Kitchendetective, I feel your pain! It really is a shame that the nearest New Balance store is 80 miles away but, I'm going to have to add my voice to the "go to a New Balance store" recommendation. A couple of months ago I was in the same boat you are. My well used NB runners were falling apart and no matter what NB shoes I tried on nothing seemed to give me sufficient cushion. I finally broke down and went to a NB store. They have a machine that stand in (after removing your shoes) which will indicate on a screen just where the pressure points on your feet fall. Helps the NB folks determine exactly what kind of runners you need. Well, color me shocked. All my adult life I've *known* I have flat feet....except the machine showed that I really don't have flat feet. My wet footprints look that way becasue of the motion my feet go through when I'm walking. I not only needed a shoe with good cushion, I needed one that stabilized my foot. The guy who was helping me put exactly one shoe on me and it was like nothing else I'd ever had on my feet in my life. Yes, it felt that good. Yes, it was more than double the price that I usually paid for NB at Kohls or Shoe Carnival.....but I'm so glad that I did it! My feet feel "years younger"! I live in my runners and, as a dog trainer, they get a ton of abuse and use on a lot of different surfaces. When I find a pair I like, I generally buy 2-3 pairs. I didn't do that at the NB store since they were so pricey but, I came home and found exactly the same shoes at Online Shoes and ordered two additional pairs from them at a considerable saving. I suppose I could have returned the ones I bought at the NB store but as far as I was concerned the sales guy worked hard to ensure that I got shoes that worked for me so the extra cost was worth it. For one pair.

I usually just read KT - very seldom post. But, here goes. I am a plumber’s wife. Yes, costs are high - we understand and fuss too when we pay the supply bill or purchase new equipment or fill the trucks up with fuel. I had my GE dryer repaired about 2 years ago, and what cost me $75 7 or 8 years ago cost me $287 the last time. This was for the small bearing unit that fits on the spindle in the middle of the back of the dryer drum. You can almost replace the dryer for not much more than that. Here is part of how our costs are figured. We HAVE to carry a minimum of a million dollar contractor's liability policy and a 1 million dollar vehicle liability policy; figure in the cost of operating 3 trucks (fuel, tires, repair, oil changes, tags, inspection stickers, etc); cost of equipment, and this are just a few pieces of our equipment I’m listing (4 sewer machines of different sizes with the cheapest being nearly $1000 and the biggest and most costly one being nearly $3900; 2 snake cameras - one for sewer lines that costs $1250 and the other one that costs $6750 for isolation tests on water and gas lines within the house); costs for Continuing Education in order to maintain plumbing licenses each year runs about $500 per plumber; fee for state tradesman organization that we belong to in order to get reduced prices on those liability policies we have to carry; bonds for each town we work in; the CPA, even though I do the books up until tax time; office expense - we donated a 15'x15' section of my husband's shop to be used as the office but you still have to have internet, supplies, etc; cell phones - two of the towns we work in have ordinances where you have to use hands-free units or get a ticket, so that added an initial cost to the phones. The phones plans have to have adequate data usage figured in as some of our customers do not call, they prefer to text us and have us respond the same way. Personally I dislike that, but it is what it is; equipment will not last indefinitely so you also have to figure in replacement cost which we do based on past history of usage life of the various pieces of equipment; there are other things that have to be included besides the ones I have listed. All these costs have to be prorated out and they come into bearing when figuring how much per hour a call will cost. You will notice that I have not even addressed the expense of wages, unemployment insurance, workers comp, the company’s share of SS and MC, etc. Most craft/trade companies are owned by honest, hard working individuals who do not try to make their living off of what is charged to any one person. It is just ridiculously expensive to operate a business where someone else’s health and well-being is in your hands - yes, I mean your plumber - stop and think about who you are trusting to handle your access to potable water and who makes sure you have no cross contamination. Hope you all understand. Peta - It does not matter if all your pipes are confined in a slab or not. Tree roots get into sewer lines out in the yard and travel inside the lines because that is where the moisture is. Ask your plumber what they removed from the line. It may also be that your sewer line is separated or even partially collapsed in an area. This is where those cameras we use come into play. Since you are having difficulties with your plumbing as frequently as you are, it would pay to get a plumbing company who can camera your lines to see if the problem can be located and corrected. You really should not be having sewer line problems that frequently - something is wrong somewhere. Also, do you have to have your tank pumped frequently? If so, you quite probably have a leach line problem.

Bac - I just checked Munro's website and I don't see the ones I have. I bought them about 5 years ago so they probably discontinued them. My Irish driver told me to bring waterproof shoes which is why I bought the LLBean hikers. I was traveling in October and spent a lot of time on the west coast which is usually colder, rainier and windier than elsewhere in Ireland. I have other Munro shoes that I also like for everyday and travel- the Joliet is very comfortable, light, flexible and breathable yet offers good support. I bought them at my local shoe store last November and they sprayed them with the water repellent aerosol and they kept my feet dry on rainy or snowy days around Philly.

I just found amazing sneakers at Costco! I bought a pair in black and ordered them also in gray(although they look more silver) because I liked them so much. I then ordered two more to save as it is so difficult for me to get comfortable shoes. They are the Puma Vikky Mesh. I ordered 1/2 size up. I was able to try them on in the store so my usual shoe size was too small. 1/2 up was great. I think they look cute with leggings, ankle jeans, and shorts. ETA: I have a small, wide foot with a high arch, so finding comfortable sneakers and shoes is a feat (pun intended) for me.