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- #61
Thanks Balin - I'm the skinny one in the sunglasses - my brother is 18 months younger than me.You look well preserved!! It must be the vodka.
Age is just a number and mind over matter - I don't mind and it doesn't matter haha !
roaduck meanderings
- Thread starter roaduck
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Age is just a number and mind over matter - I don't mind and it doesn't matter haha !
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- #62
I know nothing about cameras and photography and mostly use my phone but they have tiny lenses and image sensors so don't let enough light in in nearly dark conditions - so trying to suss out my Wi-Fi and bluetooth on my Canon B500 but it's a bit much for me - I really need showing how to use it by a photographer.
I just try and frame and light my shots best I can but then you lose "the moment" and the spontaneity haha !
I mostly just use a cheapie Samsung - A13 5G - 50 MP - Have got a 1999 Fuji Finepix S-602 Zoom bridge which is easy to use and a Canon B500 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on it but it's too fiddly to use for me all the time.
I like my 25 year old Fuji with hot-shoe, optical viewfinder - 6x optical zoom 1/4000 sec - 15 min exposure and 1 cm super macro - it's been dropped in the sea, dropped and banged off walls and it still works great - even got the computer/Tv leads for it plus a mains adapter - brilliant bomb-proof kit.
The modern 1.6 volt Ni-Zn Nickel Zinc rechargeable AA batteries are brilliant and last for ages.
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- #63
I am trying to build my essential oil collection up but it's a slow process.
Times are hard, I'm retired and have always done herbalism for free as a hobby - I did the wrong science degrees and chose the wrong careers - oh well.
Doing copywriting and parapolitics plus being an International Hi-Fi executive was lucrative but burnt me out.
I do bespoke fragrances, candles and soaps etc and I need a few hundred essential oils but they're very expensive and a lot of the citrus oils etc expire in 6-12 months and it can take months just for one oil delivery.
I am doing the final bespoke frags for Christmas then I'm having a good rest.
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- #64
Thanks for the thumbs up Tathlum - healing people is very rewarding - I've done Herbalism and Phytopharmacology to O level, A level, OND, HND and degree level plus Aromatherapy, Shiatsu, Sports Remedial Massage, Physiotherapy, Anatomy, Physiology and Reflexology and it's not enough - it's a big subject - especially perfumery - it's like Computers or Languages - it's endless haha !
That's an impressive resume! Healing someone else must be very rewarding. Don't trust big pharma and I know very little about herbalism but seems a more natural alternative.
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- #66
Thanks Tathlum I've not hurt anybody or got sued in 35 years so I must be doing something right.
There is stuff that big Pharma don't want you to know because it'll affect profits and esoteric knowledge that used to be in medical and public libraries but is now deemed too dangerous to posses by the powers that be.
I love digging so I have some of that knowledge but the politicians and bigwigs want to dumb us down and indoctrinate us so we are easier to control.
It's all Sabbatean Frankfurt School, The Kalergi Plan and Hegelian dialectic and Communism/Satanism - it is so predictable to me.
Right - no more politics lol
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- #67
I'm so glad I lived in France and discovered coticules for my antique straights and am so glad I met an octogenarian Japanese Sensei in a 19th Century forge in Macau, China with no electricity 30 odd years ago because I think I saw the light after that and didn't waste as much time going round and round in circles trying to do the scientific method I was taught at Technical College when all the time getting an edge was an Art and a mindset that somehow gradually developed because I wanted to be self-sufficient.
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Merry or Happy Christmas on your side of the pond!!
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- #69
Thank you Balin - I lived in Mesa, Arizona and Kokomo, Indiana and saw another thirty-odd States and Counties on biz for 3-4 days at a time - loved it all - but that was 30-odd years ago.
The Best of luck there come January and I dearly hope things stabilise in 2025 and don't go even more crazy for you, your family and your Countrymen.
I'm a crazy old hippy ex-pat Russian and normal people are not generally sycophantic narcissistic politicians thank goodness Balin!
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- #70
Thank You and Good luck Flanders and Balin - I'm an all to infrequent Catholic but I pray for you both and wish you all the best luck for the future.
