The Pen Addict 348/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	348
Title:	Baltomorrow
Release Date:	February 27th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 348
Audio File:	Audio Episode 348
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 348
Length:	6565 min <br />1.083 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 348. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet and Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: You almost didn't get through that. That was close.

Myke Hurley: Oh, I was doing it. I committed.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, you were doing it. Yeah, you were doing it, but the laughter was coming through. I was starting to laugh. I had like several seconds to come up with what's smartest. New energy today. I figured... What smart-alecky thing I was going to say.

Myke Hurley: As you approach episode 350 of your show, it's about time to find a new energy.

Brad Dowdy: God, 350. We don't need a new... What are you talking about a new energy? We're always happy and energetic.

Myke Hurley: New energy, Myke. That's what they'll call me.

Brad Dowdy: Like, this is one of the highlights of my week. I was actually... I forget. I'll have to go back and see where I read this, but it was some other podcaster I listened to or someone was, you know, talking about recording the podcast. And they said, no matter... I think it was one of the baseball podcasts that I mentioned earlier. It said, no matter how bad a week I'm having, you know, no matter what kind of mood I'm in, whenever I hit record to go talk to my friend about the podcast thing, it changes everything. It fixes everything. Always. It really does. Always. It always does. And we've talked about that before, how I'll go into a podcast just kind of down because I've been, you know, whatever reason, you know, reason X. And then we'll get to talking. And by the end, like, everything has changed. So I'm lucky to be able to do this with you, Myke.

Myke Hurley: I feel exactly the same. You're my longest partner.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yes. And, hey, we're lucky to have the listeners that we have that want to help us do cool stuff, like travel pretty much around the world these days to do fun things and bring in the show.

Myke Hurley: Before we get to that, actually, before we get to that, I just wanted to note on episode 350, it's in two weeks. And we're not planning anything special for that because we have our big special episode a few weeks later, right? Like, we'll be in Atlanta. So obviously we will mark it and I'm sure we'll say some things with misty eyes, but we're not planning any big extravagances. Unfortunately, as you know, we were lucky enough that we were able to match up for the first couple of years in Atlanta to do our big episodes there. But then the calendar got the better of us and now we're multiple weeks off. So the only way we could do it is by taking a big break every year, which we're not, which we don't want to do.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, we just, I think last year was our first legit break, like on purpose, maybe second one, like around Christmas holiday.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, we do that. I mean, maybe we'll give us a week around the holidays, but it's not enough. We need to knock multiple weeks now, right? Because we've kind of gotten ahead of ourselves. But yes, so the Kickstarter campaign, we did fund, we funded, I think on Thursday, which is incredible. So thank you so much to everyone so far who has contributed to the campaign. We've crossed 500 backers and we're sitting at $26,500, which between me, Brad and the rest of you is amazing because we needed $25 to afford all of this this year. So thank you so much for helping us do that because San Francisco is super expensive. So that's great.

Brad Dowdy: I mean, we set an expensive bar last year going to New York and Toronto. Like that was extremely expensive. So I was going, man, I hope we get there to this time because it costs a lot.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, so I'm super, super happy.

Brad Dowdy: We've spent a lot on flights and hotels.

Fundraising Discussion

Myke Hurley: I'm wondering, I'm wondering what records, if any, we will break this year. It's tracking. It is. So last year was the most money we'd ever raise, which is $30,984. And the year before, 2017, was 720 backers was our most backed project. So we're about 220 something backers away and about $4,000 away from either of those being broken. I'm feeling pretty confident that we will maybe make this the most funded campaign of all time. Yeah. And it would be incredible if we could have the most backed as well. I know why that 2017 campaign was the first time we did a stretch goal. And stretch goals work. You put stretch goals in, you'll get more people. I don't know why that's what it is about that psychology. I think it's part of like it pushes some people over the edge because they feel like they get to be a part of something extra. I don't know what it is. But we're not going to do any stretch goals this year. That was a special case.

Brad Dowdy: Well, we've built them in. We've built them in now.

Myke Hurley: Yes, we kind of have. Yeah, because it's kind of San Francisco was the stretch goal, even though it was part of it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but we've built in that. We've shown that it's a consistent backer group that we can say, hey, this is the second thing we're going to do because we know we're going to hit our goals.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, I mean, so that one was like that Chicago one was just an extra one, right? Because it was like I was already going to be there. So that totally came after the fact. Yeah. And they were like, oh, hey, do this. We're like, you know, we don't really have plans for stretch goals in the future because we have lots of other places we want to go to. We'll just make them the part of the next year's campaign. You know, we have no end in sight for either of the projects of the show or these Kickstarter campaigns because people seem to be really excited about them. And we're very fortunate that people want to support it. And we do our best to give the best rewards that we can. So, again, there will be links in the show notes to support the campaign if you want to. And we're just going to keep updating you as we go. Brad, do you have any updates that you wanted to share?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Two quick things on the case. One is getting prototype pictures. We're still waiting. They got the fabric in last week. So now we just need the engineering team to make it. I've asked them Friday and asked them again yesterday. And I keep saying I'm checking, I'm checking, I'm checking. And I don't have an answer yet. I would love to have at least pictures this week. I don't know that it's going to happen, but I'm on them. So if the fabric's there, it's not going to be long. So that's the other thing. The other thing is like the size. We got a bunch of questions right after the campaign launched about the A5-ness of it. And this is a larger capacity pouch than an exact A5 measurement. So like the interior of the case that we made it off of could fit like two Leuchtturm A5 notebooks. Like it has more room.

Myke Hurley: It's a case, not a sleeve, right? Like a sleeve, you would just be putting one notebook in and you're done. But this is formatted to fit those notebook sizes along with the accoutrement that you would want for a daily kit, basically. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That's why I'm calling it a pouch as opposed to like a case where a case I would feel would like seal it up like nice and tightly. The only question I have is the interior pocket, the interior A5 pocket, will it fit something as wide as the Hipponodo? So like the Hipponodo fits in the center of the case and there's a ton of extra room. But when you restrict it to the pocket size, will that thickness like keep it from scooching down far enough to zip it up nice and neat? So that's the only question I have outlined because it'll fit other...

