1 September 2007
external links open in new browser window for convenience
I first learned about 
on an AOL
message board some months ago, and did not think too much about
them at the time. They are seemingly the IN thing, for beach
and casual wear, even to wear to work -- supposedly ultra comfortable,
easy to put on and take off, able to be cleaned in the clothes
/ dish washer. They come in a wide range of colors / sizes, and
are somewhat oversized to allow your feet, whether bare or with
socks, some movement. Many models have openings around the base
and on top to allow the feet to breathe, thus eliminating the
smelly foot syndrome. The soles are designed to support the pressure
points when standing and walking.
I always have a hard time finding shoes
that fit my size thirteen clodhoppers, that do not bind on the
front and / or sides. I have a bad hip due to an auto accident
some years ago [resulting in progressive arthritis] and cannot
bend down to tie my right shoe, so I prefer loose fitting shoes
such as deck shoes which I can slip into when I go out, supportive
high side work boots when working outside, and the classical leather
Birkenstocks with rubber sole for normal use inside. I have been
wearing the same Birks for over ten years already -- earlier this
year I finally got around to gluing the front part of the soles
onto the woven footpad base under the leather -- they became unattached
last year and I would sometimes almost trip when the loose part
of the sole would bend backwards, having to be extremely careful
when walking, especially outdoors -- I once fell off of the curb
into the front street, but luckily no car was coming or I would
have been toast. The glue job only lasted a couple weeks -- I
went to the closet and got out a new pair of Nevados
I acquired not that long ago, a low sneaker / sport shoe with
leather uppers, some mesh on the sides for breathability and a
built in adjustable elastic tie cord, making them sort of easy
to put on and take off -- 
-- soles of non marking plastic, closed in front, quite stylish.
They are comfortable, so I wore them when going out to buy food,
to the post office or whatever.
I actually saw Crocs for the first time
on 15 August 2007 at a local country auction, worn by a good looking
retired lady sitting in front of where I was standing -- you can
just about see the orange Crocs she is wearing, bottom center
-- 
-- here
is another view with a closeup of slightly more of the Crocs --
--
The next day, 16 August 2007, I did an InterNUT search for CROCS and found their web site -- pages and pages of shoes, from floppies [which I dislike because the thingy that slips between my toes is very uncomfortable], sandals with back straps of varying models, to shoes and boots, t shirts, back packs and other goodies. After spending over an hour, I picked out three different shoes in order to get their free shipping, and placed my order.
The following is what I wrote on my news page on this web site for the date shown -- I now deleted this section in order to be able to include it here --
23 August 2007
/ Thursday -- Today the doorbell rang --
the FedEx dude -- 
-- you may recall the sandals the gal was wearing at the
country auction, mentioned above -- the next day I went to their web site, checked
the dozens of models and colors they had available in my size,
13, and found three different models I liked. They came
from the home office in Colorado and are made in Canada. I was mildly surprised that the shoes did not come
in boxes, rather each pair was held together by a neato black
plastic thingy which could be easily hung on a simply display
rack -- 
-- the models
I got are Beach [having a low heel section], Cayman [with
a very slightly higher heel back], and Silver Cloud
-- 
-- with
a higher back, reinforced in the tip, having no breathing holes
/ openings in the front end top or sides, as the others have --
the soft plastic material of the third model also contains what
they call Croslite
Ag+, a silver compound which is anti -
bacterial and anti - fungus, supposedly promoting healing. Somewhere
in my news pages I mentioned that the toenail of my big toe on
both feet was growing thicker rather than longer -- they were
virtually impossible to trim and I had to go to a Chinese nail
salon twice already to have them ground down to about normal width.
Earlier this month I checked online for toenail problems and discovered
that what I had was a fungus in both nails. After thinking about
it briefly, it is possibly due to wearing really old Birkenstock leather sandals inside the apartment and when I go
out. Since I have to clean the cat litter boxes on a daily basis,
it is possible that I got the fungus from the litter or maybe
even out in the street, which is not the cleanest. So when I saw
the Silver Cloud model, it was the first one I decided to get.
