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Professor Flanders's Journal of Nerdy Observations and silly camaraderie

huck1680

huck1680

We're gonna BBQ... LIKE MEN ON A MISSION!!!
BADABOOM! Indeed.
giphy-33.gif
 
BigAlVista

BigAlVista

This reminds me of an old joke:

Bonny and Frank are having company over for a BBQ. Bonny goes to the market, buys the steak, chicken, corn, beans, hamburger meat, beer, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, baby carrots, celery, broccoli, parsley, dressing, napkins and paper plates, sodas, mixers, white wine, chips and salsa, potato salad, cheese, buns, Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.

She comes homes, makes, plates and covers the patties, shucks the corn and wraps each piece in aluminum foil with butter and salt. She makes the salad, slices the tomato, onion and pickle and prepares a pretty fixings plate, with chopped parsley sprinkled over the top. She puts the potato salad in a beautiful crystal bowl her parents gave them last year. She cleans and chops the veggies and sets out a crudité platter. She marinate the chickens with her secret marinade (past down from her grandmother), seasons the steaks, fills the cooler with ice and starts chilling the drinks. She separates and arranges the cheese and buns on a hand carved wood platter she picked up in Bali.

After cleaning the patio furniture, Bonnie puts a plastic table cloth down, sets out the silverware, napkins and plates, and puts together a bar station by the cooler. She makes sure that the paper goods are weighted down so the wind doesn't blow everything away.

The guests start coming and Bonnie turns the grill to medium and gets the corn and beans started. She starts serving drinks and passes around the crudites, chips and salsa.

Frank comes down and puts an apron on. He cranks up the grill.

Bonnie stops what she's doing, races to the grill to pull the corn off before it burns, puts the corn on a decorative platter she picked up on a trip to Italy, and put the platter in the oven to keep warm. She puts the baked beans in a bowl that matches the platter and places that in the oven, next to the corn.

Frank throws everything onto the grill at once and has a beer.

Bonnie comes back out flips the burgers and chicken before Frank shoos her away. "I've got the grill dear".

With everything in perfect order, Bonnie pours herself a glass of Sauvignon blanc and attends to the guests.

A few minutes pass and Frank calls out "dinner is served". The burgers are well done, the chicken is dry as a bone, and the thick steak is raw in the middle.

Bonnie grabs the food from the kitchen and puts it on the table. She makes a point of making sure the guests have all the fixings, sauces, toppings and sides they might want, hoping they don't focus on the meats.

While the guests are eating, Bonnie sets up the fire pit and sets out folding chairs. She has the kids get long sticks from the woods for the Smores, and supervises them while they use pocket knives to sharpen the spits.

Frank yells out "who wants some Smores?"

While the guests are rotating the marshmallows, Bonnie cleans the dishes, wipes down the plastic table cloth, and starts putting things away.

Frank is at the fire pit burning marshmallows and giving lessons on the finer points of BBQ cooking.

As the guests are leaving, everyone says goodbye to Frank and Bonnie, commenting specifically to Frank "Excellent job, Frank", "Superb BBQ, Frank"

The guests gone, Frank sits down with another beer to catch the tail end of the game, while Bonnie cleans.
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

Poor Frank, he just wanted to BBQ some meats and have some beers and Bonnie had to go and make a big production out of everything. Let's hope he was thoroughly buzzed by the time she finished cleaning so he didn't have to listen to her whining and nagging. Hopefully the Pastor reminded Bonnie of her station in life the next day and told her not to talk back to her husband(preferably not at all unless spoken to first). I do wonder how much trouble the children were that weekend, as they weren't mentioned much. I am sure Frank was happy to be back at work after such a weekend!
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

On another note, I am nearing the end of another month of so-so shaves and I have avoided journaling because I can't think of anything useful to say about any of it! My skin is definitely suspect this month and I am trying not to over shave, but also not think too much about it. I have mostly been doing 1.5 pass shaves which isn't out of the ordinary with the AC razor, but is not the norm with any DE; it takes a bit too much force to push the more flexible blade through without gradual reduction.

Last week, I used my Colonial General with a Feather Pro Super blade and my Ti Bird with a Treet 7 days blade. I have been using these two razors most of the month except to run one blade through my Aylsworth. That went really well, I used a Schick blade which is just a Wilkinson Sword packaged as Schick for certain markets. I think I did either four or five shaves, I can't quite get as many with the Aylsworth due to the lack of blade exposure(or my face being a mess). I have consistently gotten six out of one of these with other razors like my aggressive Henson. I also have to do 2.5 passes with this razor so that's kept it out of the rotation, but it's probably up first for next week as I don't have a loaded razor right now!

