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The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant


mlroseplant

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10 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Composite decking is not all that it's cracked up to be. Still need pressure treated framing and the composite material will feather (you'll get rubberized plastic splinters instead of wood) and fade in the UV. You'll have to replace it too. The fasteners and the decking is way more expensive up front for about twice the durability.

 

7 hours ago, RonC said:

I now know much more about composite decking!  Just curious, could they maybe have made advancements in the last few years so that the newer stuff holds up better?  

Agreed on all counts, although I'm not convinced that composite necessarily has twice the overall durability compared with properly-treated and laid wooden decking - but time will tell.   I don't think the products available in the UK have improved much in recent years.

Framing is certainly a key issue - not only properly treated but of appropriate strength and spacing to give adequate support.   Foundations for the framing must be carefully considered too (depending upon the ground or other surface beneath), or the whole decking area can sag or undulate.   I speak from bitter experience having spent a whole weekend last summer lifting the undulating composite decking installed for my son two years earlier (by so-called professionals) and re-levelling the framework with improved foundations (on earth) before re-laying the boards (and providing stronger exposed edges too).   Wooden boards would have been a little stiffer and more resistant to sagging and edge -damage, but that was not his choice from the maintenance viewpoint, understandably.   My own (wooden) decking that I installed at least 15 years ago has shown very few signs of deterioration; it is pressure-washed and re-sealed at no more than 24-month intervals.

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4 hours ago, Puffer said:

My own (wooden) decking that I installed at least 15 years ago has shown very few signs of deterioration; it is pressure-washed and re-sealed at no more than 24-month intervals.

OK, so I know what I'm doing this week. And probably in my ratty tennis shoes.

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7 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

OK, so I know what I'm doing this week. And probably in my ratty tennis shoes.

 

2 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Pressure washing in heels, been there done that many times.

Crotch-high waders (flat heels) might be more fun!

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Not really a high heeled subject, but it sort of is. I went to my tailor friend, who is sewing masks during this time of not working, and picked up some orders for my coworkers. We will be required to wear masks when we return to work, hopefully at the end of the month. The company will supply masks, but who knows what we'll get going that route? Certainly not N95s. Naturally, I couldn't get a normal looking mask. One of the ones I got was this toile-esque pattern, which has as a theme a few fashionable cities in Europe (plus NYC). The reason I picked it was because it depicts a couple of young ladies in high heels, including one riding a bicycle in heels. Of course, I didn't specify how I wanted this thing to be cut out, nor would I--that's just silliness for such a utilitarian item, so the images I really liked are kind of cut off. Here are some photos, just for fun, as well as a very recent shot of the mask maker, who favors high heels with shorts, weather permitting.

Mask1.JPG

Mask2.jpg

MaskWorn.PNG

Maskmaker.PNG

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Today, I have a not so nice story to tell. Earlier this week, I was delivering some masks to somebody I hadn't seen in a while, and I hadn't been to her house for more than a year. We talked for just a little bit when the neighbor girl, who looked to be about 12 or 13 years old, came outside to empty the garbage. It was then that my friend told me that the last time I was there, evidently the neighbor doesn't think too highly of me. I have little recollection of the event, but apparently when I was there last time and was introduced to him, he told my friend not to bring me over to his yard again. When she asked him why not, he replied that he didn't want to have to explain me to his kids. I have no idea what I was wearing at the time, but chances are it was shorts with wedges. That alone might do it for a person of a certain persuasion. While my experiences have been largely positive, and continue to improve as time goes on, it's a sobering reminder that jackwagons are everywhere!

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Well, you do have to admit that men wearing heels is still an “abnormality” in “normal” society. While we don’t see anything out of the ordinary about the practice, others, especially parents of young children, just might view the practice as slightly out of the ordinary and have difficulty explaining the situation to children still trying to sort out the differences between girls and boys. I really don’t get very fussed at people that don’t approve, I try not to take it to much to heart because in this era, we that are walking to a different tune are out of “sink” with most every one else.  

