Thread: Hey Ya'll

Thanks Razorfeld and Ed,

Thanks for your replies. Razorfeld, I have recently gone to progressive lenses and the mirror wreaks havoc on them for me. The field of view is so small that I only end up with part of the blade in focus if any at all. Something about the mirror really messes them up. I was trying my cheap reading glasses that I used before these and they didn't help much either. I have been thinking of getting computer glasses too and that may help a lot.

Ed, hello and thanks for the additional information on the mirror. When I was young I had 20/10 vision. In my mid 30s it dropped to 20/15 and continued to degrade to the point it is now. The last I was told, I am down to about 20/400 on my near vision. Of all my abilities that have degraded due to aging, I think I miss my vision the most.

JeffHarp, do get those computer glasses, they did wonders for my being able to shave with out additional twisting of my head to bring my bifocals into play. Go to a Walmart. Their vision services are very, very, reasonable. I got a pair for about $30. Another thing, my mentor did encourage me to 'shave blind'. I think by that he meant that on those area that are hard to see because of angle or vision, take the approach of watching yourself in your minds eye shaving and with mental image, and fingers as guides, see yourself shaving those hard to see places. Above all, make sure you use short strokes to minimize any accidents. I am well into my retirement years and I take my shave in the morning as an opportunity to center myself and move slowly through the very pleasing ritual of the shave. I may be retired from official business life but I am also a fabric artist and need the morning centering and pace to set me up for an intense day in my studio. Take heart, all it is. is practice, practice, practice, and a great sense of accomplishment when done.

Hi Jeff, I hope you manage to find (a) solution(s) that work for you.
Keep us posted, and if we can be of anymore help please ask.

Thanks Guys, I plan to give it another shot in the morning. I never give up on anything, I just had to fall back and regroup when I found something I didn't expect. After I get this thing all figured out, I plan to get back to work on that toilet training thing again.

Hey Guys,

Things went a lot better this morning. I still couldn't see any better, but I convinced myself to just go ahead anyway. I think I was at less than 10 degrees the fist time I tried it and today I got on out to around 15 I think. I managed to complete a full shave today, except for my mustache of course. I could only complete the first pass with the left hand though because I just couldn't get it to turn to the correct angles for the cross grain passes. I was able to do that part on the left cheek with the right hand though. I was pleasantly surprised that I got through both passes on the chin and underneath and all of the neck too without any blood.

I'm not telling you that it was a first class shave, but it was good enough for an average work day. It wasn't good enough for an inspection and it wasn't good enough for a date, but I think I will be able to start improving my skills now and eventually get to that level. Increasing the water with the soap helped a lot.

I was very surprised that I was able to get in pretty close to the mustache without losing any of it too

Thanks for the help and encouragement.

JeffHarp, very glad to hear that you got through the shave without casualty. Did you try the mental imaging trick? I always start my first pass by pausing, take a couple of settling breaths to center myself and try not to tense my hand too much. I have occasional tics that could cause damage if I'm not careful. I am also constantly exchanging hands to get at all the areas on my face. It will start to become automatic as to which hand for what part. And you must have the pressure angle down pat since you drew no blood. Good work, the shaves will only get better. Do keep us posted on your advances. We all like to hear success stories.

Thanks Razorfeld

I kind of did the mental imaging, but it was a little different. When I started out I was having that same hand blocking my view problem and as I was trying to see I finally told myself to just make sure I started with the correct angle, watch my ear to make sure I didn't snag it and just shave. It is kind of strange, it almost seems like it's 40 years ago and I am learning to shave from the start again. Of course, the beard is a whole lot tougher this time around.

I just thought of this parallel. A little over a year ago I bought a ZTR mower for the first time and had to learn how to operate it. What I learned about it was the more I thought about what I was going to do and the more I planned it out, the worse I executed the maneuver. If I just sat back and acted instinctively without even thinking about it the mowing was effortless. I think the shaving may be similar, but I am still going to double check my angles when I start and then let instinct take over.

Thanks a bunch for all the help.

Jeff

My pleasure.

It has been a while and quite a few shaves since I posted the first one here. I just thought maybe I should give this thread some closure as I start posting in the big boy threads.

I really want to thank all of you guys for your help here. It has been very valuable to me. I am still learning and probably will be for years. I have managed to get some BBS shaves and have not yet drawn more blood than it would take to operate one of those blood sugar meters. A regular shave goes pretty quick now, but when I go for a perfect shave it takes me about an hour of work to do the best I can and they are better than any I have ever gotten from a DE or multi-blade razor. You guys have truly been of great help to me.

I have also added 2 razors to my stock. A Thomas Turner Encore A. & N. C.S.L. from around 1875 - 1880 and a modern Klaas that I bought from Big Easy Tools. Both of them are wonderful to shave with.

Thanks for the help

Jeff

Hey Jeff,
Glad you are still going strong, I take it that you nailed the sightline issues etc. Happy new year by the way.
All the best ed.