Last week I signed up for the Dollar Shave Club.  I had seen their pretty funny viral ad video about a year ago and had been thinking about subscribing to their service but I had a backlog of blades I'd bought on ebay and it took until last week for me to run out.

So I took the plunge.  Today the blades showed up.  I don't shave daily - I'm lazy - instead I shave maybe once every three days.  I also, on occasion, shave my head; the whole thing.  As part of my initial test of their blades I'll be shaving both my face and head.  We'll see how that goes.

The blades arrived in pretty simple packaging - just a stiff brown envelope.

The razor handle was packaged in nothing more than a plastic baggy.  I'm not even sure what purpose the baggy serves.  Along with the four blades and the handle there were two paper inserts.  The first is the larger card that jokes about not drinking and shaving - trying to keep the schtick of the video alive.  The second is also just a jokey little card that tries to be witty in the style of "The Princess Bride" by making a reference to Asian land wars.

Overall I didn't think either really did much for the experience though I suppose had they neglected to put anything in the envelope other than the blades and handles I'd have knocked them for having incredibly cheap packaging instead of just thinking they have basically cheap packaging.  Honestly, I don't care about the package so long as I get a good clean shave from the blades.  So, how did that work out?

Here was my face pre-shave:

Not too much growth but I needed a shave.  The razor worked okay.  It was probably as about as effective on my face as my traditional Mach III turbo XL.  However, it didn't clear as easily which is probably due to the fact that four blades are wedged into the same space I normally have three blades (or maybe just a little more - the cartridge did feel a little larger).

My face was already red before shaving but you can get a general idea of how close the blade got (that's my ear on the left of the image).  I think it feels just a little less close than the blade I'm used to using got but it is barely noticeably different so it could be my mind playing tricks on me.

My head is a different matter entirely.  When I shave my head it usually comes out feeling incredibly smooth. However, certain parts of my head, no matter how many times I shaved it or from what angles I attacked, I could not get them feeling truly smooth.  Here is my head pre and post shave:

#dollar-shave-club #shaving #razors

When I was a kid, maybe 7, we had dirt bikes for everyone in the family.  I had a little Kawasaki 75 I think. My older brother had a Yamaha 125, my mom had a Yamaha 250, I think, and my dad had this big beastly 500.  We used to go out and ride fairly frequently in the summer - we'd camp out I think but I don't really remember.

My bike looked something like this I think.

I have fond memories of riding the bike but they are mostly just fuzzy memories of zooming along, in my big helmet and my equally large elbow and knee pads, across the desert.  Some of the stuff we rode on was really fine sand and other bits were full of scrub brush and were hard packed dirt.  It was an awesome thing for our family to do.

I don't remember if any of our family friends ever went with us though I wouldn't be surprised if my dad's buddy and his family came along some times.  Mostly I just remember the four of us out there having a blast.

We weren't the only ones out there of course.  There were plenty of other bikers and there were a lot of dune buggies of all shapes and sizes.  I mostly remember the buggies and some of the adult guy bikers who were out there hanging out in a huge bowl.   The bowl had an easy way to get in and out of it but it also had a really hard way to get out of it.   At least one end of the bowl was really sheer - like, to my kid eyes, it looked totally vertical and it was really tall - I would have guessed it was over 100 feet tall.  It was massive and intimidating and yet people would try to ride up that wall and get out of the bowl.

In my memory not many people escaped by going that route.  I did see some motorcycles get up there but I don't remember ever seeing a dune buggy reach the crest.  Instead they would get anywhere between half way and ninety percent up the wall before flipping backwards and cascading down the wall.  It was crazy to watch.  I can't imagine the thrill that the bike riders had when they launched over the wall's edge - or the terror the guys in the buggies had when they started to flip backwards knowing that they had lost all chance of success.

I don't remember if the big bowl had a name - though I imagine anyone that spends time in Little Sahara today knows the bowl I'm talking about.  There are probably still people trying to test themselves against gravity (and failing).

When I look back on my childhood I realize I was pretty damn lucky to get to do some of the awesome stuff we did.  My brother and I learned to ski in the mountains of Utah, we dirt biked in some of the best dunes in the country, we camped and fished on some amazing lakes, and we were able to travel to a bunch of amazing places.  Sometimes I think my kids are really missing out.

#motorcycles #utah #fun #biography

Anyone that knows me knows I'm not super handy.  I don't successfully make many home repairs - thus, when something actually works out the way I intended I'm usually happier than the level of difficulty of the task warrants.

We have three stools in our secret room that were getting in pretty bad shape.  At the super bowl party a kid sat on one and it fell apart - the wood of the seat had totally disintegrated and when he sat on it the stool just fell apart.  Fortunately he wasn't hurt but needless to say it was time to fix the stools.

