After a few weeks of shaving with the old man’s safety razor and my regular shave cream, and at the prompting of my recently married friend Chris (congratulations), I decided to take the next logical step and remove as much of the disposable, modern crap from that most manly of activities (no… I mean shaving).
After getting some information from Chris and doing a bit more research on the Tooberwebz (that’s Internet to you n00bz), I ordered up a reasonable starter shave brush. It turns out badger fur makes the only acceptable shave brush… yup, badger. You can get boar or synthetic brushes, but badger is apparently the right way to go. I was amazed at the range of prices for brushes: synth and boar for around $10; bets badger >$1200.
Like many men of the Brownish persuasion (MKs), it has taken a very long time to come up with a set of products and processes that will minimize the level of skin irritation I suffer as a result of shaving. Knowing that there is a reasonable chance that my skin will simply not allow me to continue with my life-long goal of living more like Nat Love, I want to keep my initial spending to a minimum. If it all works out, the cheaper shave brush will wear out and I’ll confidently invest in a better one. If not, I’m only out the $18 that the Tweezerman Deluxe Shaving Brush cost me.
No blades
With the brush ordered, I headed to my local sundry shoppe and found that they did not actually sell plain old razor blades… not at the grocery store, not at the department store, not at the drug store. I found a box of single edged blades in with the paint scrapers at the hardware store but that was it. Back to the Bloggerwebz I went and ordered 6 5-packs of Derby Extra stainless blades with chromium-ceramic platinum tungsten polymer coated edges for something like $0.50. I’m pretty sure the coating lets me open doorways into other universes.
No soap
The blades arrived and I let the beard grow in anticipation of the awesome shave soap that would be arriving shortly. It was a week before Molly pointed out that I hadn’t actually ordered any soap. Dang.
This time, the grocery store came through! There on the shelf with the rest of the shaving creams and lotions were 4 dusty packages of Williams Mug Shaving Soap (For a Lasting Lather)! Unbelievable!
Old Spice
The same day my grandfather gave me the ring, the razor, and the folding rule, he gave me an old shaving mug with the Old Spice logo on the side. I’m sure it was noting special and that he didn’t have any grand plans when he gave it to me… it was just another thing in a pile of stuff.
Well, them mug is back in action now! Last night I used it for the first time. It was an excellent shave.
I really dig my kids. I’m sure they were in the midst of a pitched Bionicle vs. Hot Wheels battle… or rocking out the the Ramones, Flogging Molly, or The Figureheads… or reading to each other… or arguing with each other.
Mom to kids: Hey, let’s go see a movie today!
Kids: No, thanks.
Mom: But “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs” is out in 3-D! It’s one of your favorite books. Please, please, please… Let’s watch the trailer on my computer.
[play trailer, kids laugh, begin quoting the trailer to each other.]
Mom: So, are we going to go?
Kids: No, thanks.
Dillon: Maybe when we’re a bit older.
Mom: Aaaawwww…
8:00 – wake up to the delectible smell of french toast (freedom toast) cooking. After splitting my first helping with the Boy, I eat my fill and check the IM logs and email. Gotta figure out where I’m meeting Mike.
10:40 – Family leaves to go to a gymnastics event for the Girl. They’re going to stop on Wisconsin Ave on the way and watch all of the bike go by on the way to Rockerbox.
11:30 – Final check on the bike, and noticed some issues, Missing a screw on one cover, and a spring on the clutch lever seems to have broken… not show stoppers, but more things to fix. Off to get gas and meet Mike at Stone Creek Coffee.
12:10 – Finish iced coffee and apple and head out.
12:30 – Arrive at Rockerbox. My family met us down there which was very cool. They had actually already been around the grounds once, but with more bikes arriving every minute, they wer not opposed to going around a few more times.
There were so many awesome bike there. Honestly, I simply forgot to take pictures! Luckily, Mike took a bunch, and even though we didn’t actually hook up with Frankie, He got a bunch of good shots as well.
3:00 – Eat a quick and awesome lunch with the family at the Stonefly
3:30 – Family bugs out for home (the kids were pretty wiped by then.)
4:00 – Bumped into Emmet and Larry. We talked for a while and Mike gave Emmet the very short version of an idea we’ve got percolating.
