stellah Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Is anybody afraid of heights other than extreme shoes? 7 inches of heel height... vs 241 feet of altitude : and (ramp of Suicide Hill at Copper Peak) _______________ HH forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julietta Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Me Let calm be widespread May the sea glisten like greenstone And the shimmer of summer Dance across your pathway "Communication is a two way thing" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicjasno Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Me too! I'm actually afraid that i'll trip forward and start falling. Gives me the creeps. www.nicjasno.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 There is a limit on ski jumping in France, you have to have a maximum age of 12 or so it seems. Those kids have no concept of fear, they really don't! Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurieheels Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 I think this shold go into the general forum, but, I'll leave this here. Maybe some fetish aspect is lurking around the corner. I would not t ake up ski jumping, but I love heights. Thr ee of the six elevators at work are glass elevators, overlooking the foyer of the building. Yes, the center of our office building is open. I am always disappointed if I have to ride in one of the closed in elevators, because it does not have the same thrill of knowing I am up high, and being able to look down. Heights are a thrill for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicjasno Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 If a solid window is separating me from the abyss, i'm not afraid either, but if there's no such thing, i'm VERY afraid of getting even close to the edge. I feel like i'm drawn below in such a situation. Quite unsettling. www.nicjasno.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamyam Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 Apparently, a fear of heights is pretty much built-in to humans. Babies old enough to crawl won't crawl off a fake drop, even though they'd crawl on to perspex and wouldn't fall. I'm not scared of heights at all. I love open elevators, flying, leaning off tall buildings, anything. Bring it on, I say. For those who know Silbury Hill, in the West Country, UK, me and a couple of pals spent a happy hour leaning off the top of that into a very strong wind. Awesome! (Silbury hill is an artificial hill, with about 45-degree sides. It's a great place to go, but I think it's all fenced off now). And I must admit, I didn't like the extreme plats. They look far too heavy. Sorry Obsessed is such a strong word. I prefer to think of myself as "differently enthusiastic" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallSwede Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 -Well, as I am born with "dual" monoscopic vision (i. e. I can only see with one eye at a time), I have lived all my life with this problem which only got worse after having cataracts (grey(In English???) starr)) in both eyes, which since then has been very successfully operated (-Ha, takes *NO* time at all, and the eyevision is back immediately( You are given a newspaper, a cup of coffe, and a sandwich, 15 minutes after the surgery *AND* you are now sitting comfortabely(?) reading (and enjoying your meal) for the first time without a *powerful* magnifying glass (or even stronger instruments...))) { I believe that I have the paranthesies at the correct level now (being an programmer at heart... )} -Anyhow, I have never been afraid of heights (before), but nowadays I have trouble walking (or even riding on elevated) down stairs without having problems. It has taken about one year for me to be able to negotiate the stairs between the third and second floor (which lack a hand rail) without trying to support myself with my fingertips along the wall edges... So even though I have lived my previous life with a 3D-vision; I am still hampered by this change of acuity(?) (Going from -14 and -12 to -1 and +-0 Dioptries (on my own request...)) In other words, I live today a life where I *do not need* glasses (or whatever) to be able to see both at a distance or at a newspaper, but I can no longer see things at a short (and sharp) distance without corrective glasses. Still this also means that I have difficulties whenever I, traverse bridges, walk stairs, climb a ladder, whatsoever... -I just lose my perspective and am ready to fall on my face (or whichever part of my body that happens to hit the ground first) at the next step. This is very frustrating as I have previously never had any such problems (Like "Fear of heights"). TallSwede PS. Excuse for my off the topic ramblings... DS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waisted_Giraffe Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 I rock climb and generally do not have a fear of hights and not generally a fear of falling (so long as the (climbing) gear holds) I just have a healthy respect for the consiquences of falling all the way to the ground I have only ever experienced a woosieness once while climbing and that was because I kept focusing on the ground (about 20m below me!) so I suppose the answer is not to look down but to keep looking further in front of you. Maybe your brain has not yet got used to the fact that you can see so much more clearly, therefore maybe experiencing some sort of motion sickness as the brain is unable to relate what it feels and what it sees. Just a couple of thoughts......