Hello!
As this is my first post in the Hive Collectors community, I'd like to introduce myself and tell you how I found my way here...
I'm a British bloke who's lived in Japan for most of the last three and a half decades. I think I joined Hive in January 2020 (ah, when it was something else...) and have been enjoying the adventure ever since.
The other day I happened to blog about my collection of Britains toy soldiers here:
https://hive.blog/hive-147010/@hirohurl/my-collection-of-britains-american-civil-war-toy-soldiers
One of my Hive buddies - @ph1102 - mentioned the Hive Collectors community in a comment on that post:
And so I thought I'd pop over and check out the community and I decided to join as I like the "vibe."
Even then, I didn't dream that my next blog post would be about ... shoes - especially about COLLECTING shoes. I don't collect shoes... I just happen to wear them, and have stopped throwing the old ones out so quickly, so have ended up with more pairs of shoes than I've ever had in all of my life...
So, okay, if you insist, I guess I could call it ...
My Shoe Collection
And here it is in all its glory:
Yup, just like @mipiano who blogged about her collection of shoes beginning with "C" - here https://hive.blog/hive-180658/@mipiano/you-can-never-go-wrong - I also have a collection of similarly branded, or at least, not conversely branded - shoes. Five pairs.
I started wearing chucks about twelve or thirteen years ago. That decision made shoe shopping very easy. All I had to do was to pop onto Amazon.co.jp where I would find only a limited range of chucks for my 29cm foot size. It might just be that only two or three colours were available, so I'd simply choose one and order. Five minutes to complete the process, and a new pair of chucks would arrive the next day.
About two years ago I discovered the convenience of side-zipped chucks - the two green pairs have side zips. Ideal for Japan where you often have to go through the rigmarole of taking off and putting on shoes as you enter or leave a building...
The Wonders of Shoe Goo
I used to own just one or at most two pairs at a time and chuck out my oldest chucks, but then it occurred to me that with a bit of repair work, the old ones might still have some life in them. I did a bit of research and discovered a shoe glue called Shoe Goo.
I use Shoe Goo to build up worn down heels and soles, fill in gouges in the insole, and glue together cracks in the side rubber. So far, four out of the five pairs have been repaired with Shoe Goo.
Black Adi... Trainers
In the last year or so, I've become a bit more of a dapper chap and chose a pair of black Adi... training shoes to upgrade my attempt at a smarter-casual appearance. That pair is now my regular work-day choice.
Oxfords
Then, last month, I bought a pair of Oxford style shoes from the shoe shop in a brand new shopping mall that opened a stone's throw from where I live. Okay, I'll tell you their brand name: Hydro-Tech Ultra Light, a Japanese brand. They are very light and comfortable, with leather uppers but they feel more like training shoes when you wear them. I'm not sure how long they would last if I wore them every day, but I am very happy with them.
So what's missing from my collection? Well, the next pair that I want to buy is a pair of brown Hydro-Tech shoes - Oxfords or Brogues - that I can wear with my light brown summer suit...
And so concludes a blog post that I never imagined I would write, but am glad to have been prompted to do so by the Hive Collectors community.
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus
