The Pen Addict 336/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	336
Title:	That's When I Heard the Second Car
Release Date:	November 28th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 336
Audio File:	Audio Episode 336
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 336
Length:	6969 min <br />1.15 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 336. Today's show is brought to you by Kane11, Harry's, and Storyworth. My name is Myke Hurley, I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad Dowdy. Hey Myke Hurley, how are you today? Very good, I'm looking forward to hearing from our listeners today.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, we've been slacking a little bit, but it's because we've been busy, so I don't know how those two things work together, but we've had so many topics. I know, we've had so many topics to cover during our last month and a half or so of episodes that we haven't gotten into any Ask TPA or an update on The Pen Addict Horror Story. So we're going to do all of that on this episode today. How does that sound?

Myke Hurley: I think that sounds great, and we should kick right off with our hashtag Ask TPA. And the first question comes from Paul, and Paul wants to know, or Paul says, Gentlemen, it has become abundantly clear to me that the aspects of fountain pens that I care about most is the nib. After using German and American fine nibs for years, and feeling that something was lacking, it was the humble Pilot Prera that blew my mind. Love at first right. I love Pilot EF nibs, but don't want to be limited to just one brand. The one pen store in my city doesn't carry sailor pens because of the price. I mean, Canada. Buying one online without trying it first is an expensive gamble. Is it worth it, or should I look at alternatives?

Brad Dowdy: All right, so let's discuss a couple of things here.

Brad Dowdy: I figured out the same thing Paul did with the nibs early on in my fountain pen journey. You know, Lamy Safari was kind of the first one for me, and German extra fine nib at the time was the finest thing I thought I could buy. And I was relating it to my gel ink pens that were 0.38 and 0.5 millimeters and going, wow, this line is super wide. It's like, it's fine, you know, not in line with, but it's okay to use, but it's not really the line that I want. The Pilot Prera was one of those nibs and pens that changed it for me that made me say, oh, this is different. Why? And it's because Japanese use a different nib sizing scale. So, the Pilot nibs that are extra fine or fine in steel, which is what the Prera is, are fantastic. So, the question is, does Paul want to lock himself into, like, one brand, and can he be safe in ordering these things online without trying it first? I would actually say that Pilot would be the one online brand that I would trust implicitly to give me the most perfect nib out-of-the-box experience, no matter if you're going for a Metropolitan with a steel nib or, like, a 912 with a gold nib. I think universally, Pilot would be a brand that I would feel the most comfortable with going in blind, if you will. You know, if you like the barrel style and design, I think that nib is kind of the most trustworthy to buy blind. Do you have anything to say about that? Say about that?

Myke Hurley: I think I'll mostly agree. Like, I've, you know, I own many sailor pens at this point, and I haven't found any of them to be unreliable. Right. I've never had a problem with any of them. I have 12 of them, and they all write as exactly as I would expect them to. And I've never known of anyone that's had a problem with a sailor pen, to be honest.

Brad Dowdy: Like, yeah, my, I was just gonna say, my only hang-up is sailor nibs can be a little particular feel-wise if you're not used to them. They're firmer, I think. So you can get a little bit of different feedback than Pilot. So maybe I'm being a little safe in my answer, but I think that's where it goes. But, I mean, I'm with you on sailor, but I also think that sailor doesn't have the low-end options that Pilot might offer.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I just don't have enough experience with Pilot nibs. Right. But, I mean, I would say sailor, personally, I would say sailor, you'd be safe. But I would recommend maybe getting a fine, not an extra fine, just to be sure.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, yeah, for sure, on sailor. Yeah. Pilot, the steel extra fine, man, that is such a good nib. And they do offer that in the gold nibs. But I like the steel extra fine better, I think. And the gold nib, Pilot's gold nibs, I like the fine. So that's just me. So I don't know if we helped at all the more we ramble, Paul. But I would feel very comfortable going with Pilot blind, if you will.

Brad Dowdy: My Pilot should not fly blind, though. I do approve of that.

Myke Hurley: No, you don't want to do that. Our next question comes from Jacob. Jacob says, I have a seven-year-old lefty daughter who is now trying her hand at fancy writing. So I let her play with my 1.1 stub, Twizby Eco. Any recommendations for a first fountain pen for her? I'm looking at maybe the Pelicano, the Lamy ABC, or the Pilot Kakuno. The Pelicano has a lefty specific, whatever that means.

Brad Dowdy: This is a really good list. Like, I'd feel comfortable shopping for this list.

Left-Handed Nibs

Myke Hurley: I mean, as well, I don't know if Lamy do an ABC in left-handed, but Lamy do sell left-handed nibs. So if that was a thing you wanted to try, you could get an ABC, and I think you can probably still switch out the nibs on the ABC. Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think they use the, whatever that nib is called, X50 or something like that. It's just the standard Lamy steel nib for everything up to, like, the AL Star nib style. So you could swap those over. I have a question for you, being a lefty, and this is a curiosity for me, not knowing, and I don't want to say something, you know, something wrong, but I wonder, so as a 7-year-old using a left-hand specific nib and pen, would you, I think it would help now in getting your handwriting better, but do you feel that would be a useful thing to use long-term as a lefty who uses non-lefty specific pens as you're older? Do you understand what I'm getting at?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it would really be of any help to me now, because I've used regular nibs for such a long time that I feel like trying to use something which is specifically tuned to being left-handed would be strange, right? Now, I've had pens tuned to my writing style, which I'm sure have some leaning towards being the fact that I'm left-handed, but it's a left-handed person who's established a writing style based upon using non-left-handed nibs. I don't even really know what a left-handed nib would particularly do, like, what makes it inherently left-handed.

Brad Dowdy: It's got an angle to it, so when you're holding at your 45-degree angle, it gives you that.

Myke Hurley: I would say, even for someone who's starting out, see if they can work with a regular nib, because you're opening up just... I always, for anything left-handed specific, I've always tried to avoid in my life, honestly. I just think that in most instances, it just ends up becoming a problem, especially... And then I don't necessarily recommend this, it's just the way that I was. I just learned to do everything except write with my right hand, and that was great for me. But, like, I don't know if I would necessarily recommend jumping in to the left-handed nib. Like, maybe try her out with a right-handed and see if she can deal with that. Like, it seems like if she's using the stub, yeah, a standard nib. If she's using the eco and is enjoying it, then she's already doing it, right? So, maybe try that, because I just... I feel like you end up opening up to a world of difficulty down the line.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's kind of what I felt, but I also felt, like, biased saying that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, you don't want to be like, screw those lefties, right? You don't want to...

