epiphany

Shoes & Hot Shoes

This morning I discovered some huge cracks along the soles of my favorite work shoes. They're Clarks, and I've had them for two- or three-and-a-half years. I tend to be pretty hard on shoes, what with walking a minimum of two miles on concrete per weekday (three is probably a true average). I used to wear out the soles on a pair of shoes every semester in college, which is why I finally switched to more expensive shoes. Clarks may cost twice as much as Timberlands or other brands, but they last me around six time as long.

I had built up a good amount of extra hours at work over the past two weeks, so I took half of the afternoon to go shoe (and camera--but that comes in later) hunting. Alas, only Macy's carried the appropriate style of Clarks, and their largest pair was half-a-size too small. I hemmed and hawed, considered some Ecco's (too expensive for the business-appropriate styles), longed for some Mephisto's (WAY too expensive, but holy cow . . .), and headed home with nothing but my sadly splitting Clarks.

After arriving home, I hopped in my car and headed to the closest mall, hoping that I could find those nice Clarks at its Macy's. I stopped in Nordstrom's first. They had a decent selection of shoes, though very few Clarks, and a very helpful and courteous salesman (Joe, who deserves a raise or a promotion--preferably both). He casually brought out not only the dark brown pair of Kenneth Cole shoes I had asked for but also the same pair in black, the updated (and $30 more expensive) model, and a sale pair of casual sneakers. Tempting as the updated models were, I had them hold the original pair of shoes while I checked out other stores. The service and selection elsewhere were embarrassing. I headed back to Nordstrom's, tried on the shoes again, bought them, and thanked Joe for his help.

On top of that unexpected expense, I finally bought something else I've been studying for quite a while. After much ado, I've ordered an 8 megapixel Olympus C-8080. I've been studying 8MP cameras on DP Review for quite some time. I had given up on buying one, figuring I'd settle for a 5 or 7MP point-and-shoot, when one of their site retailers started advertizing the C-8080 for well under $500. I found one at a local camera store today and tried it out. I've learned that no digital camera is perfect, but this one has nearly all the features I want. The zoom could be a bit longer, but I tend to shoot wide anyway. The wide lens, good macros, tilting screen, sturdy build, and fast response outweigh most telephoto disadvantages as far as I'm concerned, especially when the next model I was considering (and didn't like as much) cost about $400 more.

I also spent a good deal of time researching the selling company since I hadn't heard of them before. They seem reputable, and their description guaranteed that the cameras are brand new US models (something to watch for when ordering a camera online; non-US cameras may not carry a valid warranty). For those interested in the C-8080 from a more well-known dealer, it's currently on clearance at Walmart.com. The must-be-absolutely-safe side of me almost bought it there, but after working things out (aka: price) and my investigation, I decided to go with Beach after all.

I'll be sure to keep you updated as to how the online camera shopping turned out.

And if it ends nicely, I'll post a picture of my new, just-a-little-too-trendy-for-moderate-Jonathan's-comfort shoes.

Posted by jonhanneman at June 17, 2005 10:31 PM | TrackBack