the bouncey zone

It’s been a year or so since I posted any news about my shaving experiments. I haven’t given up on it, and I haven’t settled into a final long-term pattern either. Something interesting came up yesterday. It’s time for an update.

First, some lessons over the past several months:

Shaving oil (instead of soap or cream) is not at all useful on a dry face. On a wet face it’s okay, but really it needs some very hot soapy water to de-gunk the blade periodically. I’ve found one exception where the shaving oil seems to work reasonably well – but more on that later. Most of the time, shaving oil is better used after shaving as a soothing lotion.

Sometimes my low-end Braun electric razor is still good enough. A real blade does a faster and closer shave, but the electric version isn’t as rough on the skin. Also, it effectively allows separating bathing from shaving. This is useful if the daily routine has been scrambled – when traveling, for example. On that subject, the electric razor goes through the Airport Insecurity checkpoint without any fuss – no sharp blade, no liquids. (Never mind that the power cord would make an excellent silent weapon. But don’t tell them that.) So I’m not giving away my Braun yet.

Double-edge blade notes: Personna blades from Wal-Mart seem to alternate between “perfect” and “bloody” in the same package. Hard to tell in advance which kind is loaded in the razor. The dispenser is good for storing used blades safely. (I also have a “safe” for used blades, bought on clearance at the beauty supply store.) Derby Extra blades work well enough at a low cost, but get dull a little more quickly than I’d prefer. Same for Dorco blades. (Dorco is an unfortunate brand name in North American English.) I’m still testing a few other brands.

Spraying rubbing alcohol on the blade after each use seems to make it last longer. The alcohol evaporates quickly, pulling water away and preventing microscopic rust spots. This is also true for modern multi-blade cartridge razors. I tried it with one of my old Mach 3 cartridges too. By the way, a hot shower also improves Mach 3 performance.

The most important lessons so far: First, take your time, don’t get in a hurry, and don’t press too hard. Second, the shave doesn’t have to be baby-butt perfect every time. One pass of the blade – maybe two – is often good enough, with fewer nicks and less irritation. Most people don’t care how smooth your face feels, as long as you look and smell clean. (My beard will grow out a noticeable amount within a few hours anyway.)

Now for the things that came up recently.

A couple weeks ago I decided to try something new. By new, I mean brand new. And disposable. Here’s a picture:

(This photo and the next were taken with my new iPhone 4.)

Why? I’ve been thinking that a simple disposable razor would be a nice in an emergency evacuation kit. (If you don’t have one, you should. Get a simple backpack and pack one change of clothes, minimal toiletries, a water bottle, and enough non-perishable calories to last a few days. One for each member of your household. Keep it where you won’t trip over it but can still grab it in a hurry.)

A disposable razor is small and light, it’ll do the job, and you won’t cry if it gets lost or stolen. For the same reasons, several travel writers have suggested using one disposable razor in a travel kit. It’s fine for a weekend trip, and for longer stays it’ll work long enough to buy another razor locally.

For everyday use, I think the disposable kind is an unnecessary waste of plastic. But I had to try one at home before trusting my face to it on the road. I had an unpleasant experience with a free disposable razor last year.

This razor worked surprisingly well. I used it in the shower several times (spraying with alcohol afterward) before it got too rough. My shaving technique has definitely improved over the past year.

One time I tried it a different way: Washed my face over the sink, then used shaving oil instead of cream. The shaving oil really worked that time. Saturating the skin with hot water before applying the oil made all the difference. I’m not sure if the type of razor or the freshness of its blade made any difference. I’ll have to do more experiments.

Yesterday I picked up something very different:

It’s a Gem model 1912 single-edge razor. I especially like the chain pattern on the handle. I’m not sure of its exact age, but it has to be from sometime between 1912 and WW2. In other words, it’s about the same age as my grandfather plus or minus a decade. Please let me know if you can help pin down its age any better.

I got it from a friend’s store. He has a pretty good variety of interesting “vintage” razors. It’s fun to look at these things in person before committing to buy. (Shop #24 in the Old Farmers Market in OKC. Look for JP Cole Custom Metal Art. They also sell my homemade soap.)

So far I’ve only shaved with the Gem once, using a modern blade from the pharmacy. It worked pretty well. I’m looking forward to trying it again.

Vacation Bible School started today. Scott is going this year, and Dana is helping the teachers. The theme is life in ancient Rome from the perspective of early Christians.

For a few hours it’s just me and the baby. Blake loves to play by himself, with no big brother to interfere. Especially if he gets to watch Baby Signing Time too.

So far I’ve shaved with my 1960 Gillette five times. I’ve already learned a few lessons:

1. Always use shaving cream for every pass, including touch-ups. This might also help with more recent blade designs.

2. Put as little pressure as possible on the razor. Let it do the job under its own weight.

3. Lock the door in case a certain 4 year old barges in and starts talking. Distractions cause blood loss.

I think the first blade might be dull enough to be replaced. No problem, there are nine more in the dispenser.

