Shaving blog 2: Electric Boogaloo

 I wrote a blog on 25 Jan 2021 about my changing consumer behavior with regard to shave products. Yes, I know. That was pretty random, even for this blog. I switched brands of cartridge razor (That's what razors like Harry's, Gillette Fusion and the Dollar Shave Club razors are called), shave cream and after shave. Other than the razor itself, I went back to using the same kind of shave products that my grandfathers used. They all work remarkably well. Pics below.

 

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And now, I've upgraded the quality of my shave even further by embracing yet another of my grandfather's preferred products: a safety razor.

'But Publius, didn't you say in the last blog that you were happy with the Harry's razor that you bought to replace your Gillette Fusion?'

Yes, I did. That was before I decided to start researching other methods besides electric & razors with cartridge blades. And that Harry's razor will still be used in various capacities. If I need to travel by plane for some reason (as unlikely as that is these days), I'll be taking the Harry's & my electric razor. Both of those combined can give me a baby-butt smooth shave. However, it takes more work and causes a lot of redness and irritation on the skin of my neck.

This new safety razor that I just tried gave me a completely different experience. I didn't bother to use the Lectric Shave and my electric razor first, like I do with the cartridge razor. I just wet my face with a towel, lathered up with Barbasol and put this new blade to work. There was virtually no learning curve. I just had to remember to angle the razor a little more than usual so the blade would catch the whiskers. Not only did this safety razor give me that baby-butt smooth shave that every man craves, it did so with comfort and ease. I could barely feel the razor working its magic on the 24-48 hours' worth of stubble on my visage. When I was done, there was also ZERO redness and irritation. So, yes, we have yet another winner.

The safety razor that I purchased. 
I am not putting the 'we have a winner'
graphic on this stock photo.

The razor that I bought cost me $28.88 from Amazon. I picked up a 100 count box of blades that got great reviews for $11.77. The brand is owned by a company in India and the blades were made in Turkey with Swedish Steel and German machinery for extreme precision. Globalization at work. At least this particular product didn't come from Communist China. :P

For this first shave, I used the sample blade that came with the razor. The box of blades that I bought are a different brand and may work better or worse. I'm not concerned either way. At that price, I would only be out about 12 cents per blade. I don't mind experimenting until I find what's right for me. I've even identified another brand that I might try in the future. That 100 count box would be a little more expensive at $14.95, but it gets rave reviews. (Other retailers besides Amazon might have better prices.) That brand was also the company that introduced safety razors to the USA over a century ago. However, it seems they're making the blades in Germany now. Damned Globalization!!! At least they are still being made somewhere in the (semi) Free World...

The box of blades that I bought...

The safety razor works soooooo much better than any cartridge razor with a lot more speed and comfort and at a much lower price per blade. I really should have done this years ago. And I could have done this a long time ago too. I went looking through my bathroom cabinet and discovered some old shaving supplies that actually did belong to one of my grandfathers: 2 old safety razors with the butterfly door design (both of which are functional, but need some cleaning and mild restoration work) and a cup & brush for traditional shave soap. I'm not sure if the brush is still usable. However, I did clean out the cup and now put the Barbasol cream that I use during a shave in there. And that cup has the Old Spice logo on it too. I really have turned into my grandfather here... And I'm only 39 years old... Lolz.

Either way, the days of me paying exorbitant prices for inferior cartridge razors are OVER.

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Okay... I have worn out the first blade now. It worked quite well. The Parker blades also work quite well, with very little difference in performance. I'm still getting a baby-butt smooth shave every time with little or no skin irritation. Where once shaving was just another grooming chore like brushing teeth, now it's actually enjoyable. At least something these days is turning out right. School has become a drag. My old desktop died and I bought a new one this weekend. (The old one will be repaired and repurposed as one of several different things I am considering right now.) Then there's also everything you see in the news as of late, which is beyond being 'mentally exhausting' at this point. Oh, well. The world maybe running as fast as Usain Bolt down the road to Perdition, but at least I can get a good quality shave.

- Lord Publius

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Sometimes, Life forces you to make tough decisions. However, that can be ameliorated with some judicious use of logical deduction... And just some of my own preferences in life. I will use a few memes to demonstrate.

1.) Decisions related to Consumer Behavior in various industries...

Not the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make...

Believe it or not, I don't have any difficulty in deciding between these choices.

With the rifles, I'll choose the AR-15. Being ex-military, I'm already quite familiar with it's military cousin, the M-16 Series. So, I know exactly what I'm getting into with that weapon system. Also, if at all possible, I don't want to use Communist made shit in ANY kind of product, especially my rifles. That 'Made in China' quality is not acceptable with ANY product, least of all the tool that I use to protect my Liberty. Also, this is a bit of a Hobson's choice because I don't want either of these two for my rifle. I want an M-1 Garand instead. If that 'greatest implement of battle ever devised' was good enough to enable my grandfather's generation to smash the Axis powers to rubble, then it's good enough for me too.

PICTURED: A rifle built for a MAN.

With the hand guns, I'm going with the All-American classic that is the 1911. It is the best handgun that anyone has ever invented. That Glock is made of plastic, uses inferior metric rounds and doesn't have a hammer. I don't like that at all. My weapons should be made of metal with wood furniture for the parts that a shooter will handle. Also, for the shooters that keep trying to defend Glock to more old-school, traditional shooters like me...

Just because something is old does NOT mean
that you should throw it away.

Also, about those metric rounds that Glock seems to insist on using...

Metric can be useful, but I don't like it in my weapons and ammunition.

And for those anti-gun shitbags that are only free because of people like me making that happen...

Yep...

As for the pickup trucks... I'm a Chevy man. However, I don't mind a Ford, if it's a good product. Some Fords in recent years have had some rather horrifying design flaws. For example, the 5.4 liter 3-valve Triton V8 used in the 2004-2008 model F-Series trucks. They had these weird spark plugs that broke easily and required some strange tools to remove them when/if they broke inside the engine block. The aftermarket already solved that problem, but it's weird that Ford did that at all. Also, that Triton motor was VERY easy to clog up with sludge if you didn't change the oil on a regular basis. When/if that happens, the only remedy to the problem is to either rebuild or replace the engine. Both options will cost you the same and it will NOT be cheap.

