The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant

[Thighbootguy]

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

What? Youse don't recognize those legs? 

No doubt in my mind.

You son got a good shot of your shoes.

As with any mechanical repair... protect your hands.

[Steve63130]

And your eyes!

Good photos!

Steve

[mlroseplant]

14 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

No doubt in my mind.

You son got a good shot of your shoes.

As with any mechanical repair... protect your hands.

 

10 hours ago, Steve63130 said:

And your eyes!

Good photos!

Steve

Dont worry, fellas! I always wear gloves and safety glasses, and my son does too. I might fall a little short in the foot protection department, however! 

[mlroseplant]

Day 2, intake manifold replacement. I watched a YouTube video this morning, and the dude, unedited, disassembled everything I need to in less than 20 minutes. I struggled yesterday for 3 hours, and accomplished very little. Today, it is very clear how I should proceed. This should be a piece of cake. 

Which begs the question, why is this a $1500+ repair at a shop? I guess you pay them for what they know, not what they do, same as my trade. Thank you YouTube! I wish I had seen this video yesterday morning, I'd probably be almost done by now. 

With my favorite BCBG wedge thongs, model Sarong. I consider them to be mid-heels, but they're still fun!

[Thighbootguy]

When working on a car I have never been able to keep anything clean.  How are you managing to keep those shoes that clean, or was this the before picture?

I may have shared this in other threads but it seems appropriate to include it here.

Oil Change

Oil Change for Women:
1.    Pull into Jiffy Lube when the mileage is 3000 miles since the last oil change.
2.    Drink a cup of coffee
3.    15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.
Money Spent:
Oil change: $20
Coffee: $1

Total: $21

Oil change for men:
1.    Wait until Saturday, drive to the auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner, and a scent tree.  Write a check for $50.
2.    Stop by 7-11 and buy a case of beer. Write a check for $20 and drive home.
3.    Open beer and drink it.
4.    Jack up car.  Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
5.    Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.
6.    In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7.    Place drain pan under the engine.
8.    Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
9.    Give up and use a crescent wrench.
10.    Unscrew drain lug.
11.    Drop drain plug in the pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in the process. Curse.
12.    Crawl out from under the car and wipe hot oil off of face and arms.  Throw litter on spilled oil
13.    Have another beer while watching the oil drain.
14.    Spend 30 minutes looking for the oil filter wrench.
15.    Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through the oil filter and twist off.
16.    Crawl out from under the car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from the holes.  Cleverly hide old filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties.  Drink a beer.
17.    Buddy shoes up; finish case of beer with him.  Decide to finish oil change tomorrow so you can see his new garage door opener.
18.    Sunday: Skip church because, "I gotta finish the oil change".  Drag pan full of oil out from underneath the car.  Cleverly dump oil in a hole in back yard instead of taking it back to auto parts store to recycle.
19.    Throw kitty litter on oil splashed in step 18.
20.    Beer?  Drank it all yesterday.
21.    Walk to 7-11; buy beer.
22.    Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to the gasket surface.
23.    Dump first quart of oil into the engine.
24.    Remember the drain plug from step 11.
25.    Hurry to find the drain plug in the drain pan.
26.    Remember that the old oil is buried in the back yard, along with the drain plug.
27.    Drink beer.
28.    Shovel out hole and sift oily mud from drain plug. Re-shovel oily dart back into the hole.  Steal sand from the kids sand box to cleverly cover oily patch of ground and avoid environmental penalties.  Wash drain plug in lawn mower gas.
29.    Discover first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor.  Throw kitty litter on oil spill.
30.    Drink beer.
31.    Crawl under car getting kitty litter in your eyes.  Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean the drain plug.  Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame.
32.    Bang head on floorboard in reaction to step 31.
33.    Begin cussing fit.
34.    Throw stupid crescent wrench.
35.    Cuss an additional 10 minutes because the wrench hit your bowling trophy.
36.    Beer.
37.    Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required to stop the blood flow.
38.    Beer.
39.    Beer.
40.    Dump in five quarts of fresh oil.
41.    Beer.
42.    Lower car from jack stands.
43.    Accidentally crush remaining case of new motor oil.
44.    Move car back and apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during steps 23 -43.
45.    Beer
46.    Test drive car.
47.    Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence.
48.    Car gets impounded.
49.    Call loving wife, make bail.
50.    12 hours later, get car from impound lot.
Money Spent:
Parts: $50
DUI: $2500
Impound Fee: $75
Bail: $1500
Beer: $40

