That is exactly what I did though and I’m amazed at what I accomplished. I literally made it from my bed to the Museum’s door in about an hour and that includes taking a shower and getting dressed! That has to be a record for me. I have to say that the trains were pretty good to me which helped. Still, one hour from bed to work!

There was a small price to pay, I had to get coffee in the staff cafe’. It’s… How shall I put this? Let me just say that I buy/make fancy coffee at home so, in my opinion, the staff cafe’ coffee tends to be wanting in the flavor dept. Nevertheless, it fueled this post and most of my productivity this morning so I’m good. At the end of the day, caffeine is still caffeine.

Ps. I was originally gonna write a post about how I started chewing gum before I finished my coffee and had to spit the gum out when I realized my error. That little circumstance reminded me of these things.

Thankfully, my shopping handicap is not much of a problem because my expense to income ratio has a fair amount of wiggle room which brings me to my point. I’ve set a goal for myself to save a predetermined amount of money by the end of the year. I sorta arbitrarily picked a number and when I figured out how much I’d have to set aside each month, well it turned out to be rather aggressive. Ooops.

What does this mean? I’m committed to my goal, arbitrary or not, so that means I have to suck it up. Yeah, goodbye Mr. Instant Gratification, hello Mr. Budget. Can I just say, Mr. Budget is a LOT less fun. He won’t let me buy any shiny new toys! So no new Kindle, no new iPod Touch (rumored to be announced),  and no iPad for me. And that’s just the stuff on the short list, I’m sure I could come up with others. Insert frowny face.

I guess it’s not all bad. I’ll have a nice chunk of change at the end of the year to show for my shopping abstinence and perhaps I’ll learn a thing or two about self-control. More likely, I’ll welcome back Mr. Instant Gratification with an open wallet.

That subject seemed out of place in an investment book and so it was. Upon a closer look, my nerd brain had merely misread the correct heading which was “Introduction to the Millennium Edition“. I guess I’ll have to look elsewhere for an introduction to the Millennium Falcon.

The original movie blew me away when it came out. This trailer for the new film gave me a nerdgasm.

I guess I could post a brief summary of my weekend. E and I ran some errands on Saturday then went to a lawn party in the evening. Sunday I mowed the yard and attempted to tune up the push mower (it’s idling rough) but it was exhibiting resistentialism so I failed. I think I”m gonna have to rebuild the carburetor on it which I was hoping to avoid. I still might be able to get away with properly gapping the spark plug but I doubt it’ll work.

Sunday was not a good day for working on things because it wasn’t just the lawn mower that was being obstinate. I also attempted to teach myself how to sweat copper pipe and that didn’t go very well either. I had a general idea of how to do it but it’s trickier than it looks. I practiced with a couple of straight couplings and some scrap pipe but  I only managed 3 out of 4 watertight connections. A 75% success rate is not very good in my book not to mention that the welds which were successful were ugly as hell. I need to review some YouTube videos on how to do it and practice some more. I guess.

That’s it for now, hopefully I’ll come up with some more blog ideas or it’s gonna be a slow week around thenextstopwillbe.com.

This video isn’t as good as The Muppets version of Bohemian Rhapsody but it’s still pretty funny.  I think I used to own the 7″ 45  for the song.

The standard cruiser sits at the top of the respectability ladder.

Photo by timetrax23

This small single passenger vehicle is a little lower down.

Photo by Hinnosaar

And the lowly scooter is at the bottom.

Photo by Seth W

This post is in no way meant to show that I have disrespect for the individual officers themselves but just as their uniforms command respect, their vehicles also confer a certain status to them. At least in the eyes of us proletariat.

Sometimes “No Parking” just doesn’t get the message across so the NYC Department of Transportation has to pull out the big guns.

Gillette’s not all bad, but their razor arms race is ridiculous and expensive. Eight Fusion blades for $24? What if I told you that you could buy enough blades to last months and months for less than $20?  It’s true but you have to make some changes first.

To start with, you’ll need to get a new blade holder. There are several ways to go, Gillette used to produce an excellent adjustable double edge blade holder that can still be found for a reasonable price on eBay. The great thing about an adjustable holder is that you can… adjust it? Seriously, the dial allows you to change the blade angle from forgiving to more aggressive as your skill with using it improves so it’s a good beginner holder.

There are other options as well, I shaved with an expensive Merkur Futur for several years. It’s a well made holder that’s also adjustable but it’s quite heavy and I eventually found it to be a little too aggressive. You really have to be on your game to use it.

My current blade holder is a Parker 22R, it’s not adjustable but the blade angle is fairly forgiving and very comfortable. I would definitely recommend it for a beginner. It also looks great and has a nice weight to it.

Now that you have a blade holder, you’ll need blades and here’s where you get to stick it to Gillette, big time. How about a hundred blades for $16? It’s true! You’re probably thinking “How good could they be if they’re so cheap?” I did but I was willing to spend $16 to find out.

I’m here to tell you that they’re really, really good. Prior to finding them, I used to pay about $4 for 5 Wilkinson Sword blades which I thought were pretty good. The Sharp blades are significantly better. They give me a comfortable shave and last just as long, if not longer, as the multi-blade Gillettes and Schicks of the world.

One niggle about double edge blades that even the Sharp’s are guilty of although not as much as the Wilkinson Sword. Almost invariably, one side will be sharper than the other. I don’t know why but I’ve been using double edge blades for a long time and it has held true with every brand I’ve tried. Nevertheless, the blades themselves are so much cheaper than the multi-blades that even if you only use one side, you still come out wayyyy ahead on cost.

Here are a few tips for getting started with a double edge blade. I shave in the shower so that my beard, which is fairly heavy, has plenty of time to get soft. Next, I use shaving oil before applying shaving cream. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and it’s amazing how much more comfortable it made shaving.

I’m a green, treehugger’y, organic type guy so I use Kiss My Face moisture shave. It’s the only natural shave cream I’ve found that equals the more commercial brands like Gillette or Nivea. It costs about the same but goes a whole lot further. You don’t need to use very much of it per shave.

And lastly, go slow and shave with the grain when you’re starting out with a double edge razor. It’ll take a few shaves to learn the contours of your face, particularly your chin, and the best angles for holding the razor but your patience will definitely pay off. Nicks are a possibility but like any new skill, you’ll improve with time.

I’ve been shaving this way, as I said, for years and I rarely ever get razor burn, nicks, or bumps. Shaving is almost a pleasure which is high praise considering that it involves dragging a really sharp blade across some of the most sensitive skin on your body. Anyway, I hope you’ll give it a try. With patience and very little money, you’ll transform your morning shave into an inexpensive, comfortable experience and not give Gillette a penny.

Anyway, this weekend I discovered there’s a clever little theory that defines those times when objects are against me.  It’s called Resistentialism. The theory is a spoof of existentialism and its slogan is “Les choses sont contre nous“  which translates as “Things are against us”. I’ve struggled with it my whole life and I never knew it had a name.

I’m happy to say that I’m getting better at recognizing when things are exhibiting resistentialism and I suspect I’ll get even better at noticing it now that I know its name . These days I tend to step away when an object is fighting me until I cool down but I’m not above throwing a wrench or using a persuader (aka hammer) if I’m losing badly enough. Small steps, small steps…