Brad Dowdy: Right, right, right. But I feel like, you know, 99.9 of the fountain pens you're going to use the rest of your life are not going to have that, even though it might be beneficial now while you're learning. So, we'll see. I... But I... This list is really good. The Pelicano is a really, really good pen. That's kind of probably the one I would pick out of that list, to be honest, and I'm a fan of the ABC and the Kakuno. I think the Pelicano might be the right choice. So, if you want a definitive choice there.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Myke Hurley: Okay. So, should we move on? Let's go. Next question comes from Evan, and Evan says, I have a cross 18-carat medium Townsend, the Star Wars Chewbacca pen, that writes way too broad with my handwriting. I ask cross, but they won't do a nib exchange. What will be some fun nib grains to consider for it at my next pen show? I mean, first off, Evan, you do you, my friend. Like, bravo, right? Like, sure.

Brad Dowdy: I was going to make sure you knew what this pen was. Oh, I know what it is. You've seen this. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's an amazing pen, right? Yeah. It is wild.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. I think that for these wider nib, traditional size, you know, German, American size, whatever you want to call this wide, I tend to go stub. Like, I'll get like a, I'll say, so for like an 18-carat medium nib, I will get it ground to a fine stub. I won't generally go crazy with the larger nib sizes into doing something wild. You could do an architect grind. It will have the material there if that's something you want to try. But for me, for a pen I'm going to know, I'm going to use and write with a lot and consistently, consistently. I would go for a stub nib if like a standard medium is not working for you. Again, that's not very risky like I was talking about before, but I feel like that's the best use for that nib. If you're going to be using this pen a lot as a daily writer, it's going to make it more enjoyable. You know, it's just going to make it more useful for you since you don't like how the line looks in a standard round tip medium, which I don't either. So that's why I tend to square them off and I'll do a stub in something like this.

Myke Hurley: That makes perfect sense. Yep. Our next question comes from at FI88R. Why aren't there more refillable rollable pens or needle points?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I actually took this up on Twitter and I thought it was worth discussing here too, because what they're actually asking for, which I didn't realize at first, was they're looking for the fountain pen ink cartridge roller balls, if you know what I mean. Like Jay Herbon's made one, Kaweco's made one, and Noodler's has made one, right? So it's like a metal tip, just a roller ball tip that takes fountain pen converters or cartridges. Why aren't there more of these? Because they don't work well. That's why they're not more of them. The way the properties of the fountain pen ink do not lend itself to a metal ball roller tip pen. It's not lubricated enough to give a smooth writing experience.

Brad Dowdy: But there is one pen that does this really well that I haven't played around with enough, but I've played around with it enough to know how good it is. And that's the Pilot High Tech Point Rollerball. So it's basically the Pilot V5 series roller ball pen. You know that famous, you know this pen, Myke. It's the famous needle tip Pilot V5 and V7. But what they've done is they've made it a cartridge fill. So they use Pilot's ink cartridges for the ink deployment system in these roller ball pens, which means you can use any of Pilot's ink cartridges or you can fill them up with your own ink once you clean them out. But they don't come already engaged, so you've got to pop the cartridge in just like any other pen. So they come in your standard black, blue, green, red, but you can just buy one of these pens and put any ink you want in it. And it actually works. It works better than the J. Herban and Kaweco, which are the ones that I have had the most experience with. And those are practically unusable. They're so uncomfortable to write with. This Pilot is not. And honestly, it should probably get more play than it does because it's a really neat pen that's done really well. It's just super particular, right? I mean, if you're just buying it for the roller ball aspect and to have like the refillable fountain pen cartridges, it's an expensive proposition. You'd probably stick with the regular V5s. But if you want something to play with, like Fader or Always Be Burley, who seconded this question and asked what I would suggest, this is the one.

Myke Hurley: Sounds like fun. Yeah. Seems like it's hard to get in the UK. Like every time I searched for it, it brought up the non-cartridge version. So I found out in Japan.

Brad Dowdy: It came up randomly about a year and a half, two years ago, just out of the blue. It showed up. I was like, well, I'll be danged. And it really works. So it'd be one that I would. The only thing I'm curious about, which I didn't explore enough, is cleaning it after you've used it. But because of the way those fins are in the pen, it's a little bit more involved than like a fountain pen feed. So it might take a little bit of extra aspirator water pressure to get through there, maybe some soaking to get it really cleaned out. But I think it would work. It's really nice.

Myke Hurley: All right. That's great. So should we take our first break? Let's do it. Lots of these to go through. Let's talk about our new friends at Kane 11, the company who make ridiculously comfortable socks in precisely your size. The socks you're wearing right now, they're probably like a one size fits all right kind of deal, right? Or you've chosen a size range and you've gone with that. But look, we don't all have the same size feet. We have different size feet. And this is why Kane 11 thought, why don't we take a look at how socks are made and how they fit and innovate on it? So Kane 11 offer 11 different sizes that fit the same as your shoe sizes from US size 7 right through to 17. Kane 11 socks are made from merino wool and they offer a precise fit for you. They're made in the USA. They are made with that merino wool, by the way. That's going to keep your feet warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It's magic wool, basically. That's the best way to think about it. That's what I wanted to talk about. All right. Hang on. You hold your horses. And they're made with optimal performance fibers as well that move moisture away from your feet to keep them dry all the time. So tell me about the wool, Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: It doesn't feel like wool. I had to look up what it was because it's not what you'd think a traditional wool sock would feel like. It's better than any wool sock I've ever owned. And I thought, okay, this is some kind of super refined cotton, which wouldn't make sense if I thought about it because cotton will shrink and modify more. And that kind of defeats the purpose of a sock that will fit to your shoe size. The merino wool doesn't. It's going to wash and wear really consistently. Hold its shape and size, which is the entire point of buying these socks. And it's just it's so soft and comfortable. Like I really had to go look this up just to see. So it's really good. I enjoy them.

Myke Hurley: All purchases come with the Kane 11 promise. If for any reason you don't love your socks, just send them back for an exchange or a return. No questions asked. And Kane 11, they make the perfect gift for the person in your life who has everything because they definitely don't have socks that are their exact shoe size. To get your own Kane 11 socks in precisely your size, go to Kane11.com slash Pen Addict and enter the promo code Pen Addict to get 20% off your order. That's K-A-N-E-1-1.com slash Pen Addict. Promo code Pen Addict for 20% off your order. Our thanks to Kane 11 for their support of this show and all of RelayFM. All right. We got more, Myke. Oh, boy, do we. The next one comes from another one from FI88R. Japanese fountain pens has spoiled me. I cannot really get myself to even consider a pen over $100 that does not have a gold nib. What do you think about that?

Brad Dowdy: I left this in even though it wasn't a question. It even says hashtag not a question. I understand it. Like I. I get it. The issue I have personally is that it goes into like personal style and aesthetics at that point. Like once you get to like it's really probably over $200. You're really kind of paying for like style and stuff. And there's pens. Well, I guess even in the mid-100s when you're talking about like Edison and Franklin Kristoff. And that's the point I'm trying to make is they make pens that fit my style and aesthetic and feel and looks of what I want in a pen. And I like steel nibs so much that it's not. It almost doesn't come into consideration what the nib material is if I like the pen barrel enough. So that's something that I learned from myself over the years of using fountain pens. Like what's important in the writing experience. Yes, the nib needs to be really good. But gold does not automatically equal really good.

