Oh Hell Yes. The new “safety” ones are evil. I don’t get how trying to hang onto a heavy container of gas, trying to finagle the spout into the lawn mower gas inlet, trying to push down, and end up soaking your shoes in gas because something either wasn’t tightened enough or popped loose is safer than a few escaping gas fumes from an old-school can.
Another one for me: books. The Kindle is nice since you can get a book instantly any time of day or night, but I still just like the feeling of holding a real paper book.
Yeah, I totally need to get a landline, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Plus the reception in my apt is irritatingly bad, which makes it even more shameful that I don’t have a landline yet.
Interesting! It never even occurred to me to buy one of these. I just buy a Venus razor at the grocery store like everyone else.
Plus if you lose cell phones as frequently as I do (:smack:) it’s good to have a hard copy of your address book.
And, importantly, an actual dial on the hardware itself that has no functions other than controlling volume. My iPod Classic does not have this. When a song comes on that’s louder than I would like, I can’t always adjust the volume right away, since the dial might be in some other mode. I want to be able to adjust the volume right away, any time I feel the need to do so. I’m trying to keep what’s left of my hearing…
Whet stones. Or, as they were called in my house, “rocks.” To sharpen a knife, you need to remove metal. To preserve the life and edge of your knife, you need the right tool and the skill to use it. Would you rather have your hair cut by a trained professional or an autobot that cuts the same way every time regardless of your preference or needs? Fuck “sharpening systems.” I’ll take a rock any day.
There are lots of handsets out–not all of them in kryptonite green!
Probably won’t help the sound quality–but I finally went cell-only because my landline sucked so badly. The Company said they’d send a guy out if I took time off for work to meet him, but wouldn’t guarantee the price. Maybe nothing, maybe a bunch. The static got worse & worse, rendering calls impossible. Then it started calling 911! Yup, I enjoyed a couple of cop cars pulling up at my door about 3AM. They said a bad landline could be the cause, but I didn’t want to strain their good humor…
I miss laptops that had CD/DVD drives with a physical ejection mechanism. My laptop doesn’t even have one of those little holes that you could poke a paperclip in to eject the DVD, so when a DVD got stuck in there I had to call tech support and go through some elaborate rigamarole to get it out (that naturally I’ve forgotten, so if this ever happens again, it will be another 45-minute call to tech support).
Needs - Knives are made of different materials. They’re different lengths and shapes, with different angles or curves. All of these factors affect the edge, either in its longevity or as things you have to account for when sharpening. A drop-point blade will obviously not get the same edge as a straightback blade from the same movement through a V-shaped “sharpening system.” And serrated blades? Forget about it.
Preferences - Certain edges (convex vs. concave vs. V-shape) are sharper in the short term, or easier to maintain in the long-term, or better suited to one blade type than another. A knife with nick in it can either be sharpened in a way that removes all the metal down to that point (the only option with a “sharpening system”) or, if it’s in an unobtrusive place and isn’t affecting the cut, the nick can be smoothed to a point of compromise, and you lose less metal. Similarly, spots of rust can be more easily and effectively dealt with with a whet stone.
Hmm. I am intrigued. I am fairly clumsy. I can see it being hard to cut yourself when shaving, say, one’s legs, but how about a more contoured area? Like the bikini line?
Also are there any brands of razor and/or blade you would recommend?
“how about a more contoured area”
I shave my face and head with it without problems. The head is almost nothing but contoured areas. Including foaming up, it takes me about 5 minutes for the face and 15 minutes for the head.
I picked up my used Gillette Slim razor for about 35$ on ebay. I’m quite satisfied with it.
Whatever brand you choose, I would very much recommend an adjustable razor. It allows you to adjust the angle of the blade. Mine has 9 settings although I only use about 5. The 1 setting isn’t very close but is very forgiving and creates no irritation (good for high risk areas and the first pass where you shave off most of the hair) . At 9, it provides a very close shave but creates irritation and I have to be careful in tricky places (good for the last pass). After some fiddling around, you’ll get a good sense of which setting to use where and when.
Blades: A sampler pack on Ebay would be a good place to start. The blade brands I prefer are Personna, Astra and Gillete 7 O’Clock. I find those brands sharp, comfortable and forgiving. The Feather brand is very sharp but also unforgiving. If you use a Feather blade as a beginner, all your mistakes will be highlighted in red. The best place to buy blades is usually Ebay.
Another thing that really helps when it comes to closeness and comfort is using shaving cream or a shaving soap. Soaps cost more than canned foam but last a long time (depending on how often and how much you shave, 3-12 months). I bought a bar of Taylor of old bond street over here http://www.traditionalshaving.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/traditionalshaving/_268160/1/Shaving-Soap . It ends up costing less than foam cans per shave while being more comfortable and close.
To apply the shaving cream/soap, you’ll need a brush. A badger hair brush is best and costs 30-40$.
If you’re hesitant to buy the quality soap & badger brush considering their price, you might try going to a drug store where you’ll find a synthetic brush (5-10$) and a William’s Mug soap (less than 5$).
I agree about cell phone sound quality. And I hate that both people can’t talk at the same time. It seems to me that the younger generation just seems to think that’s the norm. Well… I guess it is, now.
Obviously this depends on the phone, but plenty of them (including all iPhones and Androids, and I assume Blackberrys and Windows Mobile phones) let you “leave” the calling app, but still be on the phonecall, to do other things on your phone.
A diary is better than online stuff. It is private, personal and battery-free!
I’ve kept one for 30 years, how many people are still able to access a 30 year old computer program without a lot of work?
And for that matter, photo albums, I still prefer mine over having to squint at a little tiny phone screen or stare at a computer screen. You wanna see my photos? Come to my frickin’ house.
Oh god, yes, this! I keep saying I’m going to head down to Walgreens (or wherever) one day and get prints of the photos on my memory card, but that is a lie. For shame.