Please don't interpret this to mean that I believe Chevy to be perfect. Nothing made by the hands of man will ever be 100% perfect. However, of all the trucks I've driven (and there have been a LOT of them), GM's product is the all-around best. And yes, I have driven a few Japanese trucks from Toyota and rode in at least 2 Nissan trucks. I was NOT impressed with them. I'm also not interested in depending on foreigners for my transportation and my ability to use my right to travel. (Especially if it's a country that we nuked twice just to get them to surrender and end a world war...)

Also, for the purposes of full disclosure, I am not driving a truck right now. The truck I once had was rear-ended/wrecked back in 2018 and replaced with a gently used Chevrolet Impala. It was the best vehicle that I could afford at the time. I tend to prefer cars anyway. Trucks are for working men. I haven't had a blue-collar job in a long time.

America, Fuck Yeah! :P

As for the soda... I could go either way, but I like Coke better. Pepsi is just kinda boring by comparison. However, both of them are inferior to my all-time favorite soda: Barq's Root Beer in the glass bottle. And yes, being in the glass bottle does make it taste better. I don't know how, but it does.

Champipple was a running joke on the classic sitcom Sanford & Son.

2.) Decision for what to wish for from a Genie, I guess?

I'm going with the groceries on this one. That would save me up to $200 a month or more, depending on if I have to buy expensive stuff for holiday meals. No, I'm not eating too much. Grocery prices are just insanely high.

The free gas wouldn't mean much since I'm hardly driving anywhere during this pandemic bullshit. My dog died back in 2016. (RIP Dixie.) And as for the chick with the big ass... Well, I don't know anything about her as a person. Do I really want to be shacking up with her? 

Speaking of making love to beautiful women, that leads us to our next meme presenting a philosophical quandary...

3.) Which of these fantasy women would you date?

As far as tough choices go, these are at least really easy on the eyes...

Some guys would never be able to make this choice. Some would also be a smart ass and try to say ALL of them. However, I doubt any of these women would be the sharing type.

As for me, well, it's just an intellectual exercise/mental masturbation session. I'm not likely to ever meet any of these women, let alone seduce them into loving me. Also, I tend to prefer brunettes and redheads. That being said, we're just going to assume for the sake of this shitpost blog that I did have a serious interest in these ladies and a chance at wooing them. Which would I choose?

First, let's identify these women. A is the movie star Scarlett Johansson. B is a supermodel/actress named Charlotte McKinney. C is another (now retired) supermodel named Kate Upton. D is another Hollywood actress named Kaley Cuoco. All of the links in the last few sentences are to IMDB profiles that should be safe for work. I will be referring to these ladies by their letter designation's in the photo because it's quicker and easier.

D is not up for consideration because she's married. She also admits to being a feminist so, that would remove her from consideration even if she was single. 3rd Wave Feminism is VERY unattractive. Why? Because the 3rd wave is essentially just a form of misandry and thus, morally wrong.

C is also married and recently had a baby with her husband. Therefore, she is also not up for consideration. She's about as 'off the market' as a woman can get. Her husband is a VERY lucky man.

A is twice divorced, now married for a third time and has a child from that second marriage. So, she's also not up for consideration due to being off the proverbial market. Even if she were single, I doubt I would want to marry her. Being twice divorced is a bit of a red flag. I'm also not interested in raising other people's children. Generally speaking, it doesn't seem to work out well and I have strongly advised men NOT to do that in a past blog post. 

So, that means B wins by default. That being said, she probably still would have won, even if all three of the others were single. The only 'flaw' that I know of with that particular woman is that she suffers from dyslexia. This caused her to drop out of high school at 17, meaning that she has some glaring deficiencies in her education. However, I would be more than happy to help correct that issue. Spreading knowledge is one of the things that I do best. 

- Lord Publius

Random blog post on Shaving...

It's been getting more and more difficult for a man to get a good shave in the last year. 

While watching an ASMR video where the video creator is pretending to give me a shave and a haircut, I suddenly remembered that I needed to get some new shave cream/gel/soap/whatever. The cheap generic Edge knockoff that I get from Dollar Tree is no longer acceptable. Why? Because I saw the words 'Made In China' on the can's label a few days ago. I am making it a point NOT to buy anything made in China, if it can possibly be helped. I don't want to put money into the pockets of evil Communist slave drivers with a penchant for genocide. Also, it's not doing a good job with helping the razor glide across my face anymore, which means that it has that typical 'Made in China' quality. UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Anyway...

First, there was Gillette insulting all of their male customers in January of 2020 with that stupid ad accusing us all of 'toxic masculinity'. That caused millions of men (myself included) to switch brands and make them lose 8 BILLION DOLLARS in a single month. (I'm pretty sure this is also when most folks first heard the phrase 'Get Woke, Go Broke'.) And now, there's this shit with my shave gel... Whisky Tango Foxtrot?

I tried several different options while continuing to use up all the Gillette Fusion razors that I had in stock. (Those things are freakin' expensive!) I was going to try Dollar Shave Club, but then I found out they supported that terror group Black Lives Matter. So, fuck them. They don't deserve my business, either. If you plan to sell me something, keep your shit opinions on social issues to yourself.

So, I decided to take a chance on a brand called Harry's, which had been getting a lot of good reviews and press coverage online. (Not to mention sponsoring numerous YouTube personalities...) 

Damned good razor system.
Haven't tried the shave gel, though.

I discovered that they worked just as well as the Gillette Fusion razors that I'd been using since 2009, if not better. They also cost half as much. And they're made in Germany instead of some Communist shithole. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner.

As for the recent need to get a new brand of shaving cream/gel/soap/whatever, I had to do a quick web search to confirm a vague memory. I remember seeing cans of the classic Barbasol brand of shaving cream in the local Dollar Tree. I'm also pretty sure I remembered seeing 'Made in the USA' on the can. Well, according to their website, it looks like that was correct. 