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Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.

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Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I didn't wear heels at all. I was working on a car pretty much all day, and I have just gotten to the point that I don't do that in heels anymore, if the project has any length to it. After the project was finished (successfully, I might add), I didn't bother to change my shoes. Today, however, is another day!

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I have nothing to say. Neither does anybody else, from the looks of things.

Yeah, it just isn't worth taking the time to post these days. I still wear my heels most every day, but at a half-hour or so for outing and those being non-eventful, it's not worth the time to journal them.

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I haven't worn bootcut jeans in forever. Years ago, I wore them exclusively in an attempt to make my heels not so obvious. By accident, I happened to get out a pair this morning. Maybe I'm rethinking the look. I'm sure I will change my mind just as soon as I actually go anywhere, and re-experience the problem of getting my pantlegs caught on the backs of my heels, and constantly having to pull them down. I don't miss that at all.

BonnywithBootcut.PNG

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It's funny that you wrote about this.  I found a pair of bootcut jeans hanging in my closet last weekend.  Can't even remember when I got them or even if I ever wore them.  I put them on and they fit extremely well, size 8 curvy :) .  I  wore them that night to an outdoor graduation celebration and two other times already. They are not going replace my skinny jeans and legging but they are going to get used more now.

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It is funny how two supposedly identical pairs of shoes can be so different. I have been trying to abandon my old pair of BCBGirls Bonny mules in favor of the new pair, but it's difficult. The new pair has now gotten loose enough to where my foot is sliding too far forward in the shoe, on that slick shiny gold material, creating the dreaded toe overhang. That was never a problem with the old pair for some reason. I decided, after some experimentation, to add a pair of cushions, as shown. It seems to have fixed the problem right up, although I have yet to take the shoes for a true test spin. The old shoes are coming apart, and I have to decide whether to glue them back together (again) and get them reheeled. Included just for fun is how much the soles of the old pair are worn compared to the new pair.

BonnywithPads.JPG

BonnyWornSole.jpg

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I'm sure it's just the angle of the photo but the new pair actually looks smaller than the old pair, which makes the foot slide even more puzzling.

 

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14 hours ago, RonC said:

I'm sure it's just the angle of the photo but the new pair actually looks smaller than the old pair, which makes the foot slide even more puzzling.

 

Since you mentioned it, of course I had to go put a tape measure to them. I used a tailor's tape measure to ensure that the measurement accurately followed the curve of the shoe(s). Both pair are nominally 8 1/2 U.S. Women's, and both measure 10 1/8" from the extreme front edge to the extreme back edge. Although there is some disagreement between size conversion charts, a size 8 1/2 foot is approximately 9 5/8" long, which works out nearly perfectly when my foot is sitting in the sandal where I'd like it to. When the ball of my foot is sitting nicely in the apex of the angle, there is approximately 3/8 - 1/2" of distance between the front of my two biggest toes (they are nearly the same length) and the extreme front edge of the shoe. In back, my heel is right on the edge of the shoe, or maybe 1/8" forward of that, which is how I feel it should be. Included is a photo as a visual example. Because I like my heel to sit where I do, it also explains why I go down a half size in any sort of backless shoe. You certainly wouldn't want your heel sitting that tight in a closed-back shoe, that would probably be quite uncomfortable.