Since they arrived I have been wearing them -- they are comfortable,
roomy, and amazingly, when I stand up and walk in them I do not
seem to limp as much as I did before and stand up straighter,
probably because the specially designed orthopedic soft sole provides
more support than the Birkenstocks did. Incidentally, I threw
those probably 15 year old Birkens away already -- the soles were
coming unattached again and I sometimes tripped over things when the sole
bottom would bend backwards and double up -- I still have a new
pair in the closet in case I ever want to go back to wearing a
fresh new pair. We shall see how these new shoes wear and feel
after weeks of use -- I plan on wearing them inside and out.
According to their web site, these Crocs shoes have the following properties -- all are made of proprietary closed - cell resin, croslite™, which represents a substantial innovation in footwear -- it enables us to produce soft, comfortable, lightweight, superior-gripping, non-marking and odor / bacteria resistant shoes -- easy maintenance, just wipe clean -- molds to your feet -- weigh only 6 ounces -- vented so air passes through, keeping keep feet cool and dry -- ergonomic and orthotic. If you fish through their web site you will see different views of the shoe, and a description of the features. I have had mine on for over ten hours and they have no shoe smell whatsoever.
The back support straps may be folded over the front part of the shoe if so desired, but I prefer them at the rear, adjusted to my monster foot length -- this way they would not accidentally slip off
28 August 2007 / Tuesday -- I sent emails to some friends asking them if they wear Crocs and to get their opinion about them.
Terry, a dude from Texas replied -- I've had the caymans for a while now and have found they're great for yard stuff and quick trips around town. They are not, at least for me, great for lots of walking. If I use the straps they're uncomfortable and without they don't support enough for lots of walking. They'll not replace my Minnetonka mocs but when it's wet outside I grab the Crocs.
Part of the problem is the fit. They run very oversize in general and don't come in 1/2 sizes. It's not exactly rocket science so if the company is going to succeed they need to fix that problem IMHO. At this point I look at them as a fad. Not something I couldn't live without but good enough for doing the stuff they're meant to do. They may end up being a one hit wonder that made a lot of money for some folks.
Deb said -- WELCOME to the world of CROCS!! I have many pairs and have been wearing them for the past 2 years.
No more foot troubles when I wear them. I have the Cayman, Mary Janes, and the beach thongs. My daughter took over my closed toe ones LOL She loves them too
A lovely professional gal, Joan, from Florida -- I have one pair of gray Crocs that I wear on the concrete deck and to the pool. Very comfortable.
Flin, another gal in sunny Florida said -- What excites me are the new styles coming out of Crocs, particularly the gumshoe. [Boooo to internet shoe shopping, booo to internet coupons, buy local!]
Janice wrote -- All my children and their kids have Crocs. To keep up with the trend I ordered a pair of college logo ones for my husband. To my amazement he actually likes them and wears them down to the pool to do his chemical checking thing.
The young grandkids were impressed........... their grandfather is cool!
Liana, another babe from Florida said -- I have a pair of very old green Crocs. I hate them now that I'm here in Florida. When I garden with them the red fire ants crawl into the holes and attack my feet!! Last time that happened I was in the hospital with over 25 ant bites. My foot blew up three times its size. And everyone knows I have dainty feet. LOL! [from a photo she provided several years ago, I can attest to the dainty feet part -- she should have her legs insured as Marlene did]
Misty noted -- I
think women wear the strap in back and men wear them in font.
Here's our very own President in his fashionably chic Crocs. LOL
-- 
--
Elaine, mentioned -- I love my Crocs. Walked four hours at the Atlanta Zoo in 110 degree heat and no foot swelling, no back pain. Mine are opened toed. I got Keith 2 pairs -- on is a flip-flop type and the other, the traditional style. I've heard from several diabetics that crocs are the only shoe they can wear that don't cause them to have problems with their feet.
Nance chimed in -- I have three pairs of the flip flops and a few of the regular "clog" thingies. LOVE them. Most comfortable shoe I have ever worn.