The American Classic

Looks like Barbasol also has their own razor blade system, but I don't need that stuff. I like the Harry's blades and the lower costs associated with that brand of razor. It's been a long time since I used shaving cream instead of gel. However, I do like the idea of an American classic still made here in America that I can get for a single dollar from Dollar Tree. I'll give them a shot. Also, why have I not tried them before? They need to hire new people for their marketing department... 

While out running errands on January 17th, I stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up some supplies, including the can of Barbasol. I saw the same brand of knockoff Edge gel. This time though, the can said 'Made In Turkey' on the label. I guess this brand got a LOT of negative feedback about their product being made in a Commie shithole. Not particularly interested in doing business with a country led by a snake-in-the-grass bastard like Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, though. 

Also saw that the cheap brand of Aftershave that I once tried from this store is now blue instead of green and using a different bottle. However, it's still made in Communist China. Therefore, I still need to get myself a new brand. Barbasol does have an Aftershave of their own. I wonder if it's any good...

Anyway, I bought several more shaving products to test. All are American-made, considered classics now and inexpensive compared to their competition. There's 2 forms of after shave, Aqua Velva and Skin Bracer. Also picked up some Lectric Shave to help make things easier for my electric razor. Using that in conjunction with the manual razor helps keep my blades lasting longer.

Will these products make the grade?

RESULTS

I tried the Barbasol when shaving in the shower on the morning of January 20th. The razor glide was incredibly smooth. My face was as smooth as a baby's bottom with very little need to go back over various areas. My face stayed smooth all day and well into the night. We have a winner.

Why have I not tried this amazing product before?

The second time that I used Barbasol for my shave, my face was dry. So, the skin was not as relaxed/moisturized as when I'm in the shower. The blade didn't glide quite as easily as it did the first time. However, it was still a LOT easier than any other shave product that I can remember using at any time in my life. I also used a lot less of the product than I typically would with the gel. It also takes a lot more time for the whiskers to grow back too. Looks like I can now go for more than 3 days without having to shave, just to get rid of a lot of itchy stubble. So, Barbasol is saving me money by both being cheaper and by needing a lot less of it to get the job done. Why did I not try this product 20+ years ago when I first started shaving my face? I can only imagine how much money I could have saved myself...

Anyway, I was so happy with the product that I picked up a 2nd, larger can that day, along with the previously mentioned pre-shave and after-shave stuff.

As for the after shave and Lectric Shave...

Shaving with the Lectric Shave actually did make the electric razor glide over my face a LOT easier. The closeness of the shave was slightly better too. It also prevented the redness and irritation that often happens to my poor neck after using that electric razor, even with the brand new blades that I just installed a few days ago.

The two different brands of aftershave both worked well with regard to tightening the pores of my skin. Both of them smelled nice to me. The smell of the Skin Bracer was not quite as strong as I remembered from childhood when my grandfather used that product. I've also heard that the formula has been altered and that it's not as potent now. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the stuff serves its purpose and at a low price. 

The smell of the Aqua Velva was slightly stronger and I think I like that one better. It's also more noticeable to me after putting it on my face. I think I'll save the Aqua Velva for special occasions and when stepping out on the town. And since virtually EVERYTHING is still shut down because of the Commie Cough, that means that I might not be using much of that product in the foreseeable future. Not sure how I feel about that one.

All of them turned out to be good.

It's amazing... Products that have been around for over a century, are made in America and all dirt cheap... And only now am I coming around to using them. How did that happen? I know why I started using the Edge gel when I was a teenager. That's what my father used. It worked well for years. Then, I started using a generic equivalent because I like being cheap. And now, continuing to be cheap, I am using products that are now marginalized as 'old man's aftershave' or something similar. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. My grandfather's generation survived the Great Depression and World War Two. They made America the Super Power it is now. Clearly, they did a lot of things right. We shouldn't be so quick to dismiss things that are associated with them and their time.

Furthermore, when I picked up the aftershave products from a local Wal-Mart on the 20th, there was a 7 oz. can of the shaving gel that Harry's (the company that makes my razors) wants to sell. That can sold for six bucks. A 5 oz. can of Barbasol sells for ONE Dollar in any store across America. And the 10 oz. can of Barbasol on that same Wal-Mart shelf was $1.47. Not hard to guess why I'm going cheap on this product, huh? The fact that this product is American made and FAR more effective than everything else tried is a really nice bonus.

Barbasol, Skin Bracer, Aqua Velva & Lectric Shave really should advertise more. Preferably with a more effective kind of ad that the current generation of young men might actually see, like sponsoring Youtubers. That's how I first heard about Harry's razors. It would also be a welcome change from constantly seeing these Youtubers being sponsored almost exclusively by that cell phone game RAID: Shadow Legends.

- Lord Publius

Good (and often harsh) advice for men living in today's world...

This one is going to be VERY blunt. These pieces of advice will be posted in no particular order. Many of them will deal with the fairer sex. They are not always going to be nice. Women will hate them, but I don't care. If some members of the sisterhood hadn't been misbehaving, I wouldn't have to give men the kind of advice about them listed below. 

Clark Gable didn't put up with any THOT bullshit.

I take no pleasure in having to write any of these things. It saddens me that the world has devolved to this point. As I wrote this, I was reminded of an observation that an old female friend once made about me 'wanting to marry someone like Donna Reed.' The name was familiar, but I couldn't place it at the time. I looked up that name later and discovered that she was the actress that portrayed George Bailey's wife in the Frank Capra classic 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

My friend was talking about the character rather than the actual person, but the message was clear. She thought I wanted a doting housewife. That's not 100% accurate. Like every man, I would definitely want a woman that was as loving and loyal as that character was, but I don't expect her to be a housewife. Even if I were a multi-millionaire, I wouldn't ask her to be a homemaker against her will. Some people derive a lot of satisfaction from having a job they enjoy. However, that is beyond the scope of today's blog topic. I'm also not interested in discussing my personal life.

Not all of the following advice is from my own experience. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of other men. I am well known for being a wise man. Much of what you'll read here is based on what I have seen happening to friends, family, co-workers, business partners and just about anyone else I've ever met. And that actually leads us into the first piece of advice...

