Neanderpundit

You can’t teach me something I’m not interested in. All through High school, I tuned out the history teacher as he droned on, and thought about just about anything else. Economics? bleagh. Social Studies? egad.

OTOH, if I wanted to learn something, nellie bar the door. When you embark on a career in Journalism, you first learn wwwwh- which stands for Who, What, When, Why, and How. hell, by the time I was 10, i bet I had asked Dad those questions a billion times.

Dad always answered to the best of his ability, but he wasn’t a well educated man himself, his wisdom lay in other areas. So he saw to it that I had a library card, and a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica. I would look up the pertinent information in Brittanica, and if it wasn’t complete enough, I would write down the references there and look them up at the local lending library. The virgins there were good at either finding my requests, or getting them transferred from the main branch, or recommending better sources.

Later, I chose experience over reading. I wanted to know about boats, so I hung around at boatyards. I wanted to know about cars, so I hung around in garages. I was eager to learn and was often given menial tasks to do, and the skills I learned were worth more to me than the free labor I provided.

I never did “full” apprenticeships but I spent a lot of time with old masters. A semi-retired old gentleman who had been a cabinetmaker for many years showed me how to keep my tools sharp, and how much better sharp tools worked than dull ones. he taught me some joinery- it seems a simple word, but it encompasses things most people could never comprehend. A miter cut full blind dovetail, forinstance, is a skill he had mastered, and there are probably five people alive today who can do that. I didn’t become a journeyman at cabinetmaking, but he said something at the time that I have heard a thousand times since: “You have a gift. If you would just stick with this, you’d be incredible”
I never became what you’d consider a “master” at very many things (Robotics systems, few people can keep up with me, there are a few other disciplines) but I got very good at a lot of things, very quickly. And if I need to I can ressurect those old skills very quickly, and do pretty much anything.

But I’ve gotten lazy. Instead of wanting to know something and going out to learn about it, I’ve started just doing internet research. Sure, that’s fine for casual knowledge, but I always preferred more detailed information, hands on wherever I could get it. This, not texting, is the issue I have with Smartphones. They have encouraged me to be lazier than I already am.

has a post here Friday (which I missed) about a guy doing a conventional Razor shave. It’s a great post, go watch the video.

I used to shave with a straight razor every day. I had a Diamond I used to take with me on the road, but my preferred implement of tonsure was always this Morris sculptor edge As Homeland stupidity took place, i stopped being able to carry a razor with me, and I stopped using the Morris after a while as well.

I have been using Bic Metal for a long time, now,it’s a lot more convenient and its a tolerable shave.

But when I win the lottery, it’s a barber shave for me every day.

During this week Partner and I will have a piling party. Assuming Partner has no objections, we will be displying the photographs here. Each tripod of firearms will be identified and we will try to keep them in period and theater.

I know there are serious collectors out there. I also know not everyone is interested in showing off their- er- whole collection. But post ’em if you got ’em.