Don't feel bad. Very few people have the luxury of having a Honemeister in their back yard. In fact, one of the key factors in my decision to try conventional straights (I was using a Feather) was the fact that I dicovered that Lynn lives about 20 minutes from me.:D I was concerned about having to either learn honing or send my razors out for sharpening, but when I found out how close he was my concerns went away. Turns out..I like honing as well as all the other stuff that goes along with using a straight.