0.) Be observant of what goes on around you.

The best way to avoid making mistakes is to watch what others do and learn from the mistakes they have made. That is also one of the secrets behind my genius. People think it's the Asperger's or the high I.Q., but that isn't the case. There's lots of Aspies and High I.Q. people that are complete dumbasses. For example, Leftist college professors.

If not for skills training & research projects,
most colleges & universities would be utterly worthless.

1.) Don't let people make their problems your problem. You can't fix other people.

Self-explanatory.

2.) JOB = Just Over Broke. Sooner or later (preferably sooner), entrepreneurship of some kind should be in your future. 

Even if it's just selling old junk on eBay, that is still extra cash in your pocket. I am looking into doing this right now. I've got all kinds of old stuff I'd like to unload.

I'll never do this again.

3.) THINK BIG.

Because even in these tough times, America is too big for small dreams.

I think Elon Musk is a little nuts, but you can't argue with his success.

4.) Don't waste time on (or get into long-term relationships) with attention-seeking women.

You'll never be able to give them enough. They will eventually look for that attention elsewhere. Then, you'll have to deal with a bad break-up, divorce, custody battles and many other horrors. It's best to not even start that dreadful process with these nutcases.

If you take nothing else away from this blog,
be sure to remember this one important point.

5.) There are no short cuts in life. So work smart or you will work hard. There are no other options.

Self-explanatory.

6.) Stop ignoring red flags in life, especially with women and your health.

Self-explanatory. 

Seriously though, if you notice small problems with people in your life (especially wives and girlfriends), investigate that ASAP. You may find a few much larger issues that will make you want to get away from her. It's important to catch those things early before wedding rings and children get involved. Keeping that in mind may have saved my life in more ways than I know...

What the Hell was I thinking
with some of them hoes?

7.) Avoid women with Daddy Issues, especially strippers & single moms.

Women that take their clothes off for a living are just a few short steps away from some form of prostitution and/or sexual exploitation. You don't need that mess in your life.

Be gone, THOT!!!

As for single mothers... Well, just remember that she is SINGLE. Why did a man give her a baby and then leave her? Maybe the guy was an asshole that didn't care about taking care of his responsibilities in life. Maybe that poor gal was a rape victim. If so, those women deserve pity and emotional support from a friend. Probably still not a good idea to date them, though. It's a virtual guarantee that they won't be right in the head. Most single moms had a very poor relationship with their father. That will carry over to virtually any other relationship that she has with a man. After all, women learn how to deal with men through their relationship with dear ol' Dad. If Dad failed them, they are virtually guaranteed to be damaged goods.

All this being said, you shouldn't immediately jump to conclusions. If that mother is single because of divorce, find out why she got divorced. The divorce may not be her fault. She might have divorced her ex-husband because he was unfaithful and/or abusive. In that case, she did the only thing that she could do. Those single mothers might be worth dating, if you want. Living in this sad, fallen world, I think we all know at least one woman who had to divorce a husband for being unfaithful, abusive or some other kind of bum. Don't be immediately dismissive and/or prejudicial against these women.

There's also a VERY good chance that she was both promiscuous and irresponsible. If that's the case, then she is NOT the one you want. Broads that spent time riding the cock carousel can't wait to find a way to get back on it again... Assuming that it's still safe for her to do so... And that they even care about their health or the health of their partners...

RUN AWAY from this, gentlemen.

If that kid exists for other reasons (especially divorce), then you probably need to RUN AWAY as fast as you can. If the man that married them and gave them children couldn't stand to be around her anymore, chances are good you'll end up feeling the same way. That, or this woman is one of those predatory types that decided she was 'unhappy' with her marriage and then used the family court to take away everything in her ex-husband's life: money, house, car(s), businesses, even the right to see his own kids. I have seen this happen to some dear old friends and 1 or 2 family members. Don't put yourself through that mess. Avoid these women. No good will come from being associated with them.

Be gone, THOT!!!

Also, some women will try to trap a guy with an 'unplanned' pregnancy. That guy doesn't need to be you. I consider myself fortunate to have avoided these women. I refuse to conceive and/or have children out of wedlock. That's as embarrassing as it is careless and irresponsible. Like Don Corleone said in The Godfather, 'Women and children can be careless, but NOT men.' 

Hell, I once knew a chick that tried to trick a friend of mine into getting engaged when he was drunk. Yes, sadly, there are women out there that are this desperate and this much of a basket case. And yes, that friend of mine got rid of that girl very soon after this event.

Good advice that EVERY father
should give to their sons.

8.) Exercise. Use lots of weights in the routine. Optimize your endocrine system so you'll have strength well into your old age.

Self-explanatory. Also, see #6.

Running is good for cardio, but there are other ways of getting that kind of workout. If you suck at running, don't waste time doing it and hurt yourself. This one I did learn from my own experience. It made my time in the Army much worse than it would have otherwise been and was one of many reasons why I left. I loathe going for a run and refuse to do it ever again.

9.) Never allow the wife or the state to decide how things go in your married family life. 

Get air-tight pre-nups and keep control over your finances. Joint bank accounts are bullshit. Women can't be trusted in these areas. Don't believe me? Just look at the statistics for divorce, child custody and alimony payments. While not every woman looks to screw a guy over using the family courts, a staggering number of them do. Never assume that you know for certain that a woman wouldn't do that to you. As capricious as women can be sometimes, all of that could change in an instant. Oftentimes for seemingly no reason at all.

That, or the divorce lawyer might talk them into it so they can possibly increase their fee. Remember, ANY lawyer that doesn't work for you is a soulless bastard who is against you. Even if they do work for you, that lawyer is still likely to be a soulless bastard.

And apparently, at least a few of them are honest about it...

10.) Love people and use money. Never compromise or settle.

You'll always lose money chasing women. (Especially if that THOT is only interested in you because of your money.) You'll never lose women chasing excellence. Quality is always superior to quantity.

Yet another good reason why lottery winners need to be careful...