Thank you sir!! I am just outside of Toronto and Canadian politics are in flux now with people calling for our PM's resignation. Lol same old same old.
I may be an ex-pat soon!! I really want to retire abroad. My wife is the hippy in our relationship
. I am a hippy at heart but present as part of the establishment. I guess that makes me a double agent .- Thread starter
- #72
The British House of Commons is a mess as well Balin and there's no beacons of hope or great statesmen with experience and good judgment - it's more than a shame because there is a lot at stake.
Democracy in Ancient Greece was never universal or fair.
My definition of a hippy is no wars for the bankers every 75 years (time to FIAT failure) but not a pacifist either so I really get your drift - I'd love to skedaddle but alas I'm too old and too poor !
Democracy in Ancient Greece was never universal or fair.
My definition of a hippy is no wars for the bankers every 75 years (time to FIAT failure) but not a pacifist either so I really get your drift - I'd love to skedaddle but alas I'm too old and too poor !
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- #73
Does anybody like Cigarette Lighters ?
A guy on here spotted my chunky brass one so I replied.
It's a movie lighter - so it can be seen - from the 2005 Keanu Reeves film - Constantine. I think the second one is just coming out shortly.
Bigger than normal zippos, seven times the weight and built like a brick lavatory with massive hinges plus it has seals so the lighter gasoline fuel lasts 2-3 weeks !
Being solid brass it weighs over 13.5 ounces so can't drop it on tiled floors or on bare feet haha !
I've been smoker since my teens so still have a few lighters even though I've literally given thousands away and gifted antique 18 carat solid gold lighters, titanium EDC's, Mother of Pearl ones, Silver and Lapis Lazuli lighters etc.
I'm gonna give up smoking and will just give 'em all away.
Best of luck with that! I still want a smoke 20 years after quitting, it’s a powerful addiction. I still a bunch of lighters somewhere, I found them annoying to keep working. They were always running out of fuel or needing a new flint at the worst possible time, I think they were designed that way on purpose!
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- #75
Yep Thanks Flanders it's deffo a hard habit to break; but worth it.
I gave up for ten years then met an ex in a Working Mens club in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and she was smoking my previous brand - Embassy Regal King Size and she offered me one after I had a couple of dozen Stolichnaya's and got back on the Merry go round - this time I'm more determined though because two close mates have the big "C" and only by the Grace of God etc...
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- #76
Since landing on B&B I tried to shave everyday but with health issues, family, charity work etc I'll have to go back to 2-3 times a week or less haha!
I've got serious health issues so can't sleep and I couldn't have a routine even if someone held a gun to my head - which has happened to me a few times - no comment !
Once I retired it was nowhere near as regular - if it was getting to beard length after a week and felt itchy, I had to attack it with a trimmer first then it was easier for a scrape.
I always aim for a BBS and achieve it most of the time.
I love shaving with my eyes closed in the bath and used a straight with no mirror in the moonlight outside - no other option in the crazy places I've lived.
I can shave without water - had to in North Africa and the M.E. - no choice sometimes.
A lot of my single friends have scruffy beards and don't shave for ages - I think we should groom and make the effort even if we are old bachelors lol.
My girlfriend prefers me clean-shaven but can take the rough with the smooth - I can handle her sandpaper legs in bed on occasion so it works both ways !
I had plenty of shaving tackle before I joined B&B but wanted some decent frags and soap.
I'm going to try and be normal and just buy one or two Ouds now and again - not regularly - can't go mad; they're extremely expensive even for the budget ones.
Years ago I had one Wilkinson Sword 1975 flip-top closed comb which I used regularly since 1980 - cost me £3 new old stock.Still got it and cherish it - many happy memories.
I had some lovely antique cut-throats but after they went in a burglary I never replaced them - I was heartbroken.
Now I have one el cheapo straight with soft steel so it needs a lot of honing to work if I use it regularly - like budget knives like Kiwi's and cheap Sabatier's and Victorinox`s - it's more maintenance.
I used any soap that was going here in England and trad soaps in France, The Middle East, Africa and China where I lived and worked.
