good.

Some of the commutes I have done have been over 1 1/2 hours each way.  But this is California, the land of freeways.

One thing I surely don't miss, the commute home from BOS to Providence after a trip...  50 mile trip that has taken me as long as three hours...

[Shyheels]

I’m very lucky to be able to work from home. My commute from bed to the table in my galley is about twenty feet! 

[mlroseplant]

A report: I survived the first day of work. I think this is going to be all right. I actually walked a mile after supper, so I guess my energy level is high enough on Day 1. I'm on the fire alarm crew, which is not ideal but it's waaaaay better than doing underground!

I ran into a guy I had worked with at some point in the past the other day at the grocery store. I was with my son. I was wearing my black Diane von Furstenberg clogs, which have 5 3/8" narrow heels (1" platform). I knew I knew the guy from work somewhere, but I couldn't think of his name (still can't). He sure knew mine. At any rate, it was patently obvious that he did not notice my shoes. Not everyone has an interest such as we. That's just weird, innit?

[Shyheels]

Yes and no. It’s surprising how many people just exist in their own bubble. And of course shoes - and heels - are down at ground level, out of direct line of sight. Perhaps if he’d seen you at a distance and watched you approach over a period of 15 or 20 seconds he might have noticed but within the confines of a grocery store he’d be looking at your face.

[pebblesf]

5 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

A report: I survived the first day of work. I think this is going to be all right. I actually walked a mile after supper, so I guess my energy level is high enough on Day 1. I'm on the fire alarm crew, which is not ideal but it's waaaaay better than doing underground!

I ran into a guy I had worked with at some point in the past the other day at the grocery store. I was with my son. I was wearing my black Diane von Furstenberg clogs, which have 5 3/8" narrow heels (1" platform). I knew I knew the guy from work somewhere, but I couldn't think of his name (still can't). He sure knew mine. At any rate, it was patently obvious that he did not notice my shoes. Not everyone has an interest such as we. That's just weird, innit?

How is it you are so sure your coworker did not notice your clogs?   Perhaps he was just being polite, intrigued, but trying hard not to be obvious about it...

[mlroseplant]

18 hours ago, pebblesf said:

How is it you are so sure your coworker did not notice your clogs?   Perhaps he was just being polite, intrigued, but trying hard not to be obvious about it...

It is possible that he noticed, but had the discipline to keep his eyes on my face. There are, in fact, some guys who have that discipline. I'm one of them, but just barely. I can remember, years ago, I used to carpool with this guy, and one day my ex-wife happened to be home and outside one day when we had just returned from work. For whatever reason, she was wearing a very low cut top on that particular day (and high heels, as well!). I figured it would be rude if I didn't at least introduce them, so I said, "Come on, Phil, we better say hi to my wife."

The conversation was not long, but after Phil left, my ex-wife commented, in a complimentary way, that he maintained eye contact the entire time and did not look at her bosom. I talked to Phil about it the next day, and he admitted it was very difficult not to look. I find myself in the same situation with shoes. Although my life in that respect is getting easier and easier all the time. I have to look at my own feet.

[Shyheels]

I once found myself staring at a very unusual necklace this Brazilian woman was wearing - I don’t remember what it was but it was very exotic in some way - and I realised as I studied it that my gaze could be interpreted in a very different way. I was quite embarrassed by the realisation and made myself scarce. 

Edited March 19 by Shyheels

[CrushedVamp]

19 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I once found myself staring at a very unusual necklace this Brazilian woman was wearing - I don’t remember what it was but it was very exotic in some way - and I realised as I studied it that my gaze could be interpreted in a very different way. I was quite embarrassed by the realisation and made myself scarce. 

You are not alone in that! 🙂

I was once on a flight sitting in the first row where ahead of me a flight attendant sat, but in looking back at the cabin reversed-too so to speak. Its odd I know, but I like ankle bracelets and she was wearing one, but it was the first time I ever saw a woman wear them UNDER her stockings. That took me by surprise, but when I looked up, she was looking back at me like I was some sort of pervert. I am not, just at that time I had never seen anything like that. Since then I have seen others wear them that way, under their pantyhose or stockings, but still can't figure out why. My wife wears her on the outside.

As for me, I have been thinking about a new job myself. As a guy I think a lot of my identity is in doing what I do, and it does not help that it is kind of unique what I do. It always paid well, but over the years the pay has leveled off and other jobs are increasing. Part of that is working insane hours, like literally being on-call 24/7/365 days a year. My wife even says "it feels like we live here" whenever we have to drive to my job for something. Now I am beginning to wonder if "having a cool job" is actually worth it though. I could work a job for the same money, 5 miles from home, 4 days a week, its just a boring every day sort of job. I do have a job interview there next week, so we shall see how that goes, then make my decision.

As for high heels, maybe it is because it is early mud season here, but I have not seen anyone wearing high heels, even at church. It is one of the reasons I have not been on this site much myself.

