Grinds My Gears: the Non-Automotive Edition

Hi! Many of you may be aware of the wildly popular “Official: You know what really grinds my gears?” thread started by our very own Storm Trooper @FN2187. This morning I posted to that thread, only noticing afterwards that it was in the “General 4 Runner Talk” forum. As my post wasn’t car-related, let alone 4Runner related, I decided it was inappropriate to post my little gripe there. But then, after considering what a bunch of whiners we all are, it occurred to me that there might be a need for a place for us all to vent our collective spleen on topics non-car related. So come one, come all! Step right up to the microphone and be heard! I’ll go first:

Okay. Today I threw away around 180 brand new razor blades. It’s killing me.

When it comes to shaving I’m a double-edge guy. My beard laughs at most razor blades, and can only be tamed by the sharpest of them. I use Feather blades. They are Japanese and will cut you if you just look at them funny.

One day I came across a deal on the them – a good price on 200 blades. I did some math to find out if, actuarily speaking, I’d likely live long enough to use 200 blades. Satisfied and somewhat relieved by my calculations I made the purchase.

The package was delivered on a hot summer day while I was working in the garage. I accepted the package and put it on the work bench where it sat for a couple of weeks. A couple of hot weeks. Feather razor blades come in plastic boxes of 10 each. They are conveniently dispensed through a slit in one side of the box and are individually wrapped in wax paper.

Apparently, in the heat of the garage, the wax paper became hot enough to melt and glue itself to the razor blades. And for some time thereafter, when changing razor blades I would struggle to remove the paper from the new blade, often cutting a fingertip or two in the process, and always cursing myself.

Finally I had had enough and bought some new blades. I didn’t buy Feather blades because - well - I already had 180 of them, useless as they might be. So I bought a different brand. Zomchi. Made in Japan. Land of Hattori Honzo and the Samurai sword. So they must be as sharp as the Feather blades, right? Nope. New out of the box they were duller than the Feather blades that I considered used up. So I dumped those and bought some new, unmelted Feather blades and all is right with the world again. Except for the extra wear on my well ground gears.

Fun Fact!

For you youngins out there, medicine cabinets sometimes came with a mysterious slot in the back. The intended purpose of the slot was as a place to conveniently dispose of used but still dangerous double-edge razor blades. When acquainted with this bit of trivia my wife and daughters were delighted and disgusted.

 

not going to lie, that made me laugh

 

“Grinds my Gears” and “Non-Automotive” are mutually exclusive. That pisses me off.

 

Sing it, brother! Let it out!

 

Know what grinds my gears? Being called a whiner when I am, in fact, a wiener!

 

There’s no rule saying you can’t be both.

 

I am not a "youngin" as you described, but I am also not familiar with that "mysterious slot". I don't recall ever having seen something like that. So how the hell do you then recover the razor blades from out of there for disposal???

 

That must be the “pour your used motor oil into a cylindrical gravel hole” of home design.

You just buy a new home!

 

Putting the used blades in the slot is disposal. Don’t get mad at me. I didn’t invent the idea. When we moved into our house (a late 1950’s ranch style) we did a little R&R. I removed the medicine cabinet from the wall to repaint it. Lo and behold, there were a few dozen used blades in the wall..since then I’ve known to look for the slots and I’ve seen versions where a small image of a double edge blade was stamped into the steel above the slot. Back in the heyday of the double edge blade disposing of one’s blades within the walls of the house was a popular practice.

 

WTF so like they just stayed trapped inside the wall forever? Sheesh….. Crazy.

 

I know!

 

Love the compliment sandwich. You start with a plug of the original thread and all its goodness, then tell me I'm a dumbass for posting it in the wrong thread, then call us all a bunch of whiners, then... well I guess it's an open faced sandwich.

We are finishing up renovations at the moment and had medicine cabinets that were removed. Unfortunately we didn't have the razor slot machine mentioned in your post, but interesting none the less. I love history, and how we used to just dump sharp objects covered in (probably) moist/wet biological material into the empty cavity of the walls of the house without care. That's the kind of stuff that starts "The Last of Us"

 

No no. I was the dumbass. Hence this topic. So stop your whining.

Perhaps the medicine cabinets you removed during your renovation were first installed after the popularity of double edged blades had begun to wane.

Stop reading now: I warned you.
King C. Gillette (mostly) invented the disposable razor blade, which was a huge step forward in shaving. Before that mostly straight razors were used. They were difficult to keep sharp, so much so that straight razors were often sold in sets of 5 or 7, and the whole set was sent out once a week to be professionally sharpened. This lack of convenience, and the improved shaving experience provided by the so-called safety razor, helped the double edged blade to dominate for half a century. The advent of the Schick Injector blade was a further improvement, removing the need to ever touch a blade with one’s hands. But the spent injector blades didn’t fit into the slot. Following up the Injector razors were plastic disposable razors. Which also didn’t fit into the slot. So — no slots.

In my experience the double edged blade still reigns supreme. Twin blades (or however many - is it 5 now?) just clog up with whiskers and stop cutting, requiring multiple passes with frequent rinsing. A single blade is best. One pass and you’re good. Maybe two passes if kissing is anticipated. And the blades are cheap. A better shave for less money. The more you know…

 

I was raised a carpenter in a small town with mostly older homes and farm houses. The razor blade slots were very common. They were also somewhat more safe than any other form of disposal. I’ve torn out dozens of walls with them in there. Seeing the slot and knowing they were there, you just used a magnet to gather them up and put them in a coffee can. Remember coffee cans? The disposal of all sorts of somewhat dangerous things was much different back then. My dad would be 104 this year and he would dispose of old ammo by throwing it in the creek. And so would everyone else. So we live and learn. At least some of us do.