4:30 – Once last pass down the street with a stop to check out the 1920-something Sunbeam (Sweet!) and Mike and I head home… It was an awesome day!
Sunday
11:00 – Head in to work to get some stuff wrapped up for Monday. I should have looked at the weather report, because there were some big storms on the horizon.
1:00 – Thunderstorms. Dang.
4:00 – T-Storms have subsided for the moment, and I decided to try and make it home before they picked up again. My rear tire is pretty bald, and I don’t want to be caught out in the weather if I can avoid it.
4:15 – Break hard at Teutonia and Bradley Rds., slide a little, and then stop, but in the process my chain pops off. Double-dang!
4:20 – Chain is back on and I take it easy they rest of the way home.
The way I figure it, three issues I knew I had conspired to bench my bike until repairs can happen:
Bald rear tire. When the rear tire started to slide, the rear brake basically locked up.
Worn rear brake shoes. The front of the bike was stopping solidly, but with the rear brakes so worn, it was hard to feel when they would bite down. Apparently, I hit them harder than I should have, so the back started to slide and basically tried to get in front of the rest of the bike.
Stretched out chain. Unusual pressure from the locked rear brake, engine alternately trying to pull the rear wheel along, and the letting go (as I squeezed the clutch), combined with a slight sideways jerk as the rear tire regained some traction popped the chain off.
The result, in any case, is that I won’t be riding again until I get the tire, chain and brakes replaced. This sucks a bit, but it was a good reminder not to let things go “a little longer.”
Back in June the following email can trough on the MilVinMoto list:
I’m a metalsmith and vintage motorcyclists and I feel that the two go
together quite well. Just wanted to let you all know that there are
some Metals workshops that are going to be taught this summer at UWM
that might be of interest to some of you. They aren’t specifically
Motorcycle related (more jewelry related), but some of the processes
would be applicable to motorcycles such as anodizing aluminum, powder
coating, and welding.
I’d been meaning to take a welding course for about a year (M set this a pre-requisite for the purchase of a welder) but had not been able to get into one that fit with the rest of the family/work schedule. After taking a look at the University site, as well as Frankie’s site, I talked to Molly and signed up for the soldering and the welding workshops. I knew that if I didn’t do it right away, I’d chicken out, or something would come up.
I also forwarded the email on to Mike who signed up for the same sessions. Now I was set. I was all paid up, and I had a buddy to go with… there was no backing out now, and as the date of the first workshop approached, I was almost giddy.
The first day of the workshop went well. I arrived on time, introduced myself, and paid close attention to the examples as they were given. I swallowed my anxiety at this very alien environment, and I didn’t cling to the one person in the room I knew, and for the first time ever I used fire to melt metal. It sounds like such a simple thing, and it is, but even doing the practically useless sample projects there is something that changes in your understanding of Things. This simple act brings to the fore the fact the things we use every day came from somewhere. Someone made them. Somewhere, someone made the parts of your car. Someone framed the roof of your house. Someone had the skills to upholster your favourite chair.
In my work, I often tell people that there is no magic in what I do. Websites are all bound my the same protocols and rules and so, if you look closely enough, are all understandable, decipherable. There is no magic, only secrets and mysteries. Just as there is no magic in web development, doing something like soldering two pieces of metal together reminds you that that is not magic either. It is something that can be learned and applied and mastered.
—
I got a lot out the the workshop and I definately want to do more. But, the workshop itself was not the best part. At the end of the first night of the workshop, Mike and I hung around and talked w/ Frankie for a while. I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but the conversation meandered through an unreasonably broad set of topics and took us from the third floor classroom, through the basement and out into the garage of the Union. Ideas that had been stewing came rushing out, as did suppositions and theories about the apparent growth in interest in self-reliance, thoughts on child-rearing, and some strikingly similar ideas about what could be.
I got home much later than expected, but M was waiting and ready to listen to me recount much of the conversation (at about 2x speed). She’s an exceptional woman.
I’m a metalsmith and vintage motorcyclists and I feel that the two go
together quite well. Just wanted to let you all know that there are
some Metals workshops that are going to be taught this summer at UWM
that might be of interest to some of you. They aren’t specifically
Motorcycle related (more jewelry related), but some of the processes
would be applicable to motorcycles such as anodizing aluminum, powder
coating, and welding.