Myke Hurley: I just want to like clarify what you're saying here because if people aren't looking at the images, it might be a bit confusing. So you could fit the Hipponodo in kind of the middle of the case, but each walls of the case have pockets on them. And one of them has one like an A5 sleeve where you could put like... You could probably put like a nice thin notebook in there really easily. And then you could put the larger notebook in the middle. But it's like can the sleeve, like the kind of the pouch that sits on the side of the wall of the inside, could you fit a thick notebook in there? That's what we need to work out. And that requires the prototype, which is in production is my understanding, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. So like it fits like your standard, like a Rodeo Webby, like that A5, you know, 100 and X amount of paint, 140, 190 page, your standard A5 is going to fit in that side pocket. No problem.

Myke Hurley: I was going to say, like we've had some amazing rewards in the past, but I think this one's a real sleeper hit.

Brad Dowdy: Well, yeah. I'm really excited about this. And let me just tell y'all, you will... I don't normally pimp these this hard, but if you're even interested in this case at all, it's not going to be anywhere near the price that you can get it for right now. This is an expensive case. And this is why we didn't do a more expensive like add-on like we did with the enamel pins last year. Like we're just doing like a sticker sheet because we have a greater expense on this case. So, you know, that's just something to keep in mind. Like we wanted to keep... Me and Myke had a long discussion about wanting to keep the top tier pricing at $50 and do what we can to not raise that price because that just feels right for all the things, right? But I also want to make this case. So we're going to eat some of that, you know, some of that case money in the actual making of it. And so we had to kind of rein it back in other areas to hit all the budget parts. So like this is going to be a $45, $50 minimum case when we're done with this project just because of the material costs.

Myke Hurley: Like so if you want to buy it from Nock after the campaign is over basically.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I anticipate just like last year's Tallulah was such a hit, it will end up being a standard product for Nock. That's kind of why we test these out here. You know, like this is a good thing. And, you know, if it's popular but we don't see like a future for it, maybe we don't continue it on. So it's a good, you know, it's a good test bed for that product. But we always release these products knowing that we're probably going to continue on with them because we seem pretty happy with them in the first place to make them.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Obviously, don't forget there's videos available. You can back video only. You can get videos of the shows in the big packages. This is the first time we're going to do two regular episodes of The Pen Addict in front of audiences. One in Atlanta about Atlanta, one in San Francisco about San Francisco. We'll have interviews and those episodes, you know, they will go out as the audio episodes for those weeks as normal. But then not too long after each of them, there'll be a video version as well. So we're really, really excited about it. I think you're going to love it. You can go to our show notes at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 348 and find the links. But the links should be in your podcast app or just go to Kickstarter and search for The Pen Addict and you'll find it there. So thank you to everybody who has backed the campaign so far. And if you're just sitting and waiting, you know, come on, back us. We'll really appreciate it and we'll make it worth your while.

Brad Dowdy: It's fun, man. It's coming up soon. I can't believe February is almost over with. Like this, I mean, we've talked about it for years.

Myke Hurley: This is the weirdest one because we left it so late.

Myke Hurley: Basically, when the campaign ends, we'll be packing. So that makes it more exciting for me.

Brad Dowdy: We won't do that again next year. That was on me this year. You were busy. Busy boy. That's how things scheduled out. Follow up. Want your dream pen? I've gotten to use it over the past week. I really enjoy this pen. I do have a question about the finish. So I posted up a picture on Instagram. And what I'm trying to determine is if I'm overthinking it. So I'm going to take it to Baltimore this weekend and have some people, you know, judge the finish who know Arushi more than me. It's really, really good. I have a question about the ring around the cap that I'm seeing. So I don't know. Like, I love the pen. It's like a really good pen. I got what I expected for the money. And like we talked about last week, I don't think I would spend $500 on this pen. Like, I'm super content with the $350 that I spent. And I got a really good product. And like I'm seeing some of the comments in the image that I post. Like, yeah, I didn't want to spend the money for the Nakaya. And I'm really happy with what I got. It's beautiful. It feels great. Looks great. Writes great. I want to ask more people about this cap. Because if you look at the picture, I don't know if you – it's really hard to see, too, in the picture. But I think you can see it. So I don't know what you think about that and, you know, what your thoughts would be. Would you even notice that? Like, am I being, like, super picky?

Myke Hurley: I think I would. So if you look at the picture, if you can't, I'll describe it to you. So, again, as a reminder, Brad's pen is red Arushi. But the kind of the – what would you call it? Like the screw part? What is that called? Where you screw the cap on. It's like the – It's the cap edge. The cap edge, yeah. So where the – you know, it's got, like, the grooves. So you can screw on the cap. Where that kind of connects with the body of the pen, so just at the top of the grip section,

Myke Hurley: the red doesn't extend the whole way. It's, like, a very, very fine line of black. Like, very, very fine. But it looks like it's kind of just not been applied all the way to the very, very bottom. It's like they kind of painted it down and didn't finish it. I would notice it and it would annoy me. I also really don't like the black part of the section anyway. That makes it look a little cheapy to me in a way I can't quite describe. There's just something about that that I don't like. I would want it to match in color and maybe in finish to the rest. And I understand that it's, like, with Arushi, it's, like, super difficult to make that work. But, like, I look at the pen that Jonathan Brooks made for us and, you know, in that line, what is the name of it? The screw part is driving me crazy now. What do you call the grooves? The section? The threads? No, where are you at? The threads. Thank you. So in the threads. So in ours, they're like, it's gotten black over time because of the wear. But you can see it's made of the same material because there's a color match that goes into it, right? So, like, it flows all the way through. And in the dream pen, it's black. It's probably ebonite, but it just looks like a piece of black plastic to me. And I don't like that. I think that that cheapens the look of the pen, in my opinion, because Nakayas aren't like this either, right? Like, it looks like it's kind of the whole thing is made of the same material. And I know that isn't necessarily what you're complaining about, but I think those two things go together.

Brad Dowdy: Well, see, yeah, that's a known going into it. Like, you know what you're getting going into it. And that's also why the price is what it is. So live feedback from our good friend Penucopia. You know who that is. It says, looks fairly normal to me for a solid Arushi pen. Tamanuri finishes with an undercoat. Have the edges slightly worn down to show the under layer. Maybe that's the difference you're noticing. And that's kind of what I alluded to in the comment. But most of my other Arushi pens have an undercoating, right? So you see color number two in that area. So maybe this is just a normal thing for a solid Arushi color, which I only have one that's solid. And it's a dark pen, so you can't really see it. This is an ultra bright pen, so you can see it. And honestly, I think with more wear, it'll look better. Like, that's one of the features of Arushi is it does change over time. So it looks like maybe this is just a normal thing, you know. And I just don't have a pen, an Arushi pen with this brightness that I've ever been able to see this with. Because I'll either have a second color there where it's peeking through or something like that. So, yeah, maybe it's just normal.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. I think I have, personally, I have more of a problem with just, like, the big black section in the middle. Yeah. That's not for me.

