Tag: blog

This and That September 2025

September has been busy. Work has started back in earnest so the days pass fast. A few things have happened to me this month that I thought were worth mentioning for the blog.

My electric razor broke at the beginning of the month. I had written about buying it at a thrift store back in December 2024 (HERE). It was a Remington Titanium R450 and I had been using it a little under a year. I had hoped that the blades would dull so I could test whether it was possible to hone them to get more life out of the shave head but alas it was not to be. One of the posts that held a gear to one of the 3 rotary mechanisms broke.

The broken post

The way the razor was designed the black lever moves the gear so it drives the clipper when you press the button on the back of the razor. The problem is that over time the movement wears the post and it eventually breaks. Mostly due to plastic on plastic wear but also partly because the plastic had become brittle with age. I tried gluing it back but because of how thin the plastic had become any force whatsoever just snapped the post again at the break.

My ill fated attempt to glue the broken post back in place

It would be an easy fix if Remington sold replacement pieces for their products but these rotary shavers were not meant to be serviced. It’s one more example of planned obsolescence. Part of me wanted to keep the now broken razor for pieces so that I could fix the same or a similar model if I eventually came across another broken one. Realistically however this is a dangerous attitude to adopt as you can quickly become a hoarder without realizing it. Most things have value to someone somewhere sometime but you have to be able to make decisions given the constraints (space) you live with. Sometimes garbage is just garbage.

Post operation giving up

So I just ended up cutting out the batteries to recycle and binned the razor. At least I understand the fault, why it happened and how it did. Failure can be useful if you can learn from it. I have a backup rotary razor that I purchased from a thrift store in March 2025 (HERE) that I could be using but have gone with another alternative for the time being which I will discuss in a future entry.

Since I started reading again this summer I’ve been trying to keep doing it but I only managed to read 1 novel in September. It was Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.

The only book I read in September

I enjoy reading Stephen King but was disappointed by Mr. Mercedes. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t his usual supernatural horror fare and was a more realistic “detective” type story. It wasn’t bad by any means but I don’t usually read detective type books. If I ever find the sequels I’ll read them as well just because it’s Stephen King.

I also managed to completely break my first trash picker this month hauling some chandeliers out of a dumpster.

I had already broken the claw part of the picker and had repaired it but the weight of the light fixtures bent the aluminum body and snapped the jaw again. It’s my fault for using the tool in a way that it wasn’t meant to be but I am still utterly disappointed by the quality of all the trash pickers you can buy online. I realize the only way I’ll ever get something of quality to use is by making one myself. Until then I’ll muddle by using what’s available to purchase.

I realize that I haven’t documented much of what I find or fix in the trash. I don’t because it can sometimes take time to get to a final conclusion and I didn’t feel like any money I made in this fashion would be appropriate to be included in my Becoming A Jack Of All Trades posts. Maybe I should though? It’s something I’ll have to consider.

Learning Electronics has changed to Becoming A Jack Of All Trades.

I’m still planning on learning about electronics and electronics repair but things have changed for me in the last few months. I found myself doing general handyman or repair work more than anything electronic related. Which is weird because I do not consider myself to be particularly handy or skilled in this regard. As fate would have it though I’ve been thrown into situations that required these type of skills and I’ve found that I enjoy doing this type of work. So instead of being too narrow in my project I’m going to be expanding it to include other areas. To reflect the change in scope I’m now calling my project Becoming A Jack Of All Trades.

June was busy. Summer was upon us and with it came the revelers. More drinking means more cans. Over the course of June I raised $20.30 picking up cans & bottles. In addition I found $0.55 laying on the ground.

The Tools

The reason for the uptick in can & bottle money (in addition to the nice weather) was that I purchased a grabber from Aliexpress for $8.89.

I’m not thrilled with the grabber tool to be honest. It does not work well and is cheaply made but it has made it possible to pick up more stuff. It’s already paid for itself so I can’t complain too much. I plan on modifying it by improving the claw part with a more firm grasp (maybe if I find some rubber or silicon in the garbage). I thought about just using a broom handle with attached nail but I have to weigh the opinion of the people who see me collecting as well. If what I’m carrying looks like a weapon you don’t want to give them a reason to phone the police or hassle me in some other way. There’s no mistaking what a grabber tool is for so usually I am unbothered. When people see you rooting around in a recycle bin or dumpster their first instinct is to pretend you just don’t exist which is fine by me.

The second thing I bought in June was a Stanley Toolbox on clearance at Walmart for $8.05. It was the only one in a liquidation section without any packaging and was dirty. One of the workers at the self checkout had to manually enter the information into the cash register so I could buy it. I didn’t own a tool box but one of my cats started chewing on the shoe box I was using so my hand was forced in the matter. Now Grizzly just “juices” the box to put his scent on it.

The third thing I bought in June was a hammer. To show you how handy I am I actually do not own any tools (besides what I previously posted about) so when I started fixing things I had to borrow a neighbors. A hammer is a necessity when you’re doing general work I quickly found out. When I was placing an order at a thrift store near me I also happened upon a nice hammer for $5 so I bought it.

As it turns out it’s an Estwing hammer which are supposed to be well made. It’s in good shape besides some surface rust. As soon as I happen across some steel wool I’ll take it off.

Financial Summery for June 2025

Revenue

  1. Amount carried over from previous month: $1.11
  2. Cans/Bottles: $20.30
  3. Found Money $0.55

Total: $21.96

Expenses

  1. Grabber Tool: $8.89
  2. Stanley Toolbox $8.05
  3. Estwing Hammer $5.00

Total: $21.94

Summary

June was a good month. I raised more money than usual and I feel that I’ve found the “right” groove to be in as far as the project is concerned. I was feeling uncomfortable at how tightly I was locked in to just learning electronics. Now I have freedom to diversify and I feel better.