Drill Sergeant Approved!

[Disclaimer: I received these products for free to review and to chat about via word of mouth; I also receive points for activities.]

[This review was written before the review that I just posted.]

[I got another free Gillette razor to sample, and for spreading word of mouth. Here is my review.] I give this a conditional 5 stars: I can get a close shave, but with the understanding that it is difficult to do it quickly.

In the Canadian Forces, we had to shave every day, or at least look like it. I was lucky enough to be able to shave the night before.

Just like the ProFusion, the ProShield helped my face to stay smooth for longer than 24 hours.

This time around, I shaved on 1 side, with the ProShield. Since I participated in the ProFusion campaign, I decided to compare both, so I shaved with the ProFusion on the other side. It was quite hard to tell the difference. I couldn't tell if the ProFusion was getting blunt, or if I was just eager to try to go quickly. The ProShield did seem to glide really well.

In all cases, I found that if I went slowly, I could shave closer without hurting myself. This time around, I also tried the standard techniques, instead of doing it my own way. This time, I washed my face first, and then I applied shaving cream to half of my face, and then shaved there. I shaved with the grain at the beginning, and then for the close shave, I shaved against.

Normally, I would just go against the grain until I couldn't get any closer without hurting myself, but this time for the close shaving I decided to grip the hairs with the razors, and then pull away from the face to not shave any skin. This worked really well, until I started hurrying up. I intend to post another review, will try to cover 2 shave sessions at once.

For the next shave session, I intend to switch sides, using the same razors. I also intend to wash half of my face at a time, so that each side is freshly moist at the beginning of each shave.

For the shave session after that, I intend to divide the shave into thirds, and then save the neck and under the chin for the last third.

If any of you are awesome at shaving, then I'd love to read your thoughts.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Cut through all that hair with ease!

[Disclaimer: I received these products for free to review and to chat about via word of mouth; I also receive points for activities.]

I am impressed with how well the new Gillette Fusion ® ProShield™ Manual Razor with Flexball™ Technology cuts through all the hair, and how close it can get. With a blunt razor, I expect it to tug at my hair, and cut my skin. The flimsy low quality razors tend to be like that, too. I find that the Gillette Fusion products seem to cut through my thick coarse sparse facial hair like a new knife cutting through thin fabric: you could definitely still feel the resistance, but it feels stress free, and safe.

Before I started the Fusion campaigns, I was really hesitant to wet shave, because I typically would get a sore raw face after shaving. I think that the main reason for the bad shaving experiences in the past comes from bad shaving techniques.

I tested out the recommended techniques from Gillette, and everything seemed to be okay. I even tested the techniques on the old razors that I have, and I feel much better. The improved techniques don't make the quality of the Gillette products look worse, though. They clearly allow us to do much better.

As cliche as this sounds: Gillette is a name that I have come to trust.

The end. Thank you for reading!

God's View On Swearing As An Actor & Actress

I have come to a conclusion, thanks to my great friends on Facebook. My conclusion is that the general Biblical perspective is that it is morally okay for some people to swear in movies in certain situations. However, this is a complex issue, so I tried to boil everything down to a detail summary, in the form of many questions and answers.

After you read my questions and answers below, you can read the rest of the blog post, where I try to explain my conclusions more thoroughly.

---

Questions & Answers

Can any person swear any time?

No.

Who can swear?

People can swear, when they really need the money/opportunity that is connected to the swearing, in the acting context.

Why do some people get preferential treatment?

They are hard on their luck, and they need the money. In and of itself, a swear word is just a string of sounds with meanings associated with it: anger; disrespect. Much of the meaning, if not all, will be eliminated in the acting context. Actors often like each other, even when they act out swearing, so they are not actually swearing at each other. Right?

Are we never allowed to talk about swear words?

We can talk about them all day long.

How do we talk about them, if we cannot swear?

We can use figures of speech or just say the actual word. If we talk about the word, then it is not atually swearing. Just as acting with a swear word is not actually swearing.

Since a swear word's meaning will be eliminated in the acting context, all people should be able to swear any time. Why are all people not allowed to swear any time?

When we swear all the time, we will naturally bring the meaning out of the acting context, which reattaches the meaning. We swear, because we want the meaning of the word.

Everybody needs money; even rich people. Who, then, cannot swear?

People, who have enough income without swearing, cannot swear. In other words, most rich people and most people with established incomes do not need the swear words. People outside of the acting context cannot swear. These people have no need for the words. The Bible is clear that foul language in our interactions is a no-no.