11.) Make Fuck YOU money and surround yourself with excellence.

There's 3 levels of money in the world:

Level 1 - Fuck Me money (i.e. 'Ah, fuck me, I gotta go work a crappy job to pay the bills.')

Level 2 - Fuck You money (i.e. You're financially secure, most likely your own boss and rarely need to care about anyone's opinions anymore.)

Level 3 - Fuck the World money (i.e. Folks with no major expenses anymore, multi-millionaires, billionaires, royalty, people with their own private planes and private islands.)

Level 3 may not be possible to attain. Level 2 is, if you're smart about managing your money. When you have this kind of money, the entire world is going to be kissing your ass trying to get you to part with that cash. Use that to your advantage to pick and choose who you have in your life. Rule of thumb should be that anyone who is only interested in you for your money should NOT be in your life.

And THOTs have NONE of these things. Don't waste time on them.

12.) Live a purposeful life by setting goals and achieving them.

For example, my immediate goals are finishing this second college degree that I'm working on right now and opening my own business. I am well on my way to accomplishing these goals, unless something truly catastrophic happens.

The long-term goals for the next few years are to wipe out what's left of my credit card debt (I got rid of half of it in the year 2020) and pay off my car. Those goals will be happening within 2 or 3 years, unless something truly catastrophic happens.

The life goals that take more than 2 or 3 years involve paying off my house and acquiring enough cash to retire. That will probably happen earlier than most folks because of the government checks I'll get for life as a disabled veteran. Once the house is paid for, that check should be more than enough to cover monthly living expenses. Good thing that check is in my life because I doubt that social security will exist by the time I turn 65. 

SMART Goals

13.) Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to date single mothers. 

Self-explanatory. Also, see Numbers 4, 6 & 7.

It's probably not even a good idea to have one for a 'friend with benefits', either. If you are going to do that, be sure to use protection. You don't want to be the father of her next 'unexpected but not unwelcome' child. Flush that protection down the toilet after you've 'done the deed' too. Some women take used rubbers and the seed they contain to get themselves pregnant. Single moms looking for a husband are prime candidates for that kind of horrid behavior. Don't take any unnecessary risks.

Are you sure that you want the kid
messing with your phone?

Also, make sure she understands that you're not interested in being a step dad to the children she already has, either. Trust me, it's more trouble than it's worth. More often than not, you'll be expected to be the kid's meal ticket, but you won't be allowed to assume the fatherly role and raise/discipline them. That's a pretty rotten deal.

14.) There will always be critics. Screw these haters. They are just jealous that you're doing better than them.

See #11 & 12.

Trust me, you won't have to try hard. :P

15.) As a man, you have 100% responsibility and often 0% authority. Whether it's your fault or not, you will still likely get the blame for other people's stupidity in life. Therefore, reduce your risk of this wherever possible.

It doesn't matter if they're co-workers/subordinates at work (especially stupid Privates in the military) or irresponsible women. (See #4, 6, 7 & 13) Therefore, be sure to surround yourself with people who will NOT cause you to be responsible for their misdeeds. If they're at an adult age, they should also be acting the part. It doesn't matter if they think you're being anti-social or an asshole. That's better than being stuck dealing with their bullshit. (See #1)

Yet another good reason why I left the Army...

16.) Give ZERO fucks to things/people that are not worthy of said fucks. What other people think is, in general, not your concern. 

See #14.

Me using math to explain the principle
of ZERO FUCKS to some people...
(2021, Colorized.)

17.) Go into things with a winner's mentality. Being unsure of yourself is a sure way to fail.

Self-explanatory. And don't let life distract you from your goals.

Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices in life
to accomplish your goals... ;)

18.) Be careful associating with women that have lots of tattoos. (Or tats that are difficult to cover up in public.)

There was a time when tattoos on women was considered low class and/or something only done by prostitutes, especially the lower back tattoo. (AKA Tramp Stamp or Slag Tag.) While tats have become a lot more fashionable since the 1990s, this old rule of thumb often still applies. She might have thought she was being rebellious by getting inked. Or, maybe she just thought it would look pretty, which is totally subjective. However, what is actual objective fact is that she was engaging in cliché behavior and probably making herself a friend to this fallen world. Be very careful here, gentlemen. This is definitely one of those red flags that were mentioned earlier.

Also, if you see a woman with the phrase 'follow your heart' tattooed anywhere on her body, walk away. That is a woman that makes decisions based on emotion rather than logic. Her decisions are likely to be very selfish and VERY harmful to herself and others. Avoid these people.

Just one of many fine pieces of good life advice that you'll find in Scripture.

19.) Have strict standards for people. If they don't meet them, don't associate with them. 

See #1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 & 18.

For the man who enjoys only the finest
(and often craziest) poontang in the world... ;)

20.) Never assume that any relationship will be perfect. They never are.

And don't assume that God brought them into your life for some reason. There's no way you can know if that's the case or not. Even if he did, it may not be for the reason you think. After all, he might have sent her your way just to show you what NOT to pursue in a mate. If God did send that little red-haired girl my way back in 2010-11, it might have been for this very reason. (And maybe a few others...)

Been there, done that, felt really foolish about it afterward...

21.) Remember the 3 F's: Feeding, Financing and Fooling around.

If someone doesn't feed you, finance you or fool around with you, their opinion most likely doesn't matter. Especially if it's a woman who doesn't like what she sees in this blog post. That is more than likely a woman you don't want to associate with anyway. (See #14 & 16.)

Following this advice may not get you many friends in life, but it will get you the right ones. That is what is most important. True happiness/satisfaction for men comes from a sense of accomplishment and success in pursuit of our goals, not necessarily from lots of interpersonal relationships. 

Best of luck to you, Gents. I hope this helps you out.

- Lord Publius

Game collecting misadventures in 2020

Because this is a yearly tradition in this blog...

Previous years

2018

2019

At the end of the game-collecting blog for 2019, I finished it by saying 'Bring on 2020.' For many reasons, including the most obvious one, I really shouldn't have said that... 2020 has sucked on virtually EVERY level imaginable. Yet, I came away from it with less debt, more money and a few interesting items for the game collection. Funny how all that works out...

