Shoes are for profit making!

Like everything else, shoes, especially running shoes is such a sham industry. All the big players run big ad-campaigns, huge deals with popular runners to make janta bewakoof. Yeah, tell us something new! ok, I always knew it and I always said it. But today just browsing through REI catalog of running shoes, I noticed not 1 or 2 but 10 different types of Vibram Fivefingers. I thought the whole point of these shoes was they are minimalist, just a sheet of rubber to protect your feet from harmful things on the road. After that they just feel natural like running barefoot. Then why the hell there are 9 different features of "Vibram FiveFingers KomodoSport LS Multisport Shoes - Women's". And why this piece of rubber costs more than $10? In fact they cost anywhere from $85 - $110, almost same price as my regular running shoes. Poor public just starts thinking that they need specialized shoe for that one specific sport, me included. I have -
climbing boots
hiking boots
light hiking shoes
running shoes
light running shoes
daily sandals
dancing shoes (ok, well they are kind of special!)
high heel party shoes
no heel daily shoes
everyday shoes
That's a hell lot of shoes for one person!

This feels like home....

Hard to believe! When a year ago I was all ready to leave, I was done with US, it was not home,  it was weird foreign place. But today, after living in Europe for 10 months, when I come back, it actually does feel like home. Right from the car-park garage, to malls, to driving on freeway, to everything else. I had great time here, starting from San Diego. I did everything I wanted to do, I loved my life in Seattle. People just feel familiar and wonderful, they talk the way I am used to, and they understand the way I talk :). Its so great when you can a "free" 1-800 number and they greet you with - "how may I help you", and they end with "Is there anything else I can do for you". Little things, but they seem to matter. Even India feels foreign now compared to US. Of course I know the Indian ways, the society like only a native can know, but the way things have changed in last 10 years, its an adjustment to be there. Here, its like I understand how things work, even though I don't really understand the society and culture (or the lack of it as I say :) ). This world works in mysterious ways!