You just told us that a swear word is just a string of sounds with meanings. Prohibiting a string of sounds is pretty strict, when we do not mean any anger or disrespect outside of the acting context. Are there absolutely no other situations, where it will be allowed?

There are certain situations! There always seems to be exceptions to the exceptions. Life would be too easy without exceptional exceptions!

Many swear words have very absolute specific meanings, which can be used in a very clinical way. When we literally talk about literal shit in a serious tone, then it makes sense to avoid figures of speech to avoid confusion. More people know what shit and crap is, than people who know what a stool sample is. [ If you need to say, shit and crap, then you might as well enjoy it. After all, I would not want to poo poo all over your fun! :^( ;^P ] If the situation is casual, and/or if the situation is not a serious kind of discussion then a figure of speech is more appropriate. Not everybody at a formal dinner needs to know that you need to shit and crap.

Tip: if you need to shit in a non medical situation, then you could talk about being excused or using the washroom, or maybe mention needing the toilet. The more vague, the better is your choice, because you will leave things to the imagination, and that will allow some people to not think about it. Shitting is 100% natural, and it must have occurred before the fall of man, but that does not mean that people need to know any of the graphic details. If people do not need to know, then do not let them know. I realize that some of you like to brag about what you just did, but still. ;^)

Also, when discussing it in a theological context, it is okay to mention these things. Fool and piss were clearly and often written in the Bible.

;^) Eugene, just so that we do not offend your delicate sensibilities, would you please give us a definitive list of bad words that can be used sometimes?

It is hard to come up with a definitive list, but it should be easy to come up with a starter list. As language changes, items can be removed and added. We should bear in mind that these words are more crude than they are bad.

• bitch [this is okay, when speaking literally about dogs or other animals, though]
• fool
• piss
• shit
• fuck

This seems complex. Is there an easier way to remember all of this?

Yes. Just remember that there are 2 situations [as of the time of writing this] when it is permissible.

• when you are desperate for income in the acting context
• when you are talking about it in serious literal way

That is just a summary, and not the definitive list or fundamental principal.

Some believe that the acting script is sacred. Are you really insisting that we actually try to rewrite it?

In most cases, yes, rewrite the script.

Unfortunately, writers do not treat the scripts as sacred as they ought to. For example, writers, who take childhood cartoons, and then transfer the stories to an adult movie, are disrespecting the script that they drew their inspiration from. You can see this in Transformers and G.I. Joe, and even non-cartoon stories, like The Phantom Menace. A lot of movies have no reason to break the rules of the story world, but the writers do it anyways for no apparent reason. Despite our ideals, the story can be rewritten. Another example is the story the actresses and actors of Three's Company. There was no reason to deviate from the original apartment number and the costumes, but the writers did.

Altering the script and the facts is useful, when we need to be brief. We can always use notes and disclaimers at the end of the story. An altered script can create a much more accessible story to a wider audience.

A lot of stories do not have reality or scripts to be inspired from. In other words, the writer is starting with a clean slate. Therefore, they can rewrite it, before the story is presented to the audience [i.e.: before the story is canonized by the community].

[To read the detailed explanation, read the full this blog post.]

Suicide; Food; Challenges; Adversity; Bible

I wrote the following message to a friend in private message on Facebook. The topic of suicide came up, and so I thought that I would share this with you. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: Please Advise Regarding Coworker Who Does Not Wash Hands After Touching Trash

On Saturday, I died a little inside. My fellow dishwasher was helping me to take out the trash. When we came in, he touched clean dishes, without washing. He did not even rinse his hands. He did not even wipe them. I usually try to correct him regarding hand washing, but he is a bit stubborn. Also, I could tell, by the speed in which he did it, that it was a habit. I have a sneaking feeling that he never even rinses or wipes his hands, when nobody looks.

I have all ready discussed this with a few people and got some diverse opinions. I think that I know what I will do about him, but I want to get more advice from all of you first. The rest of my post gives you more details.

Suggestions For Cambro And Other Washware Manufacturers

During the last few weeks, I noticed that there are times, when we prefer to stack dish trays. The benefit of doing this is being able to use the top tray to hold down lighter items, like metal ramekins.

It seems wise to me, to make those half trays capable of stacking on half of the full sized trays, so that if I only have half a tray of ramekins, then I can use the other half for larger items, like bowls, glasses, or dishes. The sides of the half sized trays will still have a lip for the tray to stack on to other trays, but it will make them much more compatible with full sized trays.

The only way to do it is to remove the bottom corner edges, so that the corners can sit over the middle of the full sized tray. For example, I would like to use HFR258 on top of PR314.

