Home Sweet Home

No we're not pregnant or expecting. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the "surprise" was that we bought a house! It wasn't final at the time of writing my last post, but now that we've closed, moved out, and moved in, I would say it's now official. We're still living out of boxes but have most of the big stuff unpacked.

5 things

Here are 5 things that I can't keep thinking about lately.

1. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed)
My beautiful wife. I can’t stop thinking about her and how much I love her. We’ve been married for 7 years, 1 month and 30 days (and yes, I had to look at a calendar to add up those days haha). I’m so glad she decided to married me all those years ago. We’ve gone through our hard times and good times together. For better or worse…sickness and health… for richer and definitely for poorer… She’ stuck by me no matter what and will always be my best friend. I love you babe

2. Arkansas Razorbacks
2 years ago, we ended up going to 5 games that year, which included 4 Arkansas Razorback games and 1 Alabama game. It was awesome! Last year, we didn’t go to any. At the time, we were concentrating on paying off a lot of our debt and didn’t really have the means to go to any games. This year, even though we have some “big plans” coming up in the next month or two, we are planning to go to Fayetteville once this year. Even if we don’t really have the spare money to do so, we’re gonna make time to do it. It’s one of my favorite things to do and it’s like my sanctuary if you will. When you grow up in the state of Arkansas, the Razorbacks mean everything to everyone. The Hogs started the season and won their first game last week. It was no surprise that it was almost a shutout. They have incredible talent this year and are poised to contend for a conference championship. I’m keeping my fingers crossed...

3. 9/11
This weekend is the 10th Anniversy of September 11th. Everyone remembers where they were that day. I was a freshman in college. It happened that morning and everyone was in the lobby of the dorm watching it on TV. It was so surreal that we were being attacked…America…the greatest country in the world… I’m not a declared political party. I’m not a fan of democrats, or republicans. I was a bit critical of George Bush when he was in office. I’ve since changed my mind a bit and really appreciate how good of a president he was. Anyways, I watched an interview with Geoge W on Natgeo the other day and was very impressed with his accounts during that tragic day. It was VERY interesting to watch. You can check it out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1OU_t8lJZI). Let’s all remember those who lost their lives and also remember those heroes who saved countless other. May they never be forgotten. God Bless America.

4. Blessings
I’m thankful for many things right now. My wife, my family, friends, our jobs. We have wonderful jobs at a great place. It’s such a blessing to work at a place like where we work. I’m so thankful for my wife and how much she means to me. I’m so thankful for my parents and how much they have done for us since my wife and I have been married. I’m thankful for my brother and his family. And all our friends. We’re so blessed and fail to realize how much we have and how much we should be thankful for.

5. Surprise

Another thing that I can’t get out of my mind is a big surprise happening in our life right now. I don’t think it would be good to blab about it since it’s not officially happened yet, but we are very excited and can’t wait. Stay tuned for more updates on that!

Cartridge shaving Part 2 - Gillette Proglide

I followed my normal pre-shave, shave, and after-shave routine while using this razor. I performed my shave as normal as I could, to compare the razor as fairly as possible. Pre-shave routine consisted of a shower, washing face with a mild face wash, and showering in the shower, not at the sink. I used my badger hair brush with a few of my favoriate creams and soaps (C.O. Bigelow, D.R. Harris, Tabac, & Cyril R. Salter). The shave was my standard lather + with the grain pass, second lather + second with the grain pass. After-shave routine consisted of cold water splash, alum, cold water splash 2, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Nivea after shave Balm.

The Gillette Fusion Proglide

Packaging - Again, the first thing I noticed right off the bat, is that all of the packaging can be recycled. There's not anything that I can't easily throw into my recycle bins and take to the curb. As you can see, the entire packaging is printed cardboard paper, with a plastic shell around the razor. When the packaging is torn apart and disassembled, it's all able to be recycled. No problem. Good job Gillette!

First Impression - So my first impress of the razor is that is reminds me of a transformer. It is really cool looking. It definitely looks like high tech engineering. The razor did have a cool look and a heavy weight to it. Not made of plastic, but metal.

Handle - Lots of cool looking rubber wavy fins on the handle made this thing easy to grip and nearly impossible to drop. It's heft and easy to grip handle felt abnormal compared to an all metal handle, but easty to grip nonetheless.

Fins - *I'm stealing my quote from my Schick Hydro here*- This is where the advanced engineering and technology of today’s razors, I believe, fails. I’m not sure who first came up with the concept of little rubber fins on a razor, but in my opinion, that wasn’t the smartest move. The whole purpose of a comfortable shave is to avoid irritation and ingrown hairs. So why put rubber fins on the first part of the razor that goes over your skin first? The rubber will first swipe away the protective lather, and then “pull” and “straighten” the hair before it cuts. This causes the hair then to slightly go back into the skin. The result. A closer shave right? Genius! ...er, not so much. This means that the hair has to grow back through a closed pore and skin. The result? Ingrown hairs! Bad move here. Not only that, but in my opinon, the rubber fins removing and sweeping away the cusion of slick lather that protects your face from the blades isn't isn't the best idea. Why do this? That’s like lathering your face, wiping it off, then shaving. Doesn’t make sense to me.

Pro glide blades - It's their thinnest and most efficent blades ever! I'll agree to this claim. The blades were extremely sharp and gave me a very close shave. I didn't feel the normal "pulling" of hair as I normally do with disposables. This gave a very close comfortable shave.

Lube strip - The lube strip wasn't anything to brag about. This area probably could be improved, but it's nothing a little pre-shave oil and a good lather can't correct.

Precision trimmer - The precision trimmer was a pretty useful tool here for lining up the sideburns.

pivoting head - This is a pretty good idea here. It's old technology by cartridge razors standards. However, it allows the blade to pivot back and allow the razor to conform to the contours of your face. It's especially handy by the adams apple and those hard to reach places on the neck. I have to admit, it got the hair on my neck better than I'm accustomed to. However, I am still learning how to get those places with my DE razor comfortably.

The Price - In comparison to the competition, it is by far, one of the most expensive razor and replacement cartridges on the market. Replacement blades run about $3-5 a piece! This will never live up to the cost of DE blades! WAY overpriced

Overall -

While the fact that the non-eco-friendliness of the cartridge blade and the outrageously overpriced cost of the replacement razors may off put some of those in the traditional wet shaving community, the Gillette Proglide gave me a very close and wonderful shave! I was shocked and pleasantly surprised. It was very user friendly and easy to use. Pretty much dummy proof. I was very impressed by the closeness of the shave with the new thinner and sharper blades. It also got those hard to reach places on my neck which was a great feeling.

If you'd like to used the Gillette Proglide, you can find it ...well...pretty much everywhere!

Happy Shaving!