Part II: Advice for the Shoe-Whore from a SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT!

So I think that I've decided to go with #2 below, the Tsubo Sycorax BWG.


I did a search on the Tsubo website to find a local retailer and came across a fab store called CARBON, located on 12th & U St NW.



I perused their online collection, and they only had the Tsubos in Black (in addition to many more variations), but I do have to say that they have an overall GREAT selection of shoes and accessories, so definitely check it out, either online or if you're in the 'hood. I'm definitely loving the belts.

Anyway, I digress.

I sent an email early this morning to the owner asking if perhaps he had the pair of Tsubos that I yearned (perhaps he hadn't posted them online!) He promptly responded with a very informative email! Read on:

Ed,
Thanks for the note. I have tried to make the store laid back and interesting. I hope you continue to enjoy. Also, if you visit, and your experience is not good, PLEASE tell me.. I would rather not loose CARBON's edge!

On the shoe note. I do not have that style. BUT! I think we can help each other. I peer into designer's "what's next" crystal ball a bit and can relay to you what is cooking for your blog. For example, I did not buy the style you want, because the Sycorax is being phased out for what is called the Bombic - a very cool update of the Sycorax, but with a tounge and subtle design modifications... I will have those in the next week or two.

Also, I went to your blog, and I would also ask you to consider, if you really like the unique, to replace your Madden's, possibly with Blackstone. A great life style shoe that can be dressed up or down with jeans. ALSO, Mark Nason, a high end Italian designer just came out with "Lounge" a mix between Italian detail and European trainers. A great update on the "trainer" look, with detail that puts these shoes in their own category. Anyway... Hope you can swing by and check them out.

Best,

Kevin Powers
CARBON
1203 U ST NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.986.2679

Now, Beeshes... THAT is what I call CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Anywhoie, my next move is to play wait-and-see. I am intrigued by this new line of Tsubo Bombics so I'll wait for them to come into Carbon so I can try them on. In the meanwhile, I will also peruse Kevin's other suggestions.

How I Got Mad at PNHoffman (but kissed and made up...)

So, PNHoffman is a huge developer in downtown DC. I always get emails from them with updates on their new condo properties... and I love browsing them and looking at the floorplans.


It never fails that when I get one of their emails and click on an embedded link that I am taken to some PNH webpage that prompts me for a password (which I never had despite numerous website visits.) In order to view the properties, I have to go through this very annoying process of filling out some wonky survey. And this occurs EVERY TIME I have visited the site.

In my heat-induced delerium from earlier this week, I got another email... and was subsequently forwarded to ANOTHER SURVEY. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. See the following email exchange:

___________________________

-----Original Message-----From: Ed Calimag [mailto:edcalimag@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 5:04 PMTo: Jonathan RodgersSubject: Reply from campaign Alta 060106 2006

I receive emails from you all the time and I like your properties, BUT when I click on any of the below properties, it always asks me for a password (which I've never been provided nor have I set up). I wind up having to fill in a survey EVERY TIME just to look at the properties.

Is the password thing for real? Or a gimmick to coerce people into filling in your survey?

I have proof that I've filled out your survey at least twice already (I've done so under two different email addresses). You have no need to continue to solicit me for information that I have repetitively provided. If you are running reports off of this data, then your analysis will be flawed as 1) you have duplicate entries of the same person, and 2) by the 5th or 6th time I enter this information, I don't even bother entering it in correctly.

How do I obtain a password? Please advise or I will file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission through their website https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01). I have enough grounds to do so and enough information provided below in your emails to give to the FTC.

Thanks!
- Ed Calimag

___________________________

And now his response...

___________________________

Ed-

First, let me apologize for the inconvenience and trouble that you have been facing with out website – it is not our intention to make it difficult for our customers to view floor plans and pricing.

The password is simply for us to track those purchasers interested in our properties, and we certainly do not want potential purchasers to register or
provide us their information repeatedly.

Upon initial registration, our site should store a cookie on your computer that allows for viewing of floorplans and pricing without having to register again or enter a password. It is possible that this action is prevented by certain security settings on the computer or browser one is using. For future reference, the password is ‘pnh’.

Please let me know if you have any continued trouble or would like to discuss this matter further.

Again, I apologize on behalf on PN Hoffman.

Jonathan Rodgers,
Sales Associate

___________________________

Having regained my senses, I sent him the following reply this morning:

___________________________

Hi Jonathan:

Thanks for the prompt response. Sorry if I was snippy earlier. I think the heat got to me, I became cranky, and the prospect of doing a PNH survey triggered the vigilante consumer in me.

