I’ve never been a big razor guy. My 20 years of shaving have been dominated by disposables. The extent of fancy razors I had were occasional free Mach 3 razors I got as a sample in the mail. I haven’t been nice to my face.

But I heard about these Harry’s Razors and they looked great. The blades are German manufactured and the handle is either zinc-alloy or aluminum. I picked the aluminum and for $25, I got the the razor handle and a total of 5 blades. Free shipping and no tax. Pretty nifty and competitive with even the crap disposable razors. And I have to say… my face appreciates it… the shave was great!

I got to go to London on a quick 3 day trip for work. I tried to make the most of it and squeeze in as much fun as possible. And I think I have fallen in love with London.

London is like New York… but more polite. It’s amazingly easy to get around and filled with history and tradition. It’s a town an architect would love but anyone who appreciates beauty, pageantry and history would also be in heaven. To walk down the Thames and see those enormous buildings that have stood for hundreds of years… grand ballrooms, with meticulous detail where kings and queens danced, it’s simply impossible not to be awed when you think about what those walls have seen.

Unfortunately, my Canon was in the shop! So I went with my Panasonic GF1 point and shoot. It did great and probably made it easier for my long treks but, at times, I sure missed a real DSLR.

Aaron’s London Top Ten:
Favorite thing I ate: almond croissant… my guilty weakness, it was the only thing I ate two of.
Most important item brought: iPhone… even without service, I was able to use wifi everywhere and the new Maps app cached my locations so I could still use GPS without being connected.
Best thing I brought: Rain jacket… with London’s temperamental weather, it would rain one second and then be sunny the next. A good rain jacket is a must.
Favorite thing to do: London Eye… I lucked out and there was not really a line and the sky even cleared right at golden hour.
Favorite place visited: Kensington Park… A dog lovers paradise. There is something about the properness of the Brits that make the park much more relaxing and enjoyable than Central Park. It really IS made for royalty.
Best thing I bought: BT Wifi. The wifi provider has over a hundred thousand hotspots in the city. It was so useful and invaluable in getting around.
Best coffee: Sacred on Ganton St.
Thing I want to do next time: Greenwich Park.
Most over-rated preconception: Fish and chips.
Most useless thing I brought: Sunglasses.

Total miles walked: 25
Total Landmarks visited: 28
Total pictures taken: 621

See the rest of the pictures here.

And some iPhone panoramic fun!

There is only one word to describe the iPad Mini: CUTE! It’s not a revolutionary upgrade from my iPad 2 but I came to realize something in the last couple years of using the iPad… FOR ME… it won’t replace my trusty laptop. I rarely took a trip with my iPad and no laptop. I always bring my laptop to work. So a smaller form factor was very attractive for travel, taking notes in meetings and reading in bed.

When I laid my hands on one in the store, it was a bit on the small side to hold but I liked the screen size and it is noticeably smaller than the regular iPads. The anodized aluminum is slick but I had like the previous backs too. I am not buying into the hype of Retina just yet (after buying and returning an iPad Retina)… looks great for text but hardly noticeable for images and most websites are uprezed for it yet. Couple years. I had a feeling the hand holding would be fixed with my favorite case maker: Dodocase. I’ve sung the Dodocase praise since it’s inception. I have one of the first 500 cases with the limited edition library card I’ll never get rid of.

Before my Dodocase came in, I used a Macally Slim Case that was very nice EXCEPT… their magnets aren’t placed in the right areas. Note the iPad Mini moved the magnets (now 2) to the right of the home button. How can a manufacturer be so careless?!? Not Dodocase… I emailed them and got a response that they had gotten the magnets working. Yay! When I got it in… it was just as familiar as my old case and the magnets worked turning the iPad mini on and off. Needless to say… I am very happy all around… with the iPad mini and Dodocase.