What would Heloise do?
 

I hope somebody has a helpful hint here on what to do about this.

I have new sandals and they have a problem.

I just bought them yesterday so I guess I could take them back, but I don't want to. They are sandals. Going out among back-to-school shoppers in Ohio in almost-September to look for sandals was something I figured would be a lost cause. But I had to try.

And there they were. First stop. I was surprised. Clarks sandals. Sensible. Comfortable. And best of all, the foot-bed (or whatever you call that part where your foot stands) is black just like the rest of the sandal. I will not buy sandals where that part is white because, no matter what, I get that part dirty. I step in and out of my shoes a lot during the day I guess.

Clarks are not what they used to be. That wonderful old brand from England now comes from China mostly. These did. But I felt lucky to find sandals this time of year, especially considering that I wear a 7M along with everybody else. And, besides, they were on sale.

So this morning I put them on to walk around the house to start breaking them in. I looked so fetching in my white socks and my pajamas and my new sandals.

But then......aaaaauuuuuugh!!!!....

squeak squeak squeak squeak Squeakity Squeakity SQUEAK!

Is there anything that can fix this? I do not want to have to start over. I hate to shop for shoes. But I do not want to be constantly announcing my presence by squeaking along. I feel certain that if these shoes were the proper English Clarks, like they used to make, there would be no squeaking permitted. (sigh)

I hope somebody can help. (I have thought of trying WD 40.)

Boomer

Have you ever heard the old expression that if your shoes squeak, you're coming into money? Maybe that may find the squeak more tolerable! <grin>

That was my first thought (using WD40) even before I finished your thread where you too mentioned maybe trying WD40. Why not give it a try? Can't hurt and will probably remove the squeak by lubricating the shoe materials. Yepper, that will do it fer shure.....b

Squeaky Shoes
 

Hi Boomer!

I had some squeaky sandals, too. I was frustrated, too. I bought some inexpensive pairs at Kohl's last year, and I vowed I would never do that again. I guess the squeaks aren't only in cheaper shoes if your Clarks are doing it too!

Anyway, I read somewhere that if you poke a pin hole in the bottom (mine squeaked when the heel was stepped on), it would help to let the air out. Sounded pretty reasonable to me. Not so! It did not work! I poked an even bigger hole, and it still didn't work!

My advice would be to take them back while you can, and save yourself any future frustration.

Good luck!

Are you absolutely sure it wasn't your joints, Boom?:plane:

I had squeaky golf shoes once, and I have yet to come into the money.

Does the shoe liner come out? That could be where the squeak is coming from. I have a pair of shoes that squeak, but only when I put a particular shoe insert in. Drives me nuts. I need the insert for a heel problem and without it in, those athletic shoes are uncomfortable. If your foot liners are removable, try walking in the shoes without them and see if they squeak. If they don't, I'd return the shoes.

How sad, you've found what sounds like a really good shoe, fashion and bargin wise. Too bad they announce your arrival before you do... ;)

the squeaky Boomer gets the grease
 

Thanks, girls, for all the suggestions.

I know it's not my joints, GG. Isn't that what WD-40 is really for? (Well, actually sometimes I like to dab a little WD-40 behind my ears. I think that stuff smells wonderful. On really special occasions, I have been known to dab a little Grand Marnier behind my ears. I think the smell of Grand Marnier is too wonderful to try to describe.) But I digress, back to my sandals....

Tonight I decided to try my sandals again. So I put them on and got busy on some house stuff, including cleaning out the refrigerator which is what I almost always do on Garbage Eve. Wednesday is Garbage Eve. Annie always looks on with hope in her heart. Annie got the last few ounces of turkey breast and a couple of little carrots.

I needed to get rid of an ear of corn and two skinny slices of watermelon so I walked down the hall and delivered those to Mr. Boomer. He was in his office, still reading that book about that girl who's got a dragon tattoo and plays with fire and kicks hornets' nests.

I returned to the kitchen and bustled about some more.

Well, I was so heavily involved in all my domesticity and leftovers-pushing that I did not notice right away that my new shoes had stopped squeaking! :MOJE_whot:

I don't know how it happened. Maybe it was that the sole needed to be compressed. Maybe it was all the good vibes from the Girl Talk thread. Whatever it was, I am happy that they are working out fine now. And they are getting more and more comfortable as the leather stretches out a little.. The fit is perfect.