I measured the wood and my dad was cool enough to cut three circles for me.  Then Lisa picked up some padding and some material.  I then disassembled the old stools, cut the padding and cover material to size, reupholstered the stools, re-installed the trim, and put the stools tops back on (the bases are bolted to the floor of the secret room).

Again, nothing I did was particularly tricky - though getting the upholstery stapling done on a round stool without a ton of puckering was harder than I expected.  In the end I'm pretty happy with how they came out.

I recently started using Simple - it's an online bank that is getting plenty of tech press buzz lately.  I honestly don't have a lot to say about it yet but here are my first impressions:

1. I'm trigger shy about switching full time to a new bank.  I'm pretty happy with Huntington Bank.
2. Simple is truly all online.  It looks like it would be best to use it with direct deposit.
3. The web interface is pretty nice but nothing spectacular.  However, becuase I've used it so little I may be missing some sweet features.
4. I really like the concept of goals which simple will automatically allocate money to from your balance.  This reduces the total left in the "Safe to Spend" balance the account shows.
5. I really like the "Safe to Spend" concept.  Basically it pseudo-hides money that you've either allocated to a goal or have in a pending status so you know your true balance at any given time without having to guess.
6. I like that I can tag transactions with multiple tags which lets me simulate a transaction being in multiple categories.
7. I like the free cardboard+rubber band wallet that came with the card.  I don't know if I'll use it all the time but it's a neat bit of marketing.
8. Getting money into the account is a pain in the ass for me.  I don't have direct deposit and I can't use the photo deposit feature of the mobile app until I've had the account for 30 days.
9. The customer support so far has been pretty responsive to my questions.
10. The tour videos are not all enabled by default. You have to do things (like get money into the account) before certain tour videos are available.  I think that is annoying as I really wanted to learn as much as possible when I first logged in and I was prohibited from doing so.
11. I have heard the limit on photo check deposit is less than I make per pay period.  If that is true then I can't see a way that I will possibly switch to using Simple for everything.
12. It's hard to give up using my rewards credit card for purchases and switching to the Simple card simply because Simple doesn't have the rewards.  Since I pay off the credit card entirely each month I see little benefit to using the Simple card.  
13. Simple balance in Mint doesn't not reflect the "Safe to Spend" balance but your actual balance.  Thus, Simple's cool goal feature is kind of broken by using Mint.  That's not a Simple problem but it is something to be aware of.
14. There is no interest earned in the account.  You could use a Chase online account and get some interest plus there seems to be no limit to the number of ATM machines you can use fee free.  The Simple card is only fee free at 50,000 machines around the country.
15. The find an ATM feature in the Simple mobile app didn't seem to work if I entered an address.  Either that or there is only one ATM in my town that I can use in a fee free manner.

#online-banking #banking #simple

Before I discuss this ridiculous article on The Atlantic Wire website I want to make it clear I have no problems with women serving in combat arms specialties in the US military.  I have no qualms about which of our soldiers has to get shot at.  I'd prefer that none of them got shot at but that's a different topic.

What I have a problem with is people trying to make the case for women in combat by using completely factious arguments like the one in the aforementioned Atlantic Wire article titled "The Truth about Little Women Carrying Big Wounded Men in Combat." The article is laughably uninformed and full of glaring logical inconsistencies.

Some women can carry heavy guys out of combat.  Just like some guys can carry heavy guys.  However, carrying a heavy guy out of combat is not easy which is what the article states:

American troops are trained use the fireman's carry, which is a way of sort of slinging a dude over your shoulder, as seen in the GIF at right. It's shockingly easy.

Emphasis added by me.   The quote is accompanied by an animated gif of pretty good sized guy picking up a man smaller than by using the fireman carry.  Obviously the image has nothing to do with a small woman picking up a much larger man.  It also has nothing to do with picking up a wounded man.  Further, it has nothing to do with picking up a wounded man in a combat situation.  Finally, it has nothing to do with picking up a wounded man in a combat situation where you are wearing body armor carrying a rifle of your own.

At the bottom of the article is a video of a smallish women who is clearly in good shape picking up a fat guy. Granted the fat guy is just wearing a pair of shorts and she is just wearing a bikini so, again, it isn't particularly representative of a real combat situation of picking up a 6'4" 240lb Marine as the article discusses when it quotes George Will in order to mock him:

"You're 6'4", 240-pound Marine, and you're injured, and you need a Marine next to you to carry you back to safety, and the Marine next to you is a 5'4" woman who weighs 115 pounds. It's relevant."

It's a shame really that the author of the article does such a shabby job of actually addressing the issue.