In Egypt and Hong Kong I used 19th Century carbon straights stropped on a leather belt with toothpaste sometimes and in France I got some decent coticules although I could set a bevel with very cheap stones before that being a blacksmith that forged knives as a hobby to de-stress from a high pressure sales job.
Life is ups and downs isn't it?
I've got serious health issues so can't sleep and I couldn't have a routine even if someone held a gun to my head - which has happened to me a few times - no comment !
Once I retired it was nowhere near as regular - if it was getting to beard length after a week and felt itchy, I had to attack it with a trimmer first then it was easier for a scrape.
I always aim for a BBS and achieve it most of the time.
I love shaving with my eyes closed in the bath and used a straight with no mirror in the moonlight outside - no other option in the crazy places I've lived.
I can shave without water - had to in North Africa and the M.E. - no choice sometimes.
A lot of my single friends have scruffy beards and don't shave for ages - I think we should groom and make the effort even if we are old bachelors lol.
My girlfriend prefers me clean-shaven but can take the rough with the smooth - I can handle her sandpaper legs in bed on occasion so it works both ways !
I had plenty of shaving tackle before I joined B&B but wanted some decent frags and soap.
I'm going to try and be normal and just buy one or two Ouds now and again - not regularly - can't go mad; they're extremely expensive even for the budget ones.
Years ago I had one Wilkinson Sword 1975 flip-top closed comb which I used regularly since 1980 - cost me £3 new old stock.Still got it and cherish it - many happy memories.
I had some lovely antique cut-throats but after they went in a burglary I never replaced them - I was heartbroken.
Now I have one el cheapo straight with soft steel so it needs a lot of honing to work if I use it regularly - like budget knives like Kiwi's and cheap Sabatier's and Victorinox`s - it's more maintenance.
I used any soap that was going here in England and trad soaps in France, The Middle East, Africa and China where I lived and worked.
In Egypt and Hong Kong I used 19th Century carbon straights stropped on a leather belt with toothpaste sometimes and in France I got some decent coticules although I could set a bevel with very cheap stones before that being a blacksmith that forged knives as a hobby to de-stress from a high pressure sales job.
Life is ups and downs isn't it?
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- #77
The reason why I use wildly varying razors, blades soaps and frags because it makes it more fun and challenging and makes me more versatile and flexible.
I love wild smell mixtures and combos - it's a scream because my GF choose random soaps and frags - sometimes they clash and I just laugh my head off - that's the fun part of shaving and some razor/blade combos are not easy but I soon get the hang of it - a couple of minutes - I go on feel - I don't use a mirror; no need.
I don't time or weigh things or use recipes cooking - no need - been doing it too long.
I learnt to sharpen knives on rocks outside and knapp flints and rocks - my Grandfather taught me when I was seven so I suppose that's what got me into sharpies and by 17 I was making hoes, scythes, axes , nails and horse shoes in the village forge - I was a helper at 14 and then I went down one of many rabbit holes.
Driving on the right abroad was really awkward at first but I had to learn fast literally overnight lol, playing the sax and typing with both hands helped me be more ambidextrous which makes using a straight a lot easier.
Being a blacksmith and forging knives forced me to stop using my right hand for everything and it was weird honing and sharpening cut-throats with my left hand at first but it got easier.
It's just practice and technique so keep it up guys and don't give up trying is my motto.
I love wild smell mixtures and combos - it's a scream because my GF choose random soaps and frags - sometimes they clash and I just laugh my head off - that's the fun part of shaving and some razor/blade combos are not easy but I soon get the hang of it - a couple of minutes - I go on feel - I don't use a mirror; no need.
I don't time or weigh things or use recipes cooking - no need - been doing it too long.
I learnt to sharpen knives on rocks outside and knapp flints and rocks - my Grandfather taught me when I was seven so I suppose that's what got me into sharpies and by 17 I was making hoes, scythes, axes , nails and horse shoes in the village forge - I was a helper at 14 and then I went down one of many rabbit holes.
Driving on the right abroad was really awkward at first but I had to learn fast literally overnight lol, playing the sax and typing with both hands helped me be more ambidextrous which makes using a straight a lot easier.
Being a blacksmith and forging knives forced me to stop using my right hand for everything and it was weird honing and sharpening cut-throats with my left hand at first but it got easier.
