From the time I was two, I have been extremely particular about what shoes I will or will not wear. If they were uncomfortable in any way, they came right off! If my shoes were tied and I felt different tightness between the two, or if they were too tight or too loose, I would have a fit until it was fixed. I demanded to be shown how to tie them, and when I couldn't figure it out, I would just tie 800 square knots. My mom would get SO pissed at me for wrecking shoelaces! I was never so relieved when I finally mastered tying the bow. Then I would double and triple tie them to ensure that they wouldn't loosen up throughout the day.
I never grew out of it. I am still a complete spaz. I will tie my shoes, walk two steps, adjust, repeat for as long as it takes to make it right. I hate shoe shopping for this reason, so I usually wear slip-ons so I don't have to embarrass myself in every shoe store in the mall.
I threw out my favorite pair of flip-flops because they're so ugly and not very good support (but better than some because they were from the men's department and had a nice molded footbed). For years I've always worn Birkenstocks, but ever since last summer i realized that if I want to be more outdoors-ey I need something I can wear in the water. Begin sandal odessey...
This is really boring, so feel free to skim.
I bought some expensive-ass Merrills on my honeymoon, but after wearing them for several days I noticed that the little ridge that's supposed to sit just behind the toes was actually under the ball of my foot. Ugh. I was out like 65 bucks. Then I searched and searched and finally settled for some Columbias on clearance for 15 and they got me through the rest of the summer. This year I continued the search and bought some Chacos. Great footbed, but when my feet sweat, I slide right out the front of the sandal, unless the straps are REALLY tight so I just took them back after giving them a good wash. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing--I was not about to be out 90 dollars. A few weeks later I tried again, this time with Teva. They felt okaaayyy, but if my feet got sweaty, I slide around in them and can't get a grip. Conversely, when my feet are dry, the little tentacle pattern of the foot bed suctions my foot to the shoe which is super uncomfortable. Grrr, another fuckin 80 dollars I'll never get back. I tried SO hard to love them, I really did, but dammit, I just don't! Back to the drawing board. Meanwhile, all summer I've been wearing those 15 dollar sandals and they're still real comfy--that is, once they stopped wearing the skin off my toe knuckles. Despite this, I decided to try again with a new pair of them in black.. So far I still really like them, I just have to put up with the worn off skin...
But now fall is coming soon and I will be out searching for some nice loafers for work which will be several more hours shopping and returning. It really pisses me off sometimes. I get so aggravated when I see women at work walking around in their four-inch heels like it's nothing. Or if my friends show me their cute new shoes--that I will never be able to wear... Why couldn't I have been born a man? Seems to me like that would solve it.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Falling Down USA
I've got some kind of fuckin' blogger-buildup. I miss writing. Ever since I passed through phase two of my training, I'm on some new phone queues that keep my phone ringing off the hook till market close, then I'm trying to catch up on stupid quizzes, following up on special cases, and emailing.
And lately between calls I've been reading a lot of news articles about the 35W brigde collapse. The news is saturated with articles about the survivors, samaritans, first responders, and the missing. Life in Minneapolis has been really fucked up. People are freaked out over the catastrophe and it's made most people really tense going over any bridge (and there are dozens of them--what with a river separating two major cities). Add to that the extra traffic jams and fuller busses, and you get an entire metro area full of people on the brink. It's really terrifying.
If there is an upside, it's that this incident received national attention and writers are beginning to make links between our bridge and other infrastructure deterioration around the country. It's shameful that people have to be injured and killed before anything gets done, but I'm glad that public outrage is strong enough to put the heat on our public officials. For years they've stood at the pulpit and religiously preached No New Taxes, while getting their dicks sucked in the back of the rectory by 92 year old Pohlad in exchange for building him a shiny new half-billion dollar stadium, while our roads, bridges, schools, libraries, and sewers crumble apart.
Officials announced within hours of the collapse that there was no evidence of terrorism, and this was supposed to somehow lend us relief. Call me jaded, but I'd be more comforted if it WAS intentionally sabotaged, but no, it just fell the fuck down all on its own. Who needs to be afraid of fucking religious nationalist nutjobs coming into the country to blow shit up when the shit is just falling apart on its own. I mean, if their goal is to destroy our infrastructures so that we can't function, what better way to deter terrorism than to let everything rot so there's nothing left for them to wreck?
Cut off the nose to spite the face--great domestic policy, BUSH.*
Is it election time YET?
*May Bush be reincarnated as a single mother with HIV, with Tim Pawlenty as the baby's daddy and Cheney as the welfare case worker.
And lately between calls I've been reading a lot of news articles about the 35W brigde collapse. The news is saturated with articles about the survivors, samaritans, first responders, and the missing. Life in Minneapolis has been really fucked up. People are freaked out over the catastrophe and it's made most people really tense going over any bridge (and there are dozens of them--what with a river separating two major cities). Add to that the extra traffic jams and fuller busses, and you get an entire metro area full of people on the brink. It's really terrifying.