The General joining the regular rotation this year has probably been the most positive thing of the month, but the lifespan of one of these blades has been the opposite; I can not get more than four without serious consequences. I also had one awhile back that was noticeably sharper than the others and it did a real number on my face, I took it easy to try to lessen the damage though. I have gotten a couple of mystery nicks that really annoy me and they only seem to happen when the blade is past four shaves. Again, it's possible my skin is to blame.

I suppose I should get around to The Big Disappointment: the Personna 74 blade. The last I remember saying was that these were too sharp for me, but also that it seemed to have gotten rough on it's sixth shave. I tried again and didn't even make it through the first pass before aborting, it was literally scratching up my face! These blades have a negative reputation among some people, but I am not sure that the reviews are still out there as they are around 10+ years old at this point. What some were saying mirrors my experience, but they didn't really get into much detail when the blade went bad for them. I had assumed after doing four shaves that they were wrong and this is a really great blade so my bias has always been to over rate them higher. They are a really unique blade and I don't buy the conspiracy theory that the stopped making them because men weren't using as many, from what I read the sales just weren't there at all and they were expensive to produce. I will still stick to what I said above, this is one of the most perfect blades for four shaves and that ain't bad! It's just not for me once the coating has come off and the price per shave is over a dollar.

I have been giving my regular 'Bird a break, as I do some times, and using the Ti Bird all month as mentioned, it's just slightly more gentle. I still think my other 'Bird is more aggressive than it's supposed to be as it's an early model when they were a Kickstarter campaign. I was surprised and annoyed when the Treet blade gave me some noticeable weepers on the first shave as it's a solid blade for me, but all other shaves after were normal so I guess it was a fluke. I have been using other mild blades like Dorco Titan, but I have used two GSBs so far this month!

For some reason, laziness, I am sticking with the 1.5 pass shaves, but they do require an aggressive enough razor. I am able to get a surprisingly SAS of some kind, I can't be scruffy and I am not. The regrowth seems to hold off enough that I can get through enough of the day, but I still prefer a smoother face. One of the reasons I am sticking with this is the speed, I am easily in-and-out of the washroom within 15 minutes. The other reason is that I am not really enjoying shaving right now due to a number of reasons; I am competent enough with my tools to just get it done if I have to. This isn't about not wanting to be clean shaven, far from it, it's about everything other than shaving leaving me with no joy left for this ritual. If I didn't have all these nice soaps that I have collected I would probably have no motivation at all, but I do enjoy my scents at least.
 
tomas1870

tomas1870

I did with like because I admire very much honesty to tell also about not nicest days and how everything works what everyone likes to share..

Aaron there will come sun again as always after every storm in our life. Sometimes it takes longer but it's 100% as like after winter come always spring. (hope to be not too pathetic, my English is very basic..)
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

@Phoenixkh
@spacemonkey42
@tomas1870
@cajunrph
@Eric_75

Thanks for the nice messages everybody! I was trying to admit that eventually we all get to a point where things are just normal, neither fantastic nor terrible. I hate occupying this middle ground, but it's where I am staying for the time being.

I did discover this morning that I had a vintage Gillette Spoiler loaded in my Al Henson V1, I was having such a nice shave that I opened it up to see what was in there. It has at least four shaves on it, probably more, and it still gets the job done so in it stays!
 
BigAlVista

BigAlVista

APBinNCA said:
On another note, I am nearing the end of another month of so-so shaves and I have avoided journaling because I can't think of anything useful to say about any of it! My skin is definitely suspect this month and I am trying not to over shave, but also not think too much about it. I have mostly been doing 1.5 pass shaves which isn't out of the ordinary with the AC razor, but is not the norm with any DE; it takes a bit too much force to push the more flexible blade through without gradual reduction.

Last week, I used my Colonial General with a Feather Pro Super blade and my Ti Bird with a Treet 7 days blade. I have been using these two razors most of the month except to run one blade through my Aylsworth. That went really well, I used a Schick blade which is just a Wilkinson Sword packaged as Schick for certain markets. I think I did either four or five shaves, I can't quite get as many with the Aylsworth due to the lack of blade exposure(or my face being a mess). I have consistently gotten six out of one of these with other razors like my aggressive Henson. I also have to do 2.5 passes with this razor so that's kept it out of the rotation, but it's probably up first for next week as I don't have a loaded razor right now!

The General joining the regular rotation this year has probably been the most positive thing of the month, but the lifespan of one of these blades has been the opposite; I can not get more than four without serious consequences. I also had one awhile back that was noticeably sharper than the others and it did a real number on my face, I took it easy to try to lessen the damage though. I have gotten a couple of mystery nicks that really annoy me and they only seem to happen when the blade is past four shaves. Again, it's possible my skin is to blame.

