FastFreddy2

I wore something VERY similar while at my last year of school. A long, long time ago. They were very trendy, back in the day. I would suggest a bit 'casual' for an interview, but much more suitable than a womans shoe. Should I ever find myself being forced to attend an interview for a job I don't want, I'll wear a heel. It would guarantee I would not be offered a position. As would wearing long fingernails painted bright red, or wearing lipstick. A 19 year old boy trying to get into an art or fashion college could expect a different response, but a business interviewer will have a duty of care toward the company and any other employees. Hiring anyone but the best candidate will lead to criticism, and any non-conformist will (sadly) automatically remove themselves from that "best" position. I don't expect anyone to like it, but thems the facts.

A much more pleasing style, and a shame they didn't work out.

I would rather go barefoot than buy a Clarks branded shoe or boot. Overpriced and over-valued. How high does your sister want the heel? What sort of money? Is this a sister that knows about you liking to wear a heel too?

Again, nothing from HoF. Time for another email maybe? I'm just about to launch the Freddy Xmas Sale Drive. This is where I buy in a range of styles I might like to wear, before deciding which are suitable and which are not. Ironically, first two pairs are from AW2012 (if I remember). Both down from circa £160/£150,to £39 each. ALDO have 2 pairs on the Xmas Sale list, and an on-line retailer called BooHoo (seen by me on an auction site) have 2 or 3 pairs I might order. TopShop and River Island have both been a disappointment this year, and New Look has failed to interest me for just about a whole year now. The Steve Madden boots are a must, even at £69. I'd prefer the Saint Laurent version, but even in the Winter Sale, these are likely going to be marked down from £600 to £300 or £200. Even at £200, that's a lot of money for ankle boots I can't live in.

October passed with very little done on the Freddy rebuild. Unbelievably, I got asked to help someone else with some refurbishment work. Consequently, I spent most of October PAINTING walls and ceilings. Just for the record, the only bit of painting I like, is the last/finishing coat. 8 hours of painting, 5 days a week had me exhausted at the end of most days. Very physical work, which I haven't done for quite some time. Have been asked if I want more painting work .... I said "yes", but I have no idea if more will be offered. Apparently, I do a good job, but need to get faster ..... No-one accounts for the repairs required to newly plastered walls, which there were many, or having to strip and repaint walls that were still wet when they painted the first time ..... ["That paint will stick to wet plaster." Well, it didn't, did it? ] Homeowner was happy though.

Still looking ..... Went to see a bike advertised at £1600 (well over priced) some 40 miles away. Bit of a journey through gridlocked East London, but worth the journey. Bike was in very good nick given it's 3 year age. Almost no use at all. Lovely fella (and girlfriend) selling, but he couldn't let it go for anything near it's actual worth, as he couldn't live with the financial loss over what he paid for for it new. I can't say I blame him, completely understandable. BUT, unless he keeps the bike for 20+ years, it's only going to be worth less money with every passing year .... He is hoping I will up my offer, but I can't justify spending £1400 on a bike I can buy for (a lot) less elsewhere, so I've left an offer for him to mull over. I know of a similar bike, a year younger, for £850. I may just buy the less expensive of the two. Though £850 is still a lot of money for a 'used' bike .....

I wore a 4" heel regularly while out for a couple of years, and like you got 'used' to wearing that height heel. If I'm honest, it did seem to lose some of the challenge, and I have said many times, the bit I enjoy is "feeling like I've got a heel on my feet"? More recently, I've bought slightly higher heeled walking out shoes and boots, going up to around 4.75 inches. I've noticed a smaller size [uK7] with the same heel height are more difficult to walk in. I'm not sure if it's because my feet are slightly more cramped (not compressed, but have little or no 'wiggle' room) or the rise is steeper. I wouldn't have thought one shoe size made much of a difference to angle of the rise? I keep meaning to work it out, measuring Mrs Freddy's UK6's against my 7's and 8's. As yet, I haven't found a pair of 5" heels I can walk in, without a struggle. Not so 30 years ago when my young(er) ankles and calves didn't seem to mind a 5½" heel in a UK7? I spend significantly more time in heels now, than I did then too? My worry about this is the obvious conclusion about age, and the debilitating effect of it. Meaning ..... As I age, will my capacity for wearing a heel at all, diminish? While there are obvious exceptions, we all see fewer 'older' women wearing a heel, than we do younger women. Mrs Freddy (and several others I've mentioned before) wore heels every time they left the house when younger. 30+ years later, several of them can't wear a heel at all (damaged feet) and Mrs Freddy prefers a heel if she doesn't have to walk too far. (Though I did -accidently- have her walking miles in an attractively high heel, to go see Wicked in September.) I'm hoping the answer is continual practice ("practice ~ practice ~ practice") will keep my ankles and calves supple enough for many more years of heels wearing. Assuming I have many more years ..... Rather like any muscle group, a case of 'use it or lose it'. Edit for grammar.

