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Not quite Music City USA

fhalden said:
I had a sit down talk with my 78 year-old mother tonight to explain to her that life is a series of choices. She's had a Gmail account for around 10 years, and I discovered that she has never deleted an email. She has some 21 thousand messages in her inbox. I discovered this because she got an email from Google telling her she was out of storage space. So she forwarded that email to me asking me what to do. I took a look at her account, and her Gmail is taking up 15.1gb of space. So it took her 10 years to accumulate that much email. I told her she has a choice to make. She could spend hours reviewing and deleting emails, hoping to outpace the influx, or she could pay Google $1.99/month for 100gb of storage. My mother grew up in extreme poverty, so she will not spend a dime beyond what she feels is necessary, so it was a hard decision. Me? I have thousands of archived emails dating back to 2005, thousands of pictures, and thousands of mp3 files, not to mention scans of all my bank statements and any other personal records. I pay for 2tb without blinking over the $20 a month for that. She thought long and hard about it before giving me the go ahead to sign her up for the $1.99 100gb plan. Even with all the "funny" videos and memes she gets from her circle of octogenarian friends, I don't think she'll ever have to worry about cloud storage space again.

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I have tried cleaning out my Gmail account from time to time...and it never really seems to do much. I just checked mine...and I am about 90% full...though I think most of that is actually my Google Drive.

You are a good son to explain things to your Mom. I know some people would say it is inconvenient and just delete things anyway.
 
Good talk Frank...good talk. :ROFLMAO:

I’ve done the “purge” a number of times. It’s amazing how many of the messages accumulated are just fluff and garbage.
 
Today's shave was on 36 hours of growth, and it was sub"lime".

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Gillette Fatboy on 7
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar
Soap: Stirling Lime (first use)
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Ethos Lime Skin Food Splash
Talc: Borotalco

Stirling Lime is a great soap. There, I said it. It smells great, lathers great, loves water, and is plenty slick both up front and residually. It is the first time I've used a Stirling soap in about a month, because I've had a steady stream of other soaps coming in that I've wanted to try out - a couple of A&E Kaizens, 11 different CBL soaps, a couple of SVs, and my Sundays with MdC, but Stirling soaps hold their own with most of these. The CBL Premiums and Ethos have more residual slickness, and PAA CK-6 leaves my face feeling moisturized more, but boy, I really feel like I'm gilding the lily here. And it's a great Lime scent. I did a side by side with Ethos Lime, and they're both great. So I raise my glass to Stirling for its quality - not even mentioning the reasonable price! There's a pretty good interview with the owners on youtube conducted by Iamcdb, which is worth a view. They really seem to be very nice people. My shave this morning was my second with the Fatboy, and it was better than the first. I really don't think I could get a closer shave. I followed four passes with a palmful of Maravilla. Since I got this magic elixir I don't think I've used my alum block. It does a terrific job of toning things up, and I actually enjoy the Woody scent. I let that dry down while I cleaned up the brush and razor, and finished with a splash of Ethos Lime Skin Food, which continues to chill my face as I write. I'm all talced up and ready for a day of sitting in the car while my mother sees her various doctors. I foresee some Doc Savage reading and listening to baseball talk and maybe some old school country music. I'm talking 1930s here. Whatever happens, I'll be BBS smooth and feeling great!


Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

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Definitely The Carter Family. And some Jimmie Rodgers. To be specific, I got the complete Bristol Sessions Box Set and I've been listening to that. I was raised in East Tenn, so I really enjoy listening to the very early stuff by bands from that region. When I lived there, all I listened to was Rush and Yes, and ELP and Steely Dan, but I've sort of had an awakening to the old music of the mountains.

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fhalden said:
I followed four passes with a palmful of Maravilla. Since I got this magic elixir I don't think I've used my alum block. It does a terrific job of toning things up, and I actually enjoy the Woody scent
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Interesting take on the Humphreys! Do you in general perceive the witch hazel scent as “woody” or do you perceive specifically Humphreys as having some type of added scent to the witch hazel? Haven’t tried this brand myself, but I don’t see any scent ingredients listed...I’m just curious.
 
GearNoir said:
Interesting take on the Humphreys! Do you in general perceive the witch hazel scent as “woody” or do you perceive specifically Humphreys as having some type of added scent to the witch hazel? Haven’t tried this brand myself, but I don’t see any scent ingredients listed...I’m just curious.
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I don't know if it's just suggestion, but I'm figuring what I'm smelling is coming from the twigs and stems used in making it. Its definitely a stronger scent than Thayer's, but with Thayer's, at least the ones I've used, witch hazel is actually down the list of ingredients. I hasten to add that my nose isn't a very refined nose.

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NurseDave said:
:: picturing semi trucks full of twigs and stems headed for the Humphrey’s plant :: [emoji848]
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I once bought a witch hazel made from the leaves of the plant and it smelled so horrible I couldn't bear to use it. The astringent is apparently in the bark of the plant. All I know about the Maravilla is that it is 86% witch hazel and 14% alcohol, and is pleasantly pungent.

