The Pen Addict 381/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	381
Title:	A Plumbing Theme
Release Date:	October 16th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 381
Audio File:	Audio Episode 381
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 381
Length:	4747 min <br />0.783 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 381. Today's episode is brought to you by Squarespace, and uh, uh, uh, it's a horror stories episode. Was that what you were going for? Like, that

Brad Dowdy: was the real, that was your scary, like, Vincent Price intro to the horror stories? Like, that's as good as you got? Well, go on then. I mean, it was a- Come on then. It was scary and it's a horror story. Is that, is that what you have? That's what you have to bring to the party here today? I'm not so sure about that. That is, that is. Well, if we haven't scared off all of our listeners by now, um, we have some scary fountain pen and stationery stories to tell in this spooky month of October. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Yes, there you go. You did it again.

Spooky Time Introduction

Myke Hurley: Tis the spooky time, and when we're in the spooky time, we speak about pen horror stories. If you- We're in the spooky time. If you are unfamiliar and want a refresher, you can go to stationery.wiki. The URL's too difficult to read, because it's a Wikipedia, like a wiki-type URL. There'll be a link in our show notes, which are at relay.fm.com slash 381, to the archive of previous horror stories. So the episodes that we have had horror stories time, and also who has sent in their stories, and whether we deemed the story so horrific that it will go into the pen addict hall of fame, of which somebody receives a free pen addict t-shirt, is my understanding, Brad? Is that still the case?

Brad Dowdy: That's right, that's right. So I think we have four- Four entrants? Okay.

Myke Hurley: We have four entrants into the hall of fame. We have had many more horror stories read out than that. Oh, yeah. We- In our first- This is the fourth time we've done the horror stories. The first episode, there were no horror stories awarded. In the second episode, episode 336, we honored David, David's blue foot.

Myke Hurley: Emile's violet palm, where Emile- Oh, that one. That's probably still my favorite. That one still gives me nightmares. I can- Injected ink into their hand with a syringe by accident. Yeah. We had Anthony, who had the wild story of the legal client and the graffiti on legal documents. Yes. And then we had Rollins' Hulk hands, the green hands, the ink everywhere, all in the grout, kitchen cabinets, suit, all of that stuff. Mm-hmm. So a precedent has been set. Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: A precedent has been set. A lot of- In common with a lot of these stories, but they're all horrific in their own ways. Mm-hmm. Right? So we have a fresh batch to share today. And I'm excited. Like, I told Myke that I accept all these horror stories in my inbox, but I try not to read them. Like, I'll give them a quick glance, you know, just to make sure, okay, are we on, like, is this, like, really a horror story type thing? But I don't read them thoroughly. So I have not necessarily seen any of these. Myke certainly hasn't seen them. Nope. So we're gonna read them live, um, on the show for the first time. Yep. And, uh, we'll see if we have any new entrance into the Horror Story Hall of Fame.

Myke Hurley: And let's see if David can weave a wonderful and weird tale worthy enough of the Horror Story Hall of Fame. David goes on to say, I have a still raw story to share for your Horror Stories Hall of Fame episodes. Uh, David missed the last, uh, deadline, but here we have it here. So, a few days ago, I poured out my black-on-black Namisu Nova, figuring it had been a while since it had been inked up. When I opened the cap, clumps of telltale orange crust made it clear. I had not yet cleaned the ancient copper ink out of it quite thoroughly enough when I last put it away. The ink wasn't made of copper and super old. It was a color. It's a color, ancient copper. The ancient copper ink from my grandfather. Anyway. That was a rare metals pen. Out came the nib and feed into a tumbler of water in the kitchen. Yeah, we've all been there. We've done that. There's a good preface here. Now, I love my in-laws.

