The Journal of a Backwards Professor

[Rosseforp]

No problem... and no rush. Just wanted to make sure you saw it. I can't seem to figure out how to increase the visibility of my PMs at the top of my screen... I just have a little number up there if I have a new one. I often miss them. I do get an email.

I change the screen size zoom to 110% and there is an information bar that has an envelope that shows your PMs and Notifications, I just sometime take my time answering them depending on what ever comes up at the house as far as maintenance.
Today I broke up and re-poured a slab of concrete in my garage that I had a contractor do for me when we moved in, that was not done correctly. Not saying that I know much about pouring concrete, but it is level now, and wasn't before. The reason I had to break it up and re-pour it.
He charged me $700 to do it the first time, and wanted $600 to fix it. I told him to take a hike, got a jackhammer, concrete and a trowel for $200 and did it myself in 6 hours.

~doug~

 

[Phoenixkh]

I change the screen size zoom to 110% and there is an information bar that has an envelope that shows your PMs and Notifications, I just sometime take my time answering them depending on what ever comes up at the house as far as maintenance.
Today I broke up and re-poured a slab of concrete in my garage that I had a contractor do for me when we moved in, that was not done correctly. Not saying that I know much about pouring concrete, but it is level now, and wasn't before. The reason I had to break it up and re-pour it.
He charged me $700 to do it the first time, and wanted $600 to fix it. I told him to take a hike, got a jackhammer, concrete and a trowel for $200 and did it myself in 6 hours.

~doug~

I've done far more concrete work than I wanted to. I learned when I was on a swimming pool construction outfit when I was in my early 20s.... we poured concrete 5 out of the 7 day work week. This was in Montana so the season was short. We had to work 7 days a week to keep up. Most of the concrete mix had to be wheel barrowed in... because of the landscaping etc, you couldn't get the truck in close enough.

I did remodeling for around 1/3 of my working years. Concrete was often part of the job... My back hated it but I usually ended up being the one who finished it.

 

[Rosseforp]

I've done far more concrete work than I wanted to. I learned when I was on a swimming pool construction outfit when I was in my early 20s.... we poured concrete 5 out of the 7 day work week. This was in Montana so the season was short. We had to work 7 days a week to keep up. Most of the concrete mix had to be wheel barrowed in... because of the landscaping etc, you couldn't get the truck in close enough.

I did remodeling for around 1/3 of my working years. Concrete was often part of the job... My back hated it but I usually ended up being the one who finished it.

You got me there. This was only the second time I have ever poured concrete. The first time I was at my Mom's house after plumbers had to break up the floor to repair leaky plumbing under the bathroom tub.

The plumbers only filled the hole about halfway, so I attempted to fill it up to the floor level with poor advise from a guy at Home Depot.
Even though I told him I had never poured or mixed concrete in my life, he suggested that I use the Quick-Drying Concrete mix that starts to set-up in like 15 minutes. At least we put tiles over it.

This pour came out moderately better. I talked to the guy at Ace Hardware, and used Redi-Crete, which has a much longer working time that a rookie really needs. Much better advise.

One of the previous owners of the house had routed a 4" pipe under the garage floor to vent the dryer to the sideyard and it really looked like crap. I moved the washer and dyer to a laundry room I had installed in a family room addition, and wanted the 8 inch by 13 foot hole next to the wall filled and matched to the existing garage floor, as I plan on having the garage floor tiled or epoxied.

For some unknown reason, the contractor felt a need to put a 7 degree draft on the slab so that it would not puddle when I mopped the floor??? Which meant that nothing could be placed next to the entire wall without a 3/4" shim to keep it from falling over.

Freaking moron contractor.

I'm not proud of how it looks, but it is flat, and is going to get covered over anyway. The main thing is, it now matches the existing floor and I can finally get moving on getting the future Man-Cave Project.
Boy are my arms tired.

~doug~

 

[Phoenixkh]

It's great that just your arms are tired..... for larger areas, if we didn't rent a power trowel, I'd be on my hand and knees for far too long. Even as a young man, my back would ache. The walk-ways around pools were easier because you wanted a rougher finish.... a magnesium float finish is what we usually did... or a broom finish. But interior floors, garage floors etc had to be troweled smooth.... BBS? <eg>

I'm glad you got it finished.... those around the house projects are a pain, but often give you a sense of accomplishment when they are complete. I've fixed a lot of things the "builder/contractor" messed up over the years. They sure aren't created equal.

