Nuit blanche last night. Couldn't sleep, couldn't sleep, finally got up and skimmed through Maskerade until 3 am. Conclude that Lords and Ladies is a much better book and confirmed that impression at the local coffee shop seven hours later because annoyingly I was awake at 8.

My shoes are far more worn than I'd thought. Practically in holes at the heels (boots also attest that I'm hard on my heels.) My memory is not to be trusted, but I'm sure I got them in the fall of 2010. Thus- new shoes worn out after a mere three years, and leaking after a mere two, in the monsoon October of 2012. The previous pair lasted five, and were never worn this badly. But the latter oughties was when I walked little and bicycled whenever possible; the last three years have seen me walking daily, even if you subtract the last four months of doing it in boots. Cobbler says he *might* be able to apply a running shoe sole to them-- of course they're not a standard sole-- at a cost of $60.

Chewing that over I went into the next door shoe store, known for its pricey German imports, to see what standard walking shoes go for. ($235 + 13% sales tax. Mh no.) But! They had their winter boots on sale, $40 off, so I replaced my (also three years old) Romikas with a larger version, which maybe just possibly might *not* inflame the IT band as the old ones did all this year. ITB has been lamblike since I got back into shoes, which clinches it. The Romikas, on inspection, are not nearly as worn down as I'd thought they were after slipping on ice all this winter; but the salt damage of this year and last is horrendous and they look much older than their age.