The sad trend of most games acquired during the year being digital has continued. However, the items that I could get on physical media have been pretty damned good.

2 January 2020

Got yet another eShop gift card, like I seem to do in the first week of every year. Is this becoming a new tradition?

28 January 2020

Bought a digital title of the Switch from the eShop called Apocryph: an old-school shooter. It's supposed to be a tribute to 1990's era first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Unreal, Heretic, Hexen, etc.

9 February 2020

Acquired Hyperide Vector Raid from the Nintendo eShop on my Switch for 9 cents' worth of gold points. It was on sale at a DEEP discount. It's supposed to be inspired by River Raid. However, it was a 3D title and felt more like S.T.U.N. Runner, Jeff Minter's Polybius and a few other 3D shooters with the player's view being behind the ship. Not a bad game, just nothing like River Raid. Perhaps the ads for it should say that the programmer felt inspired after playing that classic title from 1982?

27 February 2020

Decided to spend some of the store credit that I had saved up on the Nintendo eShop. Got R-Type Dimensions EX, the SEGA AGES re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and yet another pinball game called Titans Pinball.

Titans Pinball was acquired for a mere 87 cents through a sale & using gold points.

The R-Type title is actually a compilation of the first 2 arcade titles in the series, with the ability to switch between the classic graphics and some nice updated ones on the fly. That's a really nice feature.

Screenshot from R-Type Dimensions EX in the enhanced graphics mode.

This latest re-release of Sonic 2 has the Split-screen 2 player mode from the original SEGA Genesis release restored (since many of the previous re-releases cut it out for some reason) and Knuckles as a playable character.

In all, I probably spent about $25 for 4 games. That's the most I have spent on games (so far) this year. And there's still enough left in the account right now to purchase the pending re-release of Doom 64 on March 20th. That title is only going to be five bucks!


20 March 2020

Got that re-release of Doom 64 for the Switch. So far, all the old codes from the N64 original still work. It's also fairly easy to adjust the screen brightness, which is a good thing since this game is really dark. I'm amazed at how good the game still is after all these years. Bethesda even did a good job with the controls. :)

Doom 64 logo

3 April 2020

Found out there was a sale on the Nintendo eShop and PlayStation Store today. Picked up a few things for my Switch since COVID-19 has made sure that I don't have much else to do right now. Those titles (and their prices) are as follows:

Arcade Archives: Elevator Action ($7.99. Wasn't on sale, but I do love arcade classics.)

Axiom Verge ($9.99)

Cosmonauta (9 cents)

Music Racer ($6.89)

I have also just noticed that I have only acquired 10 new games so far this year, all of them digital titles for the Switch. No thanks to COVID-19 and various other factors, I don't know when/if that is going to change. Also, all but one of today's purchases are platformers. That's an unexpected coincidence.

18 April 2020

I'm still stuck at home for this damned pandemic. However, that doesn't mean that game collecting has to come to a complete stop. Besides the digital games being downloaded from the Nintendo eShop and Steam, I can still get physical titles from Amazon, Wal-Mart and those other retailers that are still open.

So, I went through my want lists on Amazon and grabbed an old Atari Plug'N'Play that I didn't yet have for my collection and another gaming-related keychain. Pics and details below...

The last of the Flashback consoles that Atari made themselves.
All future installments in the series were made by AT Games.

The Flashback 2+ hardware is identical to the Flashback 2 in every way but one: Atari removed the mounting points on the motherboard for a cartridge connector. The Flashback 1 and 2 were made by a brilliant hardware engineer named Curt Vendel. In addition to cloning the original Atari 2600 hardware for the Flashback 2, he also included the mounting points on the motherboard for a cartridge input. He knew that there would be hackers that would want to add a port to play cartridges of 2600 titles that weren't included. However, Atari didn't like people messing with the hardware (and voiding warranties in the process) so, the Flashback 2+ model was released to stop that practice. Fortunately, I have 2 of that original Flashback 2 model and don't mind hacking one of them some day.

The included games are mostly the same ones. However, Pitfall!, River Raid, Wizard, Caverns of Mars, and Atari Climber (AKA Climber 5) have been removed. In exchange, a sports section was added that included the games Realsports Boxing, Realsports Soccer, Super Baseball, Super Football, and Double Dunk. I personally would have preferred to keep Pitfall!, River Raid and those 3 previously unreleased titles instead of some sports games that did NOT age well.

There are also now 3 hidden games on the Flashback 2+, as opposed to just the 2 that were on the Flashback 2 model. The third hidden game, Circus Atari, was added to the hidden menu that features the paddle-controller only games Warlords and Super Breakout. Neither the Flashback 2 or Flashback 2+ come with paddle controllers. So, these games can't be played unless the user has an original set of Atari 2600 paddle controllers. Thankfully, I have several working pairs of them. :)

To access the hidden paddle game menu, the user must press up on the joystick 1 time, pull down 9 times, push up 7 times, and pull down 2 times (this represents the year 1972, which is when Pong was first released). The code must be entered steadily and without pauses. Enter it too quickly and it won't work.

It lights up when you push the button... :)

I have several game-related keychains, all of which will be used for my future business: a combination of arcade & retro game store. The one pictured above will be used for the keys to the arcade and the coin-op machines inside. There are companies that make universal locks for arcade cabinets and I plan to use them since it will make operations that much more stream-lined.

I was a bit annoyed that the CR2032 that came with this keychain was dead on arrival, but it's not exactly hard to get more of them. That's probably the most common button cell battery on Earth. It's used for everything from PC Motherboards to old game cartridges to remote controls for my stereo and the HDMI switcher in my game room. The other keychains are mentioned/pictured in the game collecting blog post for 2018 on November 21st for that year. There's one of the Atari 2600, controller from the NES, PS1 & PS2. Those keychains will end up getting used for display cases in the retro game store.

