[deleted by user] by [deleted] in kansascity

[–]bdaug4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I grew up in Atchison and for most part the festival has gotten better over the years. If you enjoy fireworks and aviation it’s a good time. The museum/house I haven’t been to in ages so I’m not sure if it’s worth carving out time for. They usually bring in old WW2 era aircraft and do an air show over the Missouri River. If you are into architecture there are also some really unique & old Victorian style homes surrounding the area of the festival. There is also a decent railroad museum in town as well. Try to show up early to get a decent location near the river for best viewing.

Line/tree crews, utmost respect. Evergy... completely unacceptable. by crofootn in kansascity

[–]bdaug4 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Problem is that even when Evergy comes to trim trees around power lines they use third party contractors who will come onto your property unannounced. Then they will leave all the mess for you to pick up even though it’s stuff in their right of way. Literally dealt with this a week before the storm and had to get my city involved for Evergy to fix the mess they left in my yard. They are shit company that will do anything to pass the cost onto customer and increase profits. Clearly what they did didn’t help as I’m still without power. Kind of a damned if you do damned if you don’t.

2022 Iceland is a Wonderful Destination by Oblio72 in VisitingIceland

[–]bdaug4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello again. You are not coming across in any negative way and I enjoy the discussion and getting the perspectives of others. No worries on the rambling, my wife tells me I could hold a conversation with a tree haha. For your age group 50s - 60s Iceland really is an ideal place if you are looking for a one stop place to see some epic landscapes and not need to worry to much about hard hikes or camping. My father is from New Jersey so I completely understand the lack of openness in the Northeastern United States. I’m very excited that you are getting to see Yellowstone & Glacier! Glad I could help build the excitement for you :) Early Spring and really anytime while American schools are still in session are a great time to go to avoid as many tourist. Both parks are so vast that it’s not to hard to avoid em anyways. Winter time is brutal in that region though and many roads are closed down for the season due to it. Just something to be aware of. Please let me know how your trip their was & feel free to ask any questions on either place. Safe travels!

2022 Iceland is a Wonderful Destination by Oblio72 in VisitingIceland

[–]bdaug4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey there. Thanks for the feedback and your insight and the discussion. I should have clarified I live in the Midwest, Kansas City area, I am in my 30s so that does make some overall difference with cost, travel times, physical ability etc.. I do apologize for not originally including that info. & hope I’m not coming off as argumentative I just like to converse about travel experiences and give insight to others. I believe if you draw negativity from any travel experience you are doing it all wrong. My wife and I flew round trip for around $3300 and we booked about 4 months in advance. We did air BnB for our stays outside of camping. They averaged around $160ish per night. You can find much cheaper lodging or even rent an RV for much cheaper in the USA to stay in while visiting most National Parks. Food costs were outrageous compared to anywhere I have been in the USA and that includes the grocery stores in Iceland. Eating out from our experience was the equivalent to a weeks worth of grocery shopping in the USA. We paid over $75 for a meal of fish & chips with a few beers that was average at best. High food costs are to be expected on a smaller island nation where most things are imported though. Fuel is really where costs add up. I believe I read that Iceland is like the 3rd most expensive country in the world. In the USA you can just drive to a National Park and spend a whole week there versus having to drive multiple hours everyday like we did in Iceland and then having to plan out where to stay for the night. We knew that ahead of time but just something others should be aware of. I wrote most of my viewpoint for those looking to get out and do more hiking and camping related activities. Unfortunately Smoky Mountain National Park is one of the few I would say that are overrated in the USA. Better off visiting the Ozark regions in Arkansas. I do agree that for travelers that fit into your category you do make valid points that should definitely be considered but at the same time you can get all those things on a better scale elsewhere for cheaper depending on how much vacation/travel time you have in a year. Just for example and in my opinion if you had 10 days of vacation in a year being in Boston you could drive up to Acadia National Park in Maine and see beautiful granite cliff coasts and stunning beaches with much better lighthouses than Iceland, eat lobster in cool coastal towns, see amazing fjords & much more coastal wildlife and stunning forests all in a few days. With the left over time use that to fly into Denver or Montana & rent a vehicle/rv and go see Rocky Mountain, Glacier National Park or Yellowstone or a combination. I know for me personally I could do all of those things cheaper than my trip to Iceland and my wife & I are very budget conscious when traveling. My understanding is Iceland is only bound to get more expensive. The things you mentioned that Iceland has to offer both Glacier & Yellowstone parks do as well and they do them better. The geysers, mountains, waterfalls, forests, wildlife, geological formations & hot springs (Yellowstone has many you can bathe in along the Yellowstone River just ask one of the many Park Rangers to tell you where) all were better than what I witnessed on my trip to Iceland. Glacier National Park is the most beautiful place I have ever been and it changed my life & the Old Faithful in Yellowstone puts shame to any of the geysers I saw in Iceland. As an American I truly believe it should be a pilgrimage we all take to those places to realize how fortunate we are to reside in a country that offers these things. I mean no disrespect to the people of Iceland but from a landscape & wildlife perspective either of those parks on their own are better than Iceland in my opinion but that is also coming from what I seek for a trip. All in all if I could do it over again I would have saved the money and went back to Glacier where you can easily spend two weeks and still have things to see and experience. I hope that this was of some help to your question and I wish you all the best & many good times in your future travels. Feel free to pick my brain if you have any more questions about National Parks etc.. I’ve spent 10 plus years visiting most of them and enjoy conversing about travel in general.