Pen Purchase Discussion

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I understand that. But, like, that's something you knew getting into it. Like, I chose to purchase the pen knowing that's what I would receive. Yeah, because they showed you that. Yeah. So maybe it's just the brightness of the pen. And that's just, it catches my eye. And so I'm trying to figure it out. And, you know, I don't have a ton of experience with that type of finishing material. But overall, big picture, I like the pen. I just like it for $350, not $500. $500, I'm going elsewhere. So that has not changed my mind. So there you go.

Myke Hurley: Bung and Box teased me over the weekend from the Bung Box account. They posted this incredible-looking pro gear with, like, green pinstripe body and white section. And I was like, all right, here we go. It's a government again. I'm going to buy one. But it turns out this was more like a throwback Thursday thing. This was actually a pen that they made, like, seven years ago or something. But in the translation, the person posted in the account, I think, is kind of teasing. That they want to maybe try and do something like this again in the future. But I mainly wanted to include this because this pen is amazing.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So speaking of Penucopia, he sent us this link. And we're in a little Instagram group with Thomas. And we both went, I said something to the effect of, well, they're just going to make me take back everything that I said last week where I'm tired of. I'm tired of, like, the constant overwhelming amount of limited editions. But mostly because this is a unique pattern, right? It's horizontally shaped pattern. You know, horizontal rings around the barrel as opposed to, you know, swirls or different finishes or just, you know.

Myke Hurley: I've never seen a finish like this on a Pro Gear before.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I haven't on a Pro Gear before. So we'll have the link to that in the show notes. But still, I'm like, the more I thought about it, I was like, I still wouldn't buy this pen. Like, I'm, oh, I know. Like, it's an awesome one. Like, but I need my Sailor Limited Editions now to be the bigger size or be a Rialo. So that's just where I'm at right now. Like, I'm good on this size Sailor Limited no matter what they offer as far as materials, styles, colors. Like I said, if I can pass on the Tequila Sunrise and wait for the one, I can pass on anything. So it was fun to see, though. I didn't, like, Bung Box did the fifth anniversary. I was like, how was this one seven years ago? Was fifth anniversary already two years ago? It's like, that's the last one I thought. So that's crazy, crazy. So I did find an interesting site. We're going to talk about Pilot Vanishing Point, another Bung Box Limited edition that I teased yesterday. But I found this site when I was looking for that.

Brad Dowdy: It's called LePens. And they basically track the Japanese limited editions. And how has no one ever sent this to me? I don't need this website. Certainly our listeners are aware of this site. And no one ever sent it to me. But now it's out there for the world to see.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. Oh, my God, Brad. You can find lots of things. Whoever's behind the site does a pretty good job.

Myke Hurley: On Kingdom Note? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I don't need. I should not be on this website.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, I mean, I now follow this in my RSS feed. So you'll see me linking from it more. But how I was not aware of this site before, you know, two days ago is beyond me. Because it's pretty much perfect. It's like everything I want in a site. Yeah, that Rialo is crazy. So how do I buy this one? I'm just going to close. I'm going to close the link now. Because we'll just spend time, waste time scrolling through that site. It was pretty good. I'm very happy that I found that.

Myke Hurley: I'm becoming increasingly concerned for what I might do in Atlanta. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because there's just like a couple of sailor pens out right now that I'm really intrigued at.

Brad Dowdy: All right, let me go way off topic here.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: And I'm not going to tell you to wait until San Francisco. But you should consider the fact that Bung Box might be there. Oh, damn, son. Themselves.

Myke Hurley: Well, look, Brad. All I'm going to say is I have no upper limit for sailor pens, right? I know. Like, you know. I'm just saying.

Brad Dowdy: But that is a good thing to think about. It was a point to consider.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: That's never stopped us before.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I think what that might mean is I will only buy one of the two that I want. Right? And that's like a good thing to think about. You know what I want, right? Like, I want one of the – I probably want the Tangerine King of Pen. Yep. That was my guess. And the 1911 Mosaic.

Brad Dowdy: They may be out of those by the time they get there. Well, I'm fine with that. We'll see this weekend. I'll talk to them this weekend and see. No, no, no. I'll talk to Brian.

Myke Hurley: Don't talk to anyone. Right? We just leave it.

Brad Dowdy: Well, I want to know for myself because I feel like that's going to be a blowout pen. I think that's going to be in and gone. Yeah. So do I. I'm interested to talk to Brian about what the inventory looks like for that.

Myke Hurley: But at the same time, I'm kind of like, I'll let it go.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well, I'll report back on the 1911 after the Baltimore show.

Myke Hurley: Thank you.

Brad Dowdy: Because that will be at the top of my list to view.

Myke Hurley: But if I'm going to buy one of these somewhere that I've got to look because I can get those sweet discounts, Brad. I know. Let's go. Pen Chalet. Let's go. They have your favorite brands. They have Sailor. They have Cafeco. Virtual Road Trip. They have Felica, Monteverde, Lummy, Pilot, Namiki. They have everything you're going to look for. They're authorized dealers. They have fountain pens and roller balls and ballpoints and mechanical pencils and so, so much more. Pen Chalet are always adding new styles of pens every single month and they're doing great discounts all the time. Closeout Specials as well. They're really great at doing this. They want to get you the stuff that you want at the best possible prices with very fast and reliable customer service. Pen Chalet ship internationally with great shipping rates, but they do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States. So go to PenChalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password Pen Addict for this week's special offer and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything over at Pen Chalet. So what we got, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: We have the same Conklins and Diplomats from last time, which I don't know why they're still there. So I'm going to talk about this because they have one of the best pen storage display cases that I know people have bought and raved about. So their 30-pin display case is 50% off using our code and using this page. And I know people that have bought them and emailed us saying, wow, that's exactly what I needed for storage. So if you're knee deep into the pens like we are, that's where you got to go. Also, the further I scroll down, the more new deals I see. He's got KWZ Inc. at a price that's not normal. A price that's been ronned. I guess that's what we're going to say. I love KWZ Inc. So if you're in the market for some new ink to freshen up all your new fountain pens, you're not going to find it any cheaper than that because I've never seen it any cheaper than that. And I love KWZ Inc. very, very much.