This is especially beneficial for small dishwashers that can only take 1 tray at a time.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Dish Pit Update: Sizing Up The Competition

Now that I have several weeks of experience under my belt, I am beginning to pay attention to how the other dish guys do their job. I have a sneaking suspicion that none of them are as good and/or fast as they might assume. They all seem so sloppy, and they all seem to cut corners which saves time.

Another interesting thing happened that really influenced my opinion. The head chef, which is a kitchen manager, came and helped me by taking things off of the clean counter of the dish washer. I was amazed that even with him helping me, he preferred that I keep focusing on a small pile of dishes, regardless of the pile of kitchen tools and pots piling up. The kitchen stuff was looking very ugly, but he was happy to have me ignore it. It seems that I have to create a different set of priorities, despite what the other guys are telling me.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Cambro Dealers In Vancouver BC

I really like the Cambro products for dish washing. I looked up their web site to see where I could find their products. I am just a lowly dishwasher, but I thought that it would be useful to search out some information, for recommending things to my employer.

Just for my future reference, these are the names that were provided to me.

• Hendricks Restaurant Equipment [only site out of these 4 sites to list prices]
• Pacific Restaurant Supply
• Russel Food [before buying from here, read this complaint from an employee]
• Dunlevy Food Equipment

The end. Thank you for reading!

Dish Pit Update: Better Speed

Yesterday was quite busy, and I still needed help, but I managed to keep my speed up most of the time. To do this, I tried to tighten my belly muscles, and stand as if I were practising kung-fu.

I believe that tightening the belly muscles is what gives kung-fu masters better strength. It makes sense to me that a tightening the muscles helps with speed and power because it gives the master a firm torso, and thus a firm base for our arms and legs. This allows me to load the dish trays faster.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Dish Pit Update: Check Point Reached!

I am pretty happy with some of my progress, but I feel that I am in a jam. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: Out With Old Antagonist; In With New Antagonist

In this post, I shared some details about a coworker leaving, and another becoming antagonistic. I tried to get advice from my Facebook friends. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: Minor Updates About Dishwashing Job

I kept this post short, because I did not have much to share.

• I have started to get bored at work lately.
• I have been taught more things, so it seems that I will probably be able to keep my job.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Dish Pit Update: Interesting Dishwashing Update

I tried to make sense of my situation from the Biblical perspective, and this is what I came up with. I tried to defend my view, so that we could hopefully come up with the truth. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: Small Progress?

I was pretty excited to find a short or 2, so I shared my progress with my Facebook friends. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: Bad Vibes

This post was originally titled, Prayer Request: TD Customer Service when I first posted in on Facebook. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit Update: First Impressions

I shared this with my Facebook friends, just after the first week of work, in July 2014. It is mostly positive news. The rest of my post tells you all.

Dish Pit: YouTube Playlist About What Dishwashing Job Is Like

I made a YouTube playlist because there are a lot of good videos on the web on what it should be like and what it is like. For a broader view, please read the comments in each video.

I tried to add manufacturer training videos, which were made for their new customers/clients. This is interesting, because the dishes never seem to reflect the most difficult challenges that a dishwasher might face. However, it does make sense to see what the manufacturer had in mind.

Feel free to ask me anything about how to do the job. I will try to respond.

The end. Thank you for reading!

I Got A Job As A Dishwasher

July 11 was my first day. I found it challenging on an emotional level, because it seemed like such a demeaning job. However, after watching some YouTube videos, I do not think that it has to be that way. There is so much pressure to get things done quickly, and we have such a wide variety of things to clean, so we really need to become experienced to do a good job.

I have embedded a few videos in the remainder of the blog post to show you how well some people perform and how appreciated dishwashers can be.

Why Smart People Do Not Get Hired

This article points out some mistakes that smart people make. If you are struggling with employment, then you should read this. It will help you to think about making it easier for employers to find you and hire you.

The end. Thank you for reading!

Translation Tools From Chinese To English

Lately, I have been trying to translate Chinese characters to English. Unfortunately, the characters are in an image, so I could not copy and paste the text into a translator.

I have found that Google Translate seems to be the best for translating. I recommend opening another tab of Google Translate, so that you can translate little phrases in the first tab, and then form the sentence in another, by copying and pasting the correct Chinese characters. I like Google Translate the best, because it gives us the opportunity to actually write in the Chinese character stroke by stroke. Entering in certain Chinese characters any other way can very difficult.

It is nice to have this page available, too.

Unfortunately, the audio pronunciations of these translators do not work with Opera web browser, as far as I can tell.

I will update this blog post, if I find other pages.

The end. Thank you for reading!