 

[Rosseforp]

Fatip Friday/Saturday
SOTD

Razor: J. A. Henckels
Razor: KBG Grande
Blade: Van Der Hagen (6)
Brush: Mistura
Soap: Stirling Bay Rum
ASL: Layrite No9

After spending some time on a hard black ark, the edge on the Henckels was noticeably smoother on my face, and I was able to shave my neck also.

After the first WTG pass with the Henckels my face was pretty smooth, but I missed a lot of spots on my neck, so I grabbed my KBG Grande to finish the shave.

There wasn't much stubble left on my face for another WTG pass, but that didn't stop me as I let the Grande just glide over my cheeks and start to pick up some feedback as I rounded my jawline.
Not much feedback mind you, the Henckels did get most of the stubble while leaving no red stuff in the lather.

Since there was so little stubble left for the second WTG pass, I felt a need for a third pass, all ATG all the way, and I'm telling you it was all bliss, all the way.

I couldn't feel the Witch hazel or the Layrite, and the Nivea balm just soaked into a very smooth face and neck.

The combination of a Van Der Hagen blade in my KBG Grande and a sharper edge on my Henckels made skipping Fatip Friday and making it a Fatip Saturday all the worth while.

Earlier in the day I took my daughter to Hobby Lobby to get some beads, paint, string, some other odds and ends, and I grabbed this fountain pen as I haven't used one since probably the 3rd or 4th grade and needed another rabbit hole to look into.

Yeah, I know it's not a Parker 51, but I ain't the Queen of England.

~doug~

 

[MaineYooper]

Not that you asked, but of my 3 favorite fountain pens, 2 are "starter" pens and the other is "low-mid-level!"
Platinum Plaisir, Pilot Metropolitan, and the TWSBI Eco.

 

[Rosseforp]

Not that you asked, but of my 3 favorite fountain pens, 2 are "starter" pens and the other is "low-mid-level!"
Platinum Plaisir, Pilot Metropolitan, and the TWSBI Eco.

Well Eric, I'm actually interested in some "starter" fountain pens, but haven't really given them much thought since grade school.
Can you tell me the high points of each of your favorite "starter" pens? My main preference is grip comfort first, and clean crisp .5mm lines next.

Most of my writing since my High School days has been filling out inspection records at work, something I felt was a huge waste of time, as no one but QC ever looked at them, and only to see if we make any mistakes so they could berate us machinists, have us line the mistake out, correct it, initial it, then store it in a box for eternity to never see the light of day again.
Lots and lots of numbers and decimal points. QC would give you a demerit for leaving out a decimal point.
There were a few jobs that took more time to fill out the paperwork than it took to make the parts.

As a now retired machinist I always felt that having QC actually inspect the parts was a better practice. I can't begin to tell you how many times I saw entire jobs get rejected and the paperwork was PERFECT. Jobs that whizzed right through QC.

One of my favorite ballpoint pens I used at work was the old Dr. Grip, because of the large cushioned grip, but getting refills was always a PITA and the company supplied Parker Gel pens for free, so that is what I mainly used for filling out inspection records.

~doug~

 

[Phoenixkh]

I went through a fountain pen stage in the third and fourth grades. My grandfather even gave me a few of his old ones... I'm sure they got thrown out in one of my parent's moves when I was away.

 

[Rosseforp]

I went through a fountain pen stage in the third and fourth grades. My grandfather even gave me a few of his old ones... I'm sure they got thrown out in one of my parent's moves when I was away.

I remember my grade school desk had an inkwell, and I still use this mechanical pencil my Dad gave me.

~doug~

 

[Guido75]

Ok, got to ask: what is a KBG razor? Looks like a Fatip to me.

Guido

 

[Rosseforp]

Ok, got to ask: what is a KBG razor? Looks like a Fatip to me.

Guido

It's a Kings Butt Gold Grande.

~doug~

 

[Guido75]

It's a Kings Butt Gold Grande.

~doug~

Somehow I get the feeling I am being laughed at ….and just to add to that - google it but didn’t find it…

Still a great razor!

Guido

 

[thombrogan]

@Guido75 , no, it’s not you. @Raven Koenes has been forbidden from buying a Kings’s Butt Gold razor by Mrs. Koenes who has lovingly suffered through his buying Fatip/Joris/Plisson razors with chrome, nickel, and palladium plating.

 

[Raven Koenes]

@Guido75 , no, it’s not you. @Raven Koenes has been forbidden from buying a Kings’s Butt Gold razor by Mrs. Koenes who has lovingly suffered through his buying Fatip/Joris/Plisson razors with chrome, nickel, and palladium plating.