Myke Hurley: And I also love Pen Chalet. Go to P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T dot com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website and use the password Pen Addict to get your hands on these special deals. Our thanks, as always, go to Pen Chalet for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Baltimore Pen Show

Brad Dowdy: All right. So I'm leaving for Baltimore tomorrow. My first Pen show of the year. Baltimore. Baltimore. Baltimore. And I'm very hyped for it. Like I'm setting myself up. All right. Not to be let down. It's like that's impossible because, you know, it'll be my first Pen show of the year. But I am super hyped.

Myke Hurley: Like I'm ready to go. What's on your radar? What are you looking for? What are you excited about? Seeing my friends. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Like that's it. Like just to be in that space with the people. You know, I there's nothing like I'm not looking for anything. You know, I'm obviously working all weekend. I'm selling for Nock. But like that's. I just want to be there. Like I miss being around that environment. And, you know, seeing Philadelphia and LA happen and not being at either one of those. I like I'm antsy. Like I'm super antsy. And it's like I don't have any shopping lists. You know, I'll probably buy something. Like I don't, you know, there's nothing I'm looking for. It's not even remotely about that. It's just, you know, being there, hanging out, getting hugs, taking pictures. Just that environment is like me. Like that is super, super me. Just to like be around, you know, the people that we talk to or we talk about. And to, you know, discuss, you know, products. You know, hey, I can ask Brian about the 1911. You know, he'd tell me more about the inventory for this pen. You know, I get to do things like that. I get to, you know, do something different after hours. And I get to host a panel, which I'm kind of nervous about. I've never done anything like that before. Can I direct traffic for an hour and make it entertaining for people? You know, I don't know these things. You know, so we'll come watch me flame out, you know, 15 minutes into the show going, that's all I got. Y'all got anything? No, I'm not too worried about it. It's just being there. Yeah. A hundred percent. That's it. I just want to be there and be around my friends and hang out and talk pens.

Brad Dowdy: That's it. I'm jealous of you. It's like I want to go to every pen show just to hang out. That's it.

Brad Dowdy: I'm very jealous. Yeah. It's going to be good. So Myke reminded me in the chat room that we're attempting, Myke will be videoing the panel and we're going to attempt to stream it. So not Myke with a Y, Myke with Myke Inc. Dependence. So he will be there. And Corinne let me know that he volunteered to do that, which is super cool. So hopefully we'll get to see that. And, you know, hopefully we'll be able to share that online because I think it should be neat. I'm looking forward to it. But, you know, I actually do have a pen. I'm hopefully picking up there, which I ordered from Herbert Pens last year, a Vanishing Point acrylic barrel for the Vanishing Point Nibutum. But we'll talk about that if I get it that weekend. So it'll be cool. I don't know. I'm just ready. It's like I'm ready. Like I've missed two shows. I want to be there. That's it.

Myke Hurley: Well, I look forward to hearing your report. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: My packing's done. I'm ready to go to the airport. You know, I'm like I'm just done. I'm like so anxious. Like I'm just ahead of the game and just want to be there. So let's do this. Let's do this Baltimore.

Myke Hurley: All right. What else have we got going on?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I'm going to change it, change it 180 here. And we're going to talk about some maybe Kickstarters and some definite Kickstarters. One, my friends at CW&T, they're up to something with a notebook. And normally, you know, there's lots of notebooks that get introduced, you know, throughout the years. You know, lots of products coming in and out. But you know what my feelings are for Saewe and Taylor at CW&T. I'm good friends with them. I love everything that they make. For those who are not aware, they make the pen type B, which is one of my favorite pens ever made. But I didn't bring it in here, so I can't make the sound. But it's a wonderful pen. So they're making this paper. And pretty much anything they do, I'm interested in it because they do it to the nth degree, right? So I'm going to read you this description of what they're talking about for making this notebook. And they don't have any details other than what they're teasing on Instagram so far. It says, Hanji is a traditional Korean paper made primarily from the inner bark of the mulberry tree and the sunset hibiscus. Its cross-directional fibers and neutral pH give it lasting tensile strength and durability. The paper is soft, strong, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic. So I don't know what they're selling, but I'm buying. That's my faith in them. I don't know if this is going to be good for every pen. They probably don't even own a fountain pen, so I don't know if it would be good for fountain pen inks. But I just love their style and aesthetic and their background and all the funky stuff that they make. So I'm in. We'll have to talk to my friend Daryl. I'll send him this description to see if he can tell me what this means because I don't know what it means. But I know CW&T are making it, so I'm interested in it.

New Product Discussion

Myke Hurley: Well, their Instagram stories today includes them taking pictures, which are clearly product photos. So I think it's very close to being launched. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm on their mailing list, so that's where I saw it first. And then they keep, like, every day there's more about it, so they're probably getting close to it. So I do get other email, Myke. And when I get product emails or project emails like, hey, we're launching a Kickstarter or, hey, here's my new pen, I take them, you know, with a huge grain of salt. Sometimes, majority of time, I don't even reply. And I'll look at the information, and then I'll just carry on about my day. This one caught my eye for two reasons, and it's called the 2-2 pen. And I don't think it's the 22 pen, which we'll get to in a minute why I believe that. So this is a Kickstarter project, and this is one of the efforts that we see now that Kickstarters in Japan, so Japanese creators can create projects directly now. That was a change, what, a year or two ago we discussed on the show. And I was anxious to see what we would see come from this.

Myke Hurley: And Wancho was one of these projects.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, Wancho was one of these projects. That was one of the first ones, I believe. So I clicked on the, I got this email, really long, rambling email. Hey, here's my pen, thought you might want to take a look at it. Someone mentioned, you know, someone mentioned that you had a blog, and wow, you have a lot of posts. It was just kind of funny how we wrote it.

Brad Dowdy: It was funny, he made me laugh. So I clicked over, and my initial thought is, wow, this is ridiculous. Straight up. Like, I pretty much closed the, I closed the page, I think, and then finished reading the email. I said, I'm going to go back. I'm going to go back and look at this. And I really pride myself on, like, being nonjudgmental about products, you know? Like, I try, I can't help myself sometimes. It's human nature, right? We're going to judge based on what we personally think about a thing. And, you know, sometimes dismiss what other people think. And I try not to do that. So I dismiss this immediately when I click the link. And for probably obvious reasons, when you click the link.

