Editing The Pen Addict 336/transcript (section)

== 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.