razor ramblings

RAZOR RUMBLINGS

A guest article was posted earlier.  Scroll down after this one.
*
Well, it might be about a week old, this oh so non-topical subject first gleaned from Rawles, but it still packs a wallop none the less. I’m not really liking this post-three-days-in-advance that I am now doing because of the new seven days a week schedule. Before, Monday’s article might appear a bit stale as it was written on Friday and every other day was written only eighteen hours previously. But that is the price you pay when you fail to recruit all your friends into the Minion Legions, still support other writers and don’t conduct boycotts of any advertiser not bribing me. Since I’m not being supported financially in a manner befitting my refined sensibilities I can’t keep up on world events and report them to you immediately. Which might actually be okay, seeing as how 1) most readers of other blogs are unworthy of being loyal minions, being so frightened of any drop in their standards of luxury that they ignore reality at all costs which would really hack me off terribly, and 2) taking awhile to report any news gives you the illusion I’m thinking deep thoughts about things and am analyzing them rather then reporting them ( suckers! ). Our wonderful government, or our central bank, or a combination of the two now owes/owns more of our debt than China does.

*

For years and eons previously the propaganda has reported that it was a-okay and super hunkey dorey peachy that all our jobs were going over to India and China because the Chinese in turn were buying all of our debt. So, in effect, there was no need to work since your taxes weren’t needed since the Chinese in essence funded our unemployment insurance, Food Stamps ( I refuse to call them by their new idiotic name-reminds me of a ghetto conversation. “You Go, Girl.” Snap ) and the retirement of those who did work long ago. It was never mentioned that getting into debt was a bad thing, since it was all about paying the banks more interest. If somebody did mention balancing the budget they were immediately hooked up to the Clockwork Orange machine, eyeballs propped open and an endless loop of horrid images shown to them of Commie’s overthrowing our fair democracy, senior citizens starving and emancipated clutching at cans of dog food they hadn’t the strength to open as they dropped like flies and violently angry minorities burning down the suburbs as the police, crippled by equipment and payroll shortages, huddled helplessly nearby. I would have laughed mirthlessly over our idiotic, noisy, happy-as-a-pig-in-slop lapping up of this crap, but even if everybody hadn’t bought into the illusion the government would have ignored our wishes and done as they damn well pleased anyway.

*

The commies stopped buying our debt years ago. And were in the process of selling off what they had accumulated. So up steps our very own little bearded weasel Bernenke and happily announcing the solution to all the worlds ills are Quantitative Easing. This is Happy Talk for printing press inflation ( which luckily don’t need time consuming printing but just magically appear on computer screens- if The Woz knew, would he have wanted the PC Revolution? ). We now have created over a trillion bucks of new debt while the Chinese and the Japanese each only own $700 billion and change each. Collectively they owe 1.5 trillion and we are at 1.1 trillion ( and QE2 isn’t even over ). Good news, the Chinese can’t blackmail us anymore. Bad news, a copy of Hustler will soon cost $15,000. Worse news, your monthly pension will be priced in Old Dollars, the inflation measures that ignores food and energy ( which are going up due to scarcity inflation ) and other assorted costs. Since your new car, priced at a gabizzilion Obammy Bucks, has federally mandated new safety features that taz you if your breathilizer ignition detects week old mouthwash alcohol on your saliva particles, the feds decide the car should be priced a lot less after adjusting for technology and degree that the car should have sold for $3.27 and hence if all we did was buy these cars the official inflation rate last quarter was minus 99%.

*

Way back in the day, I used to shave with a double edge safety razor. I have written about using a straight razor and a Razor Saver sharpened disposable razor. The disadvantages are that a straight razor, while pretty much a once or at most twice in a lifetime investment, they are very expensive ( other than the near worthless Chinese imitations ) and can be a bit on the dangerous side. You are scraping off hair over your jugular with a very sharp knife. Kind of like itching a scratch on your testicles with a scalpel. It does a great job, but one slip and you are in serious trouble. I own several stainless steel straight razors, the aforementioned worthless Chinese copies. Mostly for barter as I bought them for a few bucks each. A loyal minion, that wonderful guy that sent a homemade knife recently-almost a sword or a really big Bowie- long ago sent me a carbon steel straight razor. A good quality number. If I ever become brave enough to use it, it is nice to know I have a quality tool to shave with. And I’m convinced we should all concern ourselves with shaving after the collapse. And doing it safely. Nits will love long hair, and getting rid of that hair shouldn’t put you in the now closed hospital.

*

Disposable razors will last you more a month or two each, if you use a Razor Saver. That device is simply a piece of mirror cut the same width as the blade on a disposable razor ( the plastic holding the blade in won’t allow you to use glass of a larger size-the razor plastic must hang over the sides to allow the blade to touch the flat surface ), set in a plastic holder. It is only around $12 but once you get down paying postage and handling it is closer to $20 ( Lehman’s carries it ). It is a great investment, and I have decades worth of disposable razors if I use this tool. But I was recently thinking. The old fashioned safety razors I used to use are far more compact and can actually be cheaper than disposables. Follow my logic here. A cheap disposable costs ten cents each. A safety blade costs 15 to 20 cents. But you can turn the blade over and use the other side. So it gets twice the use of a disposable. A double edge safety razor is like those cutting razors you use in construction projects, but back to back blades rather than one sided. So if you flip it over you have another blade. And, I might be wrong and I’ll need someone to comment that used this type of razor sooner than my 23 years ago, would turning the blade over rather than rotating it allow you to sharpen the reverse of both sides? Giving you four times the use of a disposable? I’m not positive on this, so for now let’s just say twice the use.

*

The reason I started using this kind of razor was that I read a story on how the GI’s on Pacific islands long overdue for supply drops kept their razors sharpened ( give it to the military- you can starve and run out of ammo, but the officers will make sure the men shave ). They twirled those types of blades along the inside of a drinking glass. Same principle of the disposable sharpener- running the blade on glass sharpens it ( or, smoothes out the micro-nicks, whatever ). The razor itself in expensive-$25 to $35. The blades for the razor are what I’m describing here. This is not only a much sturdier system ( although it can be pretty tough to break a disposable ), but as I said much more compact. It isn’t necessarily all that superior to disposables- although it does compare apples to oranges. The disposables are twin blades and these blades are single. I stopped using them as they did cut up my skin more than twin blades. And I didn’t really need to save those few cents back then. Minimum wage was $500 take home, and trailer park rent, with utilities, was only $125. I spent less than another $125 to buy food and cigarettes each month.

*

This is more like simply just another option to pick from. Not too much worse, or all that much better. Just different.

END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/

*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
Anyone can submit a guest article. No minimum word length, no writing skill necessary ( just get the idea across ). You retain copyright ( this must be your original writing ) and I’ll just use the once. I’ve yet to turn down an article, just don’t use the N Bomb or libel another that can sue me. Send by e-mail ( please, label as “guest article” so I can find it easily later ). Payment will be your removal from my enemies list.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon links in each article. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.