It’s hard to stick a peep on your forehead successfully…..

 

Once a year I get the extreme pleasure of eating peeps! Every Eastertime I get a few through thefts from my daughters or the gift of peeps. I probably never bought my own (in the past 30 years), and more than maybe four would make me sick. But, when I get them I smile.

I had one from a small Easter basket I received on Saturday night at a dinner party, and some more on Sunday.

It was Sunday evening at the end of dinner, and I was sitting around talking and decided, maybe this part isn’t so normal, that I could probably stick a half peep, head facing out, on to my forehead and it would be sort of a third eye. It should have been sticky enough to stay and I’d make my daughter scream at me and kill herself laughing!

What a funny guy I am. How dumb can a 72 year old man be but to stick wet candy on his head?

The experiment failed, as I hit my wine glass on the way up with the peep, and spilled my remaining wine into my plate thankfully and not completely onto the table or my family. On top of all that, the peep didn’t stick and everyone looked at me trying  to do something weird, and I couldn’t stop laughing! I could hardly breathe it was so funny, but just to me!

I Have Written Six Stories About Razors

I have written six stories about razors, I guess about shaving as well. Two of them were about Ockham’s razor so they may not count, however, the razor stories will now continue. I wrote on April 23, May 3, September 25, 2009 and June 6, 2010, April 4 and June 9, 2013, and today.

I kind of love shaving. I may seem obsessed when you look at the number of times I’ve written about it, but since I do it at least once a day, I have some things to say about it.

As a kid, when I first started, I liked thee razor and spent some time trying out all the kinds one could buy. I had Gillette Blue Blades and the more modern Schick dispenser, and even bought a Rolls Razor which self-sharpened and nearly cut my face off trying to get a good shave forever, for free.

In this world of mass produced things, one does not expect to find and real custom items unless you are willing and able to pay for them. I am neither willing nor able, so this story is not about some special custom product, although it truly seems like it. I discovered somehow through social media, “Harry’s Razors”.

I receive no product endorsement for anything I do, I have not too much impact, but it seems appropriate that when I find something really good, I let my friends know about it.

It seems through their web site information that two guys went out to battle the giants and make a great razor. They sell the razor, the custom made blades and a shaving cream at a fair and reasonable price, competitive with all the big boys, and it works great!

They were marketing a new Canadian version and I saw it and was intrigued. It was simply their regular product in Canadian Red. As well, they were shipping to Canada. Yes, it cost more to get it here and I was going to ship it to my US address, my mother-in-laws house, but I wouldn’t get it for months until we went there. So, I bit the bullet and sent it to my house.

You can view their stuff at https://www.harrys.com. Maybe just because my father’s name was Harry, I bit. It is a great product. There is beautiful packaging, and as an artist it is greatly appreciated. I don’t love the shaving cream particularly as I like the gel stuff in a can from the drug store, but it’s OK. The blades are made in Germany and last a long time. They have many layers, much like the big Gillette ones and last about the same length of time (about 2 weeks for me) for less money per piece. They ship directly to you and you can buy or get on a regular shipping plan. They come in many beautiful styles and colours.

I wrote to them the other day to ask about the little plastic blade cover that comes with the first razor, and wondered if I could get another one or two to protect my blade in my shaving kit. The amazing thing was a real guy wrote back and said he’d send them to me that day, for free, and he even knew where I lived by my email so he didn’t need more information.

These are honest people with a great product going up against the establishment (it’s a 60’s thing I know) and I think everyone should give them a try!

No punch line here, just a nice feeling knowing I can help influence a few folks.

Here’s another great review I found:
http://menshair.about.com/od/shavingproductreviews/fr/A-Review-Of-Harrys-Shaving-Products.htm

 

 

Great to see you too…have you seen the girls lately?

