Ridiculous longhair problem #72, part II

I have complained about headphones versus buns before, and now I will do it again!

But first: A rant
One of the things that really bugs me is when people replace things because they want the newest model in something.
Especially when people replace a functional item with "Ultra green eco friendly eco-eco-eco-green-whatever item" and then argue it's better for the environment. No, you were just tricked into consuming something that you otherwise wouldn't have bought by a unscrupulous company. And you are a slacktivist of the worst kind too.
Consume something when it needs replacement or the next model has a function you want, don't replace something just to have a newer model. Or, buy what you want, when you want, but don't lie to yourself and others about it.

Basically, this:

Mr Igor an I were actually the last people I know of who had an old fashioned fat screen TV. It worked, and we weren't missing any functions, so why should we replace it? Eventually Mr Igor's mother took offense to it and bought us a plasma TV because apparently she couldn't stand the thought that we had such an old fashioned TV. Meh.

Anyways.

I love good headphones. I spend quite a long time during my workdays on public transportation trying to drown out other people's noises and I want good sound on my music. I also can't stand having the headphones resting on my ears, so I want good, noise-cancelling around the ear headphones. My headphones get a lot of use, and a lot of wear and tear from weather and going in and out of backpacks. So I want to spend a good amount of money on quality ones.
But, since everything seems to break the day after the two year warranty goes out, it puts a limit to how much I want to spend. So I usually buy the high, but not very high end models. I like Sennheiser, V Moda and Bang & Olufsen.

But wanting my headphones big enough to not rest on my ears creates a problem with space: Especially braided Chinese buns are a problem, but basically any bun that is nice and flat will have to compete for space on my head.

For some years I have wanted to switch to Bluetooth MP3 players, but since both my wired MP3 player and headphones have worked perfectly, I haven't decided to switch. But then my wired Sennheiser headphones died in the left ear, and left me with two options:
1) Replace the wired Sennheiser with another wired headphone or
2) Replace both the wired MP3 player and wired headphones

Although I dislike replacing the functioning MP3-player (See rant above), I decided to go with option #2.

Since I was trying something new, I fell for an in-ear headset just for the design: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H5.

Unfortunately they immediately proved why I prefer the massive around-the-ear models. They just don't fit into my ears and end up slipping out slowly. I ended up bringing them to work where they function as my "Go away, I'm busy"-signal.

And here is a fun and unexpected function of a hair fork: They can be used to anchor earphones in place:

When you leave the connecting wire to the earphones to rest on your shoulders, it seems to create more interference with the fit. "Lifting" it off the shoulders limits the problem.

So, that was a bit of a fail and I went back to look for the big around-the-ear models. The next headphones I got was Bose QuietComfort 35 QC35 II.

This model won a bunch of awards for the sound and felt really comfortable in the store. No contact  with my ears and felt very soft.

Since I was in the middle of my little "picky fit", I also fell for the wireless V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition.

I really like V Moda. They are super comfortable and there is something about the designs that I really like. And they have previously proven to be just as tough as they advertise them to be.
If I had a family shield or a cool blogger logo or something, I would get it engraved on the headphone shields!

But how about the space-issue with my buns?
My old V Modas were the same size, and also left me with issues with some updos.

Comparing the Bose QuietComfort 35 QC35 II with my old gold standard, the Sennheiser around-ear model PXC 480:

The Sennheisers are 10,5 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20-25 mm wide.
The Bose are 10 cm long, 8 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20 mm wide.
The Bose model is noticeably rounder, where the Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape.

The wireless V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition looks awesome. Just the box it comes with feels so much more study and interesting than the Bose.

Comparing the V Moda Crossfade II Codex Edition with the Sennheiser around-ear model PXC 480:

The Sennheisers are 10,5 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20-25 mm wide.
The V Moda are 9 cm long, 7,5 cm wide at the widest and the earcup cushion is around 20 mm wide.
The V Moda model has the hexagonal shape like all of the models, where the Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape.

