Sorry for the delay, but a hectic soccer schedule and a short bout with the creeping crud has kept me from posting.
In my persistent quest to simplify the details of my life I was finally able gain a small victory on two fronts. Gaining the moral and monetary high ground in one miniscule part of my life has given me the impetus to achieve even more.
What was this change, you may wonder? Ah, something so innocuous it seems hardly worth mentioning.
It is, in a word, shaving!
Yes, that mundane, near daily, bit of necessity for the well groomed man of the 21st Century. No, I did not simply cease to scrape off the previous days sprouting of stubble. No professorial beard, goatee or Van Dyke on my chin, thank you. A change so subtle it was monumental in it's simplicity.
I changed my razor. That's all. Now I know what you curious readers are thinking. The latest and greatest multi blade marvel of modern miniaturization arrived with the Sunday paper and miraculously whacked off the weekend growth in one fell swoop. Buddha knows I love my technology. Between the iPod with 8000 songs, books, podcasts and movies and the iPhone slung low on my hip prepared for instantaneous retrieval, I am smitten by the conveniences of modern life.
But no, in this case advancement was not the answer. It was reverting to a delightful bit of retro hardware - the Double Edge Safety Razor!
Believe me, this was not a decision that was taken lightly. No sir, after weighing the pros and cons of the various ways to butcher my classic visage, it was time to take the plunge. The overall determining factor was my inherent frugality. That's right, monetary efficiency won out over concerns of disfiguring injury. To whit, I could either purchase a fresh pack of refills or a brand new double edge razor for the slightly. Hmmm, a conundrum to be sure.
But in the end choosing a chrome plated, solid brass, machined shaving instrument (including 10, that's right, 10, free blades!) won the day. Especially considering the environmental impact of assembling a multi layer, multi plastic, plastic packaged 5 blade pack of Gillette's disposable finest. Not only was I ordering something physically more substantial, I was GOING GREEN at the same time!
A few days later the razor arrived. Already prepared with shaving soap and boar hair brush, I elated at the prospect of imminent death! Over the years I had reduced shaving to it's bare essentials: in the shower with a bar of soap. No mirror required since the face has not changed in almost 30 years of scraping. Hardly the traditions you want to hand down to your offspring, eh?
So the experiment began. Step out of the steamy shower, work up a good lather with the brush, apply generously and away we go. Ten minutes later and my countenance was both whisker and blood free. Ten minutes of glorious isolation from the world at large. Ten minutes to contemplate the universe. Ten minutes to refresh the spirit. Ten minutes to decide on a cocktail.
One week later I said goodbye to blade number one and ordered a pack of....100. That's 2 years of shaving, for the princely sum of $17. 7300 minutes or 122 hours of contemplative solitude. Or 14 cents per hour. I think I'm worth it.
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