It's just practice and technique so keep it up guys and don't give up trying is my motto.
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Wow....
My limited thinking and all is amazed at what i just read on your posts. I am not able to pick the "right" tiny like thing.
I do wish you luck and strength(?) with quitting/leaving smoking. I know of 5 maybe 6 people who have quit smoking. And all but 1 of them had to do it the hard way, as they called it, just not buying them or asking for them. The 1 used vaping and lowering the nicotine strength over a 2ish year run. But your quitting feels to me will be a hard one to get done. So the best for you.
Thank you for sharing your life stuff with us. I'm tired just reading what you've posted about... hahaha...
My limited thinking and all is amazed at what i just read on your posts. I am not able to pick the "right" tiny like thing.
I do wish you luck and strength(?) with quitting/leaving smoking. I know of 5 maybe 6 people who have quit smoking. And all but 1 of them had to do it the hard way, as they called it, just not buying them or asking for them. The 1 used vaping and lowering the nicotine strength over a 2ish year run. But your quitting feels to me will be a hard one to get done. So the best for you.
Thank you for sharing your life stuff with us. I'm tired just reading what you've posted about... hahaha...
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- #79
Sorry if I've made you tired - I've had a tough life - Everest the Hard Way - Haha! you could not make my life up - truth is stranger than fiction - haha!
Wow - Thanks so much losing - as regards smoking - erm I've done it in the past - I can do it again.
I have a friend who has lung cancer - had half one lung removed in December and he is still smoking !
Another old mate has lung cancer and had radiotherapy - he's still smoking.
Another very close friend has chronic obstructive airway disease / emphysema - he's still at it.
The guy next door gave up smoking and got really big now he's really depressed - poor sod - I do my best to cheer him up.
Another neighbour cut down smoking - went on vapes - ate loads of chocolate got too fat - he's depressed.
Me, I want to build my stamina back up after nearly dying of covid so cigs will have to go out the window - last time I didn't get fatter because I swam more, danced more, rode my bike more, made love more, gardened more, did more Do it Yourself - didn't use patches, vapes or nicotine gum - felt horrid for a week - kept away from smokers - then I was fine lol.
Been drinking since I was eleven - now I don't go near alkies - have booze in the house and can drink normally but it took me 50 years to learn !
I lost my Mum, Dad, Sister, a girlfriend and my Fiance to drink - so I know the score.
So my motto is never give up trying - if you fail - you're only human - give it another go to quit and another etc - keep going until you sack the ciggies.
Good luck if you're quitting - losing.
Wow - Thanks so much losing - as regards smoking - erm I've done it in the past - I can do it again.
I have a friend who has lung cancer - had half one lung removed in December and he is still smoking !
Another old mate has lung cancer and had radiotherapy - he's still smoking.
Another very close friend has chronic obstructive airway disease / emphysema - he's still at it.
The guy next door gave up smoking and got really big now he's really depressed - poor sod - I do my best to cheer him up.
Another neighbour cut down smoking - went on vapes - ate loads of chocolate got too fat - he's depressed.
Me, I want to build my stamina back up after nearly dying of covid so cigs will have to go out the window - last time I didn't get fatter because I swam more, danced more, rode my bike more, made love more, gardened more, did more Do it Yourself - didn't use patches, vapes or nicotine gum - felt horrid for a week - kept away from smokers - then I was fine lol.
Been drinking since I was eleven - now I don't go near alkies - have booze in the house and can drink normally but it took me 50 years to learn !
I lost my Mum, Dad, Sister, a girlfriend and my Fiance to drink - so I know the score.
So my motto is never give up trying - if you fail - you're only human - give it another go to quit and another etc - keep going until you sack the ciggies.
Good luck if you're quitting - losing.
Only thing i quit at was sports. Smoking i tried for 2 months. Part of a payment i got for stocking cooler shelves for a conveniece store was cigarettes because the clerks would ask us "kids' to restock for them. I went no cigs to a half a pack a day. But nausea and other kids begging me for one almost all the time made me not want to do it.
I don't drink and i only take otc or prescription drugs.