I look forward to drooling over your properties and would love to tour the Warehouse units sometime.

Regards,
Ed Calimag

___________________________

So, what are the lessons learned from this?

• Don't write emails when your AC isn't working,
• Threatening to skew someone's reporting data is always a viable threat,
• People seem to respond faster when you include random threats of reporting them to the Federal Trade Commission (Department of Homeland Security works really well , too),
• Always be polite and say thank you, and
• I'm developing into a cranky old man.

More Musings on Footwear: Keen

Its been a long day of footwear discussion, but before I hit the sack, I do want to impart some YodaBeesh wisdom upon you.

I would have to say that the most comfortable shoes I have EVER worn are from Keen.

I own three different pairs of Keens (Newport H2 Sandals , Providence Black Slides, and a brown pair of Keen Bronx).

Keen is an altogether GREAT walking shoe/sandal as it provides very strong and firm support for your feet and arches.

I've used my sandals for the beach, scuba diving excursions, and poolside lounging; and they tend to be my daily summer footwear.

The Keen Providence slides are EXCELLENT for travel, walking around, and running through airports. I wore them on a 10+ hr flight from Washington DC to the Canary Islands and they were soooooo comfortable. I highly recommend them as good travelling shoes (if you're going to be on a plane or in a car for hours.) Plus, they are easy to slip off for those nasty security checks at the airport.

One last thing about Keen shoes.... THEY DON'T SMELL. I don't know WHAT it is about the material that they use for the insole, but these shoes/sandals do not get all sweaty, yucky, or stinky!

If you ever want to check them out in person, I believe that they sell them at Dick's Sporting Goods (in Metro DC/NoVA.) They're also available on Zappos and Shoes.com

Anyways... high props to the folks at Keen for putting out an excellent top-notch product.

Seeking Advice from Fellow Shoe-Whores

I like shoes. They make me happy. And of course, being Filipino, I am an easy target for the Imelda Marcos jokes (bring it on!)

Anywhoie... my current pair of "black-sporty-going-out-casual" shoes are falling apart from wear and tear(see below pic.)

Steve Madden. I think that I've had them for over 3 years now? -GASP- They look extra shiny-black because I put that liquid shoe polish stuff on them recently to cover up the embarrasing scuffs.

I think it may be time to retire them or dump them into a PlanetAid bin.

So, I thought that I would try something different and solicit my audience for input.

I've linked 5 different pairs of shoes below. Which do you like best?

Some questions to ask yourself as you evaluate:

1. Which of the following shoes do you find yourself most attracted to?
2. For those who are intimately familiar with my personality (and wardrobe), which pair can you see YodaBeesh wearing... say on P St. on the way to Halo for cocktails? Or to Sunday brunch at Lauriol Plaza? Or to a last-minute dinner/movie...?
3. Do any particular pairs make you say, "wow, those are some f**king cool shoes..."

Personally, I've had my eyes on the Tsubos for awhile... but the other day, my neighbor TLC mentioned the words "Pumas from ZAPPOS" to me. So, now I feel conflicted.

Please advise by posting your comment below.

1. Tsubo Sycorax Black
2. Tsubo Sycorax Black/White/Gray
3. PUMA Future Cat Lo P US
4. PUMA Mostro Nu
5. Puma Mostro Brogue

Rant on my Next-Door Neighbors

I woke up at 5am this morning to sounds of giggling sorority chicks and loud music, emnating from outside my window.

Not actual depiction of neighbors, but very close...

The neighbors (aka FratBoys) decided to have a late night party into the wee hours of the morning and brought it out onto their deck. They also brought out their hoochie-mamas. They must have been celebrating the end of finals or something like that.

I mean, no offense as they are home-owners as well... but this is a f**king FAMILY neighborhood, not the SAE Frat House.

I was very tempted to call the cops, mostly to just f**k with them, but I regained my composure after the first cup of coffee. Much more productive to publicly rant on my blog and share the pain with my other neighbors so that we can all glare at the FratBoys as they exit their Den of Sin to get into their pimp-mobiles (an MB and a Lincoln Navigator)... (rolls eyes) I have a particular beef with the Nav.

Whenever I see this monstrosity parked in the driveway next door, I think of that song "Big Pimpin'" by Jay-Z...

