November 2019 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thank you, Clint!

 

Thank you, Joe!

 

If someone purchased a mail order Russian bride and didn't like what they sent, can you get a refund if you pay return shipping? I'm asking for a friend...

I went looking for a suitable image to attach, but found this bit of wisdom on a website offering "free advice".

"Russian women are highly schooled and intelligent. They are in complete sync with what’s happening around the globe. This makes them the suitable companion for conversation given that they realizes what you’re talking about and would respond appropriately on the conversing. It is a fact who 85 percent from Russian have university or college degrees fahrenheit. Most of them will be near easiness with English; a superb advantage in relation to conversing with foreigners on dating websites."

Humm, sounds a little cold to me.

Continuing our conversation? Is chrome stripping a mechanical or chemical process? I've seen chrome come off in flakes, or if it's thick - razor sharp slices.

 

Ok, so you got an alright shave. I am sure you will figure it out, Danny. Did you choose Soap Commander in honor of Veteran's Day or was it coincidental?

 

Great picture, Evan!

 

Excellent picture, Danny!

 

Thank you, Evan!

 

Thanks Joe...Y'know, I should credit my shower body-wash for any great shaves I have-that "sets it all up" after all.

 

Great shaves, gents!

 

I don't know, the have college degrees Fahrenheit. It could be warm.

 

Menthol Monday!
Great shave, Evan!

Wonderful picture, Danny!
I've gotten really good shaves with the OneBlade but I too feel I need more time with it. I don't think I've been using enough pressure for the head to pivot. Maybe I'll spend more time with it next month.

 

Just ordered a few Yaqi brushes and razor from Aliexpress. There is a sale going on and I got these brushes and razors at 60% off and free shipping. The brushes are two band badger.

 

I'm down to 19 razors, 8 brushes, a handful of soaps, and I'm approaching only 2000 blades.

I'll never attain @Bama Samurai levels of 30DC shave den minimalism, but I may be his distant second.

I decided to gift either my Gillette Old Type or my Aristocrat to a really good friend this week. He picked the Aristocrat, and I think he will love it. I have decided to press the Old Type that I got from @Linuxguile into service later this week. If I run across another nice Aristocrat to replace the one leaving my Den, I'll pick it up.

Leaving:


Going into service later this week (instead of the birth quarter Fatboy as originally planned). Decided to hold off getting it re-plated for now. I'm pretty sure this Old Type was manufactured in @wchnu's birth year.



Have a fantastic day, my friends!

 

Nice haul, Danny!

So good of you to help others along the wet shaving path, Charlie!

 

SOTD November 11, 2019

Prep: Cold water and PAA Cube pre-shave soap
Blade: GEM PTFE
Razor: GEM Micromatic
Brush: Sapele beehive badger
Soap: Stirling Glacial Lemony Orange
Post: Witch hazel, Fine L'Orange Noir aftershave

Way, way behind on the thread. I did catch several Clubman posts in a cursory viewing. Doesn't seem like I'm missing too much!

One pass SAS today with this combo. I'll be shaving again early tomorrow and didn't need a full-on shave today. A couple of weepers again but they cleared up with the final rinse. I'll go back to injectors tomorrow as the GEM shaves haven't been that great.

Not sure what today holds. Alice has been sick again (can't seem to get well) and has been resting all weekend. Wilson and I are going to do a few things around the house but otherwise it seems to be a low-key day.

Thank you for all who served in our armed forces. We don't say it enough but your service and dedication is appreciated and respected more than you may know.

 

Great picture, Perry!
Hopefully Alice gets well soon.

 

Thank you, Jim! Your Glacial Lemony Orange from this morning inspired my choice.

 

When I moved to STL in 2005 I was given a free membership to Yahoo Personals since I signed up for SBC/Yahoo Internet service. So, since I was single at the time I put up a profile just to see what would happen. I did meet a couple of women who were more or less dateable, but I also was contacted by Tatyana Abramova, from the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far eastern region of Russia. She was quite good looking and we had a number of back and forth messages before switching to email. She kept talking about visiting the US and, being as internet savvy as I was, I always said I would certainly buy her dinner if she ever did visit but.....she had to already be here. I was cautious about the scams of paying their way.

Long story short(er), she eventually had me about 95% convinced she was real, and that she had all of the travel arranged, visa in hand etc., etc. Then I got the official confirmation from a travel agency in Russia. While I remember her name I don't remember the name of the guy who was the "agent". His website showed links to American travel agents and it seemed he was very legit since he had these partnerships. However, his emails also included a request for the money to make it all happen. Around $1000. Need it sent Western Union. Thanks. I hate to admit it.....but I came way too close to accepting all of the "evidence" and taking a chance on it. Heck, I had some extra money at the time so would it be such a bad thing? And if it was real, hey, she's a looker. It occurred to me, about an hour before I would have probably headed out to send the money, to contact the agencies in the US he had listed. Yep, that's where the story started to fall apart. I then did a thorough search on the web for both names and it led me to a site in Russia, run by a Canadian who lived there, who was an expert in busting up Russian "mail order bride" scams. Turns out these two were among the most successful in ripping people off, either by getting the money upfront, then asking for more because of insurance for travel, then special fees etc., etc., etc. Or, they also ran a ring that would take the money, then give out the trip details. They would ask your address to finalize her paperwork as to where she'd be staying, and give you her arrival time and flight at the airport. While you were at the airport waiting for her your house would be emptied of most of its contents by their friends on this side of the ocean. I was also questioned by the webmaster as to the information they already had on me. All they had was my name, email address and a prepaid cell phone. Nothing trackable back to my address in those days. Apparently they would sometimes try a robbery just because they could.

Oh, and the pictures I had of her didn't match the pictures the webmaster had of her. So, he was quite happy I had contacted him as we could compare notes and he could get the latest set of fake pictures to add to the website.

So, after that very long story, which is very true, and explanation of all of that, I have your answer. Can you get a refund if you pay return shipping? No.

Also, I'd watch out for those special offers. Probably not a bargain either.

 

It's a chemical process. Muriatic acid dissolves the chrome and leaves the underlying nickel untouched. In fact, if one plans to immediately plate in another metal which will plate over nickel (copper, gold, more nickel, rhodium) you can simply rinse with purified water and plate. No other prep work is needed. However, I'm having a difficult time finding documentation on proper disposal guidelines for the chromium trichloride which is left in the muriatic acid. SDS documentation says it requires disposal at a hazardous waste plant. Thus, I hesitate to suggest it to anyone not willing to pay for disposal.

 

Lovely picture and shave Jim. I do not think it can get any better than that!