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 It's funny but if you're climbing, driving along a clifftop road or leaning off the edge, there is (generally) no problem. However, when you cease to have any control over the situation, when someone picks you up for example, you start to fear it. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 Well, as I am born with "dual" monoscopic vision (i. e. I can only see with one eye at a time), I didn't even know that such a thing existed... starr)) in both eyes, which since then has been very successfully operated (-Ha, takes *NO* time at all, and the eyevision is back immediately( You are given a newspaper, a cup of coffe, and a sandwich, 15 minutes after the surgery *AND* you are now sitting comfortabely(?) reading (and enjoying your meal) for the first time without a *powerful* magnifying glass Uh??? Is that not tortureing painful, an operation at your eyes?? { I believe that I have the paranthesies at the correct level now (being an programmer at heart... )} But the readibility of your code isn't the greatest with so many nested levels (Going from -14 and -12 to -1 and +-0 Dioptries (on my own request...)) I have -5 and -4 and if I take my lenses off I'm totally helpless. With lenses however, I have 11/10 visibility. Simply amazing what technology can do for you!! Can you even correct -14 dioptry to 10/10 vision with glasses or lenses (assuming the rest is ok) ?? In other words, I live today a life where I *do not need* glasses (or whatever) to be able to see both at a distance or at a newspaper, but I can no longer see things at a short (and sharp) distance without corrective glasses. What is better? This is very frustrating as I have previously never had any such problems (Like "Fear of heights"). Could it be a temporary thing? PS. Excuse for my off the topic ramblings... DS. Ok with me. I thought it was quite interesting. Bert What's all the fuss about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 I could never get used to walking in platform shoes. I always felt unstable. But at least I never got a nose bleed. Funny thing about heights. Although I don't like to fly, I don't mind riding in glass elevators. click .... click .... click .... The sensual sound of stiletto heels on a hard surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamyam Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 TallSwede, I suspect it may be a vision thing. I'm slightly long-sighted, and an optician suggested I buy some instant reading glasses. They didn't help much, but I must admit I nearly fell over when standing firmly on a floor wearing trainers (runners). Yikes! I haven't worn them since, and I think I'll just stand further away from things for the time being. That was the only time I've ever had anything like vertigo, and it was horrible. Obsessed is such a strong word. I prefer to think of myself as "differently enthusiastic" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallSwede Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 (Mainly to Bert) -Very long and probably boring... A (for me) unknown number of people get "dual" monoscopic vision every year. Mostly this is caused by uncorrected (eye)skeltering in the pre-school years. I had skeltering, but any attempt to fix this during my childhood was unfruitful. I had to have an eye operation in my late teens as the "eye doctor" asked me if I did not think it would be good to have two working eyes if an accident should happen to me later on in life. I asked what he meant and was told that the right eye was currently being used for about 80% of the time and the left eye (for the remaining 20%) was apparently rapidly atrophying(spelling?) into blindness due to too low usage. -Well that operation went well but was rather painful afterwards as all the ends of the stitches were pointing outwards, so whenever I blinked (you do not believe how often you blink unconciously... ) I had them scratching my eyelid on the inside, causing bleeding on top of all the other discomfort. "Can you even correct -14 dioptry to 10/10 vision with glasses or lenses (assuming the rest is ok) ??" Yep, I have worn soft (the last 10-15 years 24/7) contact lenses since I was 17. This made me one of the study group the Swedish government had before they posted their rulings about to whom, by whom, how, and when lenses should be proscribed in this country. I am apparently on the hardier outer edge on the scale as I can easily wear "week(ly)" lenses at least six weeks without problems, due to the fact that my eyes excrete *very* small amount of lipides (fat in the tear fluid) *and* that I have an extremely high pain treshold (I can for instance press a finger against the open eye without any blink reflex). -Anyhow, with correctly fit lenses (which btw *always* gives everyone needing "glasses" better vision than ordinary glasses, except for the few unlucky who (still) are unable to wear lenses) I had *better* than 20/20 (isn't it called so instead?) vision. In fact, my previously "dying" left eye was way above normal acuity and the right eye was at least at that point. So the time when both eyes failed me and I had to use a magnifying glass to read about seven characters at a time in the newspaper *did* put some strain on the happiness before I got my operation(s). These are very quick procedures (I just can *not* understand why any government miss the opportunity to get people back in productive life, and paying taxes again, by hampering the speed of these surgeries...). It takes (took for me) about one hour in a room where you sit comfortably in an armchair, while the nurses come about every five minutes to drop something in your eye(s) in order to have the iris fully opened and the eye in other ways pre medicated. Then you are