Total: $4,165

But you know the job was done right!

 

Work safely.

 

Edited May 14, 2017 by Thighbootguy

[Stoney3057]

Being from Kentucky I am sure this is how it is done, but here in Charlotte NC we change the tires, oil, and top off gas all under 3 minutes. If you go over that time we ask that you move to Kentucky.. Lol

[Cali]

I'm missing bones in my hand and shoulders now, so working on cars is left for someone else. Besides, why mess up a perfectly good manicure with gel polish, let along a nice pair of heels.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Cali

[Thighbootguy]

1 hour ago, Stoney3057 said:

Being from Kentucky I am sure this is how it is done, but here in Charlotte NC we change the tires, oil, and top off gas all under 3 minutes. If you go over that time we ask that you move to Kentucky.. Lol

And everyone is welcomed to Kentucky.  The state with fast women and pretty horses.   (The official state slogan has it the other way around, but the horses really are pretty).

If you work on tires that quickly, you must use this method.

Seriously - Milrosplant is a serious guitar and cello player (other instruments too) and a slip doing mechanical work and slow you up for a long time.  I managed a small cut on the tip of my little finger of my left hand and couldn't really play for well over a week.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Thighbootguy

[mlroseplant]

6 hours ago, Cali said:

I'm missing bones in my hand and shoulders now, so working on cars is left for someone else. Besides, why mess up a perfectly good manicure with gel polish, let along a nice pair of heels.

1,500 bucks, that's why! That's a lot of manicures! Some things you can't do in gloves. Still, I didn't break any guitar playing nails, and whatever damage I did can be cleaned up with a nail file and buffer. All is well! I will finish up tomorrow, and have my car back again. 

8 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

When working on a car I have never been able to keep anything clean.  How are you managing to keep those shoes that clean, or was this the before picture?

 

 It was not a particularly dirty job. Just frustrating. 

[Cali]

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

1,500 bucks, that's why! That's a lot of manicures! Some things you can't do in gloves. Still, I didn't break any guitar playing nails, and whatever damage I did can be cleaned up with a nail file and buffer. All is well! I will finish up tomorrow, and have my car back again. 

50,000 buck experimental hand surgery.

And If you ever break a nail, get an acrylic nail.

[mlroseplant]

I am happy to announce that I am celebrating 5 years of heeling in public! It was on this day (actually, I'm not 100% sure of the actual date, but looking at a 2012 calendar, it logics out to this date) in 2012 that I first went to an event wearing what were obviously shoes with elevated, separate heels on them. An event where people would know me. The shoes I wore were nothing compared to what I wear regularly today, but they were different enough to make me terrified. Still, nobody said a word, and I think most people didn't even notice. I was wearing black leather clogs with a composite bottom and a 3 1/2" chunky heel under long boot cut jeans. 1" platform, so the rise was very modest. Oh, they seemed so high back then!

Today, I wear heels daily, and have over 50 pairs. I really don't like to buy anything lower than 5" these days (with some sort of platform), anything lower just doesn't look right to me. However, I will admit to having bought several pairs of open toed mules that are slightly lower recently. Well, they were just too darn cute, even though they don't technically meet my height requirements. Still, they're all over 4 1/2", close enough. One of my new pair is pictured below, Jessica Simpson mules, 4 5/8" heels.  Please excuse the background--I've had a lot going on inside and outside the garage lately, as many of you are aware. They are the perfect color, and after a few wearings, the fit is amazing! I haven't yet certified them for a full 2 miles yet (my keep/toss rule generally), but I'm sure they'll pass easily. I've walked 1.3 miles in them all at once so far with nothing but delight. I like the unique swirly color on the heels. I like how they flap when you walk, but they don't feel like they're going to fall off your feet. The only thing that would make them any better is if the heel were 1/2" taller, but now I'm just complaining over nothing, right?