 

 

Many years ago we bought my youngest daughter this doll and she loved it for a long time. After many years, we went through her toys with her, and made some decisions, as usual, about toy disposal. We are happy to keep anything the girls want, but there is no reason to store them when someone else can use them. This doll, purchased before the turn of this century, was one of those pieces sent on to the Dramatic Play area of the Boys and Girls Club in Hamilton.

My other daughter is a clothes collector and shops lots of vintage items. This purse was a later purchased, used, bought about 2005. This also, at a later date, was donated to the Dramatic Play area of the Hamilton East Boys and Girls Club.

These two pieces never got there at the same time, and the area is heavily used all year long. So the surprise was on March 27, 2014, as my wife walked into the area, the two pieces would be sitting, as you see them on a shelf.

The title,” Great to see you too…have you seen the girls lately?” is my idea about what they must be saying in this fantasy world.

Getting the Chair...

It started because my wife wanted a new recliner. She had grown tired of the foam deteriorating from under our current recliner, also known as the place Dad sleeps. IT had served us well for the past 6 or 7 years, and deserved a new home or at least not me.

We looked at various furniture places, and as before, Sandy does not want leather which does limit our choices, and we both would like a “reasonably priced” piece, not one where we need a second mortgage just to buy it.

We looked at cheap, but they were just that, cheap. We looked at expensive, but it was insane and most of them are too large for our little house. Finally, we went to Lazyboy, and if we looked at sale items, we found fabric and comfort and good pricing as well. We did not find Brooke Shields, but she can’t be everywhere (she is their spokesperson if you see TV much).

We ordered it and paid for it and had a three week wait, but it arrived last week. No IKEA for us this time, but we did choose to pick it up rather than have it delivered because my wife is always certain everything will fit in the car and it will save us money of course (although it turns out maybe not).

We drove out to pick it up in Burlington, some 20 minutes away. There is no delivery per se, but they place it on a loading platform and the salesperson opens the loading gate for you to get it from four or five feet in the air down to your car.

It arrived in a box! The box would have been a good home for a homeless person as it was that big. There was no way that box was going in the car but we struggled to try and have it fit. That being a bust, we opened the box and pulled out the two pieces of the chair? What two pieces, this is not IKEA, things come together (if you have them delivered they do!) “No worries”, we’re told, “the pieces just slide into each other when you get it home”. This was a standard line given to all surprised customers who are dumb enough to carry it home.

Off we go home, and between ourselves we carry in the smaller part (easy) and the larger base part, much more difficult because of its width. We have to manoeuvre through the front doorway but it all goes pretty well. We try and slide the pieces together and no way will this thing go. We read an attached brochure and try to follow directions, but not happening! I go to their web site and download the instructions, print them out and try again. Nothing!

We work at bending steel parts but we still seem to be about one half of an inch apart. We call the saleswoman and she says it’s not that hard, you need screwdrivers on both sides and bend it together and it will work. No way! On top of it all, if we tear it, it will be our fault and the warranty will be void.

We call again and say we are bringing it back, now! They try and convince us not to, but we decided it’s theirs if we can’t get it to work.

We struggle the parts into the car again, through the door, and off we go back to Burlington.  My wife goes in and I wait, and then we bring it around to the loading platform, once again, and raise it back up in the air so it is in their space.

The saleswoman can’t get a technician but finds a very charming older salesperson who says he can do this, and with much struggling, he does! He admits this is the hardest one he has ever seen, but once together it will never come apart anyway.

We work it back into the car with his help as it is now larger because it’s together, and it just fits.

We come home and get it into the house through the door with lots of struggle and help from my daughter who is sorry she is home at this time.

It’s in place as of now, with much struggle and two trips back and forth to Burlington.

If we had paid the $75 to deliver it, it probably would have been cheaper and certainly much easier.

I will not do this again.

This is a good one to sleep in as well.

And my daughter needed an entrepreneur….

And my daughter needed an entrepreneur….

The call came through my wife. My daughter, for a graduate course in entrepreneurship needed to interview an entrepreneur.  Did we know any?