If there is an upside, it's that this incident received national attention and writers are beginning to make links between our bridge and other infrastructure deterioration around the country. It's shameful that people have to be injured and killed before anything gets done, but I'm glad that public outrage is strong enough to put the heat on our public officials. For years they've stood at the pulpit and religiously preached No New Taxes, while getting their dicks sucked in the back of the rectory by 92 year old Pohlad in exchange for building him a shiny new half-billion dollar stadium, while our roads, bridges, schools, libraries, and sewers crumble apart.
Officials announced within hours of the collapse that there was no evidence of terrorism, and this was supposed to somehow lend us relief. Call me jaded, but I'd be more comforted if it WAS intentionally sabotaged, but no, it just fell the fuck down all on its own. Who needs to be afraid of fucking religious nationalist nutjobs coming into the country to blow shit up when the shit is just falling apart on its own. I mean, if their goal is to destroy our infrastructures so that we can't function, what better way to deter terrorism than to let everything rot so there's nothing left for them to wreck?
Cut off the nose to spite the face--great domestic policy, BUSH.*
Is it election time YET?
*May Bush be reincarnated as a single mother with HIV, with Tim Pawlenty as the baby's daddy and Cheney as the welfare case worker.
Que' Paso?
The move went smoother than anticipated. We got moved in on our originally scheduled weekend, our truck rental was not in any way hexed, we even had a little bit of help loading and unloading.
The apartment is awesome!!! Well, the awesome parts are awesome, but the cruddy parts really suck. I love the layout, the paint job is nice, and the floors are well worn and warped (I know that doesn't sound great, but I love how old they are). The yellowed, single-sheet linoleum floor in the bathroom is super nasty and curling up from the floor along the edges. The heat registers are scuffed, dented, falling off, and rusty. I had to spend HOURS and hours scrubbing mold out of the fridge, scraping crusty sticky goo off the stove and cupboards. We have blinds that are about 20 years old and aluminum for fuck's sake. But the built-in BUFFET! I am in heaven! I have a SUNROOM! Granted, it faces north, so I can't buy any full-sun plants, but I do not care.
I am the happiest motherfucker I know, it's sick. Every day I stop at Jamba Juice for a smoothie after work to unwind from my long day of being barked at by wealthy bastards who don't know jack shit about their own damn job. Hubby and I go for walks and window shop. This is the life!
I can't wait until we finish putting it all together, it's tiring. We still have so much work to do!
The apartment is awesome!!! Well, the awesome parts are awesome, but the cruddy parts really suck. I love the layout, the paint job is nice, and the floors are well worn and warped (I know that doesn't sound great, but I love how old they are). The yellowed, single-sheet linoleum floor in the bathroom is super nasty and curling up from the floor along the edges. The heat registers are scuffed, dented, falling off, and rusty. I had to spend HOURS and hours scrubbing mold out of the fridge, scraping crusty sticky goo off the stove and cupboards. We have blinds that are about 20 years old and aluminum for fuck's sake. But the built-in BUFFET! I am in heaven! I have a SUNROOM! Granted, it faces north, so I can't buy any full-sun plants, but I do not care.
I am the happiest motherfucker I know, it's sick. Every day I stop at Jamba Juice for a smoothie after work to unwind from my long day of being barked at by wealthy bastards who don't know jack shit about their own damn job. Hubby and I go for walks and window shop. This is the life!
I can't wait until we finish putting it all together, it's tiring. We still have so much work to do!
Estranged From Blogspace...
On July 26th I made an attempt to blog and discovered...I've been BLOCKED!
Here is what I had to say on 07/26:
Whoever monitors my computer activity has deemed my blog site as personal networking, a-la MySpace--complete garbage! What the hell! Now I can't post during the week, which totally sucks ass. And this weekend is completely booked, what with moving house and all.
I've been trying to reach my new landlady to give her our money and get the keys but she's been very skittish and I couldn't get a straight answer. We were getting pretty nervous about whether we would be able to get moved in this weekend since we have a truck lined up and we took time off work (Hubby two days, me two hours--what a ripoff!
Here is what I had to say on 07/26:
Whoever monitors my computer activity has deemed my blog site as personal networking, a-la MySpace--complete garbage! What the hell! Now I can't post during the week, which totally sucks ass. And this weekend is completely booked, what with moving house and all.
I've been trying to reach my new landlady to give her our money and get the keys but she's been very skittish and I couldn't get a straight answer. We were getting pretty nervous about whether we would be able to get moved in this weekend since we have a truck lined up and we took time off work (Hubby two days, me two hours--what a ripoff!
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