Myke Hurley: Okay. I think that's fair. Mm-hmm. I mean, also, I have many steel nibs that I love and I don't even really consider it. I don't even really think personally about steel versus gold. I just want what feels good, you know? Yep. Like I don't necessarily think like, oh, that's great. Like, you know, there are some steel nibs that I have that are wonderful, right? Like I have that pilot, the Port of Kobe one, and it's a steel nib. But you'd never, I don't think you would necessarily know in most instances. I think it's perfectly fine. But, you know. Yeah. What are you going to do?

Brad Dowdy: But that's one of those things you decide over time. What do you like your writing experience to feel like? Can you tell a difference between this and that? You know, is gold worth the premium? And sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. So sometimes the barrel and the way the pen fits your hand and helps your writing is more important than the nib. Sometimes the nib makes the pen. So, you know, it just depends. You kind of figure that out as you go along.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I think so. All right. So our next question comes from Chestnut Hair. I'm working on manufacturing flexible gold nibs for people to retrofit their pens with. Should I make it fit a Jowo or a Bok feed or some other feed in order to accommodate the most pens possible?

Brad Dowdy: So I'm super not qualified to answer this. Okay. But I will say that I enjoy everything that Jowo makes more than everything that Bok makes. And I'll leave it that way.

Myke Hurley: I think I agree with you, actually. Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: Like, Bok makes a good titanium nib. And that's about it. And the Jowo nibs seem to be, the feed design seems to maybe fit more vintage pens. But I'm not sure. Like, other people have more experience than that with me. I just feel that Jowo makes a better product. So that's the route I personally would take. But I would also get lots of other opinions other than mine for this one.

Myke Hurley: I think that's perfectly fair. The next one comes from Maud Chunggrig. Do you have any idea if there is a green and or dark red as trusty and apocalypse-grade waterproof as platinum carbon black? I am in love with Diamine's November rain, but it is so fragile I can't use it in real life and would happily sacrifice sheen quality. For something that lasts.

Brad Dowdy: Apocalypse-grade is an ink-grade that I don't think many inks can tackle. Platinum carbon black being one of them. You know, Sailor nano black. And then some of the Noodlers bulletproof, like some of the most extreme inks. If you want something with permanence and waterproofness that I can't say is apocalypse-grade but has some character to it, you're going to start looking at some of the Iron Gaul inks and the proliferation of some of the unique color Iron Gaul inks. Like I put a link into the Platinum Classic inks, which have some red-ish shades and some green-ish shades. You know, they're all like green-black or purple-black or red-black. So those are some really nice colors. They have good waterproof properties. Apocalypse-grade? I don't know. They should hold up to pretty much anything. Maybe not as well as carbon black. And then you can also look at KWZ, who has some, I think they do just like a regular green Iron Gaul ink in various shades. Like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I don't know if it's all of those. And red. So I'd look at what Platinum does in the Classic ink lineup. And then what KWZ does for their Iron Gauls. That's where you're going to get some unique colors with some waterproof properties. So I can't guarantee they're going to be as fallout-proof as Platinum Carbon Black, though.

Myke Hurley: All right. And our next question comes from Eric. I have been having a horrible time with ink smearing on Tomoe River Paper, even after drying for days, coming out of EF nibs. Clairefontaine or Rodia does better, but still can smear. How does Leuchtturm do with smearing? I used to see Rodia's Webby in A5 for $11 to $13. Since then, it's gone up to $20 to $25. Why is this happening? Or relatedly, what do you recommend for an A5-ish Webby Moleskine-type leather-bound notebook for fountain pens? Break this down into a few different parts. I don't understand how the ink is smearing off the days in Tomoe River.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So, yeah. This is lots of several different parts in this. I don't either. I don't know what ink Eric's using. He did not mention that. And that sounds like Tomoe River Paper takes forever to dry. But unless you're using a hose and some other, some crazy ink, it should dry in a reasonable amount of time. I mean, 30 seconds to a minute. Maybe a couple minutes for something extreme. But not days. Like, I would be concerned about the ink. Or at least question, like, what ink are you using?

Brad Dowdy: And, you know, the Clairfontaine Rodia does better, but it still can smear. Right? It's a coated paper. It does have some dry time. That's the trade-off for getting the character of the ink. You know, if you want to see shading and sheen, it does better on a smooth paper or coated paper and things like that. But the pricing for the Rodia Webby, I've never seen the Webby under $18 or $20. I don't think it's ever been in the $11 to $13 price range unless you're talking about the A6 model. The A5s, the standard model, which Eric refers to later. I've never seen them for less than like $18 or so. So, I don't know what's going on with the price because I haven't seen that personally. So, what would you recommend for A5 style leather-bound notebooks for fountain pens? And you mentioned the Leuchtturm. Like, if you're having a problem with the smearing, Leuchtturm's not a very coated paper. So, it's going to dry faster than Rodia or Tomoe River. Are you going to miss out some of the characteristics that you're used to? The shade, the sheening, you know, whatever ink properties that you like in Tomoe River or Rodia? Yeah, probably. That's the trade-off. So, you have to decide, okay, Leuchtturm works well for my general writing. The ink's not going to smear as much. It's going to dry faster. But maybe I don't get the wild sheen that I used to see on Tomoe River. That's the trade-off with Tomoe River. The price you pay is dry time. It's just going to take a while. So, if you want to try something different, I do recommend the Leuchtturm. I think it's a great notebook. And I enjoy writing with fountain pens in them. I think they do great. So, that would be my choice. I would not get a Moleskine. I know you weren't saying that as a choice. You were just saying general. That size and style, I would go with Leuchtturm.

Mechanical Pencils

Myke Hurley: All right. Our next question comes from Tim. One of the reasons I've been hesitant to dive into mechanical pencils is I have no clue about what leads to go for. Any chance of a new top five category for leads?

Brad Dowdy: I left this in here because I don't have an answer and I want to work on this.

Myke Hurley: Right.

Brad Dowdy: So, I talk about mechanical pencils all the time, but I never talk about the leads like I talk about them in the wooden pencils. Like, wooden pencil is like totally graphite driven. Why aren't, why don't I treat mechanical pencils the same way? So, this is my way of saying publicly, Tim, that I will work on this. So, I need to, and I get asked this pretty frequently. It's like, what's the lead to put into my mechanical pencils? I don't have a great answer. I've got some general answers, but not enough testing on that. So, I vow to work on that. So, right now, Myke, in my notebook, I'm putting a square, an open box to buy more mechanical pencil leads. And then, when the show is done, I will go order these and then I will check off the box and continue on with my notebook.