Often my kids have asked for information from people we know or about people we know. This one, being it was long distance (not so long but she wasn’t around here) was a thought provoking one. Who was an entrepreneur? Was my next door neighbour, an optometrist, an entrepreneur because he had his own company as opposed to working for an optometrist? Is our dentist one? The list began to grow.

Should I feel bad because I wasn’t one? How about my cousins who had three women’s clothing stores that closed in the 80’s, would they count? The list continued.

When I sent it off to my daughter, there were many names and categories and descriptors involved.

She asked questions. Would my cousins do since they were no longer in business? Does old entrepreneurial knowledge still count? Would the lessons of the 80’s still hold up in today’s world?

The professor said they didn’t have to be in the fashion business even though my daughter’s program was fashion management. My fashion knowledge stemmed from my father’s time in the business, the 40’s through the 60’s, not exactly current, or was it? Do business ideas continue through time? How would I know?

In the end, I came up with the most entrepreneurial people I know, a couple in many businesses, but advertising and marketing seems to be the focus. Lately they have turned to health related coaching and weight management as their focus. OK, I have no idea what they really do, but they have seemed to make a living out of it for the past 25 to 30 years. My daughter made the decision to call them.

She called Jay Jacobs, who is accompanied in this photo by his daughter Jennifer and wife Kim and formerly Biggest Losers Jillian Michaels.  Jay and his daughter were on Biggest Loser Season 11.

Since this is not my journalism daughter, I will probably never read what she wrote or answered, so I will never know what it was about. However, as a parent, it warms my heart to see my daughter helped by friends. I would do the same for others and pay it forward if asked. Once in a while I’m asked for help with internships or co-ops and have tried my best to do my duty. It’s wonderful to see someone else do the same.

We’re all in this life together.

Postman

Many years ago, while sitting at the home of our Board Chairman, I noticed that above me on the wall a painting of the Van Gogh Postman. He did several of them (I’ve now seen four) but finding one above my head was amazing!

As I stared, I realized the fat paint parts were probably dry, but oil paint, as I had learned as a student, never really dries. So being bold (and having had a few drinks),  I asked if I could touch it. When asked why, I explained about the oil paint and that this would never be in private hands again as it was willed to the Detroit Institute of Art eventually and therefore, what chance would I ever have again to touch it?

I touched it and It did seem dry, even though it looked wet, and scientifically would probably always be wet.

Last Saturday I was at the Cleveland Museum of Art for a Van Gogh show and in front of me, behind glass, was an old friend, the postman! I smiled and walked over and said to the painting, “I’m back, and like I said the last time, I’ll never be able to touch you again!”

Strange Breakfast Arrivals

My friend is retired and sits around a lot and thinks of things to do. He takes a lot of baths I am told (I never go and see) and he reads the paper and looks at the stocks on line. He is constantly rebuilding his house so his wife will get a better price for it when he dies. He worries about popcorn ceilings and door mouldings and such, way too much.

He is a great gardener, and grows some stuff that he doesn’t like so I can get it. We encourage him to keep it going. I like Swiss Chard, and we gets tons!

One of his pet projects is muffin making. He is good at it and every now and then we receive mysterious bags of baked goods in our vestibule. We usually find them within the day and they don’t often have to sit out overnight.

Here are two bags, each with a few muffins, and they are the result of a man with way too much time on his hands. The bags, you will notice, are quite greasy, just like the good old days of donut purchases before the modern age. I have translated the writing, as seem below.

Breakfast Muffin with one change

Used with the addition of Montreal corn beef Deli on Eglington Ave in Mississauga

I got dispensation from the Rabbi.

Pear and Pecan

Do not know yet - have not made before

They are quite good, and the meat ones were fantastic but I better not tell him for fear we’ll get more. A leftover sandwich may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect larder! There is no refrigeration used anywhere, much like an Asian bakery. It’s magic!