Nurse Dave's Journal

[NurseDave]

Catching up, Dave. So what did you decided about the SV brush? It's easy to glue a knot back in; the two that have worked well for me are 2 part marine epoxy, and Gorilla Glue when I was on the road. Or, if you ordered direct from SV, you should give them a shout. When I first ordered an SV brush (direct from SV), when the brush arrived, the knot was not symmetrical, and it annoyed me immensely, especially at that price point. I sent them an email, and they had another one to me in about 3 days (which was perfectly shaped), and sent me a prepaid box to return the one I didn't like - now that's excellent customer service!

I used waterproof silicone to set mine in my Rubberset 400 still there and easy o replace if I want to.

I haven't done anything yet. I keep forgetting to take a pic of it. I'm 99% sure I'll just epoxy it back in. I did that with one of my daily drivers and it's been fine for over a year. Just the cost and nature of the brush makes me think I should email a pic of it in and see what they offer to do.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #272 (DE:95 SE:84 Str:90 Cart:3)
Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (3)
Strop Shoppe Rosemary Mint
Razorock synth
Alum
Witch Hazel
Nivea 2 in 1
Missoni

Yesterday I mentioned Strop Shoppe scents tend to be on the mild side and I think most aren't strong enough to offend even if you
don't care for them. 2/5 for the majority I would say. There are a few exceptions to the rule and this is one of them. This is a good 4/5 scent strength. I don't really get the rosemary, but I think it adds depth to the mint which isn't just a straight forward one note mint. I think it leans toward the spearmint side of things.

Today's shave was not as smooth as yesterday's. The lather was fine, but just to make sure I added a bit of water before each pass in case I wasn't getting the slickness I should have. For some reason, the stars just weren't aligned and the blade wasn't sliding along the face. It felt like it kept meeting resistance though the whole stroke as though the hairs weren't being cut and acting like sandpaper as the blade slid over them. Of course that's not what was happening, because there was hair removal, just not as good as yesterday. The whole face is DSF+. Not a general residual of hair, just rouge ones here and there. The biggest surprise was no alum sting. I was sure my face was going to light up because it felt like I was scratching it the whole shave. I'll just have to shrug and move on. 9 more shaves to get this thing down.

 

[cmh737]

Strop Shoppe really made some excellent soap. It's a shame that they folded. Their Peppermint was one of the best peppermint scented soaps made, IMHO.

....the blade wasn't sliding along the face. It felt like it kept meeting resistance though the whole stroke as though the hairs weren't being cut and acting like sandpaper as the blade slid over them....

Well that doesn't sound good. Time to bin that blade. Every now and then, a rogue bad blade appears. Sounds like that's what you might have with that one.

 

[NurseDave]

Well that doesn't sound good. Time to bin that blade. Every now and then, a rogue bad blade appears. Sounds like that's what you might have with that one.

I would think, but it's the same one I used yesterday for a great shave.

 

[Dave in KY]

Rogue and fickle blade....

 

[Cvargo]

Did you bang the blade on the floor? Drop the razor and almost break the sink again? Perhaps when drying it you could have possible ruined the edge.

 

[NurseDave]

To eliminate variables, I'll swap the blade out tomorrow. But the thing is, this is what I start feeling when I use the Weck or a straight. The blade feels like it's dragging along sandpaper and I can't get a smooth stroke.

 

[Dave in KY]

Wire brush whiskers, you manly man.
I'm sure it's frustrating

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #273 (DE:95 SE:84 Str:91 Cart:3)
Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (1)
Strop Shoppe Carnaby
Razorock synth
Alum
Witch Hazel
Nivea 2 in 1
Penhaligon's Endymion

Today was Carnaby. When I googled to see what's been posted
about this scent, the first thing to pop-up was a first impressions review by our own cmh737 from almost 4 years ago. What he put was straight up leather. And he quoted Strop Shoppe as “Inspired by the atmosphere and style of 70's, Carnaby is named after Carnaby Street in the SOHO district of London. A masculine mixture of crisp absinthe and rugged leather, Carnaby is our most distinguished scent to date.” And stated it's very strong. So it's lost a lot of scent over the years. I can think leather and get it, but it's more a general scent like many of the other SS soaps. And only 2/5 maybe.

For the shave, Dave had a good point that I'm just too manly for these sissy ProGuard blades. I swapped it out and things were better. Though the first pass not totally smooth again. 2nd and 3rd pass went what I thought was very well. There was plenty of hair left on the neck, and I felt like my touch was soft enough during the first 3 passes that I could do a 4th on the neck with the Timeless. While I would have rather achieved BBS with just the Feather SS, I'm super happy with the results. I'm BBS with NO soreness on the neck at all. Even if there is no alum sting, my neck is generally not a place I would rub through the day because it will feel a little raw. Nothing today. It feels as normal as my cheeks. Good stuff.

