you ever helped a bug get from a to b, or maybe moved it out of the sink because you're doing the dishes (but didn't want to kill it because it's a beneficial insect) by coercing it on to a spoon and then carrying the spoon across to a crack in the floor?

might that insect think it just had an experience with god, or perhaps was abducted by an air monster?

nah...

i'm going to hang on to them; used tires aren't particularly hard to find for free, and there's enough rubber there for a few tries.

why not try it? nothing to lose.

i wonder if it's possible to just buy a sheet of rubber and cut it up with a drywall knife.

yeah. that should be possible. hrmmn.

actually, you know what? i bought some goo. i'm going to see if i can hack something together.

that's too big for tape

the one on the other side is a little smaller, but the same basic problem.

if i actually *could* scan it and feed it into a printer that could print out the right size...

those shoes were actually split right down the sole, both feet. if somebody told me that a nefarious shoe vandal broke in overnight and used a machete to slice right through the bottom, i'd agree it was a plausible explanation of the state the shoes are in, if a little less credulous an explanation regarding the path of them getting there.

i hadn't checked the bottom until now. well, i could see holes on the front, so i didn't have to get that far to come to the conclusion that the shoes have holes. the rubber is worn through around the places the sole is cut, creating what is almost a "sinkhole" kind of effect.

just literally worn out.

....meaning i'd need more than epoxy or shoe goo to fix these things. i'd need plastic and rubber. and a 3-d printer might be useful. really, it would cost less in both labour and currency to replace them. they're dead.

so, they are now drying in the sink, until i can get them to a proper disposal centre along with a bunch of electronics and other things i've put aside. they were a pair of gravis skate shoes that lasted close to five years, which is not bad at all considering how much walking i do.

nothing to be done about that.

you should be able to see the slice through the material.

i'm actually surprised i couldn't feel this, except for the wet.