... about shaving

I remember when I first started shaving. 

Didn't really know how to shave, didn't have anyone to ask. I remember going to the market and buying a razor and shaving cream -- and, oddly, being embarrassed about it. I think it was the knowing smiles on the other shoppers and the cashier. 

Young guy with a few little hairs sticking out of his face, buying that stuff. Sheesh!

It was pretty simple, learning how to do it. I'd seen it done. You lather up your face, you shave with the grain. Then you shave any place you still feel stubble against the grain. You wash up. After that, I learned to make sure the blade was sharp before starting, dull blades are pretty bad. 

Eventually, I learned how to keep from nicking myself too often. It seemed counter-intuitive that a sharper blade reduced the chance of nicks. 

Nowadays, there are a lot more choices on shaving. Do you use soap or gel? What kind of razor - three blades? Four blades? Five blades? 

Of course there's the old safety razor and the electric razor. And, years ago, a friend of mine always used a straight razor! Decisions, decisions, decisions. 

As an aside: I saw an ad for the new five bladed razor (four plus one). In the ad it was implied that, if you felt a bit of stubble at the end of the day, you should switch to their razor. Excuse me? Unless the razor has the ability to halt hair growth, it's not going to handle that problem! How stupid does this company think we are? 

Which method works best is something you need to work out for yourself. Some of the new shaving cream/gels have pain suppressors and blood coagulants, so you don't know you're nicking yourself. Hmmm. Don't think that's a good idea, personally. 

The multiple bladed disposables seem a bit gimmicky. I can see a bit of a reason for two, but five? 

But, here is more to think about. When you use shaving cream from a can and disposable razors, you are just adding more to what you send to the landfill. To me, it's the wrong attitude. It's the wrong thing to do. 

 I've seen some recommendations that, to reduce what you throw away, use a shaving mug and a safety razor. This will greatly reduce what you throw away, and you can get a perfectly smooth shave. 

But here is yet another viewpoint. 

Years ago, I was religiously shaving with a blade. At that time I was using disposable twin-blade razors and some kind of gel. I got a great shave and it was really close, at 7:00 am. But I didn't actually come in contact with other people until I got to work at 9:00 am. By then there was no difference between my blade shave and someone else's electric shave. No noticeable difference! 

So, I asked myself, who was I trying to impress between 7:00 am and 9:00 am? 

 I went out and bought a good electric razor. With an electric shaver, I use less water -- usually none, no shaving cream, no throwing razors out every few days, no mess. 

I bought a top quality shaver, so I get a close shave with no irritation. I can shave while running out the door. I can shave in the car. I can do a real quick shave in the evening. Seems to me to be a great deal all around. Less stuff going to the landfill and a faster, easier and perfectly adequate shave.

... about completing projects

Actually, I did help my father with some projects. 

I remember watching him work and bleed and sweat all over some project. Sounds gross, but I was fascinated as a little kid. He was a good and careful worker, but some tool would slip, or some board would get away and bang, Dad would have some minor injury. 

What fascinated me as a kid, was his reaction to that injury and the blood. As a kid, when I saw blood, especially mine, it was time for tears and run to Momma! But there was Dad, bleeding. Bleeding on the wood! Drops of blood on the floor, and he just went on building what we needed built. 

I couldn't get my mind around ignoring an injury! Wow! And the sweat. Like my Dad, when I grew up, I turned into a sweater. No not a knitted thing you wear, I produce more sweat than other people. 

So, I remember "helping" my Dad with these projects, watching the magic of something nice, useful, beautiful being created -- amongst drops of sweat and blood. 

And I did learn some things then, and much more later. I learned that you can do just about anything you set your mind to. You can build what you need, fix what needs fixing, and you can do it as well as a professional. But it takes something extra to do so.

• You need to have the right tools. This includes having a decent work space.
• You need to know how to use the tools.
• You need the right materials. You can't build something good out of junk.
• You need to pay attention to what you are doing. You've heard "measure twice, cut once" and that's true, but you also need to think. If you're not sure what you're going to do, what's supposed to happen, how this should go -- think. Think twice, build once.
• Don't be sloppy. That sounds obvious, but too many people are sloppy anyway. Don't just throw tools and materials around. When you need a tool or some material, you need to be able to find it right now. If your work area is a mess, you will spend half your time simply searching for things. That makes all projects take too long. Don't be sloppy.
• And sometimes, you need to tear it out and do it over. If it's just going wrong, find out why and solve that problem, even if it means tearing out something you thought was done. It is more efficient in the long run to take a bit more time to do it right, rather than waste more and more time constantly coping with the effects of an earlier goof.
• Sometimes you do need to call in a professional. Sometimes you don't have time to learn all the skills. Sometimes it's just too important or too big a job. Maybe you can do anything as well as a professional, but it doesn't mean you should.

When you are getting close to "being done", you are actually only about half done.

First, don't hurry the final steps, those are often the most critical and are where a goof can make the whole project look crappy. 

Second, when you have built what you were building or repaired what needed fixing, there is all the rest of the stuff you must do.

• Double check everything you've done. You'll probably remember a few things you thought of that needed to be done, which you put off for later. Well, now's the time to finish those.
• Test everything. Everything should work as intended and shouldn't have sharp bits or weak parts that will injure someone.
• Put the final touches to it: Cleaning, polishing, whatever.
• Put everything away. All the tools, all the materials, everything back where it won't get rusty, lost or stolen. Remember to put things back where you first looked for them, not necessarily where you found them.

All of that can take quite awhile, but those steps are part of the project. The project is not done until all those steps are completed. 

And that's what I learned about completing projects.

... some little things

I've been a bit busy lately, so I don't have anything big to post. But here are a few small things I've learned. 

How to cut a squishy sandwich in half: 

You know, you've got a sandwich filled with something squishy (I like egg salad sandwiches myself -- don't say "yuck!", I'm not offering you any), when you try to cut it in half, all the insides squish out. 

Here's what you do. Before putting the top piece of bread on the sandwich, cut it in half and then put the two halves in place. 

When you insert the knife between the top pieces and cut... no squish!  

How to improve an egg salad sandwich: 

How about a bacon-and-egg salad sandwich? Just add crumbled bacon. 

I like my deviled-egg salad sandwich; add deviled-egg spicing! 

And, olive-and-egg salad sandwich - add chopped olives. 

OK, so I like egg salad sandwiches. So sue me. 

How to carry a full cup of liquid or bowl of soup without spilling: 

The secret is to not lock your hand-elbow-shoulder. If you tense up, you transmit the impact of walking all the way down to what you're carrying. 

The simple way to loosen up all those joints is to move the bowl in a big, slow, gentle circle, concentrating on keeping loose. 

You'll be surprised how easy it makes carrying them.