PUMA Shoes II

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts if you have been checking back regularly, because I haven't been feeling well again. The numbness is really getting worse and it kept me up last night. The chronic aches, pains and headaches aren't helping either. My x-ray results came back with obvious and blood tests were fairly normal, except for the genetic abnormalities, like high cholesterol. That happens every time and doesn't make any sense, because cholesterol is present only in animal products. I am vegan, this shouldn't be happening, but a lot of people in my family have cholesterol problems, so it's one that I've gotten with the package :(

As I'm writing this post, I'm skipping back and forth between the forms that I have to send to the Office for Persons with Disabilities at the University of Waterloo, where I'm attending classes in September. Unfortunately, the residence I'm looking at does not have air conditioning and I just realized that it doesn't have single rooms either, which is quite the disappointment because I kept thinking that it does. That leaves me with only Village 1, which was the one I was considering to begin with, until somebody recommended UW Place. Last year, I would have been living with three other girls in a suite style room at Mackenzie King Village. Neither are going to work out for me anymore. My OCD tendencies are continually getting worse and, I know it sounds weak, but I can't help it. I really can't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong with just about everything that I eat, touch, wear, people I interact with, or places that I visit. Please. No physical contact. I don't think I would be able to concentrate very well if I had a roommate. *sigh*

I mentioned that I needed black shoes in a previous post. However, black stiletto ones probably won't necessarily work for all occasions; for example, a very casual one with lots of walking. Besides, my concentration is shot. I walk into things and 'almost' trip and fall (sometimes down or while going up the stairs) several times a day. Those strange panic attack incidents are happening more and more frequently. I feel light-headed, nauseous and dizzy a lot. I'm always tired and for a while I thought I just wasn't getting enough sleep, but I do and the fatigue persists. My doctor thinks it might be the Wellbutrin, but I've been on it for quite a while now and these side effects have just suddenly appeared. I really don't want to decrease my dosage.


Back to the topic at hand. I went to Markville Mall today to buy some maintenance supplies for my shoes, because I realized that my red puma shoes were actually a bit blue as my jeans must have stained it. The year before last, I bought the Sneaker Protector on the far left and the Suede & Nubuck brush on the far right. I was skeptical at first, but the sales associate showed me how the spray works on a piece of cardboard and the part that wasn't sprayed got all wet, but the sprayed area stayed dry when she sprayed it with water. How could I resist something like that? I also the brush and I'm really glad I did. Not only does it comes with an eraser to rub off stubborn pieces of dirt or whatever (shown standing on top of the brush) , but the brush works for everything. I've used it to remove lint balls on sweaters, the white residue from detergents or when someone forgets to take the Kleenex or paper out of their pockets before throwing it in the wash. They were $8 each and normally I wouldn't purchase such things, but it just comes to show my dedication to these shoes.

I found white shoe polish (second from the left) at Foot Locker, so I don't have to paint my shoes anymore. I also got a cleaner for my shoes (second from the right), which was what I really went to buy. It's really quite a product. The sales person asked me to take off a shoe and he pressed the button at the top and scrubbed it very gently with the brush surrounding the button and the shoe looked brand new. Amazing. I already have black shoe polish and the polishing sponge, so I didn't need to buy another sponge, even thought it really does work well. There happened to be a 'buy one get one half off' sale going on at both Foot Locker and Athletes World. Together, they came to a total of $12, but I couldn't use my SPC card to get an additional 10% off, which is typical for items on sale. I wish there was that promotion when I bought the first two cleaning products.

I actually went to Athletes World first and there were quite a few people looking to buy shoes. The most awkward part about buying shoes is when the sales associate stands there and stares at me while I'm trying them on. My hands kind of get shaky and fumble. If I were to rank pet peeves, that would rank pretty high on the list.

These are very similar to the one I painted and posted before, as it's also mostly leather, except for the part at the back that's suede. Another difference lies in the colours - the former pair was "White/Angel Falls Blue/Swedish Blue" and this one is "Black/White/Vapour Blue". I don't think it's blue at all. It's grey, but I suppose to some designer on this planet, it could possibly be classified as a blue-grey of some sort.


They were $120, which is the typical price for a pair in the Future Cat Low design. I'm not sure about the others, because these are the only ones I really like. The Speed Cat designs are somewhat similar, but of an older generation and not as sleek, according to the official PUMA site:

The low cut version of the Future Cat series will start a new hype for the motorsport business. Its sleek, sophisticated, but futuristic look features as many functional details as possible. Asymmetric lacing, split heel and new last construction give this product an unbelievable fit, which doesn't collide with the great looks of the dignified successor of the Speed Cat.

They had a size 7, but on the left shoe, the leather was kind of wrinkled. It really bothered me, so I ended up having to settle for a size 7.5, which could be described as "comfortably loose". I would have expected that my dad would say "nah, don't worry about it, it'll get wrinkled sooner or later," but he actually said "who knows if the leather's defective" and didn't think it was a good idea to just ignore it. Strange. I would have just given up if he said that, but now that my concerns were confirmed, there was no going back. It might also been the fact that he just wanted me to buy bigger sizes. He's always getting me to buy larger sizes, in the event that I should grow out of them and make him buy me more clothes.

It's funny that my dad is trying to gain weight to be able to keep wearing his clothes, while I'm working on losing weight to fit into mine comfortably. Of course, it's always been an obsession of mine, but it's much worse now with my lop-sided right hip. Sometimes I see girls with jeans that are too tight, which causes a bulge to form just above the waist band. Then they wear tight shirts, so it's very noticeable. I don't want to be one of those people. If it's too small, it's too small; admit it and buy a larger size. Or, one should work to either lose weight or get fit so that the bulge(s) don't form. Oh, right. My point is my lop-sided hip resembles a bulge and there really isn't anything I can do about it. I suppose I could continue losing weight so that everything fits loosely and the hip becomes less noticeable. It's only on the right side.


Anyhow, there was the same sale, so I had to find a second one. The colours really weren't very nice, so I think they're probably doing a clearance sale and keeping the new designs for maybe the summer at regular price. The one above is a lot like the one I bought before, except in "Black/White/Chinese Red" instead of "Flame Scarlet/Winter White". They're essentially the same colour, but what exactly is "Chinese Red"? I'm a bit annoyed that the embroidered puma at the front is black, while the one on the inside part of the shoe is red. Black doesn't stand out at all and there's really no point in leaving the back part black as well. I would have much rather had all of the accents in red, but all of them were the same, so it wasn't a mistake. I'm already getting a good deal, but it was also on sale for $80. Unfortunately, the smallest was a size 8 and it's loose but tolerable. I didn't want to get another white one with green or tan accents, but I don't remember what other colours they had - just ones that I didn't really please me and get dirty easily. I think having two black pairs is the best choice, since it's a colour that doesn't get dirty so easily, different from the other ones I have and also very versatile.

I think I'm going to wait for the acrylic paint to really come off the other pair before I try out the white shoe polish. I'm not sure what would happen if I just used it on top. I'd probably ruin both.