Last Friday I picked up another double-edge razor from a garage sale. Here’s a picture:

It’s a Schick Krona, which seems to be a close copy of the Gillette Super Speed from the 1960s or 70s. I haven’t completely figured out its history yet. The black handle resembles a Pentel mechanical pencil from the early 80s. It came with a plastic storage box, one new blade in a dispenser, one used blade (ew), and a very brief instruction manual.

The sellers were happy to get rid of Grandpa’s old razor for one dollar. I’ll have to visit garage sales more often!

I haven’t decided if I want to keep it as a spare, offer it as a gift to a worthy relative, or resell it for a profit. It mostly depends on what else turns up.

I mentioned last time that shaving goes back to Roman times. Or earlier, if you look at Egyptian writings and ancient cave paintings. Yet when I wanted to try a shave from an earlier era, I chose a method that dates back only about a hundred years. Why?

Until the safety razor came along – it was invented in the 1800s and made practical shortly before WW1 – people used straight razors. The exact design changed over the millennia, but in essence it was a very sharp knife. Could you hold a dagger to your own throat and hope to remove only hair?

Some men can do it. Me, not so much. It’s on my to-do list. Maybe next year.

Throughout the straight razor era it was common in cities to visit the barber for a shave. The barber was a trained professional. He did thousands of shaves every year, and knew how to do it right. All of the customer’s friends were there for a shave, too. It was practically a social forum.

Wives sometimes shaved their husbands. Rural aristocrats had their servants do the shaving. Country boys and mountain men just grew beards. All of that changed with the safety razor and do-it-yourself shaving.

I’ve been thinking about trying an authentic barber shop. Not for a shave, but for a haircut. Last time I went to a real barber, about 10 years ago, he talked at length about the importance of forming long term relationships with customers. We were only on our first haircut together, so it was a little creepy. Never went back.

Those who know me might be thinking: “Charlie has a beard. Now he’s talking about shaving. Oh no!”

Don’t worry about it. Since last summer I’ve been wearing a goatee in summer and a full beard in winter. Even with a “full” beard, my neck still needs a shave.

I like the goatee though. It makes me look several years younger.

This past weekend was SoonerCon. Rather than go home Friday night and stay in the convention hotel (the Biltmore on Meridian in OKC) on Saturday, as we’ve done in the past, we decided to stay both nights next door at the Econo Lodge. It costs about half as much, so in effect we got two nights for the price of one.

We quickly learned that we would have been happier elsewhere. Our motel made the Biltmore look good, which I hadn’t thought possible. The furniture was battered, the beds were hard, the pillows were flat, the housekeeper was very rude in a right-now-or-never kind of way…

But let’s dwell on the positive. This is what I liked about that Econo Lodge:

1. Shower head produced a delightfully luxurious spray of water. Really, no sarcasm.
2. Missing alarm clock was one less thing for the baby to chew on.
3. Toast at the free continental breakfast was okay.
4. The hair dryer worked. I used it to dry out some damp clothes.
5. The window had a nice coating that kept out most of the afternoon solar heat.
6. Couldn’t hear swimming pool noises from inside the room, even though we were right next to it.
7. No need to leave a tip for the housekeeper since she didn’t actually do anything.
8. Dorm fridge!

But other than that… Next time we might stay somewhere else.

One interesting discussion panel at the convention was about how history could have gone differently in Europe. At least that was what the program guide said. Really the main focus was on the 1632 series – which I haven’t read yet – and Victorian steampunk to a lesser extent.

The authors on the panel pointed out something that had long been percolating in my own mind. People way back in history weren’t stupid. They just lacked today’s level of scientific advancement.

People have always faced many of the same basic problems. Often their solutions didn’t work very well. But sometimes they did a pretty good job. We just forget too easily when a new way comes along. We lose ideas that could prove useful later.

One concern over the ages has been how to shave. The ancient Greeks and Romans went around beardless. America’s founding fathers did it too, as did countless men between then and now. But how could they shave safely without electricity or plastic?

None of the modern shaving methods have done a fantastic job for me. My current electric razor is okay, I suppose, when I have time to use it. It takes a while.

My Mach 3 removes hair very well. After a hot shower and four passes of the razor from different directions. And a lot of nicks and painful razor burn. Also, cartridges cost about $2 each at Sam’s and last for maybe 3 shaves if I’m lucky.

So I looked into the alternatives. I read general articles that covered the basics. I asked a few older people what they knew. I spent a lot of time with Badger & Blade reading specific reviews and instructions. Last week I got on eBay…

My shiny new razor arrived in the mail Monday morning. It’s not really new. According to its date code, it was made in the first quarter of 1960. This razor was 14 years old when I was born.

