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Harry’s
I first heard about Harry’s when I listened to Dan Benjamin interview one of Harry’s founders, Jeff Raider, on Quit. Raider made a name for himself initially by co-founding Warby Parker, which provides prescription glasses (frames and lenses) at great prices. I had heard great things about Warby Parker from friends, but my eyesight isn’t bad enough that I ever purchased anything from them. That said, I was impressed with Raider’s vision and implementation of both companies.
Harrys.com
Eventually I decided to visit Harrys.com (how was that domain not taken already?) to take a look at the products and pricing. I was already intrigued by the pricing of their blades, but I had yet to see the razor handles. Upon further investigation I decided to buy the Winston set for $25 to try the product out. Then I saw the shipping cost: $10 for 2-day shipping. I needed razors soon, but the idea if paying $35 to try a product instead of getting more razors for my Gillette Fusion razor didn’t make much sense to me. I decided to hold off on my order and asked my wife to pick up some blades for my current razor.
Price
While at the store, my wife called me about the price of the blades: $35 for 8 blades. Immediately I jumped onto Amazon.com to price check. Amazon was a couple dollars cheaper, but I was still a little uncomfortable with paying so much for so few blades. I told my wife to skip the blades. I immediately ordered the Truman razor and a 16 pack of blades. My total came to $45 with 2 day shipping.
Packaging
My package arrived two business days later. I was instantly impressed with the packaging and Harry’s attention to detail. The H’ logo was both simple and classy. The box holding the razor had a small arrow indicating that the box ought to be slid out of its cover. The blades were neatly packaged, each box holding four blades. Each of the blade boxes had a woolly mammoth on its side that was exposed upon opening. Both the razor and blades boxes included a Thank You card from Harry’s. All of these little touches made for an unboxing experience that impressed me with the belief that Harry’s wanted me to enjoy every part of their product - even opening it up.
Quality
To replace the blades you simply pull the blade off of the razor. There is no spring mechanism or anything; the blades pull right off of the head of the razor. Both pulling blades off and pushing them on to the razor didn’t feel great. I preferred the clicky/springy mechanism of the Gillette Fusion, but Harry’s method works well enough.
The first time I used the razor I had a mixed reaction. The blades slid along my face with ease and the handle felt great in my hand, but the shave was decidedly less close than my Gillette Fusion. The blades are designed in Germany and certainly feel like they are well designed, but they simply do not cut as close as the Gillette Fusion. At first I thought maybe I was just being too careful with the new razor, but my suspicions were confirmed with each subsequent shave.
Rust
After my first shave with Harry’s I left on vacation for three days. I shave in the shower, so I left the razor above my shower in the window cutout. The shower was unused for those three days, but when I came back I found the blades rusted. I had read a reviewer mentioning this issue from a few months before, but I was surprised to see it myself. I would understand some rusting if the blades had been left in a moist space for a few weeks, but for the blades to rust after a few days was a bit of a shock. My Gillette Fusion still sat there next to my Truman, unrusted after sitting in the same space for more than a week with more exposure to moisture.
Support
A day or two after I received my order I received an email from Katie at Harry’s. She was emailing to get feedback on the product and answer any questions I had. I informed her that I was overall satisfied with the product, but that I was disappointed to see the blades rusting in such a short time. Katie asked if I had left the blades in a place of great moisture. I explained to her the details of the incident and she apologized for the inconvenience and recommended that I keep the razor out of the shower.
I was expecting a better response from Harry’s. I didn’t want free blades or anything, but I was hoping for some answers; blades should not rust after one use in the shower. While Katie confirmed that others had reported the issue when blades were stored in places of extreme moisture, she did not indicate if Harry’s had determined if the issue was isolated to a few shipments or if there was a manufacturing issue.
I left the original blade in the shower for the past few weeks and the spots with rust have remained the same. The vast majority of the blade remains rust-free, perhaps indicating that the solution used to protect the blades from rusting was not applied as thoroughly as it should have been.
Decision
I remain generally happy with Harry’s razors. I’m going to keep an eye on the rusting issue to see if it crops up again as I use the 16 blades that I ordered. I prefer to shave in the shower, but if I’m able to save a significant amount of money at the cost of shaving at the sink then I think Harry’s is worth it.
