How discontinued of shoes? I sometimes find things on Craigslist.

Depends on the brand, but Sierra Trading Post is good for stuff like Danskos and Merrells and Tevas and such.

I'm looking for a pair of Matisse Ayalas that I bought a couple years ago, and another pair of Matisse that I never got a chance to find in my size but they were perfect. And of course my favorite sneaker of all time, a slip-on by Dr. Scholls. Websites just laugh at me when I look for that one.

I can't wear Danskos at all. Seems like any shoes I've tried that are European sized are always just a tad too short.

Dr. Scholls makes one of my favorite sandals. I am wearing them to oblivion but they've done everything I've asked. I just checked and there are similar ones on their site. Not my beloved silver but they have black and white. Now I need to choose. Or pretend to choose and then get black. They are comfortable and one of the only shoes I can wear when my hip and back are freaking out.

I drove past the property on the way home. it's 10 minutes closer to work. In driving by, I noticed a couple small warning flags. 1) cramped in there. not a lot of street parking for visitors. 2) the street signs on the street all have graffiti. Makes me wonder if it's gangs. Or, just the high school right next door (well, it backs up to the side of the complex, so.. not right next door, but might as well be). I'll still take a look at it. It's got a jacuzzi looking tub! Dude! But I get the feeling it won't topple the short sale I'm still waiting to hear from.

x-post with Natter because OMG today...

...So...I had quite a day. Work was exhausting and very frustrating (spent two and a half hours dealing with a student and her family about something that was utterly ridiculous and not worth even five minutes of time), but I came home happy that it was Friday. The torrential rains slowed down and tapered off by the time I got home (this will become pertinent shortly), and I decided to crawl into bed to take a nap since I had planned to go a friend’s birthday/engagement party tonight. I woke up to what sounded like hail. At first this didn’t worry me much--we’ve been having weird thunderstorms and rain and hail all day. Then I realized the sound was in the bedroom. Then I realized that a big ol’ portion of the ceiling was SEEPING wet and water was dripping onto Mt. Laundry on ND’s dresser and the floor. In fact, this has apparently been going on all day, because upon investigation I determined that layers and layers of clothes were sopping wet, a suitcase had filled with water, and the rug was so wet it squished when I stepped on it.

I put the dog out back to get her out of the way and went into frantic pull-stuff-out-of-the-wet-zone mode. I went to get pots and pans to lay out all over to attempt to catch the torrents of water and, as I darted through the hallway, slipped on the newly wet tile and flew backwards, hitting my head on the floor hard in the process. I didn’t black out, but I was dizzy, disoriented, and a nasty headache started up (astute readers will see where this is headed). At this point I was fielding calls to and from the landlord, trying to frantically mop up water, and putting out containers to catch the leak...and then I realized the dog was gone. She had escaped the yard.

I spent the next five minutes running up and down the street trying to catch my exuberant dog, who thought playing chase in the rain was the Best Game Ever. Finally caught her, and discovered that in addition to being soaked through, Kaylee had managed to find something incredibly stinky and likely dead to roll in.

My headache and disorientation were getting worse, so I called my friend C since ND was at work 90 minutes away and asked if she would be willing to come over. By the time she got to my house, I knew I needed to go to the ER. I fed the pets, stuck STINKO dog in crate, and let C drive me to the ER. The good news is that they determined I likely don’t have a brain bleed--just a concussion and whiplash from hitting the tile so hard, but yeah. Another $100 copay and four hours lost to the ER.

It looks like the carpet, a suitcase, and possibly the dresser are going to have to be replaced. Our awesome landlord is mortified since she just spent money getting the roof REPAIRED (it seems the opposite may have occurred since we’ve never had a leak in that area before) and will compensate us, I’m certain, but I think we’re going to have to completely empty that room for a good week or more to get the work done, and that is going to be a massive undertaking given the sheer number of clothes the two of us own and the fact that all the various detritus in the house seems to end up in the bedroom. I suspect my house is going to look like a yard sale for awhile as we take up residence in the guest room.

Not normally superstitious, but wow. Friday the 13th indeed.

Holy fuck, Pix. Glad you're all right! Much ~ma for getting all that mess taken care of.

Holy. Fuck. Indeed. I am really glad you got to the ER, Pix.

People I care about, please stop falling down. It worries me to no end.

Crap, Pix, that's a horrible day. Take care of your head.