–Pulled the door off the Jenn Air oven so we could pull it out and replace the microwave with the new Panasonic. Messed up the hinges (again). Spent a long time figuring them out, but by then they were toast. Really poor design and cheap construction.
–Took a shower. Tried the Wolfman razor again, and again it seemed rough and harsh. Put the blade in the Paradigm 17-4 and got a nice shave. Now I have several Wolfmen to sell.
–Grace fell in the swimming pool.
–Made turkey burgers for dinner.
–Got 13 sesame bagels at Noah’s.
–Went for a quick, windy bike ride. AQI is 1 today.
–Went to Bel Air for meat, eggs, peanut butter, dessert, etc.
–Polished razor caps. Re-learning from 7-8 years ago (with knife sharpening) that one of the hardest aspects of polishing at this level is seeing. There was cloudiness on the Paradigm 17-4 that I worked on for a long time. Not sure I got rid of it–just got tired of trying to find the exact light/angle/distance at which I could see it.
–Ordered Sweet Maria’s caf and decaf beans.
–Jurgen Hempel Torpedo razor handle came in. Looks nice, but like the UFO handle, doesn’t really complement any of my razors. Hmm…
–Re: lion’s head engraving on Wolfman razor. Seller hasn’t responded to questions; just sent an email to Wolfman himself, but not really expecting an answer. Internet search finds ONE other engraving on a Wolfman: a “backwards” Army flag (i.e., a U.S. flag as it would look on a pole being carried by someone marching into battle). So, I’m pretty sure the lion is a custom request, and the guy I bought it from was not the first owner, and has no clue what it means.
–Went to the Folsom farmers market for mandarins and radishes. Saw some giant cauliflowers.
–Got a pole for the Wall Whale at Callen Pool. Works fine.
–Took a shower. Paradigm razor worked as advertised. Very smooth, one tiny weeper that healed itself before the shave was done (Wilkinson blade on its second use).
–Finally got the refund from eBay for the dud Contax N Digital
–1969 Gillette Black Beauty came in. Cleaned it up with some effort, popped the end cap and put some mineral oil in–that was the only way to stop a persistent squeak. Nice now.
–Paradigm razor came in from Australia (no maker’s marks), as did Blackland SB base plate (irrelevant, as I just ordered a titanium version). Did some polishing to the cap. That 17-4 stainless is indeed hard. Made good progress though starting with the soft felt wheel.
–Canon 1D X II came in. Already looking to replace it with a Sony. It weighs a ton, has a zillion buttons, two zillion submenus, and incredibly cumbersome focus magnification (LED screen only). Yuk.
–Neither USPS nor FedEx delivered today as they had promised.
–Borealis Estoril bezel finally came in from Portugal. Fortunately, bezel and insert were separate, so no risk of breaking insert when installing. Looks good.
–Accessories came in for the non-working Contax N Digital. Unbelievably complete set: manuals in German and English, two European plugs, AC adapter, CD, etc. After checking some stuff in the manual, I got EVERYTHING to work: jpg/raw, sensor cleaning, etc. It writes a file to the memory card (jpeg or raw), but the image is black. Really hoping I can find another N Digital with a good sensor and build one good camera. P.S. The camera failed quickly and totally with new Duracell Optimum batteries, then worked perfectly with freshly-charged NiMH 2700 mAh batteries–just like Eunjong Song said it would. Oh well…
© 2025 WSF Journal
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