As I have continued to use the Truman I’ve become accustomed to the slightly inferior shave. In general I just have to go over a few trouble spots on my face a bit more than I did with the Gillette Fusion. Again, the cost difference makes up for Harry’s inferior shave.
If money were not an issue at all then I might have considered switching back to Gillette, but I also suspect that Harry’s will continue to improve while maintaining the same price point. The company has only been around for a year, which means quality control and product design will undoubtedly continue to evolve and improve. Raider and Katz-Mayfield’s team have done a great job designing and presenting the product, but the product itself has a few rough edges that need to be dealt with. -
Anger
It’s pretty incredible how easy it is for me to slip into a slow burning rage over something without considering for a moment if that anger is actually helpful in any way. There is a time to be angry, but at some point I’m just replaying a situation over and over again in my head to keep reaffirming to myself how right and justified I think I am.
Anger is a powerful emotion, but it’s also a subtle deception. We can deceive ourselves into thinking it’s okay to keep feeling angry about something because we were in the right. Whether or not we were wronged in some way, anger is only useful when it identifies a wrong. Once that wrong has been identified, anger has nothing to offer but over-zealous responses that we’ll regret.
Anger can cloud our judgement to the point where we’re just enjoying the feeling of being enraged. That sort of addiction to feeling justifiably angry is incredibly unhealthy. Feeling angry about the same issue over and over again isn’t therapeutic; it’s just a way to feel good about being upset with someone or something.
I know that anger has been an idol in my life. I idolize people who get furious in a self-righteous kind of way. Characters like Dr. Cox from Scrubs emboldened me to enjoy being angry if it was for a noble cause. The truth is, there is nothing noble about being angry for the sake of enjoying the feeling of rage.
Be angry, then get over it. Remember that anger, like any emotion, can be controlled. Forgive and then forgive again when the hurt and the annoyance comes back.
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@jmartken is so rude.
Also, the roof was definitely my idea. -
It seems like almost every iOS 7 mockup has to have some form of gaudy widgets on the lock and home screens. iOS users, trust me, widgets aren’t that amazing. Since I’ve switched to iOS I’ve never missed them. If you feel the urge to be constantly turning Bluetooth and WiFi on and off then you might want to consider that your problem isn’t a lack of widgets. I think one can make an argument for widgets in Notification Center, but the home screen should stay simple.
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This is me every day.
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“The worshipper is never to be a passive auditor of the words and the ritual of worship. Neither is worship to be a dry routine not a formless ecstasy. It is designed for the consecration of all our faculties to God.” — Recalling the Hope of Glory
Allen P. Ross -
Christ's Church: Footsteps
Last Sunday I decided to go to the park. I had been reading at a Starbucks and had a meeting in just over an hour, so I decided to get some fresh air and go for a walk. I used to like going to the park to read or go on the swings, but I hadn’t done any of that in a long time.
As I was… -
Worship is a Marriage of Talent and Heart
When leading people in worship there is a balance between making sure the music sounds good and making sure your heart is in the right place. If the music sounds terrible then it can be distracting and people will focus on you, not God. If your heart is in the wrong place and things are going well musically, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking about how good of a job you’re doing instead of worshipping yourself.
I find myself constantly trying to find the middle of these two extremes when leading people in worship. It’s easy for me to fall into the motions of leading and not be intentional. If I’m supposed to lead people in worship then I need to be the example by worshipping God myself.
I haven’t been leading worship for very long, but I think I’m beginning to find the balance. A huge part of it is making sure I take time to prepare my heart. If I haven’t spent time in prayer and Scripture before leading, then I have a harder time focusing my heart and mind on God. It becomes too easy to just focus on the music during rehearsal and that state of mind can bleed into the actual worship service.
When my mind is in the right place it also helps for me to focus on sensing God’s presence. God is present everywhere, but he is present in a more palpable way when we gather together, at Eucharist, and I think during worship. During worship we should be letting the music guide us into deeper communion with God and recognizing his presence.
Recently my pastor told me that he wants to see me become a worship leader that is able to lead people into God’s presence in a very palpable way. He wants to see me lead people into deeper worship with God. He wants to see miracles and healings take place and God’s presence is thickened by our worship of him.