being led to the surgery room and put in a chair like the dentists use. After having a number of sterile paper towels suitably placed on your upper part of the body while being "flat down" in the operating chair the surgeon checks that the anastesia seems to hold before he starts to work. The procedure is simply to cut across the cornea (the outer layer of the eye) above the iris (the colorful part of the eye) so a kind of "jeans back-pocket" is created. The lens (situated behind the iris in a fitting cavity at the front of the eye) is soft like a jellyfish and is now sucked out by a "vacuum cleaner" type of tool. It does (also for the patient in question) sound very nasty, but is *TOTALLY* painless. Then the now empty cavity is flushed clean with isotonic saline solution to rinse it before the next step. -The golden moment is here; The surgeon slips in an acrylic (I believe) rigid lens of the "desired" strength which gives you "instant elderly eyesight" (i.e. you get a fixed focus vision, like the old Instamatic cameras, too far or too near and all will be blurry...). I have been told that people being myopic (nearsighted) should not be very happy finding themselves passing the limit to the other side where only things far away are clearly visible, so the surgeons (here in Sweden) try to play it safe and prefer to keep people more myopic inside the interval of uncertainity (about +-1 dioptries in the late nineties...) of their final aim. As soon as the new lens is put in you may often be dragged away, leaving room for the next candidate, but sometimes the surgeon does not like the shape of the "jeans back pocket" closing up on its own (like on one of my eyes), and then he will put a few stitches in place to keep it sealed up. Now they have apparently found out that by turning the (already cut off) stitch a half turn it will keep the ends *inside* the (insensitive) eyeglobe and only leave the thin rim of thread against the eyelid which eliminates the itching and bleeding previously experienced. This surgery takes between 15 minutes to (at the very most) one hour. As soon as it is done you are back in the original "waiting room", placed in the same armchair, given a newspaper, some coffee, a pair of sandwiches, and endure a wait of about one hour so they know that you are not going to die on them and destroy their statistics due to being allergic to surgeons, armchairs, or whatever... -So in short; -It takes three hours (at most) to go from cataractic "blindness" to "normal" eyesight. -There are *NO* injections of whatever sort, only a (large) number of drops in the eye to be operated on. -My advise, to all and any, if you have cataracts cueue up asap!!!! --- Trying to continue my reply to Bert... -It is a *new* life without really needing "glasses". I have had them since I was six years old, getting stronger and stronger glasses every year. The good point was that with my myopia at its best, I could put a book flat across my face (resting on the nose) and read both sides (unaided) before having to flip to the next side and repeat the procedure. It was a very lazy way of tanning (excepting the lighter, squarish tan, on my face...). Nowadays I normally do *not* use any eye aid. The first operated(English?) eye went to -1 dioptries, which means that it became *slightly* nearsighted, and I can read (or whatever) at a bit longer distance than usual with it. The problem is that fine print *DO* requires glasses, like for everybody else who have the chance to live until they reach old age and find their natural eye lenses solidifying into a fixed shape like my plastic(?) ones. ""NORMAL"" people have lenses that the eye muscles can contract or expand as needed, which allows them to set their focus at most distances from infinity to quite close to their noses, but aging causes stiffening in the lenses (and also "greying"(cataracts)), which at some time makes reading glasses a necessity(did I for once get the number of c's and s'es correct this time???). My last operated eye was discussed by me and the surgeon. I asked him if he thought that he could find the divergence between all the previous measurements (predicting the strength of the artificial lens) and the final result, when deciding the "correct" strenght for my left (and last (ha, ha)) eye. He said that he belived that he could do so, and I said that I was *very* anxious to try to reach the groundzero (+-0) point, so we agreed on the procedure on my own risk. -He did it!!! So today I have a right eye, by which I can read, or whatever, at a semiclose range, and a leftt eye with perfect "farsight" vision which I use when driving my car for example. ***PLEASE DO NOTE THAT IN MOST COUNTRIES YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE A VEHICLE WHEN "Losing one eye" (I.E. losing stereoscopic vision (if you had it previously...))