I suppose I should get around to The Big Disappointment: the Personna 74 blade. The last I remember saying was that these were too sharp for me, but also that it seemed to have gotten rough on it's sixth shave. I tried again and didn't even make it through the first pass before aborting, it was literally scratching up my face! These blades have a negative reputation among some people, but I am not sure that the reviews are still out there as they are around 10+ years old at this point. What some were saying mirrors my experience, but they didn't really get into much detail when the blade went bad for them. I had assumed after doing four shaves that they were wrong and this is a really great blade so my bias has always been to over rate them higher. They are a really unique blade and I don't buy the conspiracy theory that the stopped making them because men weren't using as many, from what I read the sales just weren't there at all and they were expensive to produce. I will still stick to what I said above, this is one of the most perfect blades for four shaves and that ain't bad! It's just not for me once the coating has come off and the price per shave is over a dollar.

I have been giving my regular 'Bird a break, as I do some times, and using the Ti Bird all month as mentioned, it's just slightly more gentle. I still think my other 'Bird is more aggressive than it's supposed to be as it's an early model when they were a Kickstarter campaign. I was surprised and annoyed when the Treet blade gave me some noticeable weepers on the first shave as it's a solid blade for me, but all other shaves after were normal so I guess it was a fluke. I have been using other mild blades like Dorco Titan, but I have used two GSBs so far this month!

For some reason, laziness, I am sticking with the 1.5 pass shaves, but they do require an aggressive enough razor. I am able to get a surprisingly SAS of some kind, I can't be scruffy and I am not. The regrowth seems to hold off enough that I can get through enough of the day, but I still prefer a smoother face. One of the reasons I am sticking with this is the speed, I am easily in-and-out of the washroom within 15 minutes. The other reason is that I am not really enjoying shaving right now due to a number of reasons; I am competent enough with my tools to just get it done if I have to. This isn't about not wanting to be clean shaven, far from it, it's about everything other than shaving leaving me with no joy left for this ritual. If I didn't have all these nice soaps that I have collected I would probably have no motivation at all, but I do enjoy my scents at least.
Click to expand...
I hope the joy comes back. It's good to pit a bit of wiggle in your step, if you can.
 
tomas1870

tomas1870

APBinNCA said:
I was trying to admit that eventually we all get to a point where things are just normal, neither fantastic nor terrible. I hate occupying this middle ground, but it's where I am staying for the time being.
Click to expand...
Probably we all have the biggest part of our life in that middle ground territory. Grey boring usual everyday, nothing special, every morning same wake up to work, after work serve to family.. and to stay loyal and motivated is sometimes big fight for me. I still strongly believe happiness is hidden there, for whom can resist and continue every day.
 
BigAlVista

BigAlVista

For what it's worth, when things get rough, I try to find thirty minutes a day to turn off the rest of the world and do something special, just for me. Heck, that's the reason I started doing my journal here. A little shave, a bit of writing, then, in the words of Jon Stewart, "back to the turd mines"
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

BigAlVista said:
For what it's worth, when things get rough, I try to find thirty minutes a day to turn off the rest of the world and do something special, just for me. Heck, that's the reason I started doing my journal here. A little shave, a bit of writing, then, in the words of Jon Stewart, "back to the turd mines"
Click to expand...
You're right of course and this is the place I come to unplug from the real world, but the problem is time management. I am just thankful that there are people still posting when I don't have time so I have something to read and occasionally comment on. Heck, I just spent an hour cutting my hair; that's therapeutic too, but also requires time management.
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

tomas1870 said:
Probably we all have the biggest part of our life in that middle ground territory. Grey boring usual everyday, nothing special, every morning same wake up to work, after work serve to family.. and to stay loyal and motivated is sometimes big fight for me. I still strongly believe happiness is hidden there, for whom can resist and continue every day.
Click to expand...
For me, when things get tough I quite. I am a quitter and I have never really been ashamed to walk away from things that I don't want to do, but I probably should have been. I always find a way to do things I want to do at the expense of long term planning. Right now, I am making a very big push that will secure the long term for me so I can get back doing whatever makes me happy! It's a different way of thinking about things than I have always done, but I am slowly convincing myself to go along with it(lol). What I won't do is muddle along with something that has no benefit other than pay the bills nor miss out on doing things until I am older. I have done the alternatives and if things weren't so expensive now, I would have never had any motivation to pursue something worthwhile. Everything has a silver lining, almost everything.
 
Osyri

Osyri

APBinNCA said:
@Phoenixkh
@spacemonkey42
@tomas1870
@cajunrph
@Eric_75

Thanks for the nice messages everybody! I was trying to admit that eventually we all get to a point where things are just normal, neither fantastic nor terrible. I hate occupying this middle ground, but it's where I am staying for the time being.

I did discover this morning that I had a vintage Gillette Spoiler loaded in my Al Henson V1, I was having such a nice shave that I opened it up to see what was in there. It has at least four shaves on it, probably more, and it still gets the job done so in it stays!
Click to expand...
When things get mundane or you get tired of something, you can count on this nephew to take them off your hands!
 
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