It’s a twist-to-open Gillette Super Speed, part of a product line that for decades dominated the shaving market. It’s not in perfect condition, but it’s reasonably good considering its age. Here’s a picture that I took after cleaning it up a little:

(I’m using this to test how well iPhoto, Flickr, and WordPress work together. Still undecided about whether to move all of my pictures to a photo hosting service like Flickr or to continue with ZenPhoto. At least ZenPhoto needs an update, and some old stuff from Coppermine still needs to be moved over. But anyway.)

Here’s a better picture of the same basic model, as found on Badger & Blade:

I chose this type partly because it has a good reputation. More importantly, it was cheaper than buying a new one. Oh yes, they still make double edge safety razors, in places like China and India and Germany. But not here in the USA. Gillette and its competitors have moved on.

Blades can still be found. Sample packs are available, so people can try several brands to find what works best for a particular combination of razor and face. Once the ideal blade is found, it can be ordered at astonishingly low prices in hundred-blade packs. 100 blades looks a lot like a year’s supply.

I got a pack of Personna blades from Walmart to start out. By my math, it costs about a tenth as much as Mach 3 cartridges. I also got a can of Barbasol shaving cream, which I tested over the weekend in a disastrous experiment involving a free disposable razor and a motel sink.

Thus a new experiment began: Combine razor and blade, take a shower, apply the cream… Most instructions tell a beginner to start with only one pass, going with the grain. After some practice add a cross-grain pass, and then eventually try a third pass against the grain. Lather up between passes.

I skipped to three pass mode on the first session. My technique was horrible. The angle wasn’t quite right. I pressed too hard on the razor. I didn’t let the cream soak in long enough. I have 20 years of habits to unlearn.

Best shave ever.

Compared to my usual Mach 3, the ancient razor caused fewer nicks and less razor burn. My cheeks felt like the proverbial baby’s butt. I even had fun with it.

To be fair, the razor wasn’t the only variable in the experiment. It’s possible that the Mach 3 could be made less gruesome by re-lathering between passes. I’ll have to try it with some of my remaining cartridges.

But let’s guess that equalizing shaving cream usage makes the two comparable. Which is better, a great shave with a $2 blade, or a shave just like it for 20 cents? Think about this.

That brings up a question. If the double edge safety razor worked well enough for so many decades, why did the market move away from it back in the 1970s?

For starters, plastic is cheaper than metal. At the time even the double edge razors were moving towards more plastic parts. A lift-and-cut system might have worked better in theory, given such a lightweight razor.

Maybe people just didn’t want to handle those sharp double edged blades anymore. But my guess is that the big players wanted to regain a proprietary advantage.

The relevant patents had long expired. Anyone could make a razor, anyone could make a blade, and there was an excellent chance that they’d work with each other. By shifting to the modern cartridge format, they reset the clock on new patents.

Ever notice how a new wave of razor models hits the market every few years? Not all technological change is for the benefit of its users. Sometimes it’s all about profit. Never let the monopoly end.

The experiment continues. I’ll try another shave on Wednesday.

Earlier today Scott and I cleaned the cobwebs out of the tornado shelter. Then we lugged the emergency water supply up the stairs for cleaning and refill.

The water looked clean and smelled drinkable. Maybe with a hint of plastic and chlorine. But it had been in there almost 3 years, since mid-October 2005. So I figured it was better to be safe.

The water was in a blue 7 gallon “aqua-tainer” cube with a plastic bag taped around the spout. It should be enough to keep the family alive for a few days while a rescue crew digs through the rubble. I really should see about putting a bucket, trash bags, and TP down there too. Water goes in, water comes out…

Disaster preparation is one of my long-time hobbies. Not because I think we’re due for apocalyptic horrors anytime soon. I just remember what they taught me as a Boy Scout. If we think about what could go wrong and then take some basic preventative measures, then we can turn a miserable situation into something at least survivable.

Besides — playing the what-if game can be fun.

The same thought process is true for education, good health, and money management. Those who have a plan and then follow through with it tend to have better results. Those who don’t have a plan? They’re called victims. Most of them just don’t know it yet.

Lately I’ve been making a list of things to go into the emergency relocation kit. It’s what survivalists call a “bug out bag”, or a “72 hour kit” to respectable straight-laced people. I quickly discovered that most of what I need is already here, in a badly disorganized sort of way.

But not everything. I’m not sure if any of our current backpacks are sturdy enough for the task. Compact heat-resistant emergency rations, bottled water, lithium AA batteries, and parachute cord are already on the shopping list.

Maybe I should visit some military surplus stores. Surplus stores are fun too.

An ice storm is moving into central Oklahoma!

