Nothing of any importance to say ............

Saturday, the sun is hiding somewhere, kinda blah, trying to come with something inspirational that I can write about. Trying to bring a memory back, from my past, that I can use as a comparison or at least give me some inspiration to write about.

I was in the Navy, discharged "bad boys" for two years, and spent two years conveying troops to Korea, and bringing some back. OK, is there a comparison there, no, the ship never sank, or took on water, and was slowly sinking.

I was a dealer in Nevada, dealt craps, I think I can compare that to politics, Washington, the present administration, yes, I see a comparison there. A number of terms here that fit well, craps, seven out, snake eyes, boxcars, proposition bets, back line, field, winner, winner, chicken for dinner, and of course, seven out. We never said "loser" because there was a winner every roll of the dice, so it was, "Seven out, line away, last come bets and the back line," or something like that.

I dealt some 21 out there, broke, busted, jack deuced, blow, cold decked, cooler, counter,crimp, crossroader, dauber,deuce dealing, drag down, dummy up, edge work, eighty six, first base, flash, front money, flat store, grind, hand mucker, hole card, juice, live one, natural, seconds, shill, stacked deck, wave, a lot of terms that relate to our present political  situation, all about 21.

I guess, in fact, I'm busted, no more for today, no thoughts that will deliver inspiration or hope. I, too, am filled with apathy. Don Eammelli, my old floor boss, when I started at the Primm, would always flip me for coffee. I never won. Don had it down to a science. He would flip the silver dollar, if he caught it here, it was heads, a little lower, it was tails. If he offered a bet for something, he would win, he never bet, it was always a sure thing. Took me a long time to learn that, I guess I was never too smart.

I think politics and Washington is that way, deck stacked, all sure things.

One positive thought. My neck hurts, my lower back hurts. Warmer weather, I have been having a large Beefeaters Gin and Tonic, for a few weeks. My back is better and my neck is better. Not sure if it is a coincidence or not, just happy something is working. And, as some know, right after I shave, the razor gets dried and immediately placed in olive oil. I got a new, razor from Gillette in the mail, still using it, nice and sharp, good close shaves, oh, I got it three months ago.

In reply to your inquiry ..............

I got an email the other day from a reader. He had never heard of soaking his razor in Olive Oil and wanted more information.

The history on it, simple, my Dad always coated his straight razor with Olive Oil after he used it. He had a double razor strop. As I recall, one was of a canvas-like material and the other a soft leather. He used the canvas one first, and it was even stained from the oil. He would clean the razor on that one and then sharpen with the soft leather one.

The strop hung from a hook next to the sink in the bathroom, and I can still see him taking that razor out of a small case, carefully open it, and start stropping the razor on the first strop, then on the leather one, and then he would start shaving.

I tried his straight razor a few times, too many cuts. In those days I used the old Gillette double sided Blue Blade. I was in college then, and I had an old shaving mug that I kept the Olive Oil in, and after shaving I would loosen the blade a little and put it in the oil.

My roommate saw me get many uses out of the old Gillette Blue Blade and finally started soaking his in Olive Oil.

It makes sense. Metal rusts and is corrosive, keep it in Olive Oil, or any oil, for that matter, to protect it.

I am using the 4 blade Gillette razor now, the one with the switch that vibrates. The blade I used this morning I started using in early December and it is still going strong. I get about two to two and a half months out of each blade. That's about the only way I can afford to use them.