*** until a predetermined period has expired. Nowadays I only need reading glasses (yes, glasses) when trying to look at very small things, *or* when reading in not too well lit rooms. (As an aside; "-If it was tough to write, it should be hard to read" (old joke between programmers...)) -Bert, I hope that I have answered all of your questions. If not, please do write again, as I do like all of what you have written so far in this forum and really want to keep the discussions alive whenever I think that I can contribute something worthwhile reading. Best regards, TallSwede PS. Yamyam, I have since seen your post, but after all problems making this one go through, I'll probably need a time f recuperation before replying again. -Regards, DS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Posted January 19, 2003 Share Posted January 19, 2003 ...Well that operation went well but was rather painful afterwards as all the ends of the stitches were pointing outwards, so whenever I blinked (you do not believe how often you blink unconciously... ) I had them scratching my eyelid on the inside, causing bleeding on top of all the other discomfort. Argh.. that's one of the reasons why I rather would not have any surgery ever on my eyes. Not that I would have any reason to believe that I would ever need it, but just the thought makes me shiver. "Can you even correct -14 dioptry to 10/10 vision with glasses or lenses (assuming the rest is ok) ??" Yep, I have worn soft (the last 10-15 years 24/7) contact lenses since I was 17. This made me one of the study group the Swedish government had before they posted their rulings about to whom, by whom, how, and when lenses should be proscribed in this country. Here you wear whatever you fancy, but not a single cent is reimbursed by any public system or fund. Strange, for such a leftish country as Finland. I am apparently on the hardier outer edge on the scale as I can easily wear "week(ly)" lenses at least six weeks without problems, due to the fact that my eyes excrete *very* small amount of lipides (fat in the tear fluid) *and* that I have an extremely high pain treshold (I can for instance press a finger against the open eye without any blink reflex). About the lipides... When I started wearing lenses a decade or so ago, the optician told that you have to treat your lenses weekly against those excretions. (because it solidifies, and you get bacterial infections between your lens and eyeball since it is very nutricious and the temperature is optimal and so on). He showed me some horror pictures of what happens if you don't take care of it - they almost looked like people had mushrooms growing out of their eyes. Those products cost nearly as much as the normal stuff you need, and is in a sense optional, but I will never know if I excrete a lot of lipides or not. About the finger - I can do that too, but just because I'm trained. I defenitely don't have a higher than usual pain limit, but you can surpress reflexes. So the time when both eyes failed me and I had to use a magnifying glass to read about seven characters at a time in the newspaper *did* put some strain on the happiness before I got my operation(s). I guess that makes the decision a whole lot easier... These are very quick procedures (I just can *not* understand why any government miss the opportunity to get people back in productive life, and paying taxes again, by hampering the speed of these surgeries...). Because many governments are too busy with the "big" picture... just watch the news nowadays and you see what I mean. It takes (took for me) about one hour in a room where you sit... Amazing...! ...The surgeon slips in an acrylic (I believe) rigid lens of the "desired" strength which gives you "instant elderly eyesight" (i.e. you get a fixed focus vision So you can't focus anymore? Isn't that even worse (apparently not)...? ...so the surgeons (here in Sweden) try to play it safe and prefer to keep people more myopic inside the interval of uncertainity (about +-1 dioptries in the late nineties...) of their final aim. I guess you can live perfectly without optical aids at +/- 1 dioptry? ...but sometimes the surgeon does not like the shape of the "jeans back pocket" closing up on its own (like on one of my eyes), and then he will put a few stitches in place to keep it sealed up. Now they have apparently found out that by turning the (already cut off) stitch a half turn it will keep the ends *inside* the (insensitive) eyeglobe and only leave the thin rim of thread against the eyelid which eliminates the itching and bleeding previously experienced. Stitches in your eyeball? Sounds awful... And what happens when the knot starts to rotten inside your eye? -So in short; -It takes three hours (at most) to go from cataractic "blindness" to "normal" eyesight. -There are *NO* injections of whatever sort, only a (large) number of drops in the eye to be operated on. -My advise, to all and any, if you have cataracts cueue up asap!!!! Good to hear that there is a medical procedure for something without almost any disadvantages... ... It was a very lazy way of tanning (excepting the lighter, squarish tan, on my face...). So today I have a right eye, by which I can read, or whatever, at a semiclose range, and a leftt eye with perfect "farsight" vision which I use when driving my car for example. If that works, it sounds like a reasonable compromise. (As an aside; "-If it was tough to write, it should be hard to read" (old joke between programmers...)) , got to remember that one. Bert, I hope that I have answered all of your questions. Yep, you have. I have no specific reason for asking all about this, but I just think it is a very interesting subject. The human eye is such a complex instrument that it amazes me that it usually works in the first place, and secondly that humans can do some repair works and give someone with seriously impaired vision again near perfect sight. I'm so happy with my lenses (and hate glasses) that this is the most important reason that I'm very satisfied not being born say 50 years ago. Some day I'm going to try laser surgery to fix this -4 and -5 myopia as well, but here in Finland it comes without guarantee for success. If that changes, I'll be on the list. Bert What's all the fuss about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurieheels Posted January 19, 2003 Share Posted January 19, 2003 Okay, this is going to be moved to the general discussion area. Hey, this is about shoes and fetishes here. Eye surgery, well... *shiver* But