Myke Hurley: Good man.

Myke Hurley: Kim R. Osborne sends in a link and says, Brad, where do I find this? And this is a link to a travel website called Out of Town Blog talking about the 2019 Starbucks Philippines Planner and Travel Organizer.

Brad Dowdy: So, I'm bringing this to the listeners for help with this. This is obviously a Philippine Starbucks creation. But I wonder what other regional Starbucks have specialty items like this. Because I got to say, Myke, this is really attractive. Like, I think it's really good looking. I mean, they've done a great job with the photography. You know, I don't know anything about the quality or anything like that. But it's really kind of compelling, like, what these things look like. So, I wonder, would the roastery in Seattle have these types of products? Because they're the ones that carry, like, the special field notes and things like that. Is it worth checking out, you know, these huge flagship Starbucks for these types of products? So, we'll put a link in the show notes to this so y'all can check it out. And if anyone has any ideas where to find products like this at other Starbucks, we'd be happy to know.

Myke Hurley: And I'll pass them on to Kimmer.

Myke Hurley: All right. And I think we're going to round this out as maybe our last ask TPA for today before we start getting into horror stories. And this comes from Kim Squared. How do you determine when it's time to say goodbye to stationary goods that you've purchased?

Brad Dowdy: God, this is a loaded question, right? This is a great, this is an awesome question. And that's why it's in here.

Brad Dowdy: To me, it's just time, right? It's so, the more I use products, the more I use multiple products, and the more I refine what I'm reaching for on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis, it's kind of self-selecting, right? You know, eventually, certain products get pushed to the side. That's when I know. You know, when it's, when fountain pen A is not getting used nearly as much as fountain pen B, well, maybe it's time for fountain pen A to be sold. That's kind of how I do it. I don't know what other way it could be. Really, it's just, you know, you've, the more things we buy, like, and let's be honest with ourselves, we go pretty crazy sometimes. The more experience we get with different things, the more refined our tastes become. And then maybe some of those things we bought previously don't really fit our needs now. And that's when you know it's time to go. Hmm.

Myke Hurley: Hmm. I think you're probably right. Like, I try not to hold on too tightly to things, and then as my tastes change, I allow myself to move on, right? Right.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that, I've gotten better at the moving on part. Hmm. Um, I've, I used to be really latched onto things, um, and now I'll just, I won't send out things willy-nilly to people, but I'm, like, I don't need, 10 of something, you know, if I'm not using it, you know? So, yeah, no problem. So, I've, I've gotten better at that over the years. It does take time to, to come to mental terms and the physical terms of, of selling the product, so.

Myke Hurley: All right. We still have Ask TPA that we want to get to, but it's going to happen in the future. But you can always send in your questions of hashtag Ask TPA to be included on a future episode. But for now, we must take a break and thank our friends over at Harry's for their support of this show. We all know that finding gifts for your loved ones can be a difficult task. They want more socks and pajamas? Why not get them something that they really want to use every day? Buy them a gift from Harry's. Harry's razors and shaving products make the perfect gifts because they're super practical. And then once the recipient gets hooked, they'll be able to save money because Harry's razors cost a little to $2 per blade. You can personalize the Harry's razor to make the recipient feel extra special. You can choose from multiple colors and even have the option to engrave it. And they come ready to gift in wonderful boxes. Brad Dowdy, tell me about the box.

Brad Dowdy: It's wonderful, Myke. I got the Harry's box. It's the beautiful, it's kind of, do they have an official color name for it? I call it like cranberry and navy. It's really pretty.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I'm sure they do. I'll try and find out. But it's like, it's blue and red, right? And it's kind of shiny, you know?

Brad Dowdy: It's shiny and shimmery. It'll look great under a Christmas tree or a holiday table or any gift. It would look great, honestly, Myke, if you bought this for yourself. Used all of the amazing Harry's products and then used the box as your next pencil storage box, which is what I do with these boxes because they're so freaking good, Myke. I just buy them for the boxes. But hey, guess what? I need more blades, more shave cream, more handles. All these things are in this gift box. And then I get to put the gift box to use on its own after I'm done using all the products. So I buy them for myself, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Good. Everyone's got to treat themselves. As a special offer for listeners of this show, Harry's doing something great. You can get $5 off any gift set, including the limited edition holiday sets, when you go to harrys.com slash penaddict and you'll get free shipping. This offer is for new and returning customers and only available over the holidays. It's harrys.com slash penaddict to get your hands on that. Each Harry's shaving set comes with an ergonomic weighted handle with an option to engrave, German-engineered five-blade cartridges that provide that close, comfortable shave, foaming shave gel for a richer lava, and you get a travel cover to protect your blade and a handsome holiday gift box, as Brad has explained and adores. Or if you're looking to treat yourself something different, maybe you can get, you can redeem a Harry's trial offer to experience the quality of their shave before committing. Get your holiday shopping done early. Free shipping ends on December 12th. So act now. Go to harrys.com slash penaddict to get that $5 off a gift set while supplies last. That is harrys.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Harry's for their continued support of this show and RelayFM.

Horror Stories

Brad Dowdy: All right, Myke. We have horror stories. And I'll take the first one because you've been reading a lot this episode. And then we'll switch them up. But first, we did have a follow-up that you'll have to play back in your heads from some of our early horror story entries. Papa Courage emailed us.

Myke Hurley: You won't forget this one.

Brad Dowdy: This was the guy. Smelling the Christmas ink in the car.

Myke Hurley: And then spilling it like two days before going to meet the president.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Or whatever. And we questioned whether the ink actually spilled in the car. And good news, Myke. There is. There's still Mont Blanc ink on the car in their seat. I mean the seat in their car. So, yes. Don't sniff ink and dry, folks. It's not going to end up well. So, first one for this week is from David. Hello, Brad and Myke. I have a story about my very first fountain pen. It all started January 19, 2017. This is a new user, Myke. After days of research, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy my first fountain pen and bottle of ink. That day, I ordered a clear TWSBI 580 with a medium nib and a bottle of Noodler's Polar Blue Eternal Ink from Amazon. It was a good day. The package arrived. Went home to make sure the poachers didn't steal my package. And I was disappointed to see no box. I checked the notification and see it was delivered to my mom's house, which thankfully lives only about 20 minutes from me. I sped over there, greet my mom, quickly tear open the box. It was beautiful. Never had I held such an expensive pen. I watched a few more YouTube videos to make sure I did everything correctly. Once I was ready, I went and grabbed a couple of rags and paper towels to wipe the nib once I finished. I put everything in front of me, phone off to the far left, pen to the left, rags in front, and bottle of ink to the right. Being smart, I put a paper towel under the bottle to be safe. Can't be too careful, you know. I opened the bottle. Well, man, Noodlers fills them up to the top. That's no joke, Myke. You got to be careful with those Noodlers. I pull the piston, and then I get a phone call. Thankfully, it was before I dipped the pen, so all is well. I answer, talk for a moment, and hang up. As I turn to put my phone down, I hit the bottle, and ink spills. What followed was one of the slowest 10 seconds of my life. I looked at the ink and couldn't even react. After my mind processed everything, I grabbed the ink bottle and capped it and shut it. Ink all over the place. You would think that that would be the end of the story, Myke, but you'd be wrong. The part I didn't include earlier is that I was doing this on the living room floor.

