To think I made it this long

Today I learned that the song lyric is "secret agent man," not "secret Asian man."

LaBloShoeMo

Above is the reason I didn't post yesterday: I was busy picking out my Christmas present. New boots! Beautiful boots. Comfortable boots. Boots with a lining that has been heat-molded to the shape of my foot. Boots a half-size larger than my old pair; a half-size larger than the guy at the store recommended.

I swear, there is some sort of sports store conspiracy to get everyone to buy snowboarding boots that are slightly too small for their feet. The first store we went to didn't have a very large selection, but while R and I were looking we overheard a customer commenting that the boots she was trying on felt to small and heard the sales associate launch into a tirade about how they were supposed to fit that way and you want your toes to be touching the front of the boot and it is better to get them small than too large.

I will tell you all now, having had boots slightly too small for my feet for the last four years, the sales people are lying to you. Yes, when crouching while wearing the boot it is fine for your toe to brush the front of the boot, but they should not always be touching. If they do, your foot will wind up hurting. You will wind up buying the thinnest socks you can find, at which point in time your toes will start becoming numb. Just resist the salesperson's pressure! They should be snug, but anything mildly uncomfortable will only get worse.

These are the boots that have served me faithfully for the last four years. If it wasn't for the fact that they make my toes go numb and I can only wear the thinnest of socks with them they could last me another five or ten years. If you can't tell from the picture, their laces are thinner than those of my new boots, making them much harder to lace. Even with all their issues, I still feel a little bad about replacing them before their time. They were my first boots. We've got a history.