Week 1 Closeout (Update) and Thanks
Hello all!
First and foremost, I want to thank this august, knowledgeable and available body of SR users and experts.
Everything one needs to learn this skill/art is either resident on the site (be it reading through historical postings, stickies and Wiki's) or moments away in the form of helpful answers to a current posting.
This site is functioning exactly the way it was intended and I am the better for it.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL THAT YOU DO HERE.
As for the Week 1 closeout/update:
This mornings shave was two passes (both WTG) of my entire beard.
It took less time than shaves 1 and 2.
Surprisingly, my non-dominant hand work is better than the other.
'Un-learning' the muscle memory created by 35 years of shaving with my right hand is proving to be more difficult than learning with my left.
While I don't feel like I 'turned a corner' or had a 'major breakthrough/Ahaa Moment' there was a point where I stopped fearing the razor and just had a healthy respect for what it can do.
With that said, today was a good shave and I didn't use the Gillette Fusion to 'finish' any part of my beard/mustache.
Next week I'll work on XTG on second pass.
I know that my weakest area is in stropping.
I've got some nicks on one side at the bottom of my strop (caused by the heel). Evaluating the marks makes me realize that:
1) I'm going too fast and lack control; I have to go slower (Like Jump Master, Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast).
2) I'm not holding the SR level at all times...maybe using too much pressure (Better to do nothing with ineffective stropping than doing damage by improper stropping???).
With all that said, I just want to reiterate my thanks to everyone here.
You are mentors and manly men!