Myke Hurley: Oh.

Brad Dowdy: That is carpet.

Myke Hurley: Oh.

Brad Dowdy: I get up and see the floor has a big blue blob of ink. My foot is covered in ink. I had made myself comfortable and took my shoes off earlier. I grabbed the rags and wiped my foot and dabbed the floor with paper towels. I go to the shower and try to clean my foot. This stuff is pretty permanent, so that didn't work out so well. My foot looked like I was half Smurf and half character from Avatar. I frantically look for videos about how to clean and scramble to do those directions. Still blue. I call my wife since she has an SUV and I tell her I need one of those industrial vacuums from Home Depot.

Brad Dowdy: We get that. And I'm washing and vacuuming the floor for about two hours straight.

Brad Dowdy: When the floors are clean, the water tubs you empty should be fairly clear. They were still coming up blue. The picture attached, and he sent me like seven pictures, shows how blue the water was coming up from the carpet. After hour three, my mom says, don't worry about it. The carpet is old anyway. Just buy me carpet when the time comes.

Brad Dowdy: So my $60 pen and 13 bottles of ink will eventually cost me new carpet at my mom's. I still hear about it from time to time. My mom brings it up. My wife brings it up. My sister also reminds me every once in a while. It's a story that will live in my family's memory for the foreseeable future. Since then, it's been a great relationship between pens and I with very few accidents since. That's the story of David and his first fountain pen. I may make it into a children's book someday. Brad. So, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: Now. Let me just, before you even continue, let me just say, I got a foot picture in this email, okay?

Brad Dowdy: I got a picture of a blue foot in my email from this email.

Myke Hurley: Brad, I think this has got it. I think this is everything I'm looking for in a horror story, right? This is, you have ruined something. Your whole point of this was to get a pen and ink. You dumped half the ink, right? His first pen and ink.

Brad Dowdy: This is his first.

Pen Horror Story Introduction

Myke Hurley: It's the first time you've ever done it. You've spilled the ink everywhere. You've destroyed somebody's property. Not even yours. That's not yours. You've destroyed somebody else's property. You have done something to yourself, i.e. paint your foot blue. You've had to spend money to try and fix it. But you've spent hours trying to fix it and couldn't. And now, and this might be the worst part of it all, this is the joke that your mom tells about you to everyone. And you have to just go, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to say it, Brad. I think David is the first entrant into the Horror Stories Hall of Fame. This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Brad Dowdy: Welcome to the Hall of Fame, David.

Myke Hurley: David, congratulations. You did it. This is it. You've done it. This is, you ticked all of my dream boxes for a horror story. Congratulations, I guess.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, right. Congratulations. Thank you for the foot picture. Please don't send me any more. I'm good for that part.

Myke Hurley: You can keep that part to yourself.

Brad Dowdy: I didn't share that with you. Normally, when we have just behind the scenes here, when we have like personal pictures or like, you know, any extra things, I'll upload them to Dropler and send Myke the link, you know, not for us to put in there. I didn't even send you that one. I'm not going to send you that one. I don't need it. It was blue. It was blue.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It was a blue foot. He was doing this in bare feet. Like, he was on the floor in the car.

Myke Hurley: Like, why were you? Why did you have no socks on even? I love it. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. All right. So our next horror story comes from Richard. Can Richard live up to this? We'll find out. I heard your initial call for pen horror stories and knew I should tell you about mine. My story, however, occurred not long before your request. And as they say, it was still too soon. I then heard your initial batch of horror stories and I knew I had to come clean with my own. I just started this hobby less than two years ago, but already had quite a number of pens and met lots of great people, including Brad. But it wasn't until this past August that I got my first Grail pen, a Hanawama Bay purchased from Hugh and Carol at the Carolina Pen Company at the DC Pen Show. They're nicest people and I couldn't have been happier with this pen. I truly felt like I was Ohana, which is family. Then September 13th happened. This is the day I expect. I'm getting ready to go to work that day and I put my briefcase in my car. I then go back inside my house to get my Raven Aqua Sinclair Nock Pen case loaded with several pens, including a Franklin Kristoff Intrinsic O2 Smoke and Ice, a Woodshed Pen Company Saturday Special from Myke Allen, and yes, my perfect, my wonderful, my Grail, my Hanawama pen. I take this case into the garage and place it absentmindedly on the roof of my car while I pull out the garbage cans and retrieve the newspapers from my driveway. I have not read this in advance. All right. So I'm going on this journey with you all. All right. So, okay. I can see where this is going. Maybe once those chores are done, I get in my car and proceed to drive to work. A few minutes later, when I'm speeding up to get onto the Long Island Expressway, I hear a noise and see a flash of a dark object sliding off my rear windshield. I wonder what was that? A branch, some leaves, whatever. On to work. I go. I get to the building and walk into the office to start to unpack the items in my briefcase. Where are my pens? At that moment, just like in the movies where the ending consists of a montage of prior scenes that now make sense in my entire move, like the sixth sense, the events of that morning quickly flash in my mind. I never removed the pen case on the roof of my car. It is only now, weeks later, that I can even bring myself to tell this story. I confess what happened to my wife, who was super fine about it, and told me to replace everything immediately. I will, just not yet. I need some time separation from the event, since I have lots of other nice pens. I'm able to appreciate them even more now and not get too bent out of shape. I know that these horror stories you are telling are actually first world horror stories, but yet, in our little community, they're helpful to hear. These stories are painful, at least initially, because these small objects and the people associated with them give us so much joy. In this current world of ours, we should always look for our little bits of joy, wherever or whenever we may find them. And yes, I will get another Canalea pen and rejoin my Ohana in due time. What a beautiful end to that letter.

Brad Dowdy: Richard, Richard's amazing. Like, I love him so much.

Myke Hurley: That is wonderful, Richard. Thank you for sharing that. Now, here we go, though. These pens are gone, Myke. They're gone. And this is, this is pretty bad, right? That it's, it's like your three favorite pens. And, hmm. Hmm. Now, see, here's the thing. Here's the thing. Where I'm, where I'm like, I'm just flip-flopping on this one. This is rough for discussion. This is tough. I don't think this is as clear cut as the previous one. This is really friggin' bad, right? Right. But, like, would a horror story version maybe have been, he accidentally drives over them himself? Right? You know? Like, you reverse and you hear him go. Like, this is a really bad thing to happen. This is bad. This is very bad. Very bad. Very upsetting.