22 April 2020

Got a book on the Atari Flashback delivered from Amazon today. Seems to be for the Flashback 8 series. I say 'series' because there's at least 3 different versions of that console. Different tiers/packages with different controllers, more or less games depending on the model, etc. It's kinda like buying a car instead of a game console. No wonder I stopped buying the Flashback after version 5. :P

List price is about $20. I got it for just under $7 before taxes & shipping costs.

3 May 2020

STILL trapped at home because of the Cantonese Coof. Picked up 3 games from the Nintendo eShop for next to nothing while they were on sale. They are as follows:

Arcade Archives: Double Dragon ($3.99)

Flashback: 25th Anniversary (99 cents)

Space Ribbon (49 cents)

I went to Steam to see what's on sale, but nothing on my list was currently for sale. Guess I'll hang on to the $27.53 in my account for now. I'll check back next week after my exams and the end of this current college semester.

Also, I beat Double Dragon on this same night. If I were pumping quarters into a machine, I probably would have spent at least 3 or 4 Dollars. That game was pretty tough.

9 May 2020

Got a game called Moto Rush GT, because it looked like a good racing game and was 90% off in an eShop sale. I bought it solely through using gold coins. Not bad, heh? Fortunately, it really is as fun as it looked. :)

While I was on the eShop, I got rid of a lot of things in my want list. There's no reason for me to get some of the old arcade classics that were in there when I already have various versions of these games on other systems. For example, an old 1984 Nintendo arcade title called Clu Clu Land. It's a puzzle title. I have the NES port on the eReader for the Game Boy Advance (Remember that thing?) and the NES port is so close to perfect that I can't tell the difference.

Also, I got a $50 eShop points card. So, I am now sitting at $92.49 for my account, including gold coins. I could go on a spending spree in the eShop right now, but I am feeling a bit hesitant. I have 31.4 GB left on the 128GB card that I installed into my Switch for file storage. Looks like I'll have to upgrade that MicroSD card yet again... Sure hope the prices have come down on them since I last bought one...

10 June 2020

Picked up 6 new digital games from the Switch eShop in the last 4 days, including 2 this morning. Less than $30 was spent for all of them. The two arcade archives releases were regular price, but the rest were all on sale and together were less than 10 bucks. They are as follows:

Arcade Archives: Double Dragon II - The Revenge

Arcade Archives: Excitebike

Biolab Wars

Missile Command: Recharged

Pinball Lockdown

They came from the Sky

Now down to $66.04 in cash and 254 gold coins for eShop funds. These digital titles are all pretty cheap, but I do miss getting physical media on a regular basis.

Also made room on my MicroSD card by moving all the old arcade and console classics to the internal memory of the Switch. Free space on the 128GB card has now gone up from 31.4GB to 44.6GB. I am still wondering why all these ports of classic arcade titles that were originally just a few dozen kilobytes are now all a minimum of 70MB in size. Did the software engineers have to incorporate an emulator into the game's code to get it to work with the modern Switch hardware?

13 June 2020

I was helping my brother to clean out an old storage container that belonged to our father today. Much to our surprise, there was a video game in there. It was a copy of Assassin's Creed for the PS3. It's complete with manual and the disc was flawless after I cleaned it off. The plastic in the case is a little cracked, but that's easily replaced. This will probably end up being a game that I re-sell in the retro game store that I plan to open someday. It's not worth a great deal of money, but SOMETHING has to fill up the shelves. :P.

I am kinda wondering why my Dad had a random PS3 game sitting in a brief case in that storage container, though...

My future store's common shelf for PS3 isn't going to fill itself...

26 June 2020

Recently ordered several game-related items from Amazon, just because I can. I got some of those 1-Up cards that are supposed to help clean cartridges. We'll see if they work as well as advertised. If they do, they'll probably end up saving me a small fortune in Q-Tips over time.

I got Wipeout Pure not just because it was on my want list, but because it was still factory sealed and selling for $1.50 w/ $4.50 Shipping & Handling. Considering that that my game price aggregator site says a still sealed copy normally goes for $10, I think I did well.

Also, I found a decent used-but-complete copy of Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions for the 3DS for only 4 bucks more than a loose card would cost. I've had some trouble trying to find that game out in the wild for the last 2 or 3 years and there's no digital version in the eShop. I'm actually amazed that I could still find a copy for a decent price. This game seems to be highly sought after and expensive. It also first released on 26 July 2011, when the 3DS was still new. This game is also the last one that was on my list for the 3DS as a physical release. I looked over the digital titles that were still on the list a few days ago and decided that they weren't worth my while. So, for now at least, it looks like my collecting for the 3DS is finished. It's pretty rare that I ever manage to do that with any system, let alone one that's so recent.

Also, I'd just like to say that it's great to be getting my hands on some physical media again. :)

Physical Media, FTW.

16 August 2020

Bought a few things from the Switch eShop. 2 classic arcade titles from the Arcade Archives series and 2 new tables for some of my Pinball games, which were on sale. They are as follows...

Digital Download games

Arcade Archives: BurgerTime

Arcade Archives: Super Punch-Out!!

Add-on DLC

The Pinball Arcade - Doctor Who: Master of Time

Stern Pinball Arcade: Ripley's Believe It or Not!

The summer was pretty dry as far as acquiring new games are concerned. Blame that on the pandemic, if you want. I'm expecting the same for the rest of this year. Black Friday and Christmas might bring about a few new interesting additions. However, it will be hard to top last year with the 2 arcade cabinets that I bought.

7 September 2020

Bought two games on sale from the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Awakening of Cthulhu

Rise: Race of the Future

I don't remember what I paid for them now, because this entry was written about 2 weeks after the fact. School has re-started and that is keeping me busy. However, I can say that both of these two titles were less than $20 combined.

22 September 2020

Helped my mother pick up a piece of furniture from a thrift/estate sale store today. I went through their media section and found a few items of interest, all for $5 total. The PS3 game is worth about that much right now. I can't find a price for the Need for Speed game (so far) and I'm not sure about the price for the Diablo game, either. The price I found seems to be for the big box version of this PC game, which is currently worth $24.46 when complete. Pic below...

PS3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Win9x PC

Diablo

Need for Speed High Stakes

Not bad for $5 at a thrift store...