Comparing some measurements
Sennheiser: 10,5 cm long earcups
Bose: 10 cm long
V Moda: 9 cm
The length is not really an issue when it comes to having room for my updos, but it is interesting that there is such a difference between the brands.

Sennheiser: 7,5 cm wide earcups
Bose: 8 cm wide
V Moda: 7,5 cm
The Bose model feels noticeably wider than the Sennheiser and V Moda, but I think it's more the difference in shape than the actual measurements? The Sennheiser has an almost triangular shape and the V Moda has the brands hexagonal shape, where the Bose is oval. Without knowing anything about ear anatomy, I think the most logical shape belongs to Sennheiser, since I think most ears are slightly egg shaped and wider near the top? Also kind of interesting that there is so little difference in width of the earcups when there is 1,5 cm difference in the length,

Sennheiser: 2-2,5 cm wide foam earcups
Bose: 2 cm wide
V Moda: 2 cm
I think the Sennheiser being wider is probably more to do with being worn and the cushion getting squished with wear?

Sennheiser: 230 g weight
Bose: 240 g
V Moda: 315 g
It's crazy how much heavier the V Moda feels even though it's just 85 g heavier than the Sennheiser which was the lightest model. But of course this is 37% heavier, so I guess that's the noticeable part?

Also a fun little comparison:
Bang & Olufsen is a Danish company and was founded in 1925, so it's the oldest company of them at a grand old 94 years old.
Sennheiser is a German company and was founded in 1945, so it's 74 years old.
Bose is an American company and was founded in 1964, so it's 55 years old.
V Moda is an American company was founded in 2004, so it's the youngest company of them at just 15 years old.

The V Moda's in action on my way to work. It feels a little like "cheating" because my hair is in two vertically stacked braided buns, which is one of the more narrow updos in my repertoire. But maybe this proves my point since this is such a narrow updo and it still doesn't leave a whole lot of space.

Today's hair

I was going to make a high Royal bun today, but my hair absolutely refused to cooperate??
Bad hair. Very naughty.
So I made the same low-ish Royal bun as yesterday, just held with a Ron Quattro starlite.

Today's hair

Low-ish Royal bun held with the same Ron Quattro pins from yesterday.

Today's hair

Two braided cinnamon buns today. Felt good, held well.

Today's hair

I was going to make two five-stranded braids, but my hair is too freshly washed and super slippery. So, three-stranded it is.
(Very #firstworldproblems for sure)

Surgery

So, first of: Yes, I'm having surgery. No, it's nothing major.
It won't be until march or so though. January and February is impossible for me.
It will probably take me six weeks in a cast first and then a boot for more weeks.

For the past 25 years or so (Holy shit, has it been this long?) I've been having problems on and off with my right tibialis posterior tendon. It has come and gone depending on how much I ask of it, and is always worse in the winter. I feel the effect of my weight on it, and any extra kilo provokes it. But the last 3 years it has become a lot worse, to the point where I feel a minimum of discomfort at all times.
Training, physical therapy, rest, insoles and bandages, nothing has helped. The only thing I ever felt helped any, was my massage therapist, but she "only" helps with the muscle pain from tensing, not by actually helping with the tendon issue.

I've tried injuring myself in a lot of (stupid) ways over the years, including more broken bones than I'd like to think of. But when this shitty little tendon has been at its worst, it has been the most painful thing I've ever experienced. I've felt sweat rhythmically spring from my forehead when walking on it.
But I'm stubborn and stupid and have been putting this off for too long.

My old coworkers had this emphatic reaction to my periodic limping:

Yes, that was my office chair equipped with a printed handicap-sign, where someone lovingly drew on long hair. My old coworkers were unapologetic assholes and I miss them. My new coworkers are too nice for this kind of loving mocking. 

I hate the idea of surgery. Especially after being so stupid that I tried to look up what they actually do during a tibialis posterior surgery. Pro tip: Don't do it. Just don't. Don't ever look up a video of a surgery up if you're the one going in for it. Settle for nice static pictures instead at the most. Seriously. Don't. Just trust that the nice medical professionals know what they're doing and leave it to them. Nothing good comes out of knowing exactly what they are going to do.
But, this is becoming unsustainable for me, so I will have to get over my dislike of the idea. It's too painful.