I fully understand those situations, and I would add walking past seated people too. Walking fairly normally, (not like a duck ) along with longer trouser lengths have got to be two of the best 'disguises' to a man wearing a heel. A third might be a female companion. You are very brave to be wearing heels where you do, and I hope your success continues. These ventures ought to provide us all with encouragement to wear what we want, when and where we want. Please, keep up the good work and keep up the reporting.

I would have thought the opportunity for you to go shopping with her to find some, would have been an ideal opportunity for you too? If you're reluctant, I'd be happy to go shopping with her? Assuming of course she doesn't live 200 miles away.

Actually, I'm loving the white one (though trim could be something other than mauve). Any more detail, like how much (lots) from where?

I drove 160 miles (one way) yesterday to view a bike with the expectation I was going to buy it. In lovely nick, got all the paperwork .... Sadly, it was just too big. I have arms long enough to qualify me as 'part-monkey', but even my arms weren't long enough for this bike. Drove 160 miles back home, with money still locked in dash of car...... Oh well.....

Still nothing from HoF. Might give them a ring tomorrow, or at the very least, contact the Customer Services "Manager" via email. Some might be thinking ...... "What Customer Service?" I would be one of them....

Only if the bears and the wolves don't get you?

Joint stress can be a sign of muscle weakness (you are not fit enough yet ~ too much too soon) or long term wear, indicating your knee is never going to like 'impact' style exercise. Cycling might be just the thing, if it weren't for the snow and ice. I've often fancied cross country skiing but don't know why. I've never skied in my life! Maybe I've watched too many films with glamorous women wearing ski's? Most famously one with the line from Elke Sommer; "Do you want to marry me, or bother me?" Reply from the leading man; "Both, in that order!" (It's the final scene from a film I can't place. ) Isn't broken leg(s) or ankle(s) almost mandatory with skiing?

I'm trying to get back into cycling. Bought a bike I wasn't scared to use (not too expensive) only to find my riding shorts were so old they (almost literally) fell apart. The trauma of replacing them -thank you Halfords for resolving my embarrassment- meant a substantial delay in getting some use out of the bike. That hurdle passed, I started to get some miles in. Bursting with (over) confidence, I decided to go up a particularly muddy hill, only to find I didn't have enough momentum to beat the sucking ability of the wet mud. Deciding the top of the initial mound was further than me and my thin wheels could get past, I managed to turn the bike, but not far enough before gravity and terra firma reclaimed contact with my feet. I had to jump over the handlebars, to avoid the somersault alternative. Fortunately, there were no witnesses to the incident. Once recovered, the gears didn't want to work at first, but by the time I got home they had righted themselves. Not so the front disc. Don't know how I managed it, but the disc got clonked, and hindsight suggests the bend wasn't anywhere it could be straightened. More delay, while I acquired a third disc. Then more delay while I sourced some suitable threadlock. An item most places used to keep, not so in these throw-away days.... Anyway, I have both now. Preparing to install the replacement disc, I find the spokes on my otherwise new wheels, are rusty. How the heck this is possible I struggle to understand. These are obviously budget wheels supplied with the bike, but going rusty before seeing any wet weather? A like-for-like pair of replacement wheels with stainless spokes will set me back £150, so I've sent out an email enquiry about having mine upgraded to rustless spokes. The weather is getting nasty, meaning wet (and worse), windy. It's also getting dark fairly early, and we are some 2½ months away from that improving. If I don't get out and get into the 'habit' of cycling soon, I'm going to miss another year. And I'm not getting any younger.

Here I am 2 weeks later, still not been. Had the chance of helping out two other businesses, while they have been either short staffed, or short of pertinent technical experience. Has made a welcome change from the refurbishment work, but early and long hours have me cream-crackered by the time I get home. If I don't do something soon, I'm gonna miss the film I want to see. [Might be called; "White House Down"?]

I bet you wearing boots, is more dramatic than you'd expect.

Of course no injuries were incurred? Shame you didn't get to try them..... maybe next time.

Response received. (Refer original thread.) Nothing further from HoF.

Received a pleasant and unexpected response from Schuh: To add some balance to this, Mrs Freddy (who always sees the best in everyone) says that he was only making a joke, and wasn't trying to be unpleasant at all. I accept this, and the response from Schuh. However, I stand by my original response to his remarks; There are no suitable jokes or attempts at humour to be found at the possible expense of a customer. If he had said; "Bringing them back, can't you afford them? chuckle chuckle .... Would that have been funny? "Too small? Not surprised given your size fatty." Again, humour - where? In an environment where people have choice, self-deprecating humour is safest. Both for tenure of employment, and the continued interest in shopping at the store by the customer. For example, if the fella had said; "They came up a bit small on me too." That should bring a disarming smile to anyones face. Next time -which won't be with me- hopefully, he'll keep his thoughts to himself and just do a refund, being older and wiser. I will respond with a 'thank you', but I can't pretend it's not taken the shine off shopping at Schuh.

Not had any response from Schuh at all. HoF have responded. 1. What is your account details (sent to the registered account email address) 2. Where did you return the order (having been told the order number- from which they ought to know where it was returned)? I'm now told someone from the store will be in touch. I've advised them, it's a procedural issue, not a store issue. I've also pointed out, I've written to them 3 times, and so far gotten no-where. Not done anything about the TopShop problem yet.