Anyway, happy anniversary to me, and good wishes to everyone else out there in the community!

[Thighbootguy]

I had a pair of sandals similar to those a long time ago and the flapping drove me nuts.  I'll suggest the Red Green solution.

For folks unfamiliar with the Red Green TV show, he had "Handyman's Corner" segment where he would fix anything/everything(broken or not) with the "Handyman's secret weapon" - Duct Tape.

By the way Red Green is going to be in Des Moines on Oct 15, and Dubuque on Oct 16.  Unfortunately the closest show on his tour is 4 hours away from me.

Congratulation on 5 years of getting up in the world (heeling).  You picked the right time to do it.  The folks in Iowa were pretty tolerant to start with but over the past few years most folks have become even more tolerant.  Who knows, maybe you were part of the reason for the change.  People tend to accept what they are used to seeing.

Those sandals do look good on you.

[Cali]

Congratulation on this milestone.  

"Oh, they seemed so high back then!" made my laugh, because I remember getting use to 1 1/2 inch heels when I first started. Now like you, 5+" is just normal daily wear in public

Try using a gel instep cushion to help hold them on, one that sticks to both the shoe and your foot. Or use TBG's method and use double-sided tape.

Edited May 17, 2017 by Cali

[mlroseplant]

On 5/14/2017 at 7:58 PM, Cali said:

And If you ever break a nail, get an acrylic nail.

Nah. I don't do acrylics. If my nails break, they break. Part of my secret is moisturizing several times a day and wearing gloves a lot. Besides, I just had to cut my nails anyway. I'm playing bass this Sunday at church. The nails that provide sufficient volume and proper timbre on guitar produce an objectionable clicking sound on electric bass. It's a trick to get just the right compromise. 

[mlroseplant]

1 hour ago, Thighbootguy said:

I had a pair of sandals similar to those a long time ago and the flapping drove me nuts.  I'll suggest the Red Green solution.

For folks unfamiliar with the Red Green TV show, he had "Handyman's Corner" segment where he would fix anything/everything(broken or not) with the "Handyman's secret weapon" - Duct Tape.

Those sandals do look good on you.

Although your "solution" to the problem is quite humorous, I actually like that sound. In fact, to me, the flap/click, flap/click, flap/click sound that shoes like this produce when walking on a hard surface is one of the happiest sounds on earth! 

And thank you for the compliment!

[Thighbootguy]

23 minutes ago, mlroseplant said:

Although your "solution" to the problem is quite humorous, I actually like that sound. In fact, to me, the flap/click, flap/click, flap/click sound that shoes like this produce when walking on a hard surface is one of the happiest sounds on earth! 

And thank you for the compliment!

When I was growing up (and there is a lot of argument about whether I ever managed to do that), I was wont to do stuff that was a little differently, ex. I bought a tape recorder rather than getting my drivers license.  After hearing my parents voice their frustration, my aunt offered the advice, "If it makes him happy".

My aunt always had good advice.

[Puffer]

Mlroseplant:   I think you would enjoy wearing a pair of 'Springolator' mules.   They can still be found from sellers of 'vintage' clothing. 

[mlroseplant]

I was doing some experimenting this morning. I wanted to try something a little different, so I took inspiration from me and my wife's young-ish Korean friend.  The outfit pictured here is loosely based on what she was wearing last night when we met her for dinner. I'm not totally unhappy with the look, but I think it could be better. Something is not quite right, and I hope that the something is not that I'm a guy. 

