Shoes!

[derien]

I now have new boots that come to a little more than an inch above my ankle - black lace-ups with squarish toes and a very low heel.  They're kind of cute, in a sort of plain, Pseudo-Victorian kind of way.  They make my feet look dainty, which is unusual for any shoe. :)  I hope they work out.  I bought them for work, of course, because I need to have black lace-ups, but I think I'll use them for dancing, too. 

Shoes have become quite a thing for me, lately.  I've always had a problem with them, because I've got short, triangular little hobbit feet - I went barefoot all the time as a kid, so my toes are splayed, but my heel is narrow.  And with working on my feet all the time, and lifting and carrying baggage, I'm breaking down sneakers very quickly.  Dancing last Saturday hurt my feet, and walking to work in the week in between did not help any.  All in all, my feet have been rather on the painful side for the last week, and I really needed to do something about it. 

Of course the observant among you are probably saying, "But didn't you buy a pair of jump boots a few months ago?  And a pair of Limmers?"  Ah, you would be correct.  The jump boots ended up not fitting at all - the tops hurt my legs - and I haven't redyed the Limmers to black, as yet.  I still intend to.  It's kind of a project.  I didn't even wear the jump boots outside.  Anybody want to buy a pair of jump boots which are practically new? 

I also got a pair of flip-flops to replace the Birkenstocks which never fit me, that have been hurting my feet for five years.  These flip-flops are still not going to be something I can wear for long walks - I came back from the grocery shopping with my knee hurting, I think because they slide over to the outside and let my heel fall off on the inside, somewhat. I'm telling you, I have weird-shaped feet.  But, they were only $13, and they look pretty good and are much more comfortable to get wet in than the Birks were - I went and washed the car in them right away - so I think I'll get $13 worth of wear out of them.  (And that's $13 before the employee discount eor gets.)  (Washing the car, btw, took quite a while.  I had to take a break between the vacuuming and the actual washing part because this guy was trying to talk to me.  I drove around the block a couple of time until I was sure he was gone.  I'm such a wuss.  Still, even though the place is covered with cameras, it would be small comfort the me that they would catch his ass after I was dead.)

I'm so happy with the fact that eor gets a good employee discount on shoes.  Boots and flip-flops for me, and sneakers and boots for him, and it all came up to only like $88.  Kinda cool.  He got a new pair of some type of leather hiking boot which they're discontinuing, and they're wicked sharp.

It really makes me sad - this was the last type of leather hiking boot LL Bean had for sale, and now they're going all to the crap hiking-sneaker things, which feel nice and comfy when people first put them on, but will break down after six months, if not much less, and need to be replaced.  A good leather hiking boot takes a while to break in, but lasts for years.  And LL Bean used to be all about outdoor equipment.  Good, solid equipment for hiking, fishing, camping.  Now they're aiming for the mass appeal market.  They still get pretty good quality of the types of things they have, and they still stand behind stuff and have a good returns policy, but ... I feel like they've lost their vision of their niche market. 



By the way, I think I forgot to mention how much I love these Jason Fox / Calvin fics by maderrwhich mizzmarvel pointed me to.  That would be Jason Fox from FoxTrot (he's the short one with round glasses) and Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.  NO, don't run screaming!  She aged them to college, and did a pretty good job of making them feel like real guys, while retaining some of the flavor of the comics - there's some quite funny bits - and also making it sweet, but not smarmy.  It's great, really.  They bond around blowing things up. :)