As to why the new pair requires an insert to get it to fit right, I honestly think it was the way in which I broke them in, and the circumstances under which I broke them in, compared to the way in which I broke in the old pair. My belief is that it has to do with two factors: 1) The shiny gold material on the insole, which looks cooler 'n hell, but is quite slippery when exposed to the slightest amount of perspiration, and 2) When I got the first pair, my toes were not flexible enough to wear them comfortably for more than half an hour. In fact, I came very close to trashing the first pair at one time because I literally couldn't get them all the way on all at once, and even when my feet did eventually slide to the correct position after walking around a little bit, the ends of my toes would often go numb. Somehow, after nearly a year of futzing with them, they became wearable. I believe that this process gave me time to wear that gold shiny stuff down to the point where it wasn't quite so slippery. Whatever is underneath that, that white stuff you can see in the photo two posts above, is far grippier. Therefore, even though the old pair is FAR looser than the new pair, my feet pretty much stay where they're supposed to, even during fairly vigorous walking. With the new pair, other than the leather straps being incredibly stiff at first, I was able to wear them and walk in them right away, not allowing time for that gold stuff to wear through, and causing my feet to slide too far forward because of the relatively low coefficient of friction.

How's that for an over-analysis of a damn pair of shoes? I know you guys must be tired of hearing about these Bonnys. I have made quite a few posts devoted to them. I promise to post about something else next time.

BonnySizing.jpg

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A man has to have something to talk about and this is something everyone understands.  Keep talking and we’ll keep listening.  Always a pleasure to discuss something that everyone is interested in and understands.  

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Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.

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22 minutes ago, Bubba136 said:

A man has to have something to talk about and this is something everyone understands.  Keep talking and we’ll keep listening.  Always a pleasure to discuss something that everyone is interested in and understands.  

... and especially when the discussion is led by someone who has an approach that is both empirical and literate.   (Yes, mlroseplant, that means you!)

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12 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

A man has to have something to talk about and this is something everyone understands.  Keep talking and we’ll keep listening.  Always a pleasure to discuss something that everyone is interested in and understands.  

 

12 hours ago, Puffer said:

... and especially when the discussion is led by someone who has an approach that is both empirical and literate.   (Yes, mlroseplant, that means you!)

Thanks guys. And thanks for wading through some of that stuff, because, at least in this format, I tend to write exactly like I talk, with lots of parentheticals and asides. The Long and Winding Road.

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I haven't even looked at shoes for weeks, much less bought any. I wonder what is wrong with me?

Every time I see the ad on here that advertises a t-shirt with a vintage car on it that reads,"I'm not OLD, I'm a CLASSIC!", I cannot help but notice that it's always modeled by a 20 year old hot chick.

Yes, these are completely random thoughts. I have become Virginia Woolf.

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7 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I haven't even looked at shoes for weeks, much less bought any. I wonder what is wrong with me?

Every time I see the ad on here that advertises a t-shirt with a vintage car on it that reads,"I'm not OLD, I'm a CLASSIC!", I cannot help but notice that it's always modeled by a 20 year old hot chick.

Yes, these are completely random thoughts. I have become Virginia Woolf.

Careful...look what happened to her

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I replied two days ago to a high school classmate's Facebook post, which was captioned "Where are you on this scale?" I replied, "Two children, but I still wear the 'single' shoes." That shut the thread right the f*** down. Crickets. I seem to have that talent.

MomsShoes.png

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Either this whole coronavirus thing is messing me up, or I am simply becoming less sentimental as I get older. I just realized this morning that I have forgotten to mark the anniversary of the start of my public heel wearing. Though I have missed the date by almost a month, eight years ago I attended a choir rehearsal at my church wearing black clogs with about 3 1/2" heels on them. Nobody said anything except for one person, and she already knew what was going on beforehand. I'm ok with becoming less sentimental, as long as I don't forget my wife's birthday or our wedding anniversary. Should be pretty easy to avoid forgetting only one or the other, since they're on consecutive days.

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It's one of those days. I walked out to my garage to check on atmospheric conditions, and I accidentally stepped on the very end of a twig, flipped the opposite end of it up in the air, and somehow-or-other it came over and took a chunk out of my big toe, drawing blood. I just stood there, stunned, and actually said out loud, "Really? REALLY? Unbelievable!" Then I snapped out of it when I realized I might get a bloodstain on my beloved Bonny sandals. I still can't for the life of me figure out how that even happened!

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