[Thighbootguy]

1 hour ago, mlroseplant said:

Something is not quite right, and I hope that the something is not that I'm a guy. 

Well that has a little to do with it.  Somehow the proportions are wrong.  My first impression was that someone stretched your neck with Photoshop (the least painful way to do it).  My second impression was that your waist is in the wrong place (too low).  Looking back at your April pictures, the waist looks fine, the difference is you left your shirt out in the April pictures and that hides the waist.  Because it is hidden, my eye places it higher.  Also In April you were wearing short sleeves and that also raises the impression of where the waist is located.

I love short shorts (although I wear my with tall boots) and yours look great with your heels but try the shorts with a different top.

If the picture you posted in May is your friend, she appears to be a little shorter than you and she is wearing shorts with her blouse hem covering the waist.

[Cali]

I also think it is the angle that makes your head and neck look "larger than life", because the camera caught a lot of your neck and the bottom of your face.

Edited May 20, 2017 by Cali

[mlroseplant]

Yeah, I had thought that part of it was camera angle, and part of it was my friend's and my physiological differences. Her legs are longer than mine, and her neck is shorter, although we're about the same height. So although I wanted to be a little bit dressier than a t-shirt, I tried again, same angle, same shorts, different shirt, not tucked in. I think it's a noticeable improvement. In addition to hiding where my true waist is, the t-shirt is closer fitting and doesn't look as bulky up top.

In addition to the before and after pictures, my 8 year old son got involved and wanted me to wear different shoes of his choosing. The pictures he took are from a more normal, natural angle, even though he's still very short! I rarely.  .  . OK, I have never until now.  .  . photobombed this forum, but I'm going to make an exception to show my more whimsical side. He was trying to get me to ham it up a little bit. Perhaps I look a little less severe when I am trying to be funny. One thing I discovered is that, although I am loathe to wear closed toed shoes with shorts, I think the pumps actually look the best with this outfit!

 

[mlroseplant]

19 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

If the picture you posted in May is your friend, she appears to be a little shorter than you and she is wearing shorts with her blouse hem covering the waist.

Different friend! It's our choir director. The friend you are referencing is my long-time Vietnamese friend, shoe buddy, and lover of wearing shorts with high heels! And yes, she is substantially shorter than me, unlike the choir director, who is about my height.

[SF]

I like the heeled thongs.....   They look very nice, but then again, I am partial to thong sandals....    sf

[Thighbootguy]

4 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

OK, I have never until now.  .  . photobombed this forum,

Bombard away.   I enjoyed them.

4 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

my 8 year old son got involved and wanted me to wear different shoes of his choosing.

Your son has good taste in shoes.

[RonC]

From my perspective, I'd say the last pair looks best with the shorts.

[Steve63130]

I think the thing that bothers me is the disconnect between shorts (warm weather) and long sleeves (cold weather). I wouldn't really go for that look even if you were wearing masculine sneakers or boat shoes, and I don't think it works that well for you. I do like the collarless t-shirt better than the collared one, and TBG is right on about wearing the shirt out, not tucked in. Take some pics with short sleeve t-shirts and see how it compares.

Love the shoes - all of them.

Steve

[mlroseplant]

8 hours ago, Steve63130 said:

I think the thing that bothers me is the disconnect between shorts (warm weather) and long sleeves (cold weather).

Love the shoes - all of them.

Steve

But.  .  . that's what ALL the girls are wearing now! Hahahahaha. No, seriously. At least all the girls in Korea. Even in the winter.

I think you're right, though. For some reason, it doesn't suit me as well as it suits the Korean girls. Even though every fashion mag says that if you're going to wear shorts with heels, you need to cover up everything else, I don't think that works on me. I think I will find that if I swap the long sleeves for short ones, it will make a big difference.

And thanks for the compliment on the shoes! I know that high stilettos are not your thing, but I have come to embrace them for myself. For serious walking, however, I tend to go with thicker heels, if for no other reason than the toplifts (heel tips) last several times longer.