Late last winter (meaning this year and past the really cold weather) I bought some thicker leggings to wear under my jeans. "Leggings" of course look like this: From a great site BTW. >> here << The extra thick leggings are very stretchy, and not entirely unpleasant to wear. I've thinner ones too, though I like to wear either type as they stop chaffing around the ankles and calves from stiff uppers. I'm seldom without them when it gets cooler. I hope you get out more this year. I have a picture of you in mind..... Standing on the corner of a wooden porch, watching the Sun set across a dusty and desolate plain, with your shiny thigh boots reflecting the last of the evening light......

Part V - The Show. As I've mentioned before, I'm not into musicals. I quite like to see an artist I like perform, or a couple of opera's I'm quite fond of. And that's it. We got seated easily, and were located at the end of an aisle anyway. That meant if we had arrived 2 or 3 minutes late, we would have been seated (as some were. ) The theatre isn't overly large, and I doubt there's a poor seat anywhere unless you were at the very back of the theatre. Acoustics seem good, and the place looks like it was originally a Victorian Musical Palace. It had the look and feel of an old place? Heavy drapes covering the sides of the seated area, murals on walls, vaulted ceiling .... The whole gamut of Victoriana. The story is realistic, and quite long. Not overly long, but there is much to it. I could see how some might struggle to enjoy it, as there's quite a lot to take in, given how straightforward some other stories are. There's lots of (backward) references to the original film (or stage musical if that's how it started). It was all interwoven, and you could easily come away thinking you had seen the background story to the original. The performances were all good. Sure the original cast might have been better/best, but all the singers were certainly able. The 'white' witch was a good actress, but I didn't much like the tone of her singing voice (timbre). She could sing very well, VERY well, but I felt the role might have suited someone with a broader (dare I say older) tone to her voice. That said, most of the time she was playing a younger girl, so it shouldn't surprise anyone her voice came across as a bit 'thin'. The main lead man, seemed to be someone from a boy-band? Tall, hunky, good looking. Was slightly out of place, although in the story, his role is something of a playboy. Could sing the pants off most male singer though. Great performer. The green witch, could also sing the socks off just about any female singer you've heard. Great performer. The wizard though ...... Square peg, round hole. He could sing (just), but seemed a tad out of place. But his place in the musical wasn't well suited. Good actor, but accent and singing not so great. Half time was interesting. Unlike the Barbican, many women had dressed up for the evening, and I would have welcomed the opportunity to photograph some of them, but very low light levels prevented that. One lady in particular had obviously dressed for her presence there, and for her good-looking escort too! Bright lime green body-con dress, with high platform courts that also had lime green accents. Dark hair and slim body, she was stunning. We shared an £3-50 tub of ice cream that I doubt had more than a large mouthful of fluid in it. chilled 500ml bottles of water on offer at £3-00. In keeping with toilet avoidance, we kept fluid intake low. The second half was as full as the first, and the story has a good ending. Overall, I would be happy to see it again, provided I had access to seats at reasonable money. I can live with £45. While leaving I got an unexpected opportunity..... the chance to get a picture of the lady in the lime green outfit. I also managed to get a piccy of Mrs Freddy on the steps of theatre with the Wicked banner above her. Hard work as many people there had the same idea. I had thought we would visit on a Sunday when no-one else was around during one of our West End shopping trips, but house remodeling has taken priority. Getting Home. We decided we weren't hungry enough to go to a lot of trouble to eat. If we had passed a chip shop, we might have been tempted, but we weren't starving by any means. Consequently we walked back to Victoria station, and entered the underground. The journey was a lot more relaxed than our inward journey. On the longer of the two ride train journeys, for quite a while we sat opposite a couple who I think noticed my shoes, but there was no finger pointing. The journey took around 30 minutes which included the walk between stations to swap lines. Back at Stanmore, I expected to run-the-gauntlet of early evening revellers making their way home, and party-goers about the leave for London, but the station was fairly quiet. As was the bus stop out side. Not empty, but fewer people than before. Thankfully the road outside was empty, indicating the road trauma of 5 hours earlier, had passed. On balance, something of an anti-climax to the start of our night out. Back at the car, we ate the emergency cereal bars I'd taken with us before travelling home. We arrived back around midnight having had an interesting, if somewhat stressful 7 hours. My heels managed the venture unscathed. Mrs Freddy's stiletto sandals hadn't fared so well, but I subsequently repaired them well enough for the damage to be unnoticable at normal viewing heights. We were both impressed she was able to wear those fairly high heels without too much discomfort despite all the walking (that I had promised she would not have to do!) No cuts or blisters reported. ......

Jeez, 55°F from 87°F in one day? That's incredible. And us Brits would say our weather was changeable! Shine up the boots and dig out the thermal underwear.

Just read the weather report for Eden, Texas, for the next week. Daytime temperature of between 27 and 30 degrees C. That would pass as a VERY warm summer over here.