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 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.
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.
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.
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.
CatsGamesWhatever 