 

[mlroseplant]

2 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

You are not alone in that! 🙂

I was once on a flight sitting in the first row where ahead of me a flight attendant sat, but in looking back at the cabin reversed-too so to speak. Its odd I know, but I like ankle bracelets and she was wearing one, but it was the first time I ever saw a woman wear them UNDER her stockings. That took me by surprise, but when I looked up, she was looking back at me like I was some sort of pervert. I am not, just at that time I had never seen anything like that. Since then I have seen others wear them that way, under their pantyhose or stockings, but still can't figure out why. My wife wears her on the outside.

As for me, I have been thinking about a new job myself. As a guy I think a lot of my identity is in doing what I do, and it does not help that it is kind of unique what I do. It always paid well, but over the years the pay has leveled off and other jobs are increasing. Part of that is working insane hours, like literally being on-call 24/7/365 days a year. My wife even says "it feels like we live here" whenever we have to drive to my job for something. Now I am beginning to wonder if "having a cool job" is actually worth it though. I could work a job for the same money, 5 miles from home, 4 days a week, its just a boring every day sort of job. I do have a job interview there next week, so we shall see how that goes, then make my decision.

As for high heels, maybe it is because it is early mud season here, but I have not seen anyone wearing high heels, even at church. It is one of the reasons I have not been on this site much myself.

 

It is kind of depressing, isn't it? The folks in my church choir may or may not know about my work situation, but one of them informed me last night that my future employment situation seems secure. It was announced a couple of days ago that an IT company had bought land to build seven large data center buildings a mere 10 miles from my house. This is a big enough project to last more than five years. I told him that that was not necessarily good news at all. Great. Another data center. Give me something else, please! Data centers are at once boring and stressful. Not to mention exhausting. I would rather work at Firestone than data centers, and that's saying something (a tire factory can be very dirty).

[bluejay]

4 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

You are not alone in that! 🙂

I was once on a flight sitting in the first row where ahead of me a flight attendant sat, but in looking back at the cabin reversed-too so to speak. Its odd I know, but I like ankle bracelets and she was wearing one, but it was the first time I ever saw a woman wear them UNDER her stockings. That took me by surprise, but when I looked up, she was looking back at me like I was some sort of pervert. I am not, just at that time I had never seen anything like that. Since then I have seen others wear them that way, under their pantyhose or stockings, but still can't figure out why. My wife wears her on the outside.

As for me, I have been thinking about a new job myself. As a guy I think a lot of my identity is in doing what I do, and it does not help that it is kind of unique what I do. It always paid well, but over the years the pay has leveled off and other jobs are increasing. Part of that is working insane hours, like literally being on-call 24/7/365 days a year. My wife even says "it feels like we live here" whenever we have to drive to my job for something. Now I am beginning to wonder if "having a cool job" is actually worth it though. I could work a job for the same money, 5 miles from home, 4 days a week, its just a boring every day sort of job. I do have a job interview there next week, so we shall see how that goes, then make my decision.

As for high heels, maybe it is because it is early mud season here, but I have not seen anyone wearing high heels, even at church. It is one of the reasons I have not been on this site much myself.

 

I've never seen a woman wearing an anklet under her hosiery, always it's on the top. My wife and I having matching anklets which we always wear bare legged or on top of tights or hose.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

[Shyheels]

Life in the magazine world is not too great at the moment so I too am looking for new pastures. I’m working in a novel and hoping I can find some other outlets for my writing and photography. It has always been a chancy lifestyle and career but never more so than now.

[Cali]

 

How about a Long Boat Calendar or a coffee table book of pictures Long Boats. (I guess your would call it a 'tea' table book.)

Next year just the canals, smooth water, rough water, clouds reflected, ....

then birds along the canals,

then ...

 

[Shyheels]

Funny you should say that, I'm well on my way to doing just that!  Life on the canals is very picturesque. 

We drink a lot of coffee in Britain, by the way - by no means assume tea these days. I am well equipped for both on my boat, with multiple types of coffee and about a dozen styles of tea! 

[Cali]

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

Funny you should say that, I'm well on my way to doing just that!  Life on the canals is very picturesque. 

We drink a lot of coffee in Britain, by the way - by no means assume tea these days. I am well equipped for both on my boat, with multiple types of coffee and about a dozen styles of tea! 

There is coffee (starbucks) and GOOD deep dark roasted flavorful coffee. 

I've been an author and editor for 35 years. One of many unique positions I have held over the years.

Boat gardens, boat puppies, swans, flowers along the sides of the canal, ...  I could go on and on ... every year a new Calendar

 

[Shyheels]

47 minutes ago, Cali said:

There is coffee (starbucks) and GOOD deep dark roasted flavorful coffee. 

I've been an author and editor for 35 years. One of many unique positions I have held over the years.

Boat gardens, boat puppies, swans, flowers along the sides of the canal, ...  I could go on and on ... every year a new Calendar

 

That’s my thinking. I’ve got quite a portfolio over the past year, enough seasons and setting for calendars and cards.

I’m something of a coffee snob - I prefer beans from Ethiopia and Yemen. I find Jamaica Blue Mountain to be quite overrated. With electricity being a limiting factor in boat life I do not have any fancy coffee machines, but use a Hario cone filter and a whistling kettle on my gas stove.

