Pick something & go with it
So I ordered a sword yesterday while on break. A Hanwei Practical Plus Katana. I've wanted this one for 7 years now, & I just decided on a whim that it was time to treat myself to something. I've scraped & saved, & it'll be mine in less than a week. It's completely handmade, leather-wrapped ray skin handle, with a prominent hamon, or temper line. Some may say it's a childish fascination, a waste of money or what have you, but this is art. Something to display proudly, an example of taste. A fully functional conversation piece. Very much like the Cold Steel O-Katana I ordered last year, except that the O-Katana doesn't have the mirror polish to reveal the hamon. The blade on the O-Katana is exactly 3 feet long, and the handle is 13 inches, wrapped in silk cord. It's perfect for those of us with larger statures, while a conventional katana seems more like a Wakizashi when wielded. I was looking (& lusting) over the Hanwei katanas at Smoky Mountain Knife Works last year, seriously considering grabbing the Miyamoto Musashi Daito ($500)when I happened to look on the wall, & lo & behold there was the Cold Steel line. Of course, someday I would like to own an Orchid, but they're upwards of $1,ooo, so that'll have to wait... if only I had a forge in my backyard, lol...
There are plenty of generic ripoffs out there that look just as good, but are made from scraps of metal. Spent munitions shells for the collars, exploded tank springs for the blade (heated & hammered into a sword-like shape) that could quite possibly revert to their initial shape someday, and those made of 'stainless steel'; those whose blades are shiny, yes, but quite brittle, and prone to shattering when used. Even my first sword, the Ninjato I received for Christmas in '94, has proven disappointing over the years. The handle, made from imitation imitation ivory, broke when I was practicing. Despite attempts to create a new handle, it just sits in the corner of my room, gathering dust. The blade itself, made from 'high carbon' steel, won't hold an edge. The Hanwei katana has an RC40 tempered spine and an RC60 tempered edge for maximum retention.
SO anyway, I'm supposedly going to see Xmen 3 tonight. I'm hoping that Phoenix won't be disappointing. I also hope Colossus is in this movie for more than 5 seconds. Yeah, the ability to turn your skin into organic steel might come in handy at times. Especially when you're at work cutting pizza dough with a more-than-razor-sharp 10" chef's knife & slice into your finger. But I'm healing up quite nicely.
Work is still going well. I'm already a manager & on salary. Don't know what the pay will be, but from what I'm told it will rival what I was making at Exide. That's always an added bonus, doing what you love & making a little money on the side. I'm so lucky to have found this job. All those places I went to applying for cook, hoping to get a little experience in an actual restaurant, all those places who never called back, & this awesome little Italian guy who pretty much hires me over the phone. John's already taught me so much in this short amount of time I've been there. I went in last Saturday & He said to me, 'I think I'll make Alfredo today. You go to the store & buy 3 gallons of whole milk & 3 pounds of butter.' So, I get back, he whips up this fan-frickin-tastic Alfredo sauce ('Dis-a MY recipe!')and lets us all try it. So we now have Grilled Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo on the menu, for a limited time. He also made Pesto Ranch & Pesto Mayo for the steak subs yesterday. It's great, working in an actual kitchen & being able to come up with new creations. Better than that, actually having someone say 'good idea, I'm gonna use that' & keeping their word.
Think I'll get off of here & chat with Pam. Haven't talked to her that much lately, & I miss conversing with my fellow gastronome. God Bless.
'No matter what our abilities to inform, it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides.'
There are plenty of generic ripoffs out there that look just as good, but are made from scraps of metal. Spent munitions shells for the collars, exploded tank springs for the blade (heated & hammered into a sword-like shape) that could quite possibly revert to their initial shape someday, and those made of 'stainless steel'; those whose blades are shiny, yes, but quite brittle, and prone to shattering when used. Even my first sword, the Ninjato I received for Christmas in '94, has proven disappointing over the years. The handle, made from imitation imitation ivory, broke when I was practicing. Despite attempts to create a new handle, it just sits in the corner of my room, gathering dust. The blade itself, made from 'high carbon' steel, won't hold an edge. The Hanwei katana has an RC40 tempered spine and an RC60 tempered edge for maximum retention.
SO anyway, I'm supposedly going to see Xmen 3 tonight. I'm hoping that Phoenix won't be disappointing. I also hope Colossus is in this movie for more than 5 seconds. Yeah, the ability to turn your skin into organic steel might come in handy at times. Especially when you're at work cutting pizza dough with a more-than-razor-sharp 10" chef's knife & slice into your finger. But I'm healing up quite nicely.
Work is still going well. I'm already a manager & on salary. Don't know what the pay will be, but from what I'm told it will rival what I was making at Exide. That's always an added bonus, doing what you love & making a little money on the side. I'm so lucky to have found this job. All those places I went to applying for cook, hoping to get a little experience in an actual restaurant, all those places who never called back, & this awesome little Italian guy who pretty much hires me over the phone. John's already taught me so much in this short amount of time I've been there. I went in last Saturday & He said to me, 'I think I'll make Alfredo today. You go to the store & buy 3 gallons of whole milk & 3 pounds of butter.' So, I get back, he whips up this fan-frickin-tastic Alfredo sauce ('Dis-a MY recipe!')and lets us all try it. So we now have Grilled Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo on the menu, for a limited time. He also made Pesto Ranch & Pesto Mayo for the steak subs yesterday. It's great, working in an actual kitchen & being able to come up with new creations. Better than that, actually having someone say 'good idea, I'm gonna use that' & keeping their word.
Think I'll get off of here & chat with Pam. Haven't talked to her that much lately, & I miss conversing with my fellow gastronome. God Bless.
'No matter what our abilities to inform, it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides.'