2 October 2020

Bought some protective cases for my NES Classic Edition, SNES Classic Edition & SEGA Genesis Mini. Now, I can play them whenever I want without trying to fit them back in their original boxes, which tends to be a real pain. Pic below...

All of this was about $75,
including shipping & taxes from Amazon.

19 October 2020

Found out that SEGA was having a 60th anniversary celebration where they were giving away free games on Steam. I got Sonic 2 for free and paid the sale price of $1.35 (including tax) for Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I picked up Sonic 3 & Knuckles just because it's so hard to find a copy of that title on ANY platform as part of any collection these days. For whatever reason, SEGA just doesn't include them in any of their numerous home console retro compilations. I suspect it has something to do with the music royalties that would have to be paid out to several artists since their work was used/sampled in the soundtrack to Sonic 3, including the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. Yes, he was involved at one point.

Both play through a larger program that's supposed to play about 50 old Genesis games called SEGA Mega Drive & Genesis Classics. It's kinda like the Atari Vault program that I also have on Steam, except I have the option of picking and choosing which Genesis titles I want. I could have gotten them all for less than $10 through this sale, but I knew I wouldn't play them all. I generally don't like sports or RPG titles.

9 November 2020

Bought the new Super Mario 3D All-Stars, just to guarantee free shipping from Amazon while buying my nephew's Christmas present. It's nice to have a portable version of these 3 classic Mario games.

Also got Hotshot Racing from the eShop for the Switch, because I love racing games and it was on sale for $13.99.

17 November 2020

Got the new Game & Watch Nintendo released to honor the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. being released in 1985. As of November 25th, I am at World 8-4 with a fire flower. I have rarely ever done that before. Nice to know that my skills have not atrophied. This device also has the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 as well. That game is insanely hard, but I am up to World 3-1 in that game. That's the farthest I have ever gotten in that game.

So much joy (and frustration) in such a small package...

25 November 2020

Just spent several hundred Dollars on Christmas shopping for both myself and my family members. Half was spent on them, the other half on me. Most of the expenditures on me were on 4 different Switch games that I got from Wal-Mart for $30 or less per title. They are (with pics below) as follows:

Gear.Club Unlimited 2

Luigi's Mansion 3

Mega Man Zero / ZX Legacy Collection

Super Mario Maker 2

There would have been 2 more if not for them being sold out...

Also realized that I forgot to mention the 2 different Nintendo-themed Christmas ornaments that I bought last month. Pic below.

The NES console has sound effects from the first Super Mario Bros. game. So far, it's been a big hit with my relatives. The Zelda cart is also pretty heavy. I hope at least one of the branches on my fake plastic tree can handle it...

2 December 2020

All of those Switch games that I ordered from Wal-Mart's Black Friday sale have arrived.

The game with a big sticker on the front is Super Mario Maker 2.
Good thing that sticker in on the cellophane wrapping instead of the actual case.

Here's what the shelf for the Switch games looks like now. It has expanded past its little slot next to my WiiU games in what I'm guessing is an old desk organizer. I am not sure what I am going to do to fix that slight annoyance, but I will think of something...

The way this looks is seriously triggering my Asperger's...

And finally, we have some slim cases originally made for Mini-Discs, which I am using for loose GameCube discs.

I bought them not just for storing these loose discs in a new way. It was also a way to get over the $35 minimum needed to get free Amazon Prime shipping on the order. The cases that aren't being used now will just get added to the inventory for the retro game store that I really hope to open someday. I have a lot of empty cases that can be used for loose games of all kinds on numerous platforms. These cases are for GameCube, GameBoy, GameBoyAdvance, GameGear, slim jewel cases for standard-sized CD & DVD discs, PS2, SEGA Genesis, etc.

11 December 2020

I found a small work of art/display sign of the Atari Fuji logo on eBay a few weeks ago and ordered it ASAP. It arrived today and looks quite good sitting on top of the shelf for loose Atari 2600 cartridges in my game room. Pics below...

I put my copy of Alien vs. Predator for the Atari Jaguar
behind the sign, just to give you an idea of its size.

Also, I did reorganize that shelf with the Switch & WiiU games in a way that does NOT trigger my Asperger's...

I am running out of room for more Switch games here. Not good.

26 December 2020

This Christmas was mostly movies and TV shows on DVD or Blu-Ray, at my request. I bought my own games during this year's Black Friday sales. There was only one gaming-related item for Christmas this year: a 3rd party joy-con grip for my Switch. I had a lot of trouble finding a listing for this device and any pictures. I did eventually find a listing on eBay, which is where I snagged this picture.

Would not have imagined my mother finding
something like this at a glorified dollar store...

I have never heard of this brand before. The box says it was distributed by a company called 1616 Holdings, Inc. That's the parent company for Five Below. I thought their primary demographic was teenagers. However, that would not necessarily stop my mother from looking around in a new dollar store. She's always hunting for bargains and always tells me when she finds good ones. You'd be surprised how little we end up spending on things like household cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, et al. just by going to Dollar Tree.

Anyway, The eBay listing was trying to sell this same item for $19.99, plus shipping and handling costs. Mom picked it up for $10. Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment purchase that became a stocking stuffer.

31 December 2020

Logged into Steam to see what, if anything, from my wishlist is on sale. Well, there was a lot. So much so that I am going to have to go get some more points cards to buy more games before the Winter Sale ends on January 5th. Today's purchases (and the last game purchases this year) were both Doom games. Specifically, Doom 64 and Doom Eternal. How fitting that a year that was nothing but doom and gloom would be finished off by Doom games that combined cost me around 26 bucks. Both are downloading as I write this entry in the blog post.

Doom 64 logo

Doom Eternal logo

And there you have it, folks. The end of a truly terrible year for all Mankind. I will not even say that I hope 2021 is going to be better. I am not expecting it to get better that quickly for a lot of reasons. Come what may, I still take solace in two important facts:

1.) The Lord is Sovereign.

2.) I am very well trained.

Best of luck to you all in the future. I hope that we have another of these game collecting misadventures posts for 2021.

- Lord Publius