Joe’s mug…

The tools...

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.

A ring, a chessboard, and a safety razor

A few weeks ago, while making yet another attempt to get my workarea/garage/office sorted, I came across a few things that my grandfather had given me before he died. Anyone who’s spent any time with me has heard at least a little about the old man, and the things that I have that were his are some of my most prized treasures:

- A stainless steel ring he made by working a machine hex nut with hand files (I wear this pretty much every day).

- A set if simple silver cuff links. (These were broken when he gave them to me. Molly had them repaired last year. She’s an excellent person)

- An old hardhat with built-in ear muffs from Ladish (He worked there until he retired)

- His 30-year pin from Ladish (I’ve worn this a few times… special occasions only)

- A toy car he built just before he died.

- A dribble glass.

- A briefcase full of polka music and stand up comedy (think Hal Roach, Abbot and Costello)

- A couple of battered old hand tools, tie clips, keys without locks, and a broken folding rule (which I use often).

- A simple hemlock and maple chessboard he and I built together right around the time Molly and I started dating. This is finished with tung oil and has not only a set of chessmen (shipped from Mexico by way of a friend in Texas), but a set of homemade checkers in its drawer. Joe Ziminski preferred checkers (The plan had been to carve and turn a set of pieces, but that was a little beyond my skills at that point. Plus, the oak dowel I bought was the perfect size for checkers).

- A pair of safety razors… the kind that only requires a new blade, not a whole new plastic and metal assembly. There is one that takes a single edged disposable blade, and one that takes a double:

The double edged

While I was cleaning (read: walking around overwhelmed by the distinct lack of places to put things) I came across these two wonderful little tools and decided that they deserved some love. A quick soak in some wd40 and the application of a nylon brush had them looking pretty good. That night, after everyone was in bed, I loaded the razor pictured above with a fresh blade and shaved.

It is an interesting experience to shave with this kind of device. It would be very easy to cut yourself pretty severely. They were called safety razors, sure, but keep in mind that this was relative to the standard shaving device of the day, the straight razor (interesting note: my younger brother shaves with a straight razor every day). It’s not like the 3 and 4 bladed contraptions we normally use… it’s next to impossible to cut your face with those. I took it very slowly and came away without any serious damage, but with an exceptionally close shave.

I love using my grandfather’s old stuff… even his old jokes:

[While turning out the lights in the shop and heading to the bar for a shot and a beer] Like the shepherd said to his partner at the end of the day, let’s get the flock out of here.

Fire

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.

Let me know if you have any questions. More info can be found at http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa/outreach/events/summer_metals.cfm

Frankie

http://www.frankieflood.com

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.

A little at a time…

It has been quite a month. There is a lot to tell, but I think I just get it out a little a at time.

Once again the renewals for a number of domain I hold have come up. Whenever this happens, I always get a little depressed. Not because the registrar always seems to squeeze me for a little more, or because handling the registration for family and friends means I have to invoice family and friends (distasteful). It always bugs me because most of the domains are just sitting idle.

Each one was registered with a specific idea in mind, and each on is still not much more than that idea. Most of these have a couple of pages in my LittleBlackBook, and some even have code and design work done, but I have not yet put anything into the wild. I think it’s because I’m a bit of a baby.

As soon as I release a site that is all mine, it’s out there. There’s no taking it back. It will be a representation of me and the quality of my work; A reflection of my talent and ability. Generally, I’m not sensitive about my work. I’m pretty confident that I know what I’m doing and that I’m reasonably good at it. For some reason, when It comes to my personal projects, I’m just a big baby. Well, baby, no more.

Time to get my shit right. Check this space for a first release of my first release.

Busy week…

Here’s the short version:

Sunday: Got together with some of my very favorite people for lunch-and-whatnot. You know who you are. The police say they just want to “talk.”

One of these fine gentlemen was kind enough to provide me with a dandy little microcontroller dev kit. Now I just need to figure out what the hell I’m doing.

Finally got new, refilled, charged battery installed in the XJ. Unfortunately, the guys at Port Yamaha in Port Washington [Link omitted] failed deliver on the replacement key for my bike. Plus, I haven’t yet figured out how I’m going to replace the busted started button. Lucky for me I’m a l337 h4×0r and I was able to get the bike started with a bit of copper wire and a screwdriver (seriously).

It took a little coaxing, but the beast finally started and ran, filling the whole lower level of the house with blue smoke, and applying a minor burn (metaphorically speaking) to my dear sister-in-law who happened to upstairs (her bike is not, at present, what you might call… working).

I also managed to get the garage cleaned out enough for the Garage Guy to come install a new damned garage door.

Monday: Pack up the car with computer crap for the recycler. Good day at work, good day at home, and a bonus! I finally get through to the locksmith that Glen over at Glen Curtiss Motorsports recommended. It turns out the guy had a really good reason for being unavailable last week. I talked to Todd at S & J Locks for a few minutes and make arrangements to drop off my ignition and seat lock Tuesday.

Then me and D spend some quality time building a couple of prehistoric creatures. Fun!

(Oh, I also tore the ass out of my pants at work, had to stay another 3 hours for a meeting I thought was much later in the day, my car battery died cause the headlight wouldn’t turn off, and the garage door guys left crap all over the garage.)

Tuesday: Dang… the car was still full of old computers, and I was headed to the locksmith (25 minutes each way) at lunch. Ah well, I’ll just drive around with them for a while, I guess.

I dropped off the locks and headed back to the office. I’d barely made it back to my desk when my cell phone went off. The Call ID told me it was my locksmith. I figured he was calling to let me know what kind of time we were looking at, or ask a question, or something. He was calling to let me know that he had sorted out a new key, made me a couple of copies, and when could I come pick them up. I was shocked, but managed to make arrangements for Wednesday. This was only gonna cost me $25 and 2 hours of travel.

I also spent a little time putting pieces of the bike back on and running the engine a bit. It started a lot easier, but I noticed that there appears to be a leak in the exhaust system, there is water running out around the muffler, and the rear tire is flat. I put air in the tire, and it looks like it was just the cold that allow the air out. I’ll have to take another look at the exhaust system later.

(Oh, and the guys at work are a bunch of bastards.)

Wednesday: The air I put in the rear tire was still there, and my car was still full of old computers. At least I got the key to my bike back. I spent my lunch hour picking up my key, and I spent the rest of the day at work giddy with excitement over the prospect of actually starting my bike with the key! I did start the bike up in the morning (using the wire-and-screwdriver trick), just to make sure everything was still ok.

Of course by the time I was ready to fire it up with the key, it was a bit too late in the evening to be making that much noise… So, I put the battery on the charger and headed to a movie. Sometimes it’s fun to go by yourself to a movie (M had homework).

Thursday: Started the ol’ bike up this morning with the new key and the old starter button (carefully held in place). Started right up, and filled the garage and driveway with smoke. I gotta figure that exhaust issue out. I also gotta get these computers out of my car…

So far, a pretty good week. The kids have been awesome and brilliant as usual, work has been good, and some of my outside projects are finally coming together.

Not bad… not bad at all.