Brad Dowdy: Like, he had to tell his wife, like, how much money was in that case that's now vanished. Poof.

Myke Hurley: Here's my question, though, right? I expect there are many stories of people losing their favorite pens. So, I don't just want to set a precedent for, like, every time someone loses their favorite pen, they go into the Horror Story Hall of Fame. You see where I'm going with this? Can I just say I love how strict you are with the Hall of Fame? Well, you have to be. Because, like, I have all lost stuff, right? But these were, like, the certain circumstances in which it's lost. So, like, is that enough? So, are we setting, like, you put it on the roof of the car? Because, like, here's the thing. Spilling ink, that's not a horror story. Spilling ink on someone's carpet, that's not a horror story. Spilling ink on someone's carpet and covering your own bare foot? And it's at your mom's house? And it was your first time? And it's your first pen. Clear cut for me, right? There are so many elements going on here. So, I don't know about Richard. I don't know. Richard, I feel for you, my man. Like, seriously, my heart pours out to you. That is a terrible situation to go through.

Myke Hurley: But I just don't know.

Brad Dowdy: I'm kind of with you. I'm a small Hall of Fame person.

Brad Dowdy: As opposed to what we call, in baseball terms, the Hall of Very Good, right? Like, this is a very good story. Is it Hall of Fame? Like, it's very strict to get in the Hall of Fame. And I got to say, I didn't think this would happen. And Myke is much more strict than I am on the Hall of Fame ballot. And I like it. Your opinion weighs very heavily. Because I think I'm a lot closer to a lot of this stuff, too, right? Like, I know Richard personally. It's like, I feel awful for him. It's like, he should be in the Hall of Fame. But it's like, what's the precedent the Hall is setting? And I think we're setting it very strongly with the one entrant we have so far. But we're not done yet, Myke.

New Pen Story Topic

Myke Hurley: No, and here's what I want to say as well about this, right? I want to... We're going to park Richard's story for a bit. Mm-hmm. Right? I want to see, like, maybe as we get more, what kind of level are we getting for lost pens?

Brad Dowdy: Right? So we can have a still-on-the-ballot group. Yes.

Myke Hurley: So, like, Richard may get inducted into the Hall of Fame somewhere down the line. Because I think as far as lost pen stories go, this is probably pretty bad. And if this ends up being, like, over some period of time, the worst lost pen story we're going to get, like, yes, I would want to put this in. But I want to understand, like, how bad can these lost pen stories go, right? Like... Myke, just you wait. Okay, you see? Ooh-hoo-hoo! Here we go. All right. So we've got some more. We've got a bunch more. I want to do... You're going to do this next one, and then we'll take our final break?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I suggest you close your eyes while I read this to you. All right. Don't read ahead. Okay.

Myke Hurley: No reading ahead. All right. I'm going to listen. I'm just going to take it in.

Brad Dowdy: This is... And it's not a long one, so you won't fall asleep. So this is from Jacob. Here is my fountain pen horror stories entry. In 2009, I didn't know much about fountain pens, but had for some reason decided to try one. Rakuten was the hot e-commerce site at the time here in Japan, so that's where I started my search. One of the top listings was something called the Pilot M90. It had good reviews, looked interesting, and wasn't too expensive, so I bought one on a whim. It arrived a few days later, so I inked it up and used it for a while. It was uncomfortably small, so I didn't use it much, and eventually, the ink dried out. It didn't help that I often left it uncapped. Not knowing much about pen maintenance, I thought I had somehow broken the pen, as there was still ink left in the cartridge, and putting a new cartridge in didn't help. Since I didn't like the pen much to begin with, I threw it in the trash can and returned to my ballpoints. Years later, I found out that the M90 was quite a special pen. Probably should have spent a bit of time learning basic pen maintenance. I threw my Pilot M90 in the trash can because it did not write.

Myke Hurley: Wow.

Brad Dowdy: I don't even know what to say. Oh my god.

Myke Hurley: Rip.

Myke Hurley: I don't know what to say. I couldn't wait to read this with you. There's no question. This is in. Like.

Brad Dowdy: Oh. Oh, god. Oh, god. My god. Used. They're like hundreds of dollars used.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And it wasn't cheap new.

Brad Dowdy: It was, I think it was $180 new, if I recall correctly at the time. It's been like a decade now.

Myke Hurley: But Rakuten might have done it cheaper. Like, it might have done it cheap. Like, Rakuten is like. Sure, sure, sure, sure. It's crazy and stuff, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that was the US price. I think it was like $180.

Myke Hurley: I'm trying to work out what happened here. Right? That, like, the ink dried out. He left it uncapped. That's what he said. He just leave it there uncapped. So, like, he just didn't leave it. He just didn't give it enough time to try and flow it through, I guess?

Brad Dowdy: Wow. No, no. He, no, he didn't. He never cleaned it, so it was permanently clogged. So, when you take out the old cartridge, even though it's not empty, you put in the new cartridge, it's never going to flow.

Myke Hurley: Even, like, you can make it happen, right? Like, you can make it happen. You know, like, you can run it under the tap for just a little bit, right? And you might, like. Sure. Like, my experience with the Pilot M90 is that is a pen that does not take a lot to get it started if it dries out. Right. Like, it's actually one of the qualities of that pen, funnily enough, that I hold it so dearly. Because I could leave that pen for ages. You give me a couple of minutes and it's going again like nothing happened. Like, it's. So, which is kind of funny to me because he must have just been like, yeah, it's not working. And just, like, just immediately just bombed it in the trash.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, my God. Oh, God.

Brad Dowdy: Like, I vote no on this one and here's why.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay.

Brad Dowdy: It's an amazing story. And it's blowing my mind. But at the time, like, it was just another pen and it got chucked. And, like, 10 years later, in retrospect, it's like, oh, my God. Like, this is serious. At the time, I don't think it was necessarily a horror story. So, does it rank with the current time frame of what the horror story is?

Myke Hurley: Because, like, imagine if it was a cheap pen but became. Like, so, let's say, for example, Field Notes, right? You bought Butcher Orange, didn't like it, and shredded it. Right. That's not a horror story because. Right. They became valuable later. Like, to Jacob, this was never a valuable pen. All right. I'm going to go with that. Now, I would say that, like, there is a version of this story which, you know, like, where it's like you accidentally throw it in the trash at Pilot M90. And, you know, because that's, like, about. I mean, don't get me wrong.

Brad Dowdy: This blows my mind. Yeah. I was speechless. Literally speechless. I mean, the sentence reads, I threw it in the trash can and returned to my ball points. Wow. Like, I can't get past this. But I'm going to go no on this entrant.

Myke Hurley: All right. All right. I'm going to go with you on this. I'm going to go with you on this.

