New shoes old shoes, red shoes brown shoes

With over 140 miles and ten months on them my old shoes are retired. I only wore these shoes when I was hiking so they were used on average less then once a week. The outside of my old shoes look good but there is a hole in the tread are they getting worn out on the inside. There is a hole in the inside liner where the backs of my heels must rub. I officially retired them by taking the green super feet insoles out and transferring them to my new shoes.

My old hiking shoes are now my around town shoes, or they will be with some hidden duct tape and shoe goo. Like I said the outsides still look good. I don't wear current hiking shoes around town because walking on pavement quickly wears out the soft rubber on hiking shoes.



These shoes had a stiff metal shank that was held in place by paper. The paper melted and the shanks fell out the first time I got the shoes wet. I did not miss the stiff shanks and the shoes were fine with my green super feet inside them to give them some structure. The soles were very thin without the metal shank, without the insoles I added these shoes would have been garbage the moment the shanks fell out. I think it is very shoddy design to use paper inside of any shoes but especially in trail running / hiking shoes.

It always seem to me that my hiking shoes wear out too soon and that is why I decided to keep track of how many miles and months these shoes lasted. I don’t think that 140 miles is excessive, I would have expected them to last longer. I bought these shoes at Big 5 and they were deeply dicounted. I think I paid less then $40.00 for them.

I splurged and bought new waterproof hiking shoes for $110. With waterproof shoes, gaiters and rain pants my feet should stay dry for the winter. I have had this brand of shoe before and I really liked the way they felt but was not happy with how quickly they started leaking. But I bought these at REI and REI has a lifetime warranty on all of their products.



If the Gortex fails in a short time and my new shoes are no longer waterproof I am going to return them. Gortex lined shoes and boots always seem to fail and start leaking in just a few months and they are very expensive. It has been over a year since I have had gortex lined shoes or boots so maybe they have improved in the last year but I doubt it.

I am still too ill with a fever to go hiking. Since I'm not manic the fever is really dragging me down. All I can do now is rest up and try to get better by the start of winter quarter. I hope I get well soon enough to get in at least one hike. I was really looking forward to doing a lot of hiking while my husband was home for winter break but I have been too sick with a fever to hike at all.

School and flu season strikes again

I was going to hike today but I have a fever. I think I have my usual September-May sinus infection. I wish I could afford Beconase, it helps a lot but is just too expensive at $75 per bottle. In England you can buy it over the counter for $8.00 a bottle. I was all packed to go including my lunch. Maybe I will go for a drive and have a cup of coffee at later today instead. The snow is melting slowly. Hiking in melting snow with mixed rain and snow falling from the sky can be miserable and cold. With just snow it is cold enough that you don't get too wet but mixed rain and snow soaks you and chills you to the bone.

Unemployment is going up in my Mini City

Puddles of water are forming on the roads and the Purdy Cut-off road was briefly closed due to flooding from snow melt. There is a big puddle of water under my Jeep. I'm waiting for new wiper motor for my Jeep to arrive. I took the old one out and just need to pop the new one in but the snow has delayed the arrival of the motor. I don't feel like driving without wipers in this weather. With rain-x on day time driving is fine but night time driving is blinding.

We seem to be getting a rain on snow event this is bad news for the forest and the trails and the rivers. I wish I had been up on the Skok to see it happen last year maybe I should head up there now to watch it happen this year.

Update my new wiper motor came in and I installed it and it works. I'm feeling rather proud of that achievement. I wonder how much money I saved by doing it myself?

Happy New Solar Year

Are you ready for another wild ride around the sun? I'm not sure I can survive another ride as wild as this last one. At this time last year I was disgusted and discouraged by my experience with statistics, back stabbing friends and teachers pets at Evergreen. But a new quarter started in January and I had a good professor who taught an interesting class that was exactly as advertised. Anyway I'm going back this winter after taking Fall off due to a mania induced broken wrist. Wish me luck!

My mini city needs to build it's transportation network so please visit it.

I think I may go hiking tomorrow I'll have to do a short hike since I think pretty much no matter where I go I'll be snowshoeing. I have a 4 mile hike in mind if only my Jeep can get there. I wonder if I should subject my dog to a snowshoe hike. She will be sinking, but I guess she can always walk in my tracks while I pretend to be Good King Wenceslas.

I'm glad that the jesus thing we have to go through every year at this time is almost over. What an exhausting day it has been. Too many little pieces of plastic shit from China everywhere. Some asshole gave play doh to my 4 year old. Why did I marry an asshole? I'm sure parents had it better back in the little house on the prairie days when the kids would get one or two presents each. But then they all lived in the same room with their kids, but then they were allowed to beat them if they misbehaved... Hmmm

Ok so I've managed to get enough drugs into my system to quell the mania some but
not without a price. I was a zombie this morning, unable to do a damn thing, then I felt good for a bit, then I went manic again... sigh.. It seems like there is no happy medium. Zombie or manic, hard choice. Zombie is miserable and manic is costly. Basically life is going to suck until this episode ends.

"What we can't live with lives with us anyway. Soul melting into confusion, what does this fusion mean?" - John Trudell

Ah well at least the days are getting longer and Perihelion is approaching.

Santa Comes to Seattle

Solstice Snow and Guatemala Snow Bears

Giant Bear (oso) near my house

















My Guatemalan neighbors are building "snow bears". I've never seen this before I want to know more about it. My other neighbors are building snow people.

We got about 10 inches of snow in total on the Winter Solstice. Hooray for the first day of summer!