u/wlj65

We moved here 3 years ago and still haven’t found our nearby go-to. We love Patsy’s and Razza, but also love a great crisp NY slice. We’ve tried the following, and while some have had their merits, none has called us back:

Valentinos in Belford
Sally Boy’s in Red Bank (the best of these but a bit too far)
Corbo and Sons in Holmdel
Pomodoro Rosso in Atlantic Highlands
Panko in Middletown
Rosie’s in Middletown
Zoni’s in Middletown
Toscanella in Middletown

Would love to get some new recommendations to try!

Got a postcard from the Middletown Tax assessor office today saying Realty Data Systems would be out to "verify" data on the Assessor's property record card. Does anyone have any experience with this? Can you trust them to just verify and record any major upgrades like adding square footage and fix mistakes (they have us as having a 5-fixture bath when we don't), or are they going to change the condition of everything to eke out more dollars? I've already had one bad experience concerning that bathroom. The previous owner updated it and took it from 5 to 4 fixtures and made the shower bigger and the Middletown assessor office saw that it said "updated bathroom" on the real estate listing and assessed us for it and didn't change it on the card from 5 to 4 fixtures even though I told them about it. ETA: they told me on the phone that they used the real estate listing in order to increase the assessment and that it didn't matter that it went from 5-fixture to 4.

Hi group. 60/female. I'm looking to connect with others who have decided to go the route of active surveillance. I just got back from my appointment at MSKCC and was cleared to join the program. I have a 9 mm right lobe Bethesda VI nodule with no lymph involvement or ETE. I'm not interested in debating my decision—I feel very comfortable with it—and really just want to talk to others who are doing the same or considering the same. Unfortunately I'm not a candidate for RFA because the nodule is bulging the anterior and abutting the lateral capsule. It was found incidentally on a carotid artery US in April. Funnily enough, it was also found incidentally on a cervical spine MRI in 2020 and measured at 9 mm back then and no one said anything to me so I didn't even know it was there (I know MRI measurements aren't reliable, but it is reassuring to know it's been around at least that long).

Hi. I'm getting desperate over here so hoping someone can help me. I hate all these soft shoes and high stacks but it's very hard to find anything that's not this anymore. I was a sprinter in my youth and used to sometimes run 400 m races in bare feet, but at my age I DO need some cushion, but these are ridiculous.

60/female

Budget not a constraint

have worn Brooks Ghost for years but stopped at v15. really like them except toebox room on right, have been wearing size 9

left foot size 8.5, right foot size 9-9.5, tailors bunion on right foot so need wider toebox for this foot, right second toe keeps turning black, and right big toe pushes thru top, very normal arches, slender foot and heel except for tailor's bunion, slight pronation inward on right foot but can barely walk in stability shoes

walk 1 to 1.5 hours a day on flat mostly paved roads with a long section that is cut rocks and a couple of steep hills, sometimes on wooded trails with hills

Tried (thru road runner vip membership):

New Balance FF 860 v15 9.5 (felt like I was walking on blocks of wood, way too soft, could barely finish my walk)

Asics Gel Cumulus 28 9.5 (too soft, could barely finish walk)

Brooks Ghost 18 9.5 wide (too soft and way too big all around, left heel floating)

Topo Athletic Phantom 4 9.5 (horrible reaction to this shoe, gave me my first ever lower back spasm that rendered me unable to walk or barely stand for 24 hours and sore for 5 days)

Saucony Ride 19 9.5 (no forefoot flexibility so could barely get up hill, could barely walk on the rocks, made my hips and glutes hurt)

Mizuno Wave Rider 29 9.5 wide (arrived today.I haven't walked in them yet. first i ordered not wide and it felt snug in the midfoot so i ordered the wide. they feel good walking around the house but i'm wary of lack of forefoot flex and that they will also be too soft, though i'm hoping the wave plate might help with that)

At this point I'd rather just walk in my completely dead brooks ghost 15s than try another one of these shoes that are giving me mechanical issues. ChatGPT tells me that I should try Nike Pegasus for forefoot flex and more connected road feel and that it has a bigger toebox in the v42. All suggestions welcome!!!

tl/dr: looking for a shoe with

• firm-neutral
• moderate stack, around 35 mm
• 8-10mm drop
• flexible forefoot
• secure narrow heel
• roomy lateral forefoot for tailor's bunion on right
• not aggressively rockered
• not stability
• not marshmallow foam
• lightweight
• no budget constraint
• for walking 1.5 hours/day on paved roads, cut rock paths, steep hills, some trails