u/translucentcrow

Obviously always be vigilant on the FDR, but particularly been noticing this sequence of 3 manhole covers in the leftmost lane on Southbound FDR btwn 39th and 38th streets.

They come up right after a bottleneck, when you're getting back on the throttle :) And they're all 3 at random ass places in the lane, and they are each differently indented into the ground at weird angles, and one of them is really deep. And there's even a fourth one in the middle lane a little further down, right about at the place you have inevitably decided "wow this lane is a goddamn minefield"

I've been on the FDR a lot this summer, getting used to it, but made a mental note to post about these today because they damn near got me when I first encountered em. Hope this helps someone

longtime lurker first time caller here, with some minimal-effort photographs of my new Frank's and some questions for the internet. shout out to u/goblutes and u/subie666 , both of your boots were inspirations!

---backstory---

have been a PNW acolyte for a while. i've had several pairs but always the ebay way for $ reasons. i'm glad that was my point of entry, i learned a lot about sizing by trial and error.

i decided to take the plunge on a new pair after several increasingly disappointing rounds of wedge sole red wings and thorogoods. i was looking at Nick's Travelers -- this post by u/deadyounglings had me droolin -- but they quit offering the 2021 sand, which to me was crucial to the look.

my smokejumpers are 9.5EE. i did all the measuring stuff just to be safe and it seemed like that was probably also my size in these. as always with PNW, *just* enough uncertainty to make me question my entire life. i debated doing the mail-in fit sheet and all that, but then my boots wouldn't be here for 97 years so i said fuggit, figured if it turned out to be a disaster i'd just put em on the 'Bay.

ordered on the phone, boots arrived 15 weeks and 5 days later. from a build/quality standpoint, these are the nicest, most beautiful boots i've ever owned and nothing comes close. the craftsmanship is peerless, i can see why frank's is a cult!

---issues (opinions welcome)---

i was afraid they were too LONG at first. they are about a half an inch longer than my smokejumpers. i have the "recommended" amount of space, a thumb-width. i called Frank's, stressing, and they patiently told me that once the toe breaks in, the boots won't feel too big anymore, and after 3 days of wearing them around the house, this seems to be resolving. (when comparing, i also tilted them slightly to match the lower toe and higher heel of the smokejumpers, and if you look at it that way they are probably the same length? lol)
those facings are definitely kissing at the top, though. i've got a wide ball of foot - they fit my feet great width-wise - and my calves aren't exactly small, so i'm not sure how this is happening. should i bug Frank's about this? i've read that some people suggest adding a kiltie at the top, yeah there's no way i'm doing that
how about those mismatched cheapo laces? I did ask them about this on the phone, and the person sort of nervously mumbled that they were out of brown laces right now. I guess I appreciate them getting the boots out to me rather than waiting -- but aren't leather laces supposed to come with this level of boot? Even if not, it's funny to me that after taking the time to make such an amazing boot, whoever reached into the lace bin couldn't be bothered to make sure the laces were the same.

think that's it! thanks for reading!

edit: oh yeah, spec-wise, these are 8" LTT (lace to toe) Rainiers in chocolate roughout, 2021 sand sole, unstructured toe (no celastic, had to request this)

Use Caution on FDR Southbound