It's all true.

 

[Rosseforp]

@Guido75 , no, it’s not you. @Raven Koenes has been forbidden from buying a Kings’s Butt Gold razor by Mrs. Koenes who has lovingly suffered through his buying Fatip/Joris/Plisson razors with chrome, nickel, and palladium plating.

You forgot Schöne.

~doug~

 

[Rosseforp]

SOTD

Razor: Ontario Cutlery

Brush: Shavemac 26/52
Soap: Stirling Bay Rum
ASL: the "Veg"

While waiting for the contractor to show up and give me an estimate on a patio and awning in the front yard, and replacing the crappy concrete in the back yard, I had time for a shave.

I had my Karve SBD at the ready, but after feeling how smooth the edge was on my Ontario Cutlery, I went with a single pass with the straight.

The cheeks were easy with a red dot appearing out of nowhere in the middle of my right cheek. Only thing I can think of, it's a pissed off follicle from the cot edges last week.
Styptic stopped it and I continued on to my neck where it got more challenging.

I'm still trying to figure out the holds without trimming too much off the goatee, so I settled with a fair shave on the right side of my neck, and mostly missed spots on the left side of my neck, but I succeeded in keeping the blood inside for the rest of the shave.

The Witch hazel had some tingle to it, the "Veg" only gave off a little heat, and the Nivea balm felt great.

As @rbscebu says, the great thing about a single pass shave with a straight is that you get to shave again sooner!

I even had time to practice my handwriting with my new Speedball 1.1mm fountain pen...


~doug~

 

[MaineYooper]

Well Eric, I'm actually interested in some "starter" fountain pens, but haven't really given them much thought since grade school.
Can you tell me the high points of each of your favorite "starter" pens? My main preference is grip comfort first, and clean crisp .5mm lines next.

~doug~

Sorry about the tardy reply!

I found that I prefer fine point nibs. And I found that like womans clothing, the idea of "fine" varies amongst some pen makers! I learned a lot from sites like jetpens dot com and our sub-forum The Nib.

My favorite of all that I've tried is the Metropolitan by Pilot. Nice fine line, many options for the pen, and durable. I have 2 I think. I use both cartridges and a converter. My preferred ink for work (pharmacist) is Noodler's Heart of Darkness, one of their "bullet-proof" inks). But I had to keep refilling the converter and it can be messy. The Metro is my home pen.

That led me to the TWSBI Eco, a piston-filler that only need refilling every 7-10 day! And I found a "steampunk" looking one!


The Platinum is the cheapest of my pens, but it has this unique capping system that prevents the nib from drying out. So I keep a couple around the house for when I need a pen quick.

I have a couple Lamy Safaris as well, and like the Metropolitan, they need reinking fast. I love the triangular nib as it made it very easy for me to get the hold just right for writing. Drawback is the plastic barrel scratches easy, so I keep on in my pharmacy jacket for quick access. The TWSBI is a screw cap, so it stays by my phone and notepad for transcribing prescriptions and writing out faxes, etc.

 

[Rosseforp]

My favorite of all that I've tried is the Metropolitan by Pilot.

That is starting to look like my next pen.

~doug~

 

[Rosseforp]

SOTD

Razor: Geneva Cutlery CO

Brush: Simpson PJ2
Soap: SV 70th
ASL: the "Veg"
Pen: Speedball 1.1

This is one of my first straights that I learned to hone on.
I got it wicked sharp using The Method. As I recall it felt harsh then. I have left the edge alone as a standard of sharpness, as it is one of the sharpest edges I have ever produced.

It is still just as sharp as it was three years ago, and still feels just as harsh, as compared to yesterday's shave with it's slightly wider cousin.

Tonight's shave was another one pass WTG, from the time I finished stropping to the time I cleaned all the lather off the razor was thirteen minutes. Not that I normally time my shaves, but my watch just happened to be hanging on the same hook my strop was on.

My right side, face and neck is pretty much SAS, with the left side of my face a definite SAS, and only a few areas that could of used a touch up on my neck.

The red dot on my right cheek appears to another mole that wants to start causing trouble, alum cleared it up today.

The Witch hazel and "Veg" had their signature light burn, the Nivea balm, a nice finish to an OK shave.

~doug~

 

[Rosseforp]

I'm fortunate to have zero distractions when I shave... my wife realizes that time I need to concentrate, so at the very beginning, she's given me space.

You do not know how lucky you are. My WhichyPoo is the exact opposite.

~doug~