Suz wrote -- I think I'll try the diabetic ones.. they look comfy. My hubby refuses to get a pair. I have a fake pair, and I love them...... powder blue in color. My real Crocs will be black :)
Stan remarked -- I had a toe nail fungus, asked my Doc about it, he only had pills to take about a year to work. I had some athletes foot ointment, several kinds, also some jock itch cream. I saturated the nails with a concoction of these. Trying to get some under as well as around the sides. What did it, don't know but it went away fairly quickly.
1 September 2007 / Saturday -- I think that the main reason why I decided to get Crocs were the problems I have with my size 13s, anything but dainty feet -- it is rare that I find shoes that are comfortable -- they are either too tight, hard to tie, or do not support my feet, causing back problems [on top of those I already have due to constantly sitting, typing away at this damn computer toy]. Due to my bad right hip, I can barely tie my right shoe and have to get down on my left knee to do it, thus I prefer shoes that can easily be slipped on. This also means that I cannot cut my toe nails too easily unless I do contortions and almost wrench a stomach muscle, which has happened. Had I to be more active, there would be much less of a problem, I would lose some pounds and overhanging belly, thus making it way easier.
On top of that there is the little detail
of what I discovered to be a toe nail fungus in both of my big
toes -- the nail seems to grow outward instead of forward, getting
constantly thicker and discolored -- I have really ugly feet --
-- doing
a search online I found that someone mentioned soaking the toe/s
in hydrogen
peroxide after showering -- then Vicks VapoRub on the affected toe, which is said to inhibit further
growth of a fungus that thrives in a warm moist environment --
of course antibiotics are the usual medical treatment, but after
retiring, I find the visits to a doctor terribly complicated,
with ever changing ID cards and such, so I have not gone this
route thus far.
I had to resort to using cutting pliers
to attempt to cut them, and finally decided in January 2007 to
go to a Chinese pedicure establishment on my way to the supermarket.
After getting the Silver
Cloud Crocs model, noted above, which is
specifically designed against such things, on 30 August 2007 I
went to the La
Perfection Nails salon and had them work
on my toe nails for the third time this year -- 
-- as I was massaged and rolled by the mechanism
in the comfy chair I was seated in, my feet submerged in a circulating
warm blue bath, the delicate Chinese gal used her tools to trim
the nails, clip away the excess cuticle, scrape away the dead
cells on the bottom of my feet, mostly on the heel area, with
a small-ish metal scraper [which I sometimes tried doing after
a shower, using my fingernails], and finally used a battery operated
Dremel drill with grinding tip to reduce the thickness of
the nails. It is amazing all the stuff she was able to remove
-- the result was a pair of much changed feet that now kinda resembled
normal looking hooves -- 
-- this next photo shows the difference in somewhat enlarged views
--
I am sure you can figure out which is the BEFORE and AFTER shots -- I do the Vicks thing every evening and hope to see an improvement over time. In another two months I may go back and have them done again, since they do a much better job than I ever could.
Since the gals asked if I wanted her to do my fingernails too, I thought why not -- I never had them done before -- when I do them they are always sorta irregular and I never worried about the cuticle -- now they are nice and manicured neat.
Selected Crocs Videos
Although there are many others, I personally liked the following --
**
-- Crocs rock / ** -- Crocs Mac Guy Spoof / ** -- Crocs Mac Guy Spoof 2 /
**
-- Crocs Tortolla 2006 / ** -- Crocs Stock Report / ** -- Crocs Stock Report 2 /
**
-- Crocs in Cuba / ** -- Bill Maher on Crocs / ** -- Crocs Canada /
**
-- Cutting Up Crocs /
God Bless !
|
|
|
|
My Closeout Deals & Real Estate -->> Personal Sales Mis cosas en -- My Cigars & Goodies on -->> YardSaleNet.net My Items on -- |
Back to Or visit my other web sites at
|
Free counters provided by Andale.
|
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by * due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid My Other |
-->> 
G5
iMac, the Perfect
Home / Office Computer