Imagine yourself on a battle field with a fellow soldier who is wounded enough that you have to throw him over your soldier in the fireman carry and lug him off to relative safety.  More than likely the wounded soldier is on the ground, prone, and not really going to be helping you get him onto your back.  He's probably either in a lot of pain or unconscious   Therefore you have to some how get him off the ground and up onto your shoulder while you are probably kneeling, and then stand up with him on your back.

The wounded soldier will be wearing body armor.  He will have on a full set of clothing and boots.  He will weigh more than his normal 240 pounds.  You will also be wearing a full uniform, body armor, and a kevlar helmet.  You will already be carrying a sizable amount of weight beyond a bikini.  Furthermore, you might be getting shot at so you have to get this guy onto your back and you need to get up quickly.  Then you need to get moving off the field of battle fast.  You might have to drop and take cover a few times.  You'll be zig zagging so as to not create an easier target and you'll be running; probably in a crouch - all with a 240 pound guy + his gear on your back.  Oh, and you'll want to have your rifle with you.

What part of that process sounds easy?  None of it I'd wager.

I was in the Army, I've had to rapidly fireman carry 240 pound men - it is really hard to run with a 240 pound guy on your back.  It is really really easy to lose your balance and fall on your face.  At that point you need to get out from underneath the heavy guy and pick him all up again.

Go to the gym and squat 240 pounds where your ass has to touch the ground.  That's basically how low you have to get.  Tell me how easy that lift really is.  Then find someone and try to run with them on your back and tell me how easy it is.

Finally, contrary to popular misconception not everyone in the military is as muscular and strong as people like to think.  Most women don't have thighs like the bikini lady in the Atlantic article.  And most guys you might have to carry out of combat aren't ..

 (admittedly indie-rock thin) 6'2" male friend [that isn't injured]

This isn't about a power exchange - this is about reality.  Elspeth Reeve doesn't seem to be living in a combat reality; she's too busy playing on the beach in Miami.

#women-in-combat #military

My DVD copy of our Scrooge performance arrived in the mail yesterday.  So today I present to you the main scene I was in.   I am Mr. Fezziwig.  So, without further ado here it is:

Hopefully, you've watched it before you read on. This way my self-criticism doesn't impact your viewing. If you haven't watched it yet go back watch a bit and form your own opinion.

This wasn't our best performance - but it was pretty typical. For instance, I routinely forgot to start singing the first line of the song at my cue. I was supposed to be watching the music director, Chris, for a mark. But, I'd get so caught up in the scene itself that I'd forget he was even there. In this instance you'll notice I start late, sing fast to get caught up, then get into the groove.

I wish I could have heard the scene before we actually performed live for people because I had no idea I was talking so quickly in the stuff that led up to the song. I actually changed most of my lines to try to make them fit in better with the western time period but I forgot some of them in this performance so there are some odd pauses in my delivery as well.

I kind of wish I had done more with my hands when I was walking around too. I feel like they were stuck to my lapels.

My singing didn't sound very good to me. I appreciate everyone tolerating it.
Overall I'm still happy with my performance. I just think it would have been substantially better had I had a chance to review it and make some adjustments.

Anyway, don't know how much of the show I'm allowed to share online so this is the only scene I'm going to stick on here. I actually sing in a few other scenes but I'm part of a chorus for all of those.

#video #musical #Music #fezziwig #MyLife #scrooge

This past weekend my friends and I brewed a Belgian Triple. It was a LME kit and was our forth LME kit in since we started brewing about a year ago. It's been pretty fun.

One of the problems we've had is our burner. It was a cheap turkey fryer I bought at target on clearance. It had a safety valve and a timer that will automatically shut the flame off after 15 minutes. Plus, the valve had a button that you had to depress in order to light the flame and, sometimes, the fire would go out if you didn't keep the button permanently depressed. I ended up having to put a hand clamp on the button to get the fire to stay on and I removed the inline timer. It was a messy kludge.

Today, however, a new era in our brewing will be starting. I bought a new burner that - the Bayou Classic SQ14 - it's a 16" square burner that puts out about 150,000 BTUs!! It's remarkable stable feeling and has no weird gimmicky bits on it that will interfere with the brewing process.

I'm going to get a new fermenting bucket as well. The only bucket I've had so far is the bottling bucket that came with my initial starter kit for home brew. The bucket is perfectly fine for fermenting in - but this past weekend it ended up being the source of disaster.

We brewed in the garage. And, when the beer was finally in the bucket for fermenting I had to carry it to the third floor. Our basement is too cold but our third floor bathroom is the perfect temperature for the fermentation process. As I neared the crest of the final flight of stairs my knee hit the spigot and busted it off where it met with the bucket. Fresly brewed beer spewed out! I quickly leaned the bucket sideways so it would stop and layed it in the bathroom sink at an angle. By then though the carpet on the stairs was sodden with about 1/4-1/2 of a gallon of beer. The whole third floor reeks of belgian triple!