Myke Hurley: It looks like an alien spacecraft.

Brad Dowdy: So I kept reading, and I watched the video. Yeah. And I went through this whole thing. And it's like, I kind of fell in love with it a little bit.

Myke Hurley: I appreciate what the creator Mario is trying to do with this product. It's effectively a holder for two separate refills. Whether they be, like, gel ink refills or rollable refills. They talk about Zebra and Cross.

Brad Dowdy: Well, it's D1. Okay. It's only D1 sized. But they do fit ballpoint and there are gel D1 refills and ballpoint refills.

Myke Hurley: It will fit two D1 refills. And there's no cap on it or anything. And effectively, what it allows you to do is to be able to use two refills at once. Or kind of like, you know, you could write with one, flip it over and write with the other. So you could use blue and red if you need that. Right. But what I really like about this pen is the clip. The clip is genius. Yeah. Because the pen itself is super thin. And the clip is like, it is non-obvious. But when you see it and how it works with a notebook, it's like, oh, that's very clever. So I think this is an interesting looking pen. It is not something I would want to own myself. But I really appreciate the ingenuity and the clear thought and story that is shown in this project.

Brad Dowdy: So this is not a new or novel idea. There's been dual tip pens before. What caught me was the materials. So they're basically making an acrylic pen holder for two D1 refills at the same time. Like the kicker for me is like, well, there's no cap on it. But, you know, like I have other pens that don't have caps on it. For this, for a non-fountain pen, it's kind of okay. As long as you watch how you're carrying it. Like I'm not going to clip it to my pants pocket, you know, and wear it like that. But clipping it to a notebook, I don't have a problem with that. But I don't know. I'm not vouching for this product. I don't know anything about this product. But it was one of those things that I get a lot of. And sometimes I'm just instantly dismiss things that I think are ridiculous or dumb or stupid. And I don't want to be that way. Like because there's products out there for everybody. I do have personal tastes and personal opinions. And, you know, people do listen for those things. I just found this kind of endearing and interesting and unique enough, even though it's not, you know, groundbreaking. I don't know. Something grabbed me about this project from basically a cold email, which my inboxes, I get a lot of those every week. And 90% of them just get archived. Like, okay, yeah, cool. New pen project. Not really moving the needle for me. Archive. I don't know what about this one. So I'm not vouching for it. But he asked if he could send me one. So I said yes. So you will hear more probably about this if and when I get one to try out. But you probably don't need me to try it out. It just kind of is. It's an is what it is kind of thing, right? You know, it's a, you know, watch the video. Look at the campaign. I don't think you're going to learn much from me other than say, yeah, this is kind of cool. You know, I like the materials. So should be neat. I look forward to this. But I just wanted to bring it up as an example of, you know, the kind of things like there's all kinds of things happening around this little stationary world of ours and some weird, wonderful, wacky stuff. And I think this is one of them. So real quick, last thing on it. I think it's the 2-2 pin because of the instead of 22 because they have this whole thing about two seconds, one second to grab the pin and one second to put the ideas down. So it's two seconds. And yeah, this whole cockamamie thing about the naming of it. I'm like, okay, buddy. I'm okay there. So anyway, I thought it was going to be interesting. So I will keep an eye on this. And, you know, if I like what I see, like I do with these prototypes, especially from people I don't know, like if I can get a prototype and I like it, I will back the project separately. I'll usually and then keep the prototype and give the product. I back away. I don't like taking, you know, getting like this stuff for free. Like if I like it, I usually back them. So we'll see. We'll see if I get one.

Vanishing Point Recall

Brad Dowdy: Michael, I went back to the beginning this week. I had an epiphany about the pilot vanishing point that just hit me Sunday after all these years of using a pilot vanishing point. And I think it was the time away from actually using one. It's probably been over a year since I've had one inked up and in my rotation. So I was just thinking about, you know, I need to get a vanishing point back out. I think I have like five of them, maybe six total vanishing points. And I have some really nice ones that I haven't been using. So I have this orange bung box limited edition Energia edition vanishing point that I bought from our friend Carrie.

Brad Dowdy: Because they only made 100 of them when they first made them. And I didn't get one, even though it's kind of like totally on brand for me. Right. Orange and silver. I'm in. But what I noticed, the minute I inked it up, I popped in a Pilot Blue Black cartridge. And it has an extra fine nib unit. And I put the nib to the paper and said, oh my God, this is different than every fountain pen I own. And how I feel when I write with it. And I never realized it before. But being someone who likes micro tip pens, gel ink pens, ballpoint pens, really fine and writes really small. The vanishing point is exceptional for that. Because you can grip the pen really low. And I didn't realize that was why. So like most of the fountain pens we talked about, every fountain pen we've talked about previously, has a grip section above where the nib is. So then you have the area where you grip the pen. And then you have a length of nib before you get to the page. So there's a certain distance there. That the vanishing point, it can have that. You can grip it far back. But I'm a low gripper. And I didn't realize how perfect the vanishing point is for my writing style. Even though I've loved the pen all along. And it was the first expensive pen I bought. That's why I say we're going back. Because I bought that black matte vanishing point. And that was like the pinnacle pen for me, what, five, six years ago? Maybe more than that now. I didn't realize how perfect this was for someone like me who writes really small and really fine and grips the pen really low. It sounds dumb to say this kind of stuff out loud. But I can't stop thinking about how I missed this for all these years about a pen that I already love until I set it aside for a while. And then brought it back out and got a completely new appreciation for this pen. It's like I don't want to not have this pen on me at all times now. Like I took its pen to the grocery store. And I'm sitting there at the deli counter, you know, writing on my little index card and scratching off the things that I need to buy. It's like, I don't know. This was a weird, interesting look for me. It was like, am I really going to say these things out loud about what we probably all already know? But I think the point is with this pen that I kind of didn't realize what I had and how perfect it was for me. Like we've talked about the Vanishing Point ad nauseum because it is definitely not a pen for everybody. You do not like it. There is a clip in the grip area that blocks you, a lot of people, from having a comfortable writing experience. Like it is not a pen for everybody. But I didn't realize how perfect it was for me and maybe the real reason why I fell in love with it so much back in the day. So that is just something I wanted to bring up. It was for someone who is as knee deep into pens as I am and to have that kind of joy from a product that I thought I'd already solved was kind of a new thing for me. I was like, oh, I really, really like this pen. And now I want to get a different nib unit to try in another Vanishing Point because I don't have one in the cursive italic stub like I like to write with in my standard fountain pens. So I don't know. It was just one of those interesting me moments that I wanted to share that, you know, sometimes that thing we always are looking for is already there. And I found that in the Vanishing Point. So that brings me to kind of the next point and we'll wrap it up on that. I don't need any more Vanishing Points. Like I haven't bought one in years, right? They haven't done anything interesting to me in years. I didn't buy the Twilight or the Crimson Sunrise, which were both really neat limited edition ones. But I have enough Vanishing Points. I just want to use the ones that I have because like I have this newfound appreciation that I don't know why I didn't realize it earlier. Maybe I did. But something hit me about this setup with this pen and the way I was writing with it. I was like, this is completely different than what I thought about this pen. So that's my spiel. That's my ode to the Vanishing Point. I am going to get a new nib unit for one though. Get one modified.