Took the cat to the vet yesterday. We were told that times have changed and while hair balls were thought normal course for some cats, they are actually a sign of decreased motility in the intestines. So her recent problem throwing up nightly, could be just the current effect of that. And the thought that dry food is good for cats has also changed and wet food is better for them. Funny, just like with humans, some things we thing we know as facts get proven to be wrong or at least up for debate with more research. I'm just patiently waiting for the all cookie diet. Anyway, we have a few days of special feeding routines ahead. Which would be no biggie except that cat has a sister that doesn't need the special diet. So we'll be having to separate them and hope they eat on demand instead of having a bowl of food sitting out.

 

[Cvargo]

Nice shave today. Interesting tidbit on what the vet told you. I guess we will need to start feeding more soft food. Also if there is an all cookie diet SIGN ME UP! They are definitely a weakness of mine.

 

[dangerousdon]

And the thought that dry food is good for cats has also changed and wet food is better for them. Funny, just like with humans, some things we thing we know as facts get proven to be wrong or at least up for debate with more research. I'm just patiently waiting for the all cookie diet. Anyway, we have a few days of special feeding routines ahead. Which would be no biggie except that cat has a sister that doesn't need the special diet. So we'll be having to separate them and hope they eat on demand instead of having a bowl of food sitting out.

You hit a nerve that I am sure that none of us want me to go down. But I will just say that this is something I feel passionate about. Anyway...Not sure about cats...but my wife and I have done some research on dogs and what they eat. It seems that research may indicate that dry food with dogs keeps them in a perpetual state of dehydration. This is a cause for a lot of illnesses and injury. Our 10 year old weenie dog went on a raw diet about a year ago and it has made a huge difference in some of his previous issues. We still feed our 50 pound black dog dry food. But it is a high quality kibble and we supplement with fat (primarily fish oil but sometimes other fat) as well as some raw meat and fish. They both have coats that are significantly better than before and both don't have some issues they had.

Hope the feline benefits from a wetter diet and can take care of the issues!

 

[MilkCrate]

Great shave Dave! Scientists, huh what do they know? I hear bacon is a super food.

 

[NurseDave]

Been doing more research today. It certainly seems to be one of those things where it's some people say it's one way and some people say there are a few right ways to do things. I think just because there may be signs of an issue, we'll start doing a mix of some wet feedings in with providing dry food. They have always said that wet food is important because a lot of cats don't drink enough water, but that never seemed to be a problem for ours.

Great shave Dave! Scientists, huh what do they know? I hear bacon is a super food.

Interestingly enough, this cat will try to sneak licks of bacon grease if the tray is within reach after cooking, but doesn't like the bacon itself.

 

[Dave in KY]

Nice shave Dave, you Mans man, and I'm with Tim ! Bacon for the win !!!

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #274 (DE:95 SE:84 Str:92 Cart:3)
Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (2)
Strop Shoppe Peche
Alum
Witch Hazel
Nivea 2 in 1
Marc-Antoine B683

7 more straight shaves to go until the big one! This shave was pretty similar to yesterday. Though I think the first pass was a little smoother. Did the same and did a 4th neck pass with great results. I'm sexy smooth today and smellin' awesome.

Hoping things are good for my daughter today. She got sick again yesterday evening off her loft bed which created one of the worst messes I've had to clean up. Mind you, this is a nurse saying that. This morning she was skeptical about going to school, but said she felt a little better. So it's one of those decisions us parents don't like making. I had her eat half a banana and go to school if she felt o
kay after that.

 

[Dave in KY]

 

[NurseDave]

Dude, I am right at that level of hotness!

 

[GearNoir]

Good shave! I hope the sickness passes from your house soon without further incident.

She got sick again yesterday evening off her loft bed which created one of the worst messes I've had to clean up.

Dude, I know this feeling! I’ve done it when I was little (I swear an entire hotdog slid down the wall that night, fully intact, but I’d chewed!) and had at least one of my sons do it. Zero fun.

I’m the only one, supposedly (conveniently), with the stomach in the house to be able to deal with the mess on top of that...

 

[Smattayu]

Strop Shoppe Galore! Great stuff, Dave.

 

[NurseDave]

Good shave! I hope the sickness passes from your house soon without further incident.

Dude, I know this feeling! I’ve done it when I was little (I swear an entire hotdog slid down the wall that night, fully intact, but I’d chewed!) and had at least one of my sons do it. Zero fun.

I’m the only one, supposedly (conveniently), with the stomach in the house to be able to deal with the mess on top of that...

Thanks Chris, yesterday she ended up doing well ending the day with Flamin' Hot Cheetos at school apparently.