They irritated me yesterday as well... we've had parking issues in our townhome development over the past few months, so the cops have started going around issuing tickets to cars that are illegally parked. THEY (the FratBoys) are big culprits, but I don't believe that they've been snagged yet. Yesterday, one of their frat brothers parked right on the corner blatantly in front of the "no parking" sign and left his sh*tty Jeep Cherokee there. Now, mind you, there was NO ONE in the drive way, and he could have easily parked right there. But NOOOOOOOO...... he has to pretend that he's on Entourage or Growing Up Gotti and must mark his territory like a dog (except with leaking oil instead of urine.)

Anyhow, that's my rant for now. I dunno what it is... their presence just grates on me.

An Ode to Air Conditioning

Me -- this morning.

I woke up this morning and it was a nice chilly 70F in the house. I actually needed to pull a quilt up to shield me from the COLD.

Thank God.

Anyways, the AC repair guy came yesterday around noon and restored normalcy to our household. Our AC had never been serviced before, and apparently we needed to have another recharge of freon. No big whoop. I learned a lot from AC RepairMan re. regular maintenance and blahblahblah. I'm probably just going to buy some annual maintenance package so that they come and check the unit and the entire HVAC system in our house.

Not actual unit --- but these all look the same to me.

In case you live in Fairfax, I highly recommend AbleAir-1. They were referred to me by our neighbor, CD, who also had AC probs earlier this week. I didn't feel like I got ripped off, the pricing was reasonable... plus I was so delerious from the heat that I probably would have written the man a blank check to turn our house into an icebox.

Some random reflections on Air Conditioning and Sweltering Heat:

• I spent most of my childhood without central air (I had a window unit when I was growing up), so this experience brought back many memories of hot disgusting summers in Philly.
• My first two cars (85 Honda Accord, and 87 BMW 325e) did not have AC. I remember that with the Honda I had to manually roll down the windows.
• The brutal heat of this past week (especially in our house) was reminiscent of my trips back to the Philippines. A trip back to our compound in the province consisted of sequestering myself for two weeks to my AC'd room and watching Filipino soap operas, or going to the Mall (everyday) via fume-spewing tricycles.

Transportation - filipino-style. I always preferred to ride in the sidecar. Always keep a hankie handy to cover your nose and mouth.

• Always remember to drink LOTS of water and stay hydrated. I seriously think that the heat was cooking my brain after awhile. Yesterday afternoon, after the AC was up and running, MB and I CRASHED big time and napped for a good chunk of the afternoon.
• Always have a hankerchief handy to wipe off the profuse sweat from your brow.

Things to do when your AC is broken include:

• Sit around and bitch about it;
• Go to the movies and the mall (didn't get a chance to do either);
• Do LOTS of errands requiring you to drive around in your "AC-mobile" to other lovely AC'd locations;
• Sit in front of a fan and type angry emails, IMs, and blog postings while you still have the energy;
• Lie completely still and experience the life force being sapped out of you.
• Go to your sister's house across the street and mooch off of her functional AC. (I crashed on her couch the other night when it was completely unbearable to sleep in my house)
  

So, those are my laments for now. If your AC unit is approaching 5 yrs old and you haven't had it regularly serviced, look forward to having it conk out on you.

Sorry, but what planet does W live on...?

First off, kudos to the kind peeps at NYT for slapping this particular story on their home page.

Check it: Bush Learned of Haditha Deaths After Press (NYT AP 05312006)

My favorite quote from the article:

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said President Bush learned of the killings only after a reporter from Time magazine asked questions. Time published an article in March that said the Pentagon was investigating the incident.

Bush -- with head in sand like ostrich

I mean, no offense, but even I had heard of this "alleged massacre" prior to TUESDAY. Duh. Maybe they didn't report it on Fox News Channel?

Who the f**k debriefs this guy?

From the article, it says National Security Advisor Steve Hadley did the debrief... but wouldn't sh*t like this come from the Pentagon (Rumsfeld?)

Sorry for the extra crankiness this morning... I'm still waiting for the AC repair guy to show up. No AC for 3 days will drive you stark raving MAD.

UPDATE: Sunglasses FOUND!

MaddyBeesh has found my sunglasses!

They were in the garage in the recycling bin. Now I remember what happened.... (it would be good to refer to my previous posting re. my Volvo and mp3s and burning CDs):

Well, I accumulated a ton of unlabelled burned CDs in my car (I just burn CDs on the fly.) The pile of CDs finally reached critical mass, so I threw them all out ("off to the landfill with you...!") into the garbage can in my garage.

As I dumped the CDs into the trash can, some of the CDs overflowed into the recycling bin. As I leaned over into the recycling bin to retrieve the discs, my sunglasses must have fallen in there as well, and I didn't notice.

