Nope, I suck. However, I'm not drawing a paycheck.

This is why I recommend lovely, low-maintenance concrete...

Or the scam going in Austin where we've conserved water to such a degree the city wants to raise the rates to make up the difference people aren't using

Not if Dave Barry is still on the masthead.

There was a blogger from the suburbs who let her husband write a guest post. He went on a rant about how the neighbors left folding chairs out next to their house! This was, apparently, the first step to neighborhood ruin! I commented that maybe he should just concentrate on his own life, and both he and the wife…

Does your area do credits for installing greywater systems? You might still be able to keep a garden (of climate-appropriate plants) if you irrigated it using house greywater. All you'd be doing is getting double-duty from the water you're already paying for.

Put astroturf (tm) on it, then see if they start b****ing.

My lawn is dead right now. If I had the money I would landscape with drought tolerant plants and be done with it.

But you are a special snowflake commenter.

Do you get off on being an asshole, or are you not aware of it?

You are possibly the worst writer working for Gawker.

Funny, looks like LA county. Which is one of two counties whose water consumption has grown since they announced the drought. Really makes it seem worth it to ship all the Nor Cal water down there for, you know, their needs.

So... in other words, exactly what I said.

Ok, now that is bullshit. Your arches work because of muscles. The stronger the muscles, the stronger the arches. Your foot muscles get stronger barefoot (when they get a workout) and weaker when they aren't able to move (because of arch support in shoes immobilizing them).

So, you basically just confirmed what SleepyCat said about the vanity sizing?

I worked at REI for about 4 years while in college. You would not believe the amount of silly twits who would insist on cramming their size 10 feet into size 8 shoes. Podiatrists love women like that.

And this is exactly why the vanity sizing started to happen.

Walking around barefoot is what we were designed to do; I don't know why podiatrists are so against it. My most comfortable pair of shoes are my Merrell Barefoots. They look like ballet flats, but with a diagonal strap going over your foot. Absolutely no heel, and the sole is 4mm thick. I can walk around in them all…

Here's a couple of tips:

The real difficulty is that women's shoes, like most of women's clothes, are not standard sizes.

In clothes, I wear a 2-10 depending upon the shop and the cut. In shoes, I wear anywhere between a 7 and 8.5. At a certain point, you have to let go of sizes and look at fit and feel.