The Bachelor Life

With Karen away in France, I have reverted back to my bachelor ways. These ways do not involve the 'typical bachelor guy' stuff like leaving my clothes on the floor and not doing dishes. Rather, they involve watching a lot of movies and television, and doing a lot of cleaning and organizing.

Most notably, I've been watching Band of Brothers. The series was created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. It is really well written and tells the true story of a group a paratroopers from Easy Company during WWII. Each episode begins with real accounts by the actual paratroopers (then in their 20's and 30's, now in their 80's and 90's). My brother introduced me to it; he bought me the box set on Blu-Ray for Christmas one year. Anyway, I've watched eight of the ten episodes in the past week. That's quite a time investment considering that each episode is an hour long. I've also been downloading a lot of movies and watching those.

I have always spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing. I enjoy it. Karen and I are well settled into our new place, but there are still a few things on the to-do list. That is another thing. I love making to-do lists. It's part of my organizational nature. Anyway, one of the things on our to-do list is to put up the drapes in our bedroom. We picked up the materials, but as it turns out, it's a much more involved process than that; requiring a trip to Home Depot and to Canadian Tire (which I don't mind at all - Canadian Tire is my mecca). So, if all goes well, I will cross that item of the list tonight.

The Best Shave

This morning, Jeff and I went to Imperial Barber Shop on Slater Street to get straight shaves. Our appointment was at 9:30am, I got there right on time, and Jeff showed up a few minutes later, having had some difficulty finding a parking spot.

They sat us down in old style barber chairs, you know the ones that look like barca loungers, across from one another, so we could see in the mirrors what was happening. They started us off by shaving off all the excess facial hair with some electric clippers. There wasn't much work to be done on me, because honestly, I don't grow that much facial hair.

So, I was ahead of the game as the barber continued to prep me for the shave, while Jeff's barber was still struggling. The next step in the process was the application of the shaving cream, but not just any shaving cream. They had a little machine on a table nearby that produced a warm, silky, smooth lather. The barber applied the shaving cream to my face using the tips of her fingers. Once that was done, she wrapped my face in warm towels, and let them sit for a couple of minutes. Then, she wiped off all the shaving cream, and reapplied some more.

Then, the barber brought out the straight razor and began, little by little, methodically, precisely, erradicating each and every hair on my face. I got a little nervous as the blade swept across my throat, remembering certain scenes from the movie Sweeney Todd, but in the end, I escaped unscathed with no cuts or bruises, and my face was as smooth as a baby's bottom.

October Road / November Rain

In reality, the road and rain were more pertinent to October, as it rained a lot, and I drove and moved a lot, but this way, I get to make reference to classic songs by James Taylor and Guns N' Roses, respectively.

October was a very busy month. Karen and I moved into our new place on the 10th, I graduated from my SSDC course on the 13th, I had lunch with Faudeya and Ghazal on the 16th, Karen and I went for sushi for Hogan's birthday on the 25th, Karen and I went to The Keg and to the Just for Laughs show at the NAC with Mandy and Nick on the 30th, Karen and I went over to Mandy and Nick's place for Halloween on the 31st, and Karen and I kept playing dodgeball for Chuck Norrii on Wednesdays. Our last dodgeball match of the month, on the 28th, put us up against our former Norrii teammates Tom and Holly and their crew of misfits, Ballin' Out Of Control. It was a close game, which they won by a rock-paper-scissors decision over a contested score.

November is shaping up to be just as busy. On the 6th, Karen and I, along with Holly and Tom, continued our annual tradition at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show. It was a good time. For a complete recap of the evening, head over to Tom's blog. On the morning of the 7th, Karen and I went to get some groceries for our housewarming party. That afternoon, I went over to my mom's place to help her out with her winter tires, and came back home in time to get things ready. Our party got started at 5pm and ended at about midnight. People came bearing gifts, we ate and drank like kings, and played Guitar Hero like real rock stars. Thank you to everyone who came; you guys are awesome. On the 8th, Karen and I went to IKEA, Bayshore Shopping Centre, and M&M. This afternoon, I'm going to get my winter tires put on. On the horizon, a retirement luncheon at work, more dodgeball with the Norrii, birthdays, and Karen is going to France!