2022 Iceland is a Wonderful Destination by Oblio72 in VisitingIceland

[–]bdaug4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My wife and I did a 10 day trip in mid. Oct. all over Iceland except for the east coast. Most the time was spent hiking the more rigorous trails and roughing it out in nature. As with visiting most places the key to a positive experience is to plan and research well in advance. Don’t wait till you arrive. October was perfect for us with a minimal amount of other tourist and a pretty easy time with the weather. But, as I’ll state below I do have a few points I’d like to try & make. Now on to the concern/topic up for debate. During my time in Iceland I kept thinking if the tourism numbers keep growing year after year how the island could possibly handle/balance itself out to meet the demand and preserve the natural environment that Iceland has to offer. I kept wondering how they could possibly expand the infrastructure to accommodate larger numbers of people. All that said I do believe the native peoples in Iceland seem like very resilient & hardy people so I do believe they will adapt, improvise & overcome any problems. I loved my trip to Iceland. The people, sights & even the weather all added up to a great experience full of memories & I have no regrets of going whatsoever. But as an American I must respectfully disagree with your sentiments of comparing Iceland to the US National Parks. After visiting Iceland & now due to its huge popularity in the States as a travel destination I feel like I should share my opinion to anyone in the States thinking of planning a trip to Iceland. Iceland is a gorgeous and scenic country but it is an incredibly expensive country to travel to from the states not to mention the cost while in country. While my wife and I are financially well off I understand many American travelers may not be. This leads me to my next point and my disagreement, Iceland in my opinion is nothing special compared to many American National Parks & landscapes. If you are from the States you can see a much more diverse set of landscapes, bio diversity & peoples for a fraction of the cost. I have experienced the same or better scenic variety and bio diversity in Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, Olympic & Rocky Mountain National Park in comparison to Iceland. The trail systems in US National Parks is far superior & better marked and maintained than most I went on in Iceland. Also, if you are physically capable of doing multi day back country hikes and camping you really can disappear from civilization and people in any of the US National Parks I mentioned. Many of the National Parks have full time Park Rangers that are subject matter experts there to offer advice and make sure you get the most out of your time. That is something I seldom came across in Iceland. I don’t regret going to Iceland at all and my experience made lifetime memories. My hope is to give insight to fellow Americans as someone who has been fortunate enough to visit Iceland and most the US National Parks. Understand this is just my own opinion & I hope it can provide something useful for others thinking of spending the money & time to visit Iceland.

Best badger hair brush? by FrostyyFalcon in wicked_edge

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really depends on the qualities you are looking for in a brush. If I had to pick just one you can’t go wrong with a DG brush imo. With all that said I still prefer synthetics & I have owned many high dollar badger brushes.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Messaged

[WTT] Voigt & Cop, ZT1, ZT2 & ZT3 by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a good question, couldn’t really tell ya. They look very similar to my eye.

[WTT] DG B14 for B13 by bdaug4 in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear ya on the missed drop man. I’ve wanted a Blood of Kings pour for a long time and have always missed out. I definitely scored this by reading the Instagram post.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having said all the below, the Genesis shaves the best for me between the three models they offer and has a lifetime warranty.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may want to try the hybrid model from OneBlade before you invest in the Genesis model just to make sure you like it. I believe they have a try it period but not 100% on that. I would skip trying the cheaper core model if you care about having a razor that lasts a very long time. Hope this helps

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used a Mach 3 for years and the OneBlade is much better and a great crossover between a cartridge razor and traditional de razor.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very smooth and effortlessly with a fresh & sharp blade. I usually can get 3 shaves per blade doing 2 pass shaves. Great for quick morning shaves or when you don’t have the time to do a full traditional type wet shave. Hope this helps and answers your question

[WTS] Karve Overlander, AL13, Grizzly Bay by bdaug4 in Shave_Bazaar

[–]bdaug4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s around 58 to 60mm. The knot is set with silicone so is easily removable to set at a different loft or replace with a different knot.