please, do continue the conversation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay1 Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I am not that overly keen on heights myself, however, I've always wanted to be a chopper pilot strangley enough! Must have been all that watching of Airwolf when I was younger!! "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything..." - Dr Emmet L Brown - 1985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 my only problem with heights is ... falling from them !! I'm one of those people who can look down and feel like they're about to fall unless I know I have hold of something that ain't gonna move! BUT, saying that, I can look out of a plane window at 30,000 feet and not be bothered at all. Strange, innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highluc Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 That isn't strange, you can only have vertigo if you have a direct connection with the ground. I flew inverted in open biplanes and did not even think about it but always am scared when painting the house on top of my 15 ft ladder. Be youself, enjoy any footwear you like and don't care about what others think about it, it's your life, not theirs. Greetings from Laurence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I am somewhat of a contradiction when it comes to heights. While wearing heels, I love the higher heights. However I don't like platforms or ballet shoes. I love to ride on ferris wheels and in glass elevators. When I was going through swimming survival school in the military, the more I had to jump off the tower, the more scared I got. The secret was to jump just as soon as you reached the top before you had a chance to think about it and get scared. When I'm in a very tall building, looking out the windows towards the horizon is not a problem. But when I look straight downward, it seems like the building is going to tip over. I have no problems looking out the window of an airplane during flight. However, I often felt uncomfortable when flying as a passenger. However, I once aspired to become a military pilot. However, I gave up on flying six years ago. When I'm at some high position and the object I'm standing or walking on is wide, I have no problems. But if the object is narrow, I actually get dizzy and my balance becomes unsteady. click .... click .... click .... The sensual sound of stiletto heels on a hard surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallSwede Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 -About fear of heights and/or dizziness at these moments... I also have *no* problem sitting in an airplane, but give me stairs that have "open" steps (I.E. you do not have (whatever the correct English word is) the vertical piece between the individual horizontal "planks"), and I immediately get in trouble. It is the same with piers, where the gang-planks are separated (very nasty for people with blade or stiletto heels btw) so the water can reflect the sun light between them... -I can easily walk at an angle without knowing it (until too late), and step out over the side, thus dropping into the water (or perhaps on a boat, moored at that spot). Quite inconvenient (Is my guess of an Englishmans comment) TallSwede Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrelheels Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 (I.E. you do not have (whatever the correct English word is) the vertical piece between the individual horizontal "planks") I think they're called the vertical piece between the individual horizonal planks to be honest At first I thought you were referring to bannisters, cos I know I don't like stairs without bannisters on them. Makes me feel in secure. If I look at a high ceiling I tend to be filled with fear. I don't know why. I think it's just the thought of "what if i was up there with no way down" kinda thing. I can cope with looking out of aircraft and so on. I went swimming recently in Cambridge at the huge British Swimming Baths they have their. On the stairs up to the flumes I felt pretty bad. I didn't like it because it was quite a way down from the top, but it wasn't so much that, as it was the fact that the ceiling was really close and it just made me feel really ick! I'm weirder than most... SH Hi! I'm a signature virus! Copy me into your sig and help me spread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba136 Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Afraid of heights? Why -- it's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop. :rofl: Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallSwede Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Bubba, -It is just that I would not like to make the wrong type of impact on people... TallSwede Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrelheels Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I think that deserves "pun of the week"! My my my, that was bad...! SH Hi! I'm a signature virus! Copy me into your sig and help me spread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallSwede Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 SH, Thank you, that remark warmed my heart. -I am known as a jokester here in Sweden, and being able to pull of one in a foreign language makes me feel even more satisfied!!! TallSwede Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamyam Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 TallSwede - nice one, that made me smile! Obsessed is such a strong word. I prefer to think of myself as "differently enthusiastic" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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