New shoes!

clothsprogs suggested last time I saw him that I should investigate those strange plastic clog-type things, on the grounds that they were actually a lot more comfortable than they looked. But, I should get the real thing, not any imitation. This would have been fine if I could have remembered what the "real thing" was called :(
Discussing this at HOTT in the Ring (of which more later), I was told: "Crocs - think water lurker and you'll remember it".
Well, we decided that Sunday, on the way back from Manchester, could usefully be spent shoe-shopping (since winter is approaching and I'd better not try to get through it in sandals). We found a suitable shopping centre near Sheffield, and gritted our teeth for an unpleasant day of being sneered at by salespersons who think the idea that shoes should fit and be comfortable is teribly naive.
First thing we saw on entering the mall was a cook shop. Oooh.... two free coffees, a frying pan that was exactly what I'd been looking for, and some salt/pepper grinders that appear to be capable of grinding salt and pepper (rather than producing a powder that consists 50% of their own plastic gears).
Onward, and there at the entrance to the "interesting little shops) section was a shop specialising in Crocs. Nothing else. All styles, all colours, helpful people.
clothsprogs was right. Despite my tendency for my feet to vary in diameter by several inches in the course of a day, these things are comfortable and they fit - even when my feet are foot-shaped for once, the shoes don't fall off, because they're rubbery and have grip inside. Said grip is also encouraging that "circulation" stuff that I'm told other people have.
http://www.crocs.eu/
It seems one can also get little decorative things to clip into the holes on the upper surface of the shoes, though they have a name that I will never remember.
http://jibbitz.crocs.eu/

Is happy. Has happy feet.

Still looking for a mini-laptop

Met an Asus in Currys on Sunday, and tried it out on the "how fast can it open and search this PDF?" test. "Very fast indeed" is the answer. Neat little machine, Linux based, solid state hard disc, small, light, and a keyboard that's more than good enough for me.

Then onwards to various phone shops, where we got told that the Unix-based mini-laptops aren't actually compatible with any of the USB dongle modems: if we want to go online, we need Windows. (Well, unless being limited to the WIFI option is satisfactory - not even close!).
I'm not entirely sure I believe this. I don't want a small, light, nimble mini-laptop to run on bloat-ware. I'll accept that for the big machine, but not the tiny one. The whole point of a "netbook" type device, surely, is to go online, and until WIFI coverage is as universal as phone coverage, that means a modem. How could these devices be selling, if the main point of their existence doesn't actually work?