Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

Last weekend when I was searching for replacement parts for my electric shaver I found an interesting alternative to replacing some of the bits: a whole new shaver for $20! That was less than half the $47 for the replacement bits, let alone the $125 cost of buying a whole new shaver in a 12 year old design. (The more modern ones cost even more.) And, to boot, this shaver is small, a good size for travel.



How small is small? Well, you can see it above in my hand. It's, like, barely 3 inches tall and less than 3/4 inch thick. It's not just American small, it's Japanese small. It's actually imported from Japan with most of the packaging printed in Japanese.

Obviously I bought one. I mean, it's obvious because I'm holding it. 😅 I figured, "Hey, for $20 I'll try it." If the replacement screen and blades I bought don't improve my 10 year old shaver, I could switch to this until I'm ready to invest in another more-expensive shaver. And this could be a good travel shaver. I could leave it in my bag so I don't have to remember to pack my shaver when I travel.

Why have a second shaver just for travel? Because having two sets of things is a technique that makes frequent travel easy. For years I've had two sets of my regular toiletries: hair brush, hair products, toothbrush, toothpaste. I keep the travel set with my bag. It's way easier than having to grab all sorts of things from the bathroom every time. I've never had two shavers, though. The main reason is I never wanted to spend another $75, $125, or more. But for $20? I'll try it.

How is it? I tried my first shave with it today. It shaves reasonably close when I have a light stubble. It's definitely good for everyday shaving or for fixing a 5 o'clock shadow. Reviews online said it's not so good with longer stubble. Maybe I'll give that a try this weekend. And there's no whisker trimmer on it, so it's not good for keeping sideburns sharp. That alone limits its use to maybe at most a 2-night trip for me. But like I said, I'll try it out. Worst case I'm out $20 plus tax.

I'm going bald. That was a startling realization I had at the tender age of just 23. Hawk and I had been to the beach the day before, and as I was looking in the bathroom mirror to apply lotion to my face I realized that I had sunburn on my forehead in places where I didn't even know I had forehead!

The basic statistics of baldness— the fact that 70% of men, and even 25% of women[1], eventually experience significant hair loss— didn't comfort me. The key word is eventually. There I was, at not even a quarter century old, feeling like I was already marching to the grave. At age 23 was it already "Game over" and "Time to die"?!? 😰💀🤯

Over the years since then I've watched my forehead grow gradually more exposed. Fortunately it has been a slow process; I didn't go bald in 5-10 years, or anything like that. But a lot of years have passed since then. And starting 7-8 years back I noticed I was also developing male pattern baldness, with my hair thinning in a patch on the back of my head.

Well, I don't have a picture showing my receding hair at age 23 [2], nor do I have a picture of the thinning area in back 7-8 years ago (though seeing it in video someone recorded is how I first noticed) but I do have a picture of the current state:



I took this selfie yesterday. You can see that I've still got a hairline on my forehead. Even after many years it hasn't crept over the top and down my back! (Yet.) And that balding spot in the back has gotten thinner.

In pictures like this, where there's brighter light above my head, it almost looks like I'm bald on top and combing hair sideways over it. I am not combing my hair sideways. I swore that to myself at age 23 lo these many years ago, and I intend to keep that promise. There's still hair on top, no bald spot, just a thinning spot. When I go bald up there I will shave it all off rather than comb the last 3 hairs sideways.

Update: More thoughts in Part 2.

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[1] At the time I'd read that hair loss affected 25% of women. A search today finds figures of 40-60% from reputable sources depending on definitions.

[2] Actually I do have a photograph of me showing my receding hairline at age 23, but it's in a box of prints from years ago that I don't feel like digging out.

A minor kerfuffle erupted on social media last week when a few Hollywood celebrities wrote that they don't shower/bathe themselves or their children every day. Reactions ranged from, "That's disgusting!" to "This is wealthy people showing their un-self-conscious privilege by conspicuously eschewing a luxury [the ability to take a shower, apparently] that not all of us have," to, "Well, that's actually okay and appropriate." ...The latter being said by medical clinicians who wandered into the fray.

I'm with the latter group. I don't shower every day.

No, I don't reject grooming as some kind of bizarre fashion statement.

No, I'm not trying to flex on people who don't have running water. (How many people who lack running water have computers or smartphones and Internet connections and use them to follow Hollywood celebrities on Twitter, anyway?)

I'm simply in the category of not needing to shower every day and choosing not to do it out of social pressure.

I don't need to shower every day because I don't get that dirty. I have a desk job and I work from home. I don't get dirty or even break a sweat at that. I have air conditioning, so even when it's hot out in the summer I can minimize sweating indoors. Understand this doesn't mean I shower once a week or something ridiculous like that. I'm just saying that when I choose to skip showering once or twice a week I'm not a disgusting mess.

Sometimes, of course, I do something sweaty or dirty. I hike on a dirt trail. I swim in the pool (which gets chlorine all over me). I travel on an airplane— which leaves a smell in my hair and who-knows-what on my skin. In these cases I generally take a shower that day. See, that's the flip side of being free of the tyranny of I-must-shower-every-morning. I clean when I'm dirty, even if it means taking a shower in the afternoon or evening.

Keep reading: ...And I Don't Always Use Soap, Either!