Fortunately I had another bottling bucket that had a spigot on it that I could scavenge and put in the original bucket (my lid only fit on the original bucket). Thus, the beer is saved for now (assuming we fully sanitized everything during the change over from bucket to bucket to bucket). Tomorrow I'll be getting a new fermenting bucket that has no spigot form our local supply store. That particular problem will not occur again.

Our next beer brewing day will be in a month or so (once at least one of the two in fermentation right now are bottled). Then I think we'll start looking at some all grain kits to start up in April - that should be an all new kind of adventure.

#homebrew #beer #brewing

Last spring Lisa and I decided we should try to move.  The primary motivating factor for the decision was to make sure our youngest daughter could stay in the school she is transferred to.  She has responded fairly well (not great) to the learning environment there and we'd like to continue that. Thus, we put our beloved house on the market.

That was in May.  Six months later the house was still on the market but for about $25,000 less.  We decided to give up and gamble about her transfer being accepted next year.

Giving up, it seems, really is hard to do. During the six month ordeal of looking at houses and having our house on call for random people to walk through, we developed new reasons for wanting to move.  We still love our house, the park, and the fantastic river view.  However, Lisa has formed new and stronger friendships with people in the other neighborhood.  Our kids friends are all in that other neighborhood.  The majority of our life, it seems, exists in a neighborhood we don't live in.

Over the Christmas break Lisa and I discussed it and we've decided to once again try to sell our house.  We haven't settled on what price we will list it at this time.  But we have decided to broaden the range of houses we will look at in the other neighborhood in an effort to find a house we really love.

We had found one last year but, sadly, that one was bought by the only serious buyer who had considered our house.  In fact he had narrowed it down to two houses ours and the one we wanted.  Life is a tricky thing sometimes.

That's our house currently.  We've actually put up a picket fence around it at this point but that is what it looked like last summer.

Visit this page at zillow to get more details on the house as well as some interior photos (it really is an awesome house).

#moving #home

I've seen Les Miserables on stage twice.  Once in 1989 or so and the other in 2012.  Thus, I've seen both the original stage setup and the newer digitally enhanced version.  I loved both of them and I discuss them both at length in a different post.  I only mention them here to illustrate my opinion of the show itself.

The trailer for the new movie really had me fired up to see it:

For the most part I enjoyed the movie but there were certain parts that I disliked so much I can't help but comment on them.

The singing, for the most part, was really good.  Hugh Jackman, as Valjean, did a great job and I was really impressed with Anne Hathaway as Fantine - I had no idea she could sing so well.  I also really enjoyed Samantha Barks as Eponine.  However, every time Russel Crowe sang I cringed.  Don't get me wrong, Crowe had the perfect bearing as Javert - but his nasal singing just destroyed the air of authority and self-righteousness of the character for me; Javert needs a strong voice and Crowe just couldn't deliver.

At first I was a little thrown off when the songs weren't quite in the right order or were divided up a little but I actually appreciated the directors decisions in doing so to translate the script to the screen.  However, there were some new song bits injected into the movie that I just didn't like.  Most jarring was the carriage ride with the young Cosette sleeping beside Valjean where Jackman sang "Suddenly."  The movie would have been better without the song.

From a cinematic perspective I liked the majority of it but there were some scenes that just were glaringly bad or annoying.  The view down to the river during Javert's personal crisis looked absurd - in fact the entire scenery looked way too fake.  I also didn't care for the sound effect upon impact.  Likewise, I didn't really like most of the up close face shots when people were singing.  I suppose it was supposed to create a sense of intimacy but it often jarred me out of the realm of disbelief too frequently and took away some of the scope of the story.

My last issue was with Marius.  I actually liked him for most of the movie but his voice sounded too throaty when he sang deeper notes and his facial expression during the scene where Valjean reveals his secret history is completely out of place.  He looks to be smirking almost - it just didn't make sense given the context.

The most moving scene for me in the movie was all Marius though - when he sang "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables" he blew me away. He had great emotion and I got caught up a little.  The movie really brought that scene alive for me where the stage version never did.  In the the two stage versions the last stand at the barricade along with the dramatic moment featuring Gavroche at the conclusion of "Little People" is what always got me - in the movie I just didn't experience the same impact; but Empty Chairs and Empty Tables blew me away.

Overall, Russel Crowe's singing bothered me so much I can't give the movie any better than a 3/5.  If it were any other story I'd probably give it a 2 due to my issues with the cinematography but "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables" saved the show.

#les-miserables #reviews #MovieReview