At this point they are not sure how bad it really is. I've had X-rays, MRI and ultrasound done and it looks pretty bad. But they simply need to open it up to see what's going on with the tendon, how inflamed the surrounding tissue is and how much scar tissue there is. The minimum procedure is stitching the damaged areas up, removing inflamed tissue and old scar tissue that presses on the tendon. The maximum involves a tendon transfer and realigning the heelbone. Yikes.

I will keep you informed as I know more.

Hello 2020!

Goals in no particular order

• Keep working full time like I have the previous years
• Pass two exams towards my next degree
• Save money in stocks and pension
• Renovate some things in our home
• Self care with plenty of sleep
• Be a good wifey. Even though I'm pretty busy, we prioritize to have date nights from time to time
• Blog

Simple goals. I should be able to stick to this.

I also have a way less fun thing coming up in 2020, but I'll get into that in a few days....

Mildly interesting

The little Bed & Breakfast I'm staying at for work has again provided a "Mildly interesting" entry.

One of the "leftovers" from previous visitors is this little shampoo tube.

This is the angle I first saw it from:

The first thing I noticed was "Shampoo" and "Den skaldede frisør". Which means "The bald hairdresser".

And I thought "Huh. That's a pretty bold gimmick to go with for a haircare line".

But when I took it down to take a second look, it revealed an extra line on the tube.
"En ny musical af Susanne Bier & Thomas Helmig", which means "A new musical by Susanne Bier & Thomas Helmig".

And it finally clicked that this was a rather clever promotion for the musical based on a movie which was titled Love Is All You Need for the international market, but in Danish was titled The bald hairdresser. Hah.

Today's hair

I used my "new" hair sticks to hold a figure 8 bun. I learned a good lesson though: Danglies needs to, well, dangle. Danglies like this are better in a bun where they don't risk getting caught in the hair all the time. The little swords spent more time being trapped in my hair than actually dangling like they were supposed to.

December 24th

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates on the 24th! The rest of you will have to wait until tomorrow :)
The Ciaté calendar had a pretty sparkly polish, full size this time.
The Schwarzkopf calendar was a disappointment though: 10 gram of some styling powder. What a sad product to end the calendar on.

Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+ Soft Dust - Soft Volumizing Powder
Aqua, Glycerin, Silica Silylate, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Silica, Maris Sal, Parfum, Citric Acid, Isoceteth-10, Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract, Sorbitol, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional

I was curious about how much value I got out of this calendar...

Here are the things I will keep and try:

• 3 conditioning masks of 30 ml each
• 4 hair oils of 5 ml each
• One leave in conditioner spray of 50 ml
• One leave in conditioner creme of 30 ml

So in total there are 9 products and a total of 190 ml product that I will definitely try.

Here are the things I will probably, maybe try at some point, or hubby will use:

• 5 shampoos of 50 ml each
• One shampoo of 30 ml
• One sea salt texturising spray of 50 ml
• One colour neutral toning treatment of 60 ml

So in total there are 8 products and a total of 390 ml product that I will probably, maybe try.

Here are things I will definitely try to give away:

• 2 styling powder products of 10 gram each
• 3 styling sprays of 100 ml each
• One styling mousse of 100 ml
• One styling wax of 85 ml

So in total there are 7 products and a total of 485 ml product and 20 gram of powder that I will definitely not try.

This is not really a good ratio!
I'm actually surprised at this. I would think winter/Christmas would be more about treatments and moisture for dry, unhappy winter hair. I mean, lots of styling products would probably fit more with all the parties for New Years? Meh, not impressed with Schwarzkopf for this calendar.

Anyways. Hubby and I are at my parents for Christmas.

Here is Mr Igor taking a much deserved nap on the comfiest couch in the world (It's seriously awesome: It belongs to a set with three chairs that my great grandparents bought in 1945. The wooden frame has carvings of knights and queens and I love the details on them) with a view of a Christmas three we had to take an extra branch off to make room for all the gifts under.