Myke Hurley: They're wonderful people. When they visit, they like to help out, whether it's hanging out with the kids, to give my wife and me a few minutes away, pitching in with the yard work, or even washing dishes. With a one and five-year-old boy, uh, they have two kids, but boys one and five, to keep up with Kelly and I will take all the help that we can get. So, when she told me they'd be visiting on short notice yesterday, I felt a barely conscious ping like a vibrating phone you can hear at the bottom of a laundry basket. There was something I needed to mention. No matter, I confirmed what we'd all eat for dinner and went on my work day. Then, this morning, I figured I'd ink up my Nova. There was one problem. The glass, the water, the nib and the feed weren't where I'd left them. I checked the study, the usual collecting place for pen detritus, looked around the kitchen in the cabinets. Then I noticed ominously that all the tumblers were not just present, they were clean. My eyes slowly panned over the sink. At least three meals' worth of dishes had passed through it since I'd last seen the nib. A few still lingered around the inlet to the disposal, having missed the last dishwasher run that a night. Nah, that's impossible. They wouldn't have, I thought. Still, the nib and feed were nowhere to be found. After one last pass through the kitchen, I pulled the rubber skirt out of the waste disposal drain and took the plunge. After groping through what seemed like an absurd amount of squishy green glop, struggling to discern any free-flowing bits from the steel grinder blades of the disposal, the tip of my finger landed on what could only be described as the mangled tines of a fountain pen nib. A minute later, I've managed to extricate what was left of the nib and feed from the machine. The feed housing nowhere to be found, probably long since shredded, and sent down the drain pipe. Fortunately, this was just a steel box nib, easily replaced. But the sight of it still makes me cringe, almost as much as those mangled nib photos you see on Mark Packers' Instagram. Okay. I love this story. I love the way it's written. I like when people can allow me to weave a tail, and David definitely did that.

Brad Dowdy: I have a big problem with this story. Okay. I have sink PTSD from this past Christmas where I reached my hand into a clogged sink, and I'm getting flashbacks where I slice my finger open. Oh, yeah. And I like have chills like anytime, like I can't stick my hand in my sink anymore. So this is like freaking me out. Like I literally got chills when you read that part about him sticking his hand in the dish disposal. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So this one affects me like physically, like I feel super weird about it. It is it is not a Hall of Famer for me. And even though it's quite an amazing story, and I hope Dave has kept that nib permanently displayed on a shelf to say, this is what happens when I leave my fountain pen ephemera laying around for others to do who knows what with in there. But man, what a story. Like I can totally picture this. Unfortunately, I can picture it too well based on personal experience. And yeah, I need like I like I need a moment, Myke. I'm like,

David's Tale Evaluation

Myke Hurley: oh, so here's here's where I mean, I think that David answered themselves about why this isn't Hall of Fame worthy that it was just a steel box nib. Yeah, exactly. You know, I think we've we've established a precedent that if there is damage to something, we have to be talking expensive.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Although Yeah, I was talking one of the most famous stories we've had during horror story time, which ended up not being a Hall of Famer was our friend Rich Dix, who's, you know, left the pin case on top of the car with the canalea and all that lowers like extensive monetary damage on that one. And we didn't Hall of Fame that one. And I can't remember the reason why I think it was I don't I don't even remember. But that I always remember that story is one that didn't make the Hall of

Myke Hurley: Fame. And that was some extensive damage on that one. Which one was that one? It was the canalea pen. It was like a look out like three pens. Several nice pens. Why didn't we? Yeah, like it was on the

Brad Dowdy: top of the car and I think got run over or something like that. I can't remember. No,

Myke Hurley: that's what I think happened. It didn't get run over. I think that might have been my thing. It's like, I think it was like, but it was lost. It was lost. But but losing something, I feel like it's not enough of a story because we all lose things. Yeah. Lost and never seen again, as opposed to

Brad Dowdy: misplaced and found crushed. It's a different story. Yeah. Oh, like lost and then heard as it

Myke Hurley: barreled under the wheels of an 18 wheeler. And I watched the dust of my favorite pens fly out into

