And now what did you do TODAY?

[acidbasement]

In the next three months, my wife will be taking three trips for work (Edmonton, San Jose, and rural Maine), each at least a week in duration. I suspect that the boys will be using the Wii a fair bit in those times. Solo parenting is hard.

[Aura]

Sometimes I think I should just stick with the dog. At least he likes to sleep when I do.

[jvlgato]

My dogs wake me up WAY before the kids do!

[Augsburger]

Accidentally turned on my Vitamix while cleaning the base and peeled a bit of skin off my thumb.  

 

 

Nothing serious, which is good since it would have been a nightmare trying to get to a hospital in the snow this morning.

 

 

Good thing, it would be a bummer to be constantly mistaken for Yakuza!  Heal quickly with no visible scars.

[crappyjones123]

Just shaved with my first ever safety razor. Almost as close as shaving with a Mach 3 but I think that better technique and less apprehension should fix that. Certainly reminded me of my grandfather shaving when I was a young boy so I can see how people can get nostalgic but less irritation and no cuts with it today so I'm happy. Things didn't go so well with a straight razor where technique and keep the blade sharp are more important but I think the safety razor is the happy medium.

[Aimless1]

I like safety razors.  Technique takes time to master and it does matter.  My shaves were never as close with a multi blade system.    

Hopefully you're not using shaving cream or gel from a can.  Shave soaps/creams really do make a difference.

[crappyjones123]

In India, no one uses canned gels/foams for shaving. Only recently they have made an appearance and people flocked to it only to realize that while less work, they actually suck for shaving purposes. I use shaving creams that my parents purchased from India and I can get a great lather but the creams were purchased in 2004 when they last were there so have expired. Not sure if it makes a difference but I have asked them to bring me back some when they come back in March. It's hard to justify a $30 shave soap when $1 gets me a big ass tube from of nice shaving cream from India. I don't spend enough time shaving to notice a difference I guess. I did however get the closest shaves with multi blade razors but they were typically accompanied by cuts and bumps leading to really annoying white heads. I got the hang of going with the grain pretty quickly but going against the grain for the final sweep was rather annoying as the multi blade cartridges are mounted on a movable head which adjusts to the contour of the face whereas the safety razor does not. More practice is needed I guess. I purchased this as a starter razor - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LYAQ9E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

And a sample pack for blades as I don't know which one I like - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PZEHIK/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Figured that would last me for over a year as I only shave once a week (can go longer when exams come around). 

 

Any suggestions for shave creams/soap that don't cost too much? 

[Aimless1]

Classic first razor that may prove to be your life long favorite.  Good blade sampler pack.  Try as many blades as you can to find ones you like best.  Blades are cheap and I only use one for 3/4 shaves.  As your technique improves I would be surprised if you don't get a closer shave than the Mach 3.  It takes awhile to get the angle just right.

 

One of my favorite inexpensive soaps is Cella.  Lathers easily and at about $10/tub and will last for a very long time.  Never used it but even more economical is VanderHagen which can be picked up almost any place in the US.  Stay away from Williams.  More difficult to lather but another favorite is Mitchell's Wool Fat.  Proraso soaps are another good value.

 

What are you using for a brush?

[crappyjones123]

No clue what brand it is but it I inherited/claimed it from my grand father when he passed away. Must be a good 50-60 years old as it was the one he used for a very long time. I'll look into Cella. $10 is quite reasonable. I guess the ones they were trying to sell me at the art of shaving were marked up quite a bit. 

 

All the males in my family are hairy. Quite hairy. All our beards are thick and coarse and the hair is very thick and grows out straight. My dad shaves every day but I don't have the time or the motivation to do that - I get too many cuts if I shave every day or even every other day. Usually in a week, the beard sits at 1 cm which provides enough bracing against cuts I guess. 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Just spent the past hour and a half trying to get a 24 hour plumber here for a burst water pipe in the basement. They don't mean "available 24 hours a day", they mean "we'll be there in 24 hours" (or more).