Myke Hurley: The great thing about the Vanishing Point, right, is that it adds a sense and a different sense of utility to fountain pens that don't exist in other places because it comes from the retractable nature of it. Like it just makes it feel different.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's so different. No one has been able to mimic this despite decades of trying. No one has gotten it right. Like you have the retractable limey dialogue, but that's a really wide pen. And when you extend it out, it's a full length nib. It's not the same writing experience. It may be the same mechanical experience to where you can move the nib in and out. Or like I have a Mont Blanc safety pen, you know, where you twist it and the nib comes out. So there's retractable style pens, but no one gives you the writing experience that the Vanishing Point does, in my opinion, because of that tiny nib and the variance you can have when gripping it. So I don't know. It's just, I don't know. It's one of those weird things is like you think you know it all, then all of a sudden something you have really kind of changes your opinion on a lot of things. So I don't know. It was just an interesting moment I had by myself, Myke, alone at my desk. I don't know why you had to make it weird.

Myke Hurley: Why did you have to make it weird? It was perfectly fine until then. Why is it weird now?

Brad Dowdy: That's what I do, Michael. You know, if I was weird and wanted to share those weird thoughts online, where would I do that?

Myke Hurley: Preferably nowhere, but if you have to, you should go start a website with Squarespace. Because Squarespace will help you make your next move no matter what it is, no matter what type of website you want to make. Squarespace has all of the tools right there to help you make it. Whether you want to make a blog, a portfolio, an online store, a site for your business, a site for an event, a site for an organizational group that you're a part of. They have beautiful templates, which are all wonderfully customizable, but have great structure to them so they can help you understand what things you're going to need to put on your website and how to do them. Everything is able to just be turned on and turned off of a couple of clicks. Nothing to install with Squarespace, nothing to patch or upgrade. It's an all-in-one platform that will take care of all of the stuff that you don't want to have to worry about. And if you need any help at any time, Squarespace has a 24-7 support right there for you. They're award-winning for that. They may win many awards, and there's good reason for it. I've been using Squarespace for years, so has Brad. It's just such an easy way to get your content out to the world, no matter what it might be. I've had many Squarespace websites in the past, and I envision many more in my future. You can sign up today for a free trial by going to squarespace.com slash penaddict. When you go here, you don't need to give any credit card information, but you get full access to tweak and set up a website. And then when you want to actually make that website public, you just sign up for one of their plans that start at $12 a month. And you can get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain by using the offer code penaddict to check out. So that's squarespace.com and the code penaddict to get 10% off your first purchase. That's squarespace.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict to get 10% off. Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of this show. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: All right, we got a good batch of Ask TPA. I mean, we always have a good batch of Ask TPA, but I really like these questions because they're pertinent to some of the things we're talking about and some of the pen show stuff. So first one from Curtis Davis Esquire. Esquire. What's the difference between a Sailor Pro Gear and a Sailor Pro Gear 2? So when did this come out? I'm thinking like two or three years ago. They said, hey, Sailor Pro Gear 2. And everyone went, no.

Brad Dowdy: It's a basic design change. So they've tried to modernize. I guess the theory is modernize the Sailor Pro Gear. The biggest two differences are one, the clip is vastly different than the existing Pro Gear.

Myke Hurley: It looks like a duck's face.

Brad Dowdy: I think it's supposed to be anchor related. It looks like a duck. We'll go with that. Yeah. It's an oddly shaped clip and it's a little bit longer. So it's mostly visual differences. The finial is different. You know, the clip's different. The length is slightly different. But they only made it in black and only with gold trim or rhodium plated trim. And it just, it did not land. I think it just fell flat when they launched it because they're launching it up against a classic brand. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Myke Hurley: I don't understand why they felt the requirement to change the Pro Gear. It's so strange.

Brad Dowdy: So I don't think this pin did what they anticipated it doing. So I don't think, like, obviously it's Sailor. You're going to get the good quality name. You're going to get a good built pin. But it just doesn't look right. It'd be great if the Pro Gear didn't exist. That was the next sentence coming out of my mouth. On its own, in a world where the traditional Pro Gear doesn't exist, I'd own one of these. Right? But I don't need to own something that doesn't speak to me design-wise as much as the regular Pro Gear. So, yeah. It's, you don't hear a lot about it. And it doesn't sound, like, since we haven't seen, like, one single limited edition, one of those come up, it sounds like they're probably not going to invest their money into marketing it. And it'll probably just stay as it is or vanish into the ether, you know, one of these years. So, it didn't land. It wasn't, you know, it was a swing and a miss, I think, from Sailor. So, everyone has them.

Brad Dowdy: Storm says, here's a really basic beginner question. When a fountain pen has dried up from non-use or after adding a new cartridge, what's the best way to get the ink flowing again quickly? Just doodle furiously, wet the nib, squeeze the cartridge, something else. So, this is a two-part.

Myke Hurley: I have an option five, which is all of the above.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, so this is a two-part question, really. So, we're going to take part one, which is when a fountain pen is dried up from non-use. So, that's question number one. We're going to clean the heck out of that pen. That's step one. You have got to clean that pen if it's, yeah. Yeah. So, like, if you. So, we're going to ungunk the nib.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, we're going to clean it. If we want this thing to go correctly, we need to get any dried ink out of there. You know, we're not talking about, like, a couple weeks. I'm talking, like, months in activity. Oh, that's not what I'm talking about.

