honestly? it doesn't last. the shinier the pleather, the faster it peels. part of the problem is that the shoe flexes when you walk, and it will tend to crack along those wrinkles. that being said... if they're 'patent' you will need to scrub them with a scrubby pad to give them some 'tooth'... deca 'ceramicoat' paint has the best holding power of any of the brands that I have tried... however, I have had some surprising luck with Krylon spray paint. I've been through about a hundred pairs of painted tennis shoes in my life- at one point, I had 30 pairs of them, mostly painted to match a specific tie-dye. THAT's easy. pleather is a whole different story.

Oakley - I'm so sorry about you losing your dad, brother and I guess basically your mom as well. I've lost my dad and one of my brothers and it's hard. I've been thinking a lot about friends and family lately and will probably be doing so over the next few months. I will be 60 in January and for some reason it is making me think about a lot of things - the future and what will it bring and the past and have I been happy with it. I'm happy with my choice in DH and I love my kids but sometimes wonder about roads untraveled and choices made. Would I do anything differently? I don't know. I know that the last 10 years, since turning 50, have just flown by and so I know how fast the next 10 years will go. I know that I have many changes ahead of me - retirement, my mom will probably pass away, my kids will develop careers and hopefully bring me DIL's (I have 2 sons) and maybe grandbabies. But the thing that I am not looking forward to is losing friends. That will be especially hard. Well, I just reread this and aren't I melancholy today. Shall I delete it - no I think I'll post it anyway.

For me personally, rather than feeling upset over any particular or individual posts, it's the collective thought pattern or reactions of the general public that can worry me and will be the reason I will post with a differing reaction in some threads, such as this one. I feel that the general reaction on this thread is probably pretty representative of the reaction of most women in this country. Yes, that worries me because for me personally, it's not taking the thought process far enough. Like, what if these were men doing it to a nasty woman? Remember the thread where that awful man raped a little girl and the crowd in the town beat the living carp out of him? The reaction of acceptance and cheering to the crowd within this community also upset me because I knew that it was probably a common reaction of the majority of people in this country. I don't think that it meant that anyone would actually participate, but the reaction is what we were discussing. It's dissenting view that make any public forum interesting and thought provoking. Dissention of perception is not a bad thing - in my personal point of view.

Friends bought in an age-restricted, gated community in California about ten years ago. We've visited them. It's not for me, and I really doubt it's for them, but they couldn't get their money out if they sold now. As for being 'gated', there is a gate, but no fencing! This means that an ambulance has to wait to clear the gate; any burglar could walk through the property. The homes are single-family, single-level, all white. The landscaping is perfectly maintained. It's completely SILENT. There are no pedestrians. Eerie. As we approached our friends' home the first day I couldn't quite place the feeling I had. When we drove off two days later I recognized what I felt. It was like a gigantic mausoleum. My friend writes that this neighbor or that one is coping with a dying spouse or is now widowed, or that so-and-so has sickened and died. It's darn depressing! In an ordinary community there's a balance; none there. Why do builders continue to build these developments? Because Seniors are a large source of cash in this economy. We've never wanted a so-called 'no maintenence' community. We'd rather decide for ourselves what needs maintaining and who we want to do the work -- not pay dues to a committee that awards the work -- or doesn't think work we want done is necessary. We don't golf and don't want to pay to support a course. We have an excellent Senior Center in our town with minimal membership fees and activities we can participate in (and pay for) as we wish. Our library is excellent. We're minutes from town and medical care. Our friends are not exactly 'nowhere', but you can see it from there! LOL They have a long drive to hospitals, doctors and shops. (There are some nearby, but not top-notch.) We own a vacation rental condo on Maui in a development of over 300. Some owners are in default on their fees. Some have been foreclosed upon. The association is last in line to collect on a lein. It gets no money while a propety sits on the market, and little even when it sells. I don't want this situation for my main residence.