 

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, mlroseplant said:

But.  .  . that's what ALL the girls are wearing now! Hahahahaha. No, seriously. At least all the girls in Korea. Even in the winter.

I think you're right, though. For some reason, it doesn't suit me as well as it suits the Korean girls. Even though every fashion mag says that if you're going to wear shorts with heels, you need to cover up everything else, I don't think that works on me. I think I will find that if I swap the long sleeves for short ones, it will make a big difference.

And thanks for the compliment on the shoes! I know that high stilettos are not your thing, but I have come to embrace them for myself. For serious walking, however, I tend to go with thicker heels, if for no other reason than the toplifts (heel tips) last several times longer.

 

Well, I think you look amazing, I am so envious, nice swimmer's build with great legs!

[pebblesf]

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 9:13 AM, mlroseplant said:

Day 2, intake manifold replacement. I watched a YouTube video this morning, and the dude, unedited, disassembled everything I need to in less than 20 minutes. I struggled yesterday for 3 hours, and accomplished very little. Today, it is very clear how I should proceed. This should be a piece of cake. 

Which begs the question, why is this a $1500+ repair at a shop? I guess you pay them for what they know, not what they do, same as my trade. Thank you YouTube! I wish I had seen this video yesterday morning, I'd probably be almost done by now. 

With my favorite BCBG wedge thongs, model Sarong. I consider them to be mid-heels, but they're still fun!

So cool, love working on my car in boots!  Tell me more about why you are replacing the intake manifold?  Plastic?  Don't know how they get away with making these parts out of plastic, doesn't take long before heat and vibration causes the plastic to warp/crack/fail.  I replaced the injectors on my Toyota, but that required removing the large aluminum intake plenum, which involved removing so much "plumbing".  I took quite a few pictures during disassembly, no way I could have gotten all that stuff back in place correctly without some help.  The Toyota place wanted $1500 to replace the injectors and could not even guarantee this repair would fix the intermittent problem, thank God it did...

[mlroseplant]

22 hours ago, pebblesf said:

So cool, love working on my car in boots!  Tell me more about why you are replacing the intake manifold?  Plastic?  Don't know how they get away with making these parts out of plastic, doesn't take long before heat and vibration causes the plastic to warp/crack/fail.  I replaced the injectors on my Toyota, but that required removing the large aluminum intake plenum, which involved removing so much "plumbing".  I took quite a few pictures during disassembly, no way I could have gotten all that stuff back in place correctly without some help.  The Toyota place wanted $1500 to replace the injectors and could not even guarantee this repair would fix the intermittent problem, thank God it did...

This car has got the GM 3.8 V6 in it, which is basically a solid engine, with one ongoing problem: Yes, the upper intake is made of plastic, and the spot where the EGR valve pokes through eventually burns through it, compromising the gasket and allowing coolant to be sucked into the cylinders. However, because this is a low mileage car, it hadn't yet failed in this way. What DID fail is this little plastic elbow that goes between the lower intake manifold and the water pump. It just broke suddenly and started spewing coolant everywhere. Luckily, this failure seems to have occurred in my driveway, and possibly even after I had shut the engine down, so I had no engine damage.

I decided that while I had it torn down far enough to replace that little elbow, I would replace everything, since something was bound to fail soon. So I replaced the lower intake gaskets with the improved design, upgraded the plastic heater bypass elbow with an aluminum one, and bought a whole new upper intake manifold with the improved design. I should be good to go for another 100,000, don't you think? This all cost me about 200 USD, not counting new coolant and new oil and filter.

Oh, and speaking of injectors, I used to have a minivan on which I had to replace an injector, and it was similar to what you describe, having to remove the upper intake. On the GM 3.8, it's the opposite. You have to remove the injector assembly before you can remove the upper intake, so it's a much easier repair. While I had it apart, I cleaned up my injectors real well, and it has made a noticeable difference in throttle response at small throttle openings.

I hope this explanation was sufficient.