I bought these shoes at the mall, but I found a picture of them on Zappos just now so you could see them if you want to.....

http://clarks.zappos.com/n/p/dp/59639571/c/3.html

And thanks again for helping.

Boomer

Boomer, you could have made a turkey-carrot-melon smoothie.

I can't find that little laughing guy who rolls around on the floor -- but anyway, that made me laugh out loud - but you forgot the corn -- should I have put in the cob, too? Fiber you know.

Boomer

Yeah, put in the corn and give Mr. B the watermelon. Both are a good source of fiber.

Thanks, Mary Ann, I'll give that a try.

Pat

soooo PTurner
 

We all want to know did you make your goal weight??? Wasn't it by Aug 21? Wasn't it for a class reunion or something? Are you still going to continue on the Low GI plan? :popcorn:

Hi SSmith,

I ended up losing 7 lbs by Aug. 21 for my high school reunion. Perhaps my goal of 10 lbs in three weeks was overly ambitious. I did not want to do it via "starvation" or anything that I would not be able to continue as a lifestyle change.

Yes, I an continuing with the low GI approach. As of today, my total weight loss since I started is 7.5 lbs. The weight is coming off much more slowly, but it's still trending downward, and I feel terrific! I need to incorporate more exercise-- no doubt. I have been soooo busy in the last few weeks-- in part, planning the reunion. But it's not a good excuse. :sigh:

Thanks for asking. -- P

And...did you take pictures at the reunion???? Please show us.

Great
 

I am so glad that you did so well. I bet you were the belle of the ball!! or the best looking chear leader there. Gracie is right, pictures? Susie

OMG, not hardly! I went to HS with some of the most gorgeous and sweet women on the planet. I didn't take any photos of myself, lol. I was away earlier this week and just starting to look at the photos posted on our private site. Here's one that I'm in. I'm the skinny-- ha, ha-- one standing third from the left.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

I'll find one later that's more close up. It might be in a couple weeks though. WE'RE COMING DOWN TO TV Saturday for a week! Yea!!

Medical time ... dingalingaling ... I'd like to talk about knees. I need some opinions based on your experience or that of someone you know.

I've had "bad knees" for years and it serves me right. I used to play squash every day, jog, ski, and wear three-inch heels all the time. (No, my sneakers didn't have three-inch heels, silly goose). That was before I realized that I wouldn't be young and bouncy forever. Way back then.

Anyway, now my family doctor says I need arthroscopic surgery, that I have bits of stuff floating around in my kneecaps causing me pain. She has referred me to a surgeon. (I had arthroscopic surgery 20 years ago and it improved my knees at that time. But of course I was warned against skiing, jogging and playing squash!)

An arthritis specialist has told me I should have cortisone shots in both knees! And he thinks that there would be a significant improvement so that I could avoid surgery. He says the floating bits aren't that significant.

I'm scheduled for the cortisone shots in four days. Anyone out there with knee problems?

I can't count P. Is that you in the white top? Wow. Who are all the rest of those old people?

Sorry Bare, Bump.

My knees are great, it is the rest of me that is not working exactly right.

Bare, I know nothing about knees, but I'm interested in your story. Please keep us posted!

Shots or surgery.
Surgery or shots.
Shots or Surgery.

I know which one I'd choose.
Judy the chicken

Bare,
The day after the shots, I hope you don't feel like you were visited by a loan shark to whom you are behind in payments.

Long-term, I hope the shots work!

Please keep us posted.

Here's my virtual hug!

Pturner

Thanks girls. I've been researching cortisone shots on the internet and reading "reviews" from people who've had them. The comments are very mixed, from "it's a miracle" to "don't do it, constant pain". Yikes! Oh well, I think I'll give it a try on Friday.

I also started taking Fosomax this week for the first time. I think that makes me officially an old fart. :girlneener:

Bare, If taking fosomax makes you an old fart, then I have been one for about 15 years now!

When my doc told me I had to start taking fosomax I said " But I feel great" !!!!

his reply was " Good and we want to keep it that way!

