ninja shoe 1 of 2

NINJA SHOE

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note: free PA book https://amzn.to/2rvf10H .  I read this some time ago and was quite impressed with it.  Another https://amzn.to/2KQie3I . 
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You’ve all been exposed to my white hot fury when it comes to the footwear industry.  Some damn fools think baby brown people being exploited by Nike is a big deal.  I say, screw those little humpers, I’m more worried about overpaying for crap quality.  I mean, honestly, what have fuzzy foreigners done for me lately?  Boycotting tuna companies killing dolphins is all fine and dandy, I like dolphins.  I can see fighting for that cause.  But people?  They want to kill me or take what is rightfully mine as a native born ‘Murican, damnation!

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Rather than continue throwing good money after bad, I spent one last huge chunk of change on a quality pair of boots I’ll use on special occasions ( so, they will last forever ), and other than that I mostly wear plastic shoes.  Yes, the shoes I used to make fun of that only poor people working in Nike factories wore.  The shoes Habib wears in his convenience store.  I’m not exactly a pioneer here.  People on their feet all day have been wearing those Croc brand plastic shoes that look like old timey Dutch clogs, for some time now. 

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I mean, I hate people, but to some degree we are all programmed for social herd acceptance.  I don’t try to start out with new trends that make me look like a homosexual manic depressive.  But since normal people started wearing plastic shoes I’m not out of line here.  I’m not trying to emulate poor immigrants but native professionals.  And not just because of money ( but, yeh, 90% ), but also my damn feet were hurting for years.  On my feet all day on concrete, I was fine while I still had my old pair of combat boots ( and I was still young in my mid forties ).  Once I had to start wearing the new crap quality overpriced shoes ( and got over fifty ), my feet were never comfortable after that.

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So I screwed up my feet pretty good at work.   “Soccer Slides” and “generic Crocs” were so darn comfortable on my feet.  Soccer slides are flip flops, without the crap between your toes but rather a wide band over the top of your foot, BTW.  Now, I’m not sure why my feet started getting even worse after I retired/self-employed.  I notice eating too much fat, my feet hurt.  I was thinking gout.  I used to pound down butter, but I burned it up as soon as I ate it.  Once I went down to one and a half hours of exercise a day, all that butter started accumulating, I guess.

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Once I cut most that out, and potato and corn chips, my feet lost their pins and needle sensitivity.  But it could have been the cold.  After years of working outside all winter ( even if there wasn’t cold slush and rain often, it happened enough, and I couldn’t wear my warm commuter boots while working as they had no arch support-they were bike only boots ), I know I’ve exposed my feet to enough freezing for damage to occur ( yes, that is what poor people do-trading body parts for paychecks ).  So it could be either one.  Next winter should give me more data.

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But in the meantime, those damn comfy plastic shoes are a godsend.  The nerve pain is gone but I still have simple sore feet.  And when I’d get a nerve pain flare, the plastic shoes minimized the discomfort.  So, all that said, the obvious answer was to stockpile plastic shoes.  For the last year ( or perhaps it was two ) I’ve been buying a new slider or croc every time I visited Family Dollar store.  Mainly I get toilet paper there, but they also have plenty of items I’d rather buy from them that asswhore scumbag Wal-Mart. 

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Now, here is the thing.  My original slider is years and years old.  I got tired of buying moccasins or hard soled slippers I used for commuting between my camper and my underground lair.  They were never comfortable or long lasting.  So I bought the slider, by accident.  I wanted a slipper substitute that would last long, and that is what the store had.  Until my feet started hurting a lot more than usual I never used them as shoes, but just outdoor chores.  My weren’t going out to public shoes, more like flip-flop or slipper substitutes.  The first pair I bought was well designed, allowing bare feet or heavy stocking feet.

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And I kept buying the same kind of slider as my first pair, from the same company at the same price.  Now, remember, I don’t go out shopping much.  To me, a dozen pairs represented shopping at Family Dollar about once every other or third month.  But time did slip away from me and I had those accumulating quicker than I thought.  I never thought to check the shoes.  I had found a good item and stocked up on it.  Weeeellll.  The company completely changed the design on me, and it wasn’t a visible change.  The length, even on the same size, shrunk slightly and the band going over the foot started shrinking also.

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You could no longer wear the older stockpiled ones with heavy socks.  Then, the newer ones, you couldn’t even wear with thin socks.  The newest ones, I could barely wear with bare skin!  I’ve been blissfully unaware of quality compromise this whole time ( I’m sure the thickness on the bottom shrank also, but that I could have lived with.  No big deal, the shoe lasts four years instead of five.  But NOOOO! ).  The only reason I found out, thankfully prior to the apocalypse, was my old pair was getting so thin I was feeling sharp rocks get too painful, and went to the stockpile to replace them.

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Now, don’t get me wrong.  Family Dollar is NOT a bad place.  Compared to Wal-Mart they barely screw you.  But it isn’t like they don’t try to be sneaky some times on some things.  I just got unlucky on their shoes.  I did get lucky in that half are crocs rather than sliders, so I have half that are good for winter wear with wool socks ( but too loose to wear with bare feet ) and the other half that are summer wear.  Except the very last pair I bought, which simply have little room for an actual foot.  They are probably going to be a barter item eventually.

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My whole point here?  How much in our stockpile do we actually test?  And how much is lowered quality we don’t know about?  Continued tomorrow.

END ( today's related link https://amzn.to/2rn2bSG )

 

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