[mlroseplant]

20 hours ago, bluejay said:

I've never seen a woman wearing an anklet under her hosiery, always it's on the top. My wife and I having matching anklets which we always wear bare legged or on top of tights or hose.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

My wife always wears her ankle bracelet underneath hosiery (where applicable), but that's probably because she never takes it off.

30 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

That’s my thinking. I’ve got quite a portfolio over the past year, enough seasons and setting for calendars and cards.

I’m something of a coffee snob - I prefer beans from Ethiopia and Yemen. I find Jamaica Blue Mountain to be quite overrated. With electricity being a limiting factor in boat life I do not have any fancy coffee machines, but use a Hario cone filter and a whistling kettle on my gas stove.

I am a recovering coffee snob. I used to buy the freshest beans from my local roaster, grind them by hand in my Zassenhaus grinder, and make one cup at a time pouring hot water over the grounds. Now, I just drink whatever my wife buys from Costco using the automatic coffee maker. We still buy whole bean, though. When I'm in coffee snob mode, I tend to prefer the African coffees in general, especially Ethiopian. I find Colombian coffee to be overrated.

[Shyheels]

Snap! Yes I like pour-over coffee and use my copper cone and filter papers, one cup at a time. And definitely Ethiopian!

 

[Cali]

I drink expresso roasted bean. My current beans are a 3 - 3 - 2 mixture of Peruvian Ore Verde, Sumatra Dark, and Sweet Italian. No machine, no pods. Real thick hearty pour-over coffee. 

[Shyheels]

For some variety I’ve just picked up some fresh ground Monsoon Malabar coffee. I love its earthy notes.

[CrushedVamp]

On 3/20/2025 at 8:25 AM, bluejay said:

I've never seen a woman wearing an anklet under her hosiery, always it's on the top. My wife and I having matching anklets which we always wear bare legged or on top of tights or hose.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

I am in no way the Ankle Bracelet Police so who am I to say how they are to be worn, but I would think wearing them rather obscurely seen under pantyhose or stockings would mute the point of wearing them, not to mention them snagging and laddering the pantyhose or stockings more often. I will concede though that it would keep the ankle from bouncing around as the person walks if that proved to be bothersome to the wearer. It would certainly prevent that.

But I am not sure there is another form of jewelry that is as roiled in conflict as that of the lowly olde ankle bracelet. There are supposedly so many differing meanings for a person wearing them, from meaning the person is in an open marriage, to be married or not depending on what ankle it is worn on, to challenging social norms.

For my wife… she just likes how they look on her ankle. We are not into wife-sharing or any of that anymore. And for whatever reason she prefers silver over that of gold feeling as if silver is more casual then the gold ones, although she owns several of both. She also wears her on her left ankle because she is married and that is the same side her wedding band is worn. And finally, typically her ankle bracelets has a pendant of some sort to them, usually a cross, but also dolphins, and the initials of our children.

On 3/20/2025 at 6:18 AM, mlroseplant said:

It is kind of depressing, isn't it? The folks in my church choir may or may not know about my work situation, but one of them informed me last night that my future employment situation seems secure. It was announced a couple of days ago that an IT company had bought land to build seven large data center buildings a mere 10 miles from my house. This is a big enough project to last more than five years. I told him that that was not necessarily good news at all. Great. Another data center. Give me something else, please! Data centers are at once boring and stressful. Not to mention exhausting. I would rather work at Firestone than data centers, and that's saying something (a tire factory can be very dirty).

The company I work for really got caught up in large data centers, really banking on them for future growth and now is losing a LOT of money because of it. It stems from AI Data Centers consuming a LOT of electricity, I mean some were going to take nuclear power plants powering them like Three Mile Island being taken out of moth balls and fired back up just to run them, and all behind the meter!!!  But the Chinese figured out a way to do AI with a fraction of the electricity needed, so now everything is out the window.

No one should make assumptions like that though, that the only way to do something is this way, because you just never know how innovation will change things, and especially if you think you can corner the market on something. That just makes people innovate that much more to get out from under your controlling hand.

I never liked hot tea, always preferring hot coffee until I went to Ireland for the first time. We were staying at a farmhouse and the couple that lived there offered me tea, so to be polite I accepted and that was when she asked how I took it, with sugar or cream.

My grandmother was a tea drinker, but always had hers "black" so to speak, so it never occurred to me that it could be tamed with cream and sugar. After having some cream in it, I have grown to really love hot tea.

Call me what you wish but I take mine as I do my coffee, just a splash of whole milk, so not flavored creamers, or creamers at all, and no sugar. Just milk.

[mlroseplant]

My wife is very strange. She actually prefers Coffee Mate to actual cream or milk. Then again, she keeps tomatoes in the refrigerator. Some things, you just learn to accept or ignore.

After one week back in the saddle, it's not so bad. My only objection to the job is that there's too much of it. I will be heading to work today shortly (on Saturday). That ain't no way to live, but the old bank account is going to recover quickly.