Anyways, I am very happy now :-) (though I was somewhat looking forward to trying on sunglasses at the mall.)

A very happy YodaBeesh with Ray Bans filling out Hello Kitty! journal in
Curacao...

Short-sighted Volvo engineering

As many of you may (or may not) know, this blog originated with postings about my numerous (and expensive) problems with my Audi A6.

This was remedied when I ditched the A6 (read the final farewell here) and got a Volvo S40.

Admittedly, its a sharp vehicle, and I am very happy with its performance, but the biggest thorn in my side is that I can't hook up my mp3 player (no, I don't do iPod) to the stereo system. I was able to do this with all of my previous cars either through a cassette adapter or a by an aux-in plug.

The Volvo system uses some funky proprietary digital sh*t that is impossible to hack. And the in-dash CD player doesn't even read mp3 files.

My only option (which I don't see as an option) is to use an FM transmitter. Even that solution is pretty weak... the sound isn't great and I get a lot of interference from the FM radio stations in Metro DC.

I went to Tweeter the other day, and they did provide a technical solution that would essentially require ripping out the innards of the stereo system and replacing it with $2K worth of components and labor.

So basically, I have stepped into the time machine back to high school and am continuously burning mixes to CDs. A rather tedious and arcane solution.

Anyways, I'm kind of pissed off that the Volvo engineers didn't have the foresight to put in a simple aux-in jack for mp3/iPods. Almost all other stereo systems have that capability. I'm not quite sure how or if Volvo will resolve this issue in its future model releases.

Wow... I really am cranky this morning. I need my AC.

News Flash: No AC makes YB Cranky...

Those of you in the Metro DC area can relate. In the words of famous rapper, NELLY: " Its gettin' hot in here. So hot. I wanna take off all my clothes..." Ok ok ok... that was pretty weak.

Summer has arrived.

The other night, we decided to turn the AC on in the Ivory Tower of Fairfax in anticipation of the soaring temperatures. The following morning... nada. The thermostat still registers 80 degrees in our house.

I tried monkeying around with the vent switches, but to no avail. This house is AC-less. Grr.

MB will call the AC repair guy to have our system checked out. I'm praying that this doesn't require thousands of dollars of repairs (The system is not even 5 years old.) That's money that can be put towards the YB Sunglasses Relief Foundation.

I think that this is what happened to our AC unit:

Baby sucked into AC unit never to be seen again...

I hope that they have the cooling tents set up throughout Fairfax. Today will be a scorcher. This might be a blessing in disguise as I need to go to the Mall to try on sunglasses.

Sometimes I feel like this in DC traffic...

Another US "ooopsie" in one of our occupied territories.

This is why I just don't bother driving anywhere. There are probably just as many Humvees in the Metro DC area as there are in downtown KABUL (God, I hate Humvees...)

Check it: Afghans Riot After U.S. Traffic Accident (NYT 05292006)

Hundreds of protesters looted shops in Kabul and shouted "Death to America!" Zabi Tamanna/Xinhua, via Associated Press

Missing: My favorite pair of RayBans

I was kinda sad yesterday as I came to the conclusion that I lost my favorite pair of Ray Bans (see pic.)

I'm sure that I forgot them at Tony's Pizza on Thursday night. I called there yesterday (MB and I were in Johnstown for a couple of days so I didn't have a chance to do a decent search) but no one had turned them in to the lost and found :-(

Ordinarily, I would jump at the prospect of buying a brand new pair of sunglasses, but this pair has some odd sentimental value.

I bought them Fall 2003 in Gran Canaria as I stupidly forgot to bring sunglasses with me on our holiday. These shades were with me everyday since then (except for one brief period when I didn't realize that I left them at my neighbor's house... she returned them months later after figuring out that they were mine.)

I've beaten the crap out of this pair, accidentally scratched the lenses, and have bent the arms. The tips of the arms that go over the ears look like they've been chewed by a rat (me.) I guess you could say that the RayBans were my version of Old Faithful or Yeller.

I'm not thrilled (as one would typically expect of me) to buy another pair of sunglasses as I can say that I really loved the RayBans. I was very proud of the fact that I held on to them for 3+ years and didn't replace them (as I typically do with other products.)

Geez... who'd think I'd write such a sappy lament on a pair of sunglasses. I hope that the f**ker that has them now treats them well.

My poor poor RayBans.

YodaBeesh Book Club: Recommended Summer Reading

Seeing as how Oprah's recommendations have been a source of controversy as of late (à la A Million Little Pieces), I think that I can one-up Ms. Winfrey.