We were lucky because I caught it at the beginning. I was in the kitchen at 12:20AM restoring my son's MacBook backup onto another computer, when all of a sudden I heard a loud burst of sound, like white noise from a radio or a portable compressed oxygen tank valve being opened.

I went to try and turn off the Big Jambox, thinking I did something with the computer to make it start roaring at me but it wasn't on. Then it sounded like it was coming from the heater vent in the floor next to the Jambox, so I went to the basement but the furnace blower wasn't running. But I could hear the water pipes humming, so I turned off the water and it stopped!

I went into the theater room under the kitchen area, which was flooded last September with the heavy rains in Colorado, where it had rained hard enough that the sump pump had tripped the breaker, and sure enough I found water along the baseboard seeping into the carpet. There is a spot on the drywall at the top edge where the wall meets the ceiling which has a growing wet spot now.

So, now we have no running water and no idea when this will get fixed, or for how much. We spent $6K fixing the last flood, but fortunately insurance paid for 90% of it. This time I caught the problem and shut off the water within a minute or so. If I hadn't been an insomniac and up working on Ben's MacBook, we'd have been swimming in the basement by breakfast!

I bundled up and went outside in -4 degree weather and there was no sign of leaking water outside, but the water faucet is frozen shut. The faucet is quite flush with the house, with almost no pipe between the faucet and the house. In 8 years we've never has a hint of a problem. Sigh....

[Aimless1]

Crappy, Art of Shaving is way over priced.  Cella has a nice scent like almonds.  Nice history to your brush.

 

Larry, glad you caught the rupture as quickly as you did.  Insurance will not pay to repair the plumbing but will pay for any damage caused by the water should you decide to submit a claim.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Aimless1

[jvlgato]

[n_maher]

Larry,

 

That sucks and sorry to hear that you're going through this again.  We had a similar (but more minor) issue a few years ago where a pressure relief valve went bad on our boiler and started spewing hot water all over our storage room.  We caught it within an hour or so of it starting (my best guess) but it still took days to clean up.  Thankfully I had most everything on shelves off of the floor so we didn't lose too much.

[Augsburger]

Larry, sorry for that additional bit of bad luck. Good time to have insomnia I guess and I hope the repair is a minor one.

[skullguise]

^^ good point!  Best of luck Larry, hopefully not a lot of $, headaches, etc.

[Torpedo]

Good vibes your way, Larry. I'm glad you were able to find out the leak that fast.

[Sherwood]

Just spent the past hour and a half trying to get a 24 hour plumber here for a burst water pipe in the basement. They don't mean "available 24 hours a day", they mean "we'll be there in 24 hours" (or more).

 

 

It's a punctuation issue.  "available 24 hours a day" is to be read "Available! 24 hours (a day)"

[Absorbine_Sr]

Waiting for Bryan and Allison to arrive for a day of fun, food and maybe, just maybe, some drinking.

[tyrion]

Adrienne Ashton Center waiting to see Once with Gail.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[Salt Peanuts]

Staying home today since my daughter has a strep - thankfully, she is perfectly fine and not miserable. 

[Voltron]

Sitting in a jury box waiting to be voir dired. Can't decide whether to press hardship or just wait to be excused from jury service as I always have been.

[shellylh]

Yeah, I can't imagine they'd want to keep a trial lawyer on the jury.

[aardvark baguette]

"I believe in jury nullification"

[Grahame]

Sitting in a jury box waiting to be voir dired. Can't decide whether to press hardship or just wait to be excused from jury service as I always have been.

 

Did you wear your MOA T-Shirt to help?

[Voltron]

Oddly enough, I was excused for cause. It was a car accident personal injury case and the only shred of reason I can think of is that I said I represent insurance companies, which is true. Weird but I'll take it. Some day I want to serve on one.