It’s a high calling to try and lead people into that. God certainly doesn’t require a worship leader to act in our midst, but I think he does like working through people. I’m trying to let God work through me and to prepare myself to be a vessel for his glory. I don’t know what this process will look like, but I’m excited to see God continue to transform me and lead me into becoming a better worship leader for his people.
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Overcoming the Economy of Social Networking
Sharing Yourself
We share massive amounts of information about ourselves to others every day through social networking. We share images, videos, links, thoughts, blogs, jokes, music, locations, and so much more. We share all kinds of data about who we are, what we’re doing, who we’re with, things we find interesting, and who we want to be. At the core of most social networking is the idea that you can share yourself.
Why We Share So Much About Ourselves
We don’t just share a lot about ourselves, we share things about ourselves constantly. We want people to know where we are and what we’re doing right away. We’ve become glued to our phones, especially in public places.Sometimes it’s because we just want to avoid having to talk to a stranger while we stand in line. Sometimes we’re staring at our phone so that we can avoid our own thoughts. Often we’re fixated on our phone so that we can catch up on what other people are doing or so that we can tell other people what we’re doing. We’re convinced that our lives are so important to others that we must chronicle our every move.
The Economy of Social NetworkingHow did we get so obsessed with this idea that what we do matters enough to publish it at every juncture? Social media networks are designed to make you engage with their economy. In exchange for you uploading content, your friends/followers/contacts will rate your content. If you upload a picture on Instagram, your friends will double tap it to like it. If you tweet something funny on Twitter, your followers retweet it. If you put up a video from your vacation, your friends will like it on Facebook.The economy of publishing in exchange for ratings is extremely addictive. We get an ego boost every time we receive another notification that someone has liked something we published. We even begin to make decisions about what we publish based on what we think will get more likes. We overshare to ensure we keep getting comments and likes so that we feel loved, accepted, or important.There is an economy of social networking that is about building up (and sometimes tearing down) ourselves and others. On the surface this might seem like a good thing. What’s wrong with building up the self-esteem and egos of your friends and family by liking their content? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with encouraging friends and family, but I do think there’s something dangerous about getting addicted to publishing content so that you feel good about yourself.
Self-Esteem
When Instagram announced changes to their terms of service, I read through them and decided that I wanted to use Flickr instead. When I was posting pictures on Flickr I was in an ecosystem by myself. A few friends joined Flickr for a day or two, but other than that people were only seeing my pictures on Twitter and Facebook. The interactions I was used to having with people liking and commenting on my pictures were gone except for in person comments or the occasional Facebook like.I began to question my own motives as the desire to join Instagram welled up within me. Was I posting content because I wanted to share something, or was I posting content so that I could be reassured that people liked me and I was valuable? Instead of processing through those questions, I rejoined Instagram on a whim.My wife and I went on a walk around our apartment complex shortly thereafter and I posted a picture of a rusted nail in a fence. I took time to compose, edit, and publish the shot. I was proud of it. Then for the next day or so I waited for the likes to roll in, but they never did. In the meantime my little sister-in-law posted random photos and received dozens of likes. I was jealous of my sixteen-year-old sister over the amount of likes she had on Instagram.I had no idea how much my sense of self-worth was tied up in what I posted. I’ve always had some self-esteem issues, but I didn’t expect to have so much of my value tied to social networking. I didn’t realize how much of my behavior on social networks was built upon protecting myself from dealing with these deeper issues of self-worth.I don’t like to admit how much social networking affected my behavior and state of mind. In fact, I don’t really like dealing with my own issues. I tend to lean between avoiding my own thoughts and feelings to over-sharing them for attention, and the past few years have been more of an avoiding binge. With the constant distraction of social networking (and some other factors) it was easy for me to ignore what I was really dealing with and thinking and feeling. Thoughts and processes become shortened and attention spans truncated.
For the last forty-six days I have not used Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, or Vine. This may sound like something that people typically give up for Lent, but I was not your typical social networking user. You don’t get to 21,000 tweets in four years (about 14 tweets per day) without being just a little bit addicted to Twitter.As I’ve taken time away from social networking, I’ve begun to process through some of these behaviors. I was constantly publishing and endlessly scrolling through social networking apps. Not all of my scrolling and publishing was about building myself up, but a large part was.