Actually let me take that back. I could never out-do Oprah Winfrey (nor do I dare to try.)

Instead I'll just give you a list of my own recommended summer reading. Hmm... perhaps I should re-phrase that. This is what's on my summer reading list:

My summer reading...

Assorted MCAT Review Material from ExamKrackers and The Gold Standard: I'm taking the MCAT in August. Its a lot of fun trying to remember obscure scientific principles that I barely learned over 10 years ago. Even more fun to take standardized exams at the ripe age of 33. My personal favorite (read: "arch-nemesis") is Physics. I know I need to embrace it more for the sake of getting through this exam, but I really don't see how calculating the force required to push a box up a 30 degree slope is going to add value to my life.

The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise, The Book of Muscle by Ian King, and The Complete Book of Pilates for Men by Daniel Lyon, Jr. : I tried a personal trainer last month, but in the end decided to go it on my own (besides, I didn't feel like forking over an arm and a leg for intuitive advice. Famous last words for YodaBeesh...?) The diet book is actually pretty good. It has its quirky anecdotes and motivational-speak, but once you're able to cut through the fodder, it has a lot of tips that just make sense. The exercise book was recommended to me by SwissMiche. It has a good regimen laid out, so I'm just going to follow the "recipe book" instructions and see what happens. I've been into it for one month and enjoy it thus far. (YodaBeesh has never been one for regimen or schedule.) As for the pilates book... its a good supplement to a Pilates Boot Camp that I went through before leaving for vacation. I love pilates... its a great fat burner plus is good for toning.

It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States by Lipset and Marks, and America Against The World: How We Are Different and Why We are Disliked by Kohut and Stokes: These are my "political books" of the summer. The former has been on my Amazon wishlist for over a year. I forget what the actual "tipping point" was that compelled me to buy it. And as for the latter, it first caught my eye in a NYT Book Review. I caught a lecture by the authors presented at the New America Foundation (yes, I am a leftist liberal) and was very impressed with the results of their study. Admittedly, the book is dry for the casual reader, but if you are an analytical wonk who enjoys reading scientific quantitative studies in order to prove a hypothesis, then this is your book! Also, it validates a lot of my own personal findings that I gathered over vacation in Gran Canaria through my interactions with various Euros.

The File: A Personal History by Timothy Garton Ash. For various odd reasons, I like reading about life in the East during the Cold War. This book is very well-written; the author reflects on his time as a visiting scholar in East Germany by using his released Stasi (GDR state police) file as a trip down memory lane. Very cheeky.

And last but not least, various travel books by Lonely Planet and others on Germany, Berlin, Bavaria, and Switzerland. MB and I would like to go there for a couple weeks next year to check out the region and see friends as well. I have this crazy idea that I will start brushing up on my German (hey, I had ONE SEMESTER of it in college!) starting in September so that I can be a bumbling tourist by next June.

Additional books that I highly recommend for the beach that I have already read (trust me, very light reading... you'll burn through these books in a day...): The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson (a fellow CMU alumni), and last but not least, The Da Vinci Code by Robert Brown. I know that a lot of you have either read the latter book or are just plain sick of hearing about it in the news... but to be quite honest, its a good thriller novel. Originally, I had no desire to read it. Then, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. In retrospect, I'm glad that I did read it. When I finished reading the book, I remember thinking to myself, "WTF is all the fuss about...?!" Curious Incident is very creative as its written from the viewpoint of an autistic child who is trying to solve a mystery in his neighborhood.

So, I guess that's probably enough reading to hold me over until next summer. I have this very bad habit of starting books, but then not finishing them immediately... I'll put the book down for a number of weeks or months, but then feel guilty and will finish it off.

Cheers for now and make the most of your summer!

Picture and Story of the Day: East TImor

Photo courtesy of Adrees Latif/Reuters

Man... sucks to live in fear, but whatcha gonna do. Welcome to East Timor.

The "World's Youngest Nation" is going through some growing pains (read: "militia uprisings.") It happens with new countries (see: Iraq.) Luckily the good ol' Aussies parked their ships off of the island paradise and are in process of restoring order.

Check it: In East Timor, Refugees Born of Chaos, Carnage and Fear (NYT 05292006)

Quiz Time:
I will give a prize to the first person who can tell me where East Timor is located and if you can tell me from which country did East Timor gain its independence?

EXTRA BONUS POINTS: if you can tell me how to get to East Timor from Washington DC.

You can find out more about The World's Youngest Nation" here: CIA FactBook: East Timor