Brad Dowdy: What a story. All right. Tell me some more stories, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Wow. I can't. Wow. Yeah. Talking about stories. Let's talk about some stories that aren't about horror. Let's talk about some warming stuff. Let's talk about StoryWorth, who are supporting this week's episode. StoryWorth is the easiest way to share your family's stories. We all have that one family member who tells the best stories around the holidays, right? Those tales about the first TV in the neighborhood, right? The first family who got a TV or that memorable trip that your uncles and aunts all took to some cabin somewhere or maybe some like prank to a family member or friend from years ago. StoryWorth makes it easy and fun for your loved ones to share these stories. Here's how it works. You buy a subscription for someone you love and every single week StoryWorth will send them an email for a question about their life. Questions you would have never thought to ask. The recipient will reply to the email with their story or they can even record it over the phone. All of these stories are totally private and only shared with family members that you choose. And after a year, all of their stories abound in a beautiful keepsake book which can be shared to future generations put on the bookshelf. It's really seen as like a token, something important. StoryWorth is a great way of staying in touch with family members who live far away. With StoryWorth, you can write stories and upload photos by email or on the web. You can share the stories of as many people as you want. You just invite them by email. And you can save and edit all of these stories on StoryWorth.com. This is a wonderful service. Like I've played with this a bunch and I've spoken with my family members about some of these prompts. And it really is wonderful. So here's my thing. I don't live far away from my family. But I live the kind of life where I don't have a lot of time for family time. Like I travel a lot. I'm a pretty busy guy. And I found that the prompts that StoryWorth can give, these prompts give answers to stuff that typically you're only going to find out if you're spending an extended period of time with family members. Right? Like over the holidays. That's when these stories come out. But the great thing about StoryWorth is they're doing these prompts so they don't have to come up naturally. And these prompts will allow for things that are wonderful. Stuff you may have never even thought to ask. And it could come at any point. It really is a wonderful service. To help you get to know even better the people you care about the most. And isn't that just a wonderful thing? It is a great gift for the holidays. Why not get it for somebody you care about who loves telling stories? Listeners of this show can get $20 off their subscription by going to StoryWorth.com slash PenAddict. That's $20 off when you visit StoryWorth. That's S-T-O-R-W-Y-O-R-T-H. StoryWorth.com slash PenAddict. Our thanks to StoryWorth for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: Perfect timing for this story-laden episode, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Most certainly. It's almost as if it was planned. It wasn't, but wouldn't it have been wonderful if it was? All right. So I've got the next one. And this comes from Andy. I will say, by the way, everyone's really up their game this time around.

Brad Dowdy: This is legit stuff. Right?

Myke Hurley: Like, I feel like we did a good job in setting the bar. And I hope that the bar is continuing to be set on this episode. All right. Andy says, My biggest Pen Horror Story happened just a few weeks ago. I woke up in the middle of the night with subtle pain in my right leg. What is happening here? All right. Hang on. Okay. It wasn't terrible. Felt like a mosquito bite, to be honest. So I disregarded it and went back to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up with an even sharper pain in my leg. A stabbing pain, if you will. I'm just going to say right now, I feel like I know where this is going. Like, maybe skip ahead a few minutes if this is already making you feel a little bit uncomfortable. All right.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, this is nothing. I'm glad I'm reading the next one and not you.

Myke Hurley: Okay. I looked down and, to my horror, discovered I had been sleeping on an uncapped fountain pen. The pen, which sported an extra fine steel nib, was inked and had created a massive stain on the bedsheets and my leg. The extra fine nib had stabbed through parts of the fabric and there were also traces of ink on the blankets in the surrounding area. To make it worse, the nib on the pen, one of my favorites, had become misaligned under my crushing weight. It has never written the same. Turns out I had used the pen the previous night for some journaling in bed. And I guess I forgot to store it after use. My fiance and I now have a no pens within five feet of the bed rule. This is amazing. This is amazing.

Brad Dowdy: Wow. I love this story. So, journaling the night before, leave the pen uncapped in the bed, roll over onto the pen the following night and stab yourself.

Brad Dowdy: It's like, you can't make this stuff up. It's like, this doesn't happen. But now you have a stab mark and a stain on the bed.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know what to do with this.

Myke Hurley: Oh, God. You think we have something that tops this?

Listener Email Transition

Brad Dowdy: Let's put that one in the parking lot. And I'm going to read you this email from my good friend, Emil.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: It happened some years ago. Can I just say the storytelling of our listeners is amazing?

Myke Hurley: I really like that people are writing these stories. It makes our job a lot easier, right? Because we don't have to fluff them up. This is very good. Please keep writing. If you're going to send them in, be as creative as you want. I love it. Like, the 13th of September happened. It's brilliant. I love it. Just go wild with it. This is it, right? Like, I feel like you have a better chance, the more dramatic the story is, right? You have a better chance of getting into the Hall of Fame. But remember, true stories only.

Brad Dowdy: It happened some years ago, Myke. I was sitting at my desk, anxious at thoughts of an upcoming hike. Should I go light? Should I turn into a beast of burden? I'm already quite a donkey. But the most important issue, what kind of stationery should I throw into my bag? After settling on pens, I went to my ink drawer and pondered some more. But nothing inspired me. Finally, I went for platinum violet. It was sitting in ink cartridges. But since I've given away all my platinum pens, I had no use for it. Harvesting the ink seemed like the reasonable thing to do. So I sat down with a spare container and started sucking out the ink. I fumbled for a bit and took a short break, moving all the stationary stuff to the sides of my desk. After a while, I went back to it. I reached, not looking, to the right side of my desk to grab my tools and felt a short, stingy sensation. When I turned my head, I realized what I've done. A now empty syringe dangled from my palm with a needle piercing my skin. I, in my eternal wisdom, left the syringe standing up on its plunger, needle up. So when I tried to grab it, I went sharp point first. And the pressure and weight of my hand made me, A, stab myself. And B, inject my palm with two milliliters of a decent violet ink. I didn't die, but my entire hike, my hand sent a constant reminder, making a burst of shooting pain, that yes, I am an idiot. P.S., you still cannot get blunt needles in Poland. That sound you make is what I made the first time I read this. This is the first one that made my jaw drop as I read it. I was going, oh, oh, oh, God, I had to read this. Then I had to read it again to, like, grasp what happened. So, like, he was working, filling these, you know, sucking out the ink of these cartridges and left the needle standing up on its end. And in the U.S., you can get blunt tip needles. Doing this type of work with a traditional needle is not only scary, it's dangerous. And Emil found that out. Oh, my God. Like, I, this one made me, like, exclaim, like, out loud. Like, ugh. Like, I don't even know that I'm comfortable putting it in the Hall of Fame because I'd have to tell it again. Like, it, this one, like, moved me in an uncomfortable manner. Brad Dowdy: Maybe that's because it needs to go in the Hall of Fame. I don't know what to do here. This one freaked me out on a different level.

Myke Hurley: I think it's.

