Day one of wall rebuilding happened while I was at work. Some construction begins with demolition:
Last Friday when they parked their equipment in our driveway, our neighbor came over to ask if she could buy the stones from the old wall to use in her garden. I said “just take them, they were going to throw them away anyhow.” She’s older than we are, but clearly in good shape; those blocks are not light by any means, but she wound up taking most of them, building a short temporary wall the length of her driveway until she’s ready to bring them to her backyard. I feel like the wall company should be paying her for the labor!
There’s a frenzy of activity out there this morning, a Bobcat with a scoop on an arm (I’m not sure what these things are called) and a car-sized earth mover, a trailer of more equipment/supplies, a flatbed truck with the blocks. I suspect by the end of the day it’s going to start looking like walls again.
And speaking of demolition:
At the company lunch today, the boss and the other senior engineer were talking about it and literally said “if you want to make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs” and then went on to talk about other things. As if there was any sanity in these stupid tariffs, and as if the thing that’s actually been wrong with the US economy income inequality) could be fixed in this way. My guess is, they’re just watching Faux News because they’re conservatives, and they’re not getting the story of how the tariff policy was created using ChatGPT 3 hours before it was announced and is utter nonsense. These two are very smart engineers (and one’s also a mathematician) with doctorates, who are immigrants from two different authoritarian regimes. One of them always talks about how little he trusts “the government” in general… but he’s swallowing the bullshit they’re feeding him.
Trump isn’t making an omelette, he’s just stomping on eggs.
I’ve recorded another couple of tracks, sticking to my “game” rules. I had doubts about both of them during the process. Particularly with the bass tracks, there is more “assembly” than live playing, and as I record I don’t have a solid feel for what the results are going to be. But the results have actually been decent. I’ll continue, but after this I want the next project to be a free-for-all without any rules, because it’s simply more fun and inspiring.
I’ve resigned myself to shaving…
- 8 weeks of IPL have not reduced hair growth on my face and neck at all — I am guessing because my hair is too blonde (despite what the beard looked like). I’m not completely sure it hasn’t caused some irritation., so I’m going to stop using the device.
- Laser might work better depending on wavelength, but a full course of treatment is expensive and only lasts about a year.
- Electrolysis is more of a sure thing. But given the amount of time to treat a beard, it would end up costing thousands.
- Epilation, for beards, seems to be only for the brave/foolhardy. Beard hair is coarse and the risk of ingrown hairs is apparently relatively high.
- Waxing, for beards, seems generally less warned against than epilation. But some say don’t do it at all; others say the first session is really painful; others say it’s just not that effective. A lot of professionals either won’t do it, or just don’t have much experience with it. Given my sensitive skin it seems like a bad idea.
And no, going back to having a goatee or mustache or any of it isn’t happening. I like having a smooth face, for the hours when it stays smooth at least.
So yeah, shaving it is. If I have to do it, I might as well make the most of it and have at least a little fun with it, if that’s the right word. Southern Witchcrafts Druantia is a nice shave soap, with cedar, sandalwood and citrusy notes; I prefer it to the Valley of Ashes formula. (Even though Druantia was basically invented by Robert Graves, who was a poet rather than a historian or anthropologist…) After testing with the LESSN bar again, I think this stuff does work about equally well; the disappointment I had in shave closeness and skin feel the next day was more likely due to needing to change my razor cartridge instead. (I used to be really lax about that, when I kept the goatee. Gotta be more proactive.) I’d originally been planning to go through the SW samples one at a time first and then use the Midnight Dreary, but I think I’m just going to try them all and maybe order some others and just indulge my curiosity.