Brad Dowdy: the distance, you know? Yeah. So you read that first one. It gave me uncomfortable flashbacks. And then I have to go right into the second one from Eugene that says horror stories plumbing edition. Oh, no, Brad. Are you sure you want to do this? We got to fight through. We got to fight through the pain, Myke. So let's see what Eugene has to say. I like I said, I promise you, I did not read these before and I know I wouldn't I didn't know what Dave was going to say there. And now I'm really worried at just the title of Eugene's plumbing theme to today's. Yeah. Yeah. Listening to all the recent horror stories made me think if I ever experienced something even somewhat horrific, at the least very disappointing. I think I have. It involved stinky pipes and toilets. Oh, come on. It's a family show. I work in the hospitality maintenance industry. That right there begs the question, why do you carry a fountain pen at all times? Because I like them, Eugene says. I'm on my feet most of the day, get dirty and have to climb all over, including attics and plumbing quarters. Anyway, one day I was replacing a toilet in one of the guest rooms. I took the entire thing off, investigated the problem, covered my nose with a clean rag and bent down to take off the old wax ring. Then I heard a clinging sound of my TWSBI 580 with orange ink hit the side of the four inch pipe when it slid out of my left shirt pocket. I stopped abruptly. So I felt 5% more relieved thinking that I could retrieve it. Quickly snapped a glove on as if the pen was drowning in smelly goo. Then put a new garbage bag over the said glove and my hand up to the elbow and went inside the stinky toilet pipe, feeling the way down the stinky old pipes. This is a very stinky story. I don't think we need to keep using that word. Hoping to find the clear bodied pen waiting

Myke Hurley: to be saved. No, but here's the thing. You lost this pen, Eugene. This pen is dead to you now.

Brad Dowdy: Listen, Myke, if he doesn't get that pen out, he's going to be back there tearing that toilet out again, knowing what's down there, waiting for further maintenance. This is self-preservation at this point. No, I will not accept this. Having the glove and the bag over my fingers must have decreased my ability to make sudden movements with my fingers. So as soon as I felt it within the tip of my fingers, I still couldn't reach far enough to grab it. I felt it starting to slowly slide down and then quietly disappeared into the black hole known as the sewer line. It was my first most expensive pen ever, too. I felt bad and thought to myself, what in the world just happened? I stunk like sewage now. My pen is gone. As soon as I went to pick up the aforementioned clean rag, I covered my face with. Field notes plopped out of my right shirt pocket and landed straight onto the same hole.

Myke Hurley: What is wrong with you, Eugene? What are you doing?

Brad Dowdy: Luckily, it stayed on top, but it also stunk. This whole situation stunk. So I stood up and decided I needed to take my break before something else falls down there. As soon as I exited the room, I got a call over the radio to help a guest with luggage. What a stinking great first impression upon checking in. At least I was able to spray some air fresheners the housekeepers use on my pants and shoes. I still wonder to this day what the new guests thought once they saw or smelled me while I was helping them. Anyway, just my two cents of what happened when I was getting into fountain pens many years ago. I've since spent way too much money on pens, inks, and notebooks, but none have seen or will ever see the missing orange Twisby. Rest in peace, little guy. Rest in peace.

Myke Hurley: I don't know what to say about this.

Sink Horror Story

Brad Dowdy: This is an awful, awful story and situation. It is also self-inflicted. You know you're going in, right? You have a dirty job and you say, you know what? I'm going in. And there's certain things you don't take with you when you're going in. Myke, on a very much cleaner scale, you know if you're going to the pool, you don't leave your phone in your pocket. You just don't do it.

Myke Hurley: You don't do it.

Brad Dowdy: You gotta know. You just don't do it. That's not as stinky a situation as this.

Myke Hurley: If you ever work in a job where you are bending over, you just don't put anything in your breast pocket. You just don't do that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And then to do it twice, even though the field notes was nowhere near the fountain pen type of situation. Yeah. Boy. Like, this was extreme. I don't know what to say. Not a Hall of Fame.

Myke Hurley: Not a Hall of Fame. Definitely a story of horror. Oh, it's a story. But it's not a Hall of Fame for me.