Myke Hurley: Because I just feel like sometimes I'll put a pen down, pick it up the next day, and it's not ready to go straight away. Like, it needs a little bit of a. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, if that's the case, then I think just a little scribbling is fine.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Like, that's going to start the ink right up because it kind of gets the nib separated from the feed. That's why I was like, what are you? Moving down that.

Myke Hurley: Cleaning everything out every single day?

Brad Dowdy: What are you doing over there? When I see the words fountain pen and dried in the same sentence, I think we've done some damage. Sure. Like, I think we have a pen that's been sitting. And by sitting, not minutes or hours or weeks or months, like, a long period of time. But maybe he means, you know, like you said, I'm writing, I set the pen down, I come back an hour later, and I need to crank the pen up again. It's usually just doodling, you know?

Myke Hurley: For me, I know this might sound kind of weird. Maybe other people will feel this too. Different pens of mine require a different touch to get them going. So, like, my king of pen just requires a bit of a scribble. But my Pilot M90, the best thing for me to do is just slightly wet the nib, and it's ready to go, always. Yeah. So, like, different pens, I feel like they would just require a different thing. Sometimes I will shake a pen. And the reason I shake a pen, I thought you couldn't do this. I saw Thomas Hall do this once, and I figured if Thomas does it, I can do it.

Brad Dowdy: He's come up a lot in this episode. Hope he listens still. I think he does. I know. I'm just playing with him.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah. I think, really, all of that, right? So, you can do all of those things. They're all fine to do. Obviously, the shaking of the pen is the most risky. Maybe, because that thing might go in a place that you're not expecting it to. Right. But I do all of these things from time to time.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. When I pop in a new cartridge, I will squeeze it if it doesn't write straight away. Like, this vanishing point cartridge I popped in the other day, I popped it in, and it wrote immediately, so I didn't have to do anything. But I will squeeze the cartridge, something like that. You know, if it's not flowing right afterwards. Or, you know, I'll prime the converter a little bit. You know, if I need to push the ink down and just kind of get it going. Like, all that stuff's okay. Those are, like, minor things. You know, just, yeah, be careful where you shake it.

Myke Hurley: Carpenter Pens asks, what do you all think about handmade wooden fountain pens?

Brad Dowdy: I love them. Like, I have Ryan Krusek's wooden pens. You know, I did not look at Carpenter Pens' profile, and I'm wondering if he's also talking about kit pens. So, there's handmade wooden pens where you turn the barrels, and then you add standard parts to them. I'm not as fond of those because I generally don't like the metal section. The ones that I've seen, the metal section diameters are either too skinny or too cut off at the end for the barrel. So, any type of handmade wooden fountain pen or any handmade wooden pen, I'm a huge fan of. But I want options for the front end of that pen. You know, either something custom-made, like Ryan Krusek didn't used to use custom-made ebonite sections. He used to use kit sections, and I never bought any of those pens, despite thinking they were amazing. So, I need the front end of any wooden pen to speak to me and be useful for me. But, in general, I love handmade wooden fountain pens, and I have several of them.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah. I tend not to do it for me, mostly for the reason you mentioned. The grip sections are usually incredibly uninspiring in most instances, which I'm not a big fan of. But I'd say that, like, in general, that style just isn't my thing. I don't know why.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Because you can't be as creative with the non-wooden parts of those pens. Mm-hmm. So, that's the challenge in selling a handmade wooden fountain pen. No matter how great the wood design and fit and finish is, getting outside of the stock parts that are available and figuring out what's going to differentiate the pen so I can use it and actually enjoy the craftsmanship that went into the wooden parts, that's the tough part. So, yeah. It's tough. It's tough. So, M.A. Wolf says, do you have any plans to review the Leonardo Memento Zero? I got one from Fanta Pluma and really enjoy it. Yes. So, this is at the top of my shopping list. I think the materials and designs of these pens are fantastic. I just haven't had the opportunity to pick one up yet or really, like, decide. Susan reviewed one for the website, didn't she? Yes. Yes. Susan's reviewed one. She, I know she enjoyed it. I'm trying to think if she has more than one. But I just, they hit a style and, importantly, they hit a price point that I like. Like, these look very, very good and I want to try one out for myself. So, if I come home with anything from Baltimore, it might be one of these pens. Once I get, they keep introducing new materials that all look really, really nice. So, I will shop around at Baltimore and maybe come home with one of them. That's definitely towards the top of my list.

Myke Hurley: All right. The next question comes from Evan Max tweets and says, have you ever invested a lot of effort into hunting down or importing a pen that was hard to get a hold of, only to be disappointed by it in the end?

Brad Dowdy: You go first. You've done a little bit more than me recently. Luckily, we've probably done about the same overall. But just, what do you think?

Myke Hurley: Luckily, no. I've had some that maybe didn't completely live up to my expectations, but none that I was disappointed in. I feel like I've been pretty lucky in this regard because I've been doing this a little bit more recently. But I've been very happy with the deals that I've gotten for a bunch of pens. Like, I had one, like, there was like a Sailor Apricot, which I feel like I didn't really fully understand. It's like an Apricot Pro Gear. And I feel like maybe I just wasn't 100% sure of what it was going to be. And I was like, okay, like, this wasn't what I expected. But it was still a great pen that I love. But yeah, so I've been lucky, I think, in that I haven't regretted. I haven't had buyer's remorse in any of the stuff that I've gone to great lengths to get.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm kind of the same way. I'm pretty cautious that I'm not just going to go on a whim and just grab something that is a maybe. Like, I'm pretty confident if I'm going to go to those lengths that I'm going to be really happy with the end result. Or I'm not going to go there to begin with. I can't think of a specific scenario where I've done this and been truly disappointed with the end result. So I'll have to think about it a little bit more. I'll let you know this weekend in Baltimore, Evan. But I don't think there's a particular one. There's nothing that I could come up with. And I think it's just that I'm super cautious about that to begin with. Like, I'll only do it if it's really, really right.

Fountain Pen Recommendations

Myke Hurley: All right. Ozzy Wats asks a great question that I want to take in maybe a slightly different direction than we would normally. Which is, what three fountain pens should all pen enthusiasts have in their collection? Now, I want to come to an agreement with you on this three, rather than us picking our own three.