Personally I have had very little improvement in bone strength from taking foxomax but at least it didnt go the other way. My bone density improved greatly when I was told to combine calcium plus D to my daily drug routine.

Bare, how the cortisone shots worked for you? I hope you're feeling better!

I have been away and only had time to take quick glimpses at TOTV until this week. I missed Bare's post about her knees and cortisone shots.

I hope you are doing great Bare. I also wish I had seen your post eariler. My husband just had surgery on his knee for a torn miniscus. It turns out old scar tissue inside his knee was causing more pain than the torn miniscus.

He could have written your post. He didn't know what to do but opted first for the cortison shot. It was like a miracle...for about one day (that's when the numbing agent in the injection fades) and then the pain was back.

He decided to have the surgery and actually played his first round of golf in TV about two weeks later. The surgery went great and he was on crutches, at his discretion, for about a week. He could have gotten off the crutches sooner but he used them for preferential treatment at the airport.

Let us know how you are doing Bare.

Hi Cuz,
I'm glad his surgery went well. Smart use of the crutches. ;)
P

Thanks P. It is scary when you have to have surgery or even consider surgery on your knees. He'd never had any kind of surgery or major illness, thank God. I think I know how Bare must feel. The cortisone does great for many people though.

My husband's surgeon said it was the scar tissue causing the majority of the pain and the cortisone doesn't work as well for that pain. It's been a crazy couple of months to say the least.

And now, we are getting ready to move from NC to Pennsylvania!!! Too far to just drive down for a long weekend at the house in TV.

I'm going to miss my husband this winter. I'm glad his knee is doing better so he can take care of himself while I'm in Florida.

Cortisone shots never worked for me.....Hope it does for you.....b

Well, here I am, still alive and smiling. I had cortisone shots in both knees five days ago. (Otherwise I would have had to have arthoscopic surgery on both knees to remove some floaty bits). I was instructed to stay off my feet for 48 hours after the shots. Which was impossible because I have a house for sale (in Canada). But that is another story!

As I mentioned, my knees have been very stiff and ouchy for the past year. I even bought a cane at one point, my right knee was so bad. After the cortisone shots, I had a lot of knee pain from the injections themselves. It lasted for about eight hours, and then the pain from the injections stopped, just like magic. I haven't had any pain since. My knees are still stiff, but they feel waaay better and the doctor says that will improve.

The doctor (a specialist in arthritis) said that I will have the best results six weeks after the shots. And that hopefully I would be pain free for some time .. perhaps six months to a year, perhaps longer.

So .. right now .. the jury is out. But I'm glad I had the shots!

I'm in Canada now and have a house to sell and have to get moved to Lagoon City, Ontario, before I leave for The Villages (at the end of October).

Hopefully the next time I see you, I'll be dancing at Katie Belles. :pepper2:

Well, here I am, still alive and smiling. I had cortisone shots in both knees five days ago. (Otherwise I would have had to have arthoscopic surgery on both knees to remove some floaty bits). I was instructed to stay off my feet for 48 hours after the shots. Which was impossible because I have a house for sale (in Canada). But that is another story!

As I mentioned, my knees have been very stiff and ouchy for the past year. I even bought a cane at one point, my right knee was so bad. After the cortisone shots, I had a lot of knee pain from the injections themselves. It lasted for about eight hours, and then the pain from the injections stopped, just like magic. I haven't had any pain since. My knees are still stiff, but they feel waaay better and the doctor says that will improve.

The doctor (a specialist in arthritis) said that I will have the best results six weeks after the shots. And that hopefully I would be pain free for some time .. perhaps six months to a year, perhaps longer.

So .. right now .. the jury is out. But I'm glad I had the shots!

I'm in Canada now and have a house to sell and have to get moved to Lagoon City, Ontario, before I leave for The Villages (at the end of October).
Hopefully the next time I see you, I'll be dancing at Katie Belles. :pepper2:

Oh, Barefoot, I am so very happy it is working. That really is good news. Now don't overdo it though. Take it easy. Hope you have a good move. Oh, I wanted to tell you that I was nearly as far north as Lagoon City, Ontario, two weekends ago near Ft. Drum, NY, for a wedding.