My addiction to social networking wasn’t just affecting me; it was affecting those around me. When my wife and I would go out for dinner I would often jump in and out of a conversation because of a notification on my phone. My wife and I became accustomed to having shorter conversations. I was used to avoiding people around me, even people I knew, so that I wouldn’t have to engage. I was distant emotionally and my physical demeanor showed it.These sorts of distracted, closed off attitudes bled into my relationship with God as well. I was short in my prayers and relied on a well-drained repository of memorized scriptures and knowledge of doctrinal linguistics to trick myself and others into thinking I was in a healthy state. In reality, I hadn’t truly spoken with God in months. I had grown accostumed to living in a way that I had no time to process where I was in life, much less where God wanted me to be.
One Tuesday night early into Lent I had a long conversation with my friend Josh. We had spent the last few hours hanging out and discussing trivial things, but finally a few hours in we started talking about the deeper, more intimate issues we were facing. I began to open up that I hadn’t spent any serious time with God in a long time. That night I decided to begin my mornings with 20 minutes of prayer.While I haven’t been consistent with that decision, over the past forty-six days I’ve spent a ton of time journaling and praying. What I discovered was that when I spend a few minutes journaling about what my day was like the day before and what I’m processing through, I am much more prepared to spend time in prayer. As a result, my prayer life became much more intimate and I began to sense God’s presence and providence in ways that I hadn’t experienced in some time.This process of journaling and praying helped me break down some of the walls I had put up in my own psyche. I began to make realizations about assumptions I was making and thought processes that were not healthy for me. I became more in tune with my emotions so that I could relate better with others.
As Lent comes to a close I have to try to decide how to reintegrate social networking into my life. I don’t want to jump back in at the same extreme. I’ve contemplated giving up social networking entirely except for writing blog posts or only posting something at the end of the day instead of in the moment. I don’t want to fall back into being addicted to social networking and undo the progress I’ve made.I think there is a balance somewhere between being addicted to sharing or scrolling the day away and not engaging with people online at all. I honestly don’t miss a lot of what I used to get out of Twitter and Facebook. I’ve been able to keep up on news and read the blogs I like to read. Because I’m not on social networks people have to be more intentional with me if they want to share something, and I honestly really like that.I’ve been obessesed with the idea that I need to chronicle everything, not only because it’s important, but because I don’t want to lose anything. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t have a lot of recordings and pictures of my mom or if it’s just a product of the economy of social networking, but I know it’s a dangerous habit. Things are not always more valuable if they are shared; in fact, sometimes things are more valuable if they are simply experienced.Right now I think I’m going to take a few minutes a day to glance in at social networking and then jump back out. I’m going to be leaving notifications turned off so that I don’t have as many distractions. I want to be present in what’s going on around me. I might take pictures or video of something that’s happening around me, but I won’t post anything until I’ve taken the time to process through whether or not it is something to journal or something to publish.I want to make sure that I’m really present in the moments that are happening right in front of me. I don’t want my memories to all be behind the screen of my phone. I want to continue to protect my mornings as a time of reflection, journaling, and prayer. I want to continue to become more aware of where I am in life and what I’m dealing with.This is going to be a new season in my life. I don’t know if this is the best response for me to have long-term, but I certainly believe it is the best way to slowly reintegrate something that distorted and damaged my relationships with God and others. I’m still learning to disintegrate my sense of self-worth from what I publish online. I’m excited to see how God can continue to transform me as we celebrate Easter and the promise of new life. -
Louder
I’ve been helping lead worship at a new contemporary service at an Anglican church. Amidst struggles of assembling a band when all of my contacts live an hour away and learning how to lead in a liturgical context, I’ve seen God working. Specifically, I’ve seen God working in the people. They are being lead in songs that they mostly have not heard and often the ideal number of people to try to hide your voice behind isn’t there, but still I hear them singing. It’s one thing to hear a seasoned congregation singing loudly in praise to God, but there’s something special about new believers and people who are coming back to church for the first time in years and those who have remained faithful all join their voices. I love hearing the people of God singing louder than the guitars and the drums. That sort of thing kills distractions and apathy and envelopes you with the fragrance of the Spirit.
“I could sing a song for you, my God, with everything I have in me, but it’s never loud enough.”