Myke Hurley: Okay. Right? So, what three fountain pens should all fountain pen enthusiasts have in their collection? So I think easy one is a pro gear. Right? Okay. That feels like an easy one. I would maybe go vanishing point. Because it's like, well, I don't use it for various reasons. Wonderful pen. Fantastic price point. You can start at and you get something truly unique. And then maybe I would go with a Platinum 3776 then. Because I feel like that covers, the three of them cover a real broad kind of section of what fountain pens can get you. But just the best examples of each.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this is an impossible question. And I've racked my brain on this. And I'm going to take this somewhere that you and maybe the listeners didn't think I would go. And it's only one pen I'm coming up with so far. That, like, if you're really into this hobby and you love fountain pens and it's not just a passing fancy, I think you should have a Pelican M800 series pen.

Myke Hurley: Mmm.

Brad Dowdy: That's a pinnacle piece of craftsmanship for me. In the mechanics and in the size, the feel, the nib. That feels kind of like a pinnacle type of pen. That if someone's really into this, they should kind of maybe have that one. That just, I don't know, something about that pen feels right as the answer to this question. The first pen I thought of was the Pilot 823. I just feel like that's just such a great pen, great value, great filling mechanism. But I also understand that style is not for everyone. Those translucent, you know, they only offer three translucent models. We keep waiting for something more out of that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So it turns out me and you will not be able to come to an agreement on the list. Right. Yeah. Surprise.

Brad Dowdy: But, like, I'm not discounting those other pens. There are obviously three great pens. That's probably, like, two of my three most recommended pens in the Pro Gear and the 3776. Right? I mean, Lamy 2000 gets lumped in with those all the time. But I don't think those are, like, enthusiast requirements. Like, that's the words I'm, like, getting stuck on here. Right.

Myke Hurley: Because I take that as, like, you should have these. Like, if you care, you should have these pens. And I think that those three are great examples of that. Like, you really should just have them.

Brad Dowdy: Like, I don't discount that at all. Like, but I, the way I'm taking this question, I don't know. Like, the only thing that I can stick on is, like, the Pelican M8 series. Like, I just feel like that's kind of a perfect pen for the enthusiast part of this question. I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking it. But that's a pen that I just think is important for all kinds of reasons that I already stated. I mean, I'm enamored with them. I think, I mean, I have two of them. Like, I'm not some huge Pelican collector. Like, Pelican's not necessarily my brand. But just that feels like the answer to that question to me.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Pen Specific Question

Myke Hurley: All right. And our next question comes from SamK654. Has Platinum ever made an all-black 3776?

Brad Dowdy: Not that I've seen. I think that would be fantastic. Now, there is, I apologize, I didn't prep for this question before because there's a pen I want to talk about that I can't think of the name or have a link for it. But they made one, a limited edition, several years ago, with a tiger pattern on it. And I've seen it at pen shows. It's all black except for a rhodium clip. There's no other color on the exterior side of it. And it was a very limited quantity. But it was too expensive for me to buy. But I've picked it up many times at a pen show. It just didn't feel worth whatever the price was at the time. That's the closest I've seen in that shape and size. I'll find the name of it. We can, we can, it'd be easy to come up with. We'll put it in the show notes. And I'll tweet it over to Sam. But no, they've never made one. I think seeing some of their, you know, various limited edition work. I could see them coming up with something that one day, maybe. So yeah, it'd be good.

Myke Hurley: All right. And our last question comes from Jeff Starr Jr. today. Taking the CFA exam in June. It's a pen and paper exam. I love fountain pens, but I need a ballpoint recommendation for this. No issues with a pen with a larger grip section, if possible. The test is only once a year. So this pen doesn't need to be used every day.

Brad Dowdy: Easiest question of the bunch, Michael.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Uniball Jetstream. Oh, yeah, of course. If you want something, I know, right? But it's the answer to the question. That's why it comes up all the time, right? It is the answer to this question 100% of the time without failure.

Brad Dowdy: That's it. Okay. They have, I mean, I would say the Pilot Acroball, but it's not as wide of a barrel as the Jetstream. Right. Like, these are your basic ballpoints and why I just, I'm completely on the Jetstream bandwagon because it just works all the time. It's always the answer to this question. You may not like it. You may not like that it's the answer, but it's the answer. I'm not, I'm the most confident of any answer I'll ever give in this show to that one I just gave. Like, it's the answer.

Myke Hurley: All right. That wraps it up for today's episode. If you want to find our show notes, you can go to relay.fm slash penaddict slash 348. Where you can also find links there to our Kickstarter campaign so you can compact the project and get all the wonderful rewards that we have available. Thanks to Pen Chalet and Squarespace for their support of this show. You can go to penaddict.com and knock.co for Brad's work and you can find him online. He's penaddict on Instagram. Dowdy is on Twitter. Twitch.tv slash penaddict as well. You can find me on Instagram. I'm imike, I-M-Y-K-E. You should follow me there. You can find this show and many other shows at relay.fm slash shows. And there might be something else you could pick up there for your commute or whatever, whenever it is that you listen to shows. No judging. You can listen to podcasts, especially the penaddict, whenever or whatever you want. I'm totally fine with that. You want to listen in the shower? You go for it. You just go for it. Do whatever you want. It's one of my most podcast listening times of the day. Same. It's great that phones are waterproof now. You just take it in the shower cubicle with you. No problemo. That's what I do.

Brad Dowdy: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Shower cubicle. We're not going to end the show. We're not going to end the show on shower cubicle. What's wrong with that?

Myke Hurley: What's wrong with the shower cubicle?

Brad Dowdy: All of it. I'm not in an office. That's where cubicles are.

Myke Hurley: That's what they're called.

Brad Dowdy: Not for normal people. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I love you. That's the name of the thing that you get in, right? Yeah. When you're in a bathroom and it's walled off, it's called a shower cubicle.

Myke Hurley: Just Google the term shower cubicle.

Brad Dowdy: I understand. I've shared many a hotel room with you. Okay. This may be an English thing. A lot of showers. We have shared a lot of showers. Not together. But in the room. Never once has the phrase, I'm going to get in the shower cubicle. I can see what's happening here.

Myke Hurley: Shower stall is the American term, which is way worse. Stall is a terrible word. Cubicle is a way better word. End of story. Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll be back next week. Bye-bye. Say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

Myke Hurley: Cubicle.

Brad Dowdy: It is better than stall.