Dana is coming home early from the office. It probably would’ve been a better idea just to stay home this morning, but as of 6:30 the forecasts said that the ice would arrive much later in the day. They were off by about 6 hours.

We went to Wal-Mart last night to buy groceries. It was a madhouse! Apparently everyone got the idea to come in and do a week’s worth of shopping before the ice hit. The crowd had already wiped out certain types of “essential” items. Canned corn, Little Debbie snacks, ribbed Trojans, and mild/medium chili seasoning packets were some of the funnier holes in the shelf. One lady drawled “We need some free-toes…”

The supply of shredded cheese was also mostly gone. Maybe everyone decided to make Frito Pies. I had a similar idea, so I made a big pot of chili using Morningstar crumbles, white onions, black soy beans, and “tex-mex style” chili seasoning. (Use what’s available — it was that or a “hot” packet.) Yum.

One thing bothered me though. The price signs over the Coca-Cola products said “everyday low price” of $1.08 for 2 liters. But it’s not an “every day” price! Sometimes it’s down to 88 cents. Sometimes its up to $1.28. I’m confused.

But I’m not confused about how I react to price changes. If it’s cheap, I stock up on Coke Zero. If it’s expensive, I skip it or buy a substitute — Diet Dr. Thunder only costs 58 cents. This is an example of Price Elasticity of Demand.

Skim this if you have time: [Supply and Demand]

My old Airport base station (one of the original graphite types) started rebooting itself every few seconds again. Last time this happened was a few years ago, and it was due to defective capacitors. After some repairs it had worked again, and continued until today.

I really wasn’t in the mood to disassemble the base station again today. So I took my Airport Express from the living room, where it was just being used for music streaming, and brought it to the computer room. Within a few minutes it was configured as the main base station. It works pretty well so far.

Apple’s product info page has a lot more information about it. At least until they change its features again…

This month I’m trying to organize our company’s books and records. There weren’t many transactions last year, so in theory it shouldn’t be very hard.

Not very hard if I already had experience operating a corporation and running QuickBooks Pro… I’ve almost figured out how QB is supposed to work. Let’s just say I’m learning to both admire and loathe that crazy program. It looks like it’ll work okay for our software business. More or less.

Configuring it to track soap sales is going to be much trickier. Apparently it never occurred to Intuit that a small business might actually want to make things, rather than just reselling already-finished products. There seems to be no way to track the production process from purchase of raw materials onward, automatically calculating cost of goods sold and triggering alerts when a component needs to be reordered. Nope, gotta do all that in a separate spreadsheet. Oh well.

(Note that we have QuickBooks 2005. I haven’t tried the 2006 version yet.)

I’m also spending a lot of time figuring out what paperwork needs to be filed with which government agencies, both to finish up last year and to prepare for this year. Income taxes, franchise taxes, sales taxes… I’m just afraid that I’ll miss something obscure and accidentally step on a petty tyrant’s toes.

Then there’s the required corporate record keeping — official meetings and such. I’m still learning my way around all that. Several books are available with helpful fill-in-the-blanks forms, but I’m not sure if they’re worth the money yet.

There’s so much that they didn’t teach us in MBA school!

Found two interesting articles on Wikipedia:

[Pin-pen merger]
[Cot-caught merger]

On the pin-pen merger, around here I generally hear it as an indistinct vowel spectrum. “Pin” might be a bit of metal used in sewing, and “pen” might be a fenced-in area for animals. Either one could mean a writing instrument — hence the term “ink pen”. I say it both ways, though I can tell the difference easily if I pause to think about it.

But cot-caught… They sound the same to me. I had assumed that it’s a remnant from one of those crazy medieval spellings. *shrug*

My natural wake-up time is quite late, typically around 9:30 plus or minus an hour. I’ve always had trouble waking up early. The one exception was at OSSM, where I shared a bathroom with about 10-15 other teenage boys. I didn’t want to stand in line for a sink, so I woke up around 5:30 every morning to beat the crowd. In college I went back to oversleeping.

Last week I started an experiment. I’ve been trying to wake at 6:00 every morning, even on weekends. After getting out of bed I immediately brush my teeth (it helps me stay awake). Then I go to bed at night when I’m sleepy, not at any specific time.

The goal here is to have a few more hours every day to do things. Most days I have time to bathe, eat a decent breakfast, and do something useful (like washing dishes) before Scott wakes. Some days I just get my email out of the way first thing. I’m still working on the routine that follows waking up, trying to figure out what works best. But at least I’m awake.

For the article that inspired this, look at Steve Pavlina’s blog.

If you know anyone who is into motor scooters, send ‘em over to our scooter forum at scooterinfo.org. Doesn’t matter if they’re classic Vespa fans, maxi-scooter commuters, 50cc riverbank riders, or whatever. We need more members and activity!

Thanks!