Brad Dowdy: So, how does that, how does that compare to the rolling over the nib in the bed story?

Myke Hurley: Sorry, Andy, you've been beaten out by this. Like, you know, you got, you just, like, poached yourself. Emil straight up ejected himself. I think it's gotta, I think it's got to. This is. Because there was ink in the syringe. That's why. Right? And it's a sharp needle, which you shouldn't do. Like, you know, Emil, he knows better. If Emil stabbed himself, right, that's terrible. The fact that Emil injected himself with platinum violet, that's gotta be it. It's gotta be it.

Brad Dowdy: Right? Like, I mean, I've stabbed myself, I've stuck myself, I've never, like, injected myself. And I see how this happened.

Myke Hurley: Like, this could have been legit dangerous. Yeah. Right? I feel like it's got to. I feel like it's got to. I don't know how many more stories we're really gonna get that have legit human peril in them. Right?

Brad Dowdy: This one does. I think it's in. I think it's in. This is the first one they got, like, a visceral reaction from me. Wow. Like, oh my god. Wow. And it's bad. Please don't do this. Please use your blunt needles, folks.

Myke Hurley: So we should say, Emil and David, they need to email you, right? Yeah. To get their t-shirts. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So we'll do that. Wow. Yeah. That one moved me in a not good way.

Myke Hurley: Wow. All right. I've got the last one today. Let's see how we're gonna finish up today. Wow. Brad, I can't believe that. That's wild.

Myke Hurley: He injected himself. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay. Okay. Matthew. Matthew writes. In 1986, I started studying the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University. My first day in the studio, we were instructed to get a radiograph pen, preferably a .35. I didn't know what this was, and I had to ask at the art supply store. I learned that they came in multiple widths, but were kind of expensive, so I just got one. A Rotring .35. Some of my classmates got full sets, though. Over the next two years, I added a few more Rotrings for wider and thinner lines. In my fourth year, one of the local art stores had a huge sale. They offered a set of Koh-i Noor's at a price that was too good to pass up. I bought it on a Saturday. It was a beautiful set with seven full pens, two small disassembly discs, and a bottle of ink. It all came in a clamshell case that had a clear plastic hinged lid with little push tabs on the side. I still remember opening and closing the case in my dorm room. The next day, I decided to bring the set to the studio to keep in my desk. I packed it in my messenger bag and got on my road bike to ride across campus. The last driveway I crossed before getting to the architecture building was at the bottom of a hill. I flew across it, cut over the sidewalk, and started up the hill when I hit a huge bump in the pavement. I was used to this bump and had crossed it many times. This time, though, the Velcro on my messenger bag came loose and the bag ejected the pen case. It landed in the road right near the gutter. I jumped off my bike, dropped my bag, and went to reach it into the street. When I heard a car coming from my left, I pulled back and watched helplessly. The driver must have seen me reaching into the street, though, because the car did veer left a little, but the back tire still hit the case. The case bounced a little. It looked cracked, but everything still seemed pretty much intact. I went to reach it again. That's when I heard the second car. The second car driver did not have the acute sense of awareness of the first driver and proceeded to barrel through right over the pen case, catching it with both tires. In my mind, I can still see the parts bouncing in the air and off the pavement. Some landed in the gutter. Some strewn across the asphalt. I was then able to retrieve the remnants, dumping them in my bag. Once in the studio, I surveyed the damage. The beautiful case was completely destroyed. All but two of the barrels were crushed flat. Most of the tips were still usable, but some of the small collars and ink reservoirs were also crushed. The remaining parts were riddled with pockmarks from the road debris and gravel bits. Somehow, the bottle of ink was untouched. I did use the pen somewhat over the years, but the luster was gone. Always having to swap barrels was tedious. They were all loose bits in my case, and the pens just never seemed to work that well. I continued to use and still have my three rotarings. I also still have two of the Coen oils with the two barrels. I hung on to the remaining points, too, but the last time I saw them was about two years ago, when I'd given them to my then five-year-old son to play with. This is good.

Brad Dowdy: So this one, yeah, this is good. This one resonates with me because in the mid-'80s, this set of pens was everything for a college student in architecture or engineering. Like, this was like buying your $400 textbook that you don't need, right? This is like it for someone of this age going to school at the time for your design work. And the importance of this set is not lost on me because I grew up during this time, even though I was a little bit after that in college. But, like, I knew these are the pens, like, I would go to the bookstore and look at through the glass case and know I could never buy because there were, like, $30 a pen. And you'd end up with, like, a whole set of these pens. And it was just crazy. I'm glad he didn't lose a hand or an arm reaching for them, but I probably would have done the same thing, right? This was a very expensive, important tool at the time. And I believe that's why Matthew remembers this tale so vividly. Like, I would, too. Like, I remember these types of things because, you know, for things that were very important to me, like this set of pens. I don't think it's a Hall of Fame case, but it's such a relatable story to me personally. Like, I get it. Like, this was a big, big deal because of the time and what this product was and what it was being used for and, you know, how important it was to his studies. So it's a crazy story. I don't think it's a Hall of Fame story, though.

Hall of Fame Criteria

Myke Hurley: So here's the thing for me where I feel like it doesn't necessarily reach the Hall of Fame.

Myke Hurley: There was no user error. Matthew didn't mess up. I feel like that there are, like, I'm starting to zone in on what works for me. And part of it is, right, like, that you did something that you regret. Like, it was partly your fault, right? Like, I feel like that really adds a level to it that I enjoy, right? Of, like, I was so stupid because, you know, that I feel like this was just a bad accident, right? Which you couldn't really prevent.

Myke Hurley: Which is a great story. I'm super sorry. I love that you've been holding on to the story since 1986. But it doesn't get there. But I am really surprised that we have added our first two entrants into the Hall of Fame. Like, we need to think of ways to remember these. Like, so we have Bluefoot Dave and Purple Hand Emil.

Myke Hurley: So that's a theme. That's, yeah, there is a theme. There is a theme. Please, please send in your horror stories. You can email them to hello at penaddict.com. Hello at penaddict.com is the place to send those in. Because we want detail. Detail is important. So email is best for the horror stories, I think. Detail is key. Please send those in if you have them. We love to see them. And if anything, I hope that it brings some closure to the people that have gone through this in their lives. I love it. Oh, my. I love it. Wonderful. Thank you so much.

Brad Dowdy: Special shout out to Andrew in the chat room. This was his idea. I think I said that the first time we read these stories. But this was a wonderful idea. Andrew, I'm glad we could integrate this into the show on occasion. This is wonderful. This is well worth it.

Myke Hurley: Thank you so much to Kane11, Harrys, and StoryWorth for their support. Thank you so much for listening. You can find show notes this week at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 336. You can find Brad at penaddict.com. He's Dowdyism on Twitter, penaddict on Instagram. I am iMike. I am YKE. We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.