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Yesterday I binge watched the second half of the final season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, finishing just in time for the two hour series finale. It was a tremendously enjoyable finish to a rollicking good time of a show, and I'm sad to see it end. However, life goes on, and whiskers grow, so it was time for a late afternoon shave, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and heavy rain.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, Proraso Red Pre-shave cream
Razor: Gillette Fatboy on 7
Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best Badger
Soap: Hub City Soap Company Morning Hike
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Swiss Pitralon
Talc: Borotalco

I went with Morning Hike for my soap and it did not disappoint. Neither did the Fatboy. In fact, everything about today's shave was optimal. I think the Swiss Pitralon is my preferred species of Pitralon. The only downer to the afternoon so far is that the Orioles are currently losing to the Phillies. Still time for a comeback though.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
fhalden said:
Yesterday I binge watched the second half of the final season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, finishing just in time for the two hour series finale. It was a tremendously enjoyable finish to a rollicking good time of a show, and I'm sad to see it end.
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Good to hear! I need to finish that series. I think we stopped watching in the 3rd or 4th season because it just began feeling drawn out.
 
GearNoir said:
Good to hear! I need to finish that series. I think we stopped watching in the 3rd or 4th season because it just began feeling drawn out.
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Well, the last two seasons were really good, but they were geared towards viewers who had at least seen the first few seasons. It got really wild the last three - time travel and space travel. I'm a bit of an obsessive Marvel customer since the late 70s, so I just had to watch it all.

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I dialed in MdC Vetiver like never before, and got one of the best lathers ever.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless (1)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Soap: Martin de Candre Vetiver
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Fine Green Vetiver

Back to the Diamondback after a few days with the Fatboy and the Wilkinson Sword Empire. I went with MdC Vetiver for no special reason. It was right there staring at me in my case of soaps, so I figured why not. I loaded the Chubby for around 20 seconds and went to my face. I dipped the tips in water once, and I was rewarded with a rich, super slick lather that the razor skated through with ease. Four passes and touch up was a breeze, because the MdC had a residual slickness like I've never gotten from it before. It went, in my estimation, from a really good soap to a truly great soap. I'm going to use it for the next few days just to make sure I can get that lather at will. I like Vetiver, with it's rich earthiness, but I don't wear it as a scent very often. I paired it with Fine Green Vetiver. So it's a grassy kind of morning. The Diamondback did its superior job cleaning the whiskers off my face. So now I'm going to either go to sleep after a night of insomnia, or force myself to stay awake until the evening and try again. I have no idea which.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
fhalden said:
I dialed in MdC Vetiver like never before, and got one of the best lathers ever.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Paradigm Diamondback
Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless (1)
Brush: Simpson Chubby 2 Super Badger
Soap: Martin de Candre Vetiver
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: Fine Green Vetiver

Back to the Diamondback after a few days with the Fatboy and the Wilkinson Sword Empire. I went with MdC Vetiver for no special reason. It was right there staring at me in my case of soaps, so I figured why not. I loaded the Chubby for around 20 seconds and went to my face. I dipped the tips in water once, and I was rewarded with a rich, super slick lather that the razor skated through with ease. Four passes and touch up was a breeze, because the MdC had a residual slickness like I've never gotten from it before. It went, in my estimation, from a really good soap to a truly great soap. I'm going to use it for the next few days just to make sure I can get that lather at will. I like Vetiver, with it's rich earthiness, but I don't wear it as a scent very often. I paired it with Fine Green Vetiver. So it's a grassy kind of morning. The Diamondback did its superior job cleaning the whiskers off my face. So now I'm going to either go to sleep after a night of insomnia, or force myself to stay awake until the evening and try again. I have no idea which.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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Sounds like a great shave!!! :cool:(y)
 
GearNoir said:
Fantastic shave combos! Hope you can get your sleep readjusted!
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Thanks! I'll get it back on track. I slept for three hours later in the morning, so hopefully I'll get a good night tonight.

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100mg of benadryl and 10mg of melatonin, and my sleep schedule is reset. I woke up refreshed and ready to shave. A bit of a tuggy blade left me with a bit of irritation, but it'll fade.

Prep: Hot shower, Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap
Razor: Gillette Fatboy from @Techichi on 7
Blade: Gillette Platinum (4)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best Badger
Soap: Martin de Candre Vetiver
Post-shave: Humphreys Maravilla
Aftershave: PAA Atomic Age Bay Rum
Talc: Borotalco
Frag: PAA Atomic Age Bay Rum EdP

The Fatboy is a delightful razor, and it's a beautiful piece of replating. It's a jewel of my collection and I'm so happy with my purchase. Unfortunately, the Platinum blade was a little tuggy. My usual four passes left me a bit red faced, but that's already faded after about 10 minutes. The Atomic Age had an extra burn. Time for a new blade, and that'll be an Astra SP. I can't get enough of Atomic Age Bay Rum. I go all out with the Bay Rum proper, the deodorant, and the EdP. I am awash in the complex aroma and couldn't be happier. I'm planning on buying a Simpson Duke 3 next week and a couple of Victory Shaving Company soaps and finally a puck of SV Desert Vetiver. It'll be interesting to compare that to the MdC Vetiver. Another copious portion of that this morning made things plenty slick, even with the tuggy blade. Man, do I smell good! The Humphreys Maravilla toned and firmed things up. So, except for the blade, and the irritation, things were great! I really can't complain.

Thanks for reading and have a great shave!

Frank

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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