Barefoot, you are very brave to get those shots. I'm so glad that the treatment is working for you. :highfive: Remember to try not to overdo even though you may not feel as much pain. You know, no parachute jumps and the like. :evil6:

Thanks BK and K-9! I do have a tendency to overdo things ... although I'm a slothful person in general, I have bursts of energy. I have to remember to pace myself when I'm packing.

K-9 .. I'm really enjoying the smoothies! :coolsmiley: BK, if you're in the area, you have to drop in!

Bare,
I'm glad the cortisone shots are working and hope it proves to be a good long-term solution!

Wow, you are moving further north! What's up with that? Aren't you in the Toronto area now?

Barefoot, thank you for the hospitality. I may just PM you one day and tell you we are in the area.

My husband is from Northern New York near the Fort Drum base. Most of his family still lives there. We are actually in the process of moving to Pennsylvania.

Our plans are to make it to New York more often to visit with family. I'll tell you what, if you are ever in the area around Penn State University, give me a PM and I'll buy you dinner and put you up for a few days.

Yes, I'm in the Toronto area now. But I'm just not a city person.

Fireboy isn't retiring for another year or two (from his job in downtown Toronto). But he gets tons of time off to visit me in The Villages or wherever I am. As a Canadian, I am only allowed to spent six months in The Villages. So I needed to figure out a fun place to spend the summers. We do have a lake cottage "up north". But it is very isolated with lots of bears, so I don't want to spend my whole summer there.

So I decided to get on with my plans, as my golden years are flying by way, way too quickly. I decided to abandon the city and, for the summers, move to a little resort community called Lagoon City, Ontario. It's a cool place; every home owner there has a boat at their doorstep.
I'm hoping that the move to Lagoon City will make the six months I'm in exile less painful!:cryin2: You Yanks don't know how lucky you are!

Oh, that does sound nice, Bare. I bet it's beautiful. When you get settled there, please post some pictures for us!

BTW, I've never been called a Yankee before. :a20:

Can this marriage be saved?
 

Well, I must be feeling pretty desperate to parade my big marital secret right out here in the open, on the internet.
:22yikes:

But it is the Girl Talk thread after all so at least I know that my secret will be ever so safe.

Yes. I guess I am desperate, desperate for any ideas that might help or at least a little commiseration.

I have just emerged from our basement, and I am dusty and grouchy. (Yeah. I know I wanted a ranch this time and not a two-story, but a ranch with a full basement makes for one honkin' basement. I try to never go down there, but sometimes I just have to. And today was the day.)

Mr. Boomer is a great guy and our marriage is a happy one, until.............I go down into the basement....when I go down into the basement with a goal in mind and I sweetly say.....

"WE GOTTA GET RIDA ALL THIS %#&*!!"

Well, we worked rather pleasantly together for a while -- on opposite sides of the basement -- so I guess that is not really together. I, of course, was getting rid of all sorts of things that he did not care about, like old Christmas decorations and a cappuccino maker.

But then I decided that I needed to cross the line.....the line into the war zone, where I decided it was time for me to Ready! Aim! Fire! at those vinyl records and tapes and CD's. He's got an iPod for goodness sake. That stuff is loaded on the iPod. Led Zeppelin and who knows Who and all that other groovy stuff.

He says he needs it for backup.

I gently reminded him about iTunes.

He said it's not the same, already bought this stuff, might need to download it again.

I reminded him that he had not missed the spear gun I talked him into getting rid of last time.

But I was getting nowhere I could tell and THEN I called him a digital hoarder and I stomped upstairs. (But ya know, now that I think about it, that was probably what he had planned for me all along.)

Boomer

Boomer, that episode sounds surprisingly like the garage clean-up that Fireboy and I embarked on a few days ago (on which Fireboy and I embarked, it is punctuation week after all).

There was some stomping and name calling and even contemplating hitting each other with soft objects. How many shovels does one family need .. would ten be too many .. yes! But apparently they have different functions and every family needs a light one and a heavy one and a flat one and a pointed one, one for leaves, one for snow, one for ice, etc., etc.

And now on a different topic, PTurner .. are you still losing weight?