Brad Dowdy: Like, that's a story, like, I would be able to tell for the rest of my life for those who could handle it. But, like, it's, you know, it's a good story. And because of its terribleness. Can't do it. But, yeah, I think not quite there. These have both been good stories. Great stories. Let's see if Sarah... I'm glad we're alternating here, Myke. Let's see if Sarah's story

Myke Hurley: horrific enough.

Subbing Job Horror

Myke Hurley: I recently started a job as a high school substitute teacher. Hall of Fame! There we go. We did it.

Myke Hurley: Subbing is kind of boring, as I'm not actually teaching the kids anything, just giving them busy work. I discovered that letter writing is a great way to stave off this boredom. It looks professional. And I'm able to monitor the class without going absolutely stir-crazy. Nice work. Today, I didn't have time to ink up the pen I wanted to use, a Waterman Hemisphere, before I left the house. So I threw a bottle of Diamine Purple Pizazz, that's the one with the gold shimmer, in my bag. During first period, I shook the ink bottle to distribute the shimmer and uncapped to ink the pen. This is where things started to go wrong. Drops of ink had somehow gotten all over the bottle when I shook it, and by opening the bottle and filling the pen, I got bright purple ink of gold sparkle all over my fingers and on my white pen. The classroom didn't have any paper towels or tissues, and it was out in a trailer, so I couldn't easily run to the bathroom to wash my hands without leaving the class unattended for a substantial length of time. That feels like a bad idea. There was a bottle of hand sanitizer, so I thought, why not, and gave it a while. This turned out to be the exact wrong decision. I'd love to know what the kids are thinking at this point, like watching this teacher just, like, getting up to stuff. Instead of removing the ink, it spread the ink all over my hands, turning them completely purple. There were also some Clorox wipes in the room, so I used a few of those to get off some of the ink, but my hands were still noticeably purple. This is fine, I thought. High school students are too tired to pay attention to what color my hands are anyway. Nope. The first student I collected their work from asked why my hands were all purple. I told them I had an incident with a pen, and it was the ink. Luckily, most students are familiar with pen explosions, so they were sympathetic. Every class asked about my purple hands throughout the day. The purple did not come off after several rounds of hand washing, dishwashing, and a shower once I got home. Somehow, I managed to not get ink on the teacher's desk, but I did get some drops on the attendant sheets.

Brad Dowdy: I adore this story. It's a great story. High school students are jerks, right? Just in general. You just generally assume this is going to go poorly. That's where I thought we were going with this. Yeah, so I appreciate that they had some sense to go, okay, I get it. But the fact that I would have done the exact same thing if I was in Sarah's situation, like started to go, okay, well, let's go for this hand sanitizer. You know, I can't run to the bathroom. You know, I'm out in the trailer, you know, out in the back lot somewhere. And, you know, well, this will at least help. And then actually probably turned her hands more purple or at least spread the ink all over. I wouldn't have thought that. I would have done the same thing. But I guess the hand sanitizer and the alcohol in it, I guess it's just going to spread that around as soon as you start rubbing it, which now that's good to know. I didn't think of it that way.

Brad Dowdy: Golly. Not a Hall of Famer, but I love this story because... I think it could have gotten there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like, it's good that it didn't. It's good that it didn't, yeah. Right? Like, it could have been worse, like knocking, like messing up some other teacher's room, kids being kids. But like, even though like you're a substitute teacher and you're like the person, the authority figure in the room, when you're not their normal authority figure, you have this like weird tinge of like, I just want to like not make a fool of myself in front of these high schoolers who, you know, are, you know, this isn't like preschool where they wouldn't care. Right? These high schoolers are, can be mean and vicious. And I would be beet red and sweating buckets if I did this in this situation. So it sounds like Sarah handled it as well as possible. Not quite Hall of Fame level.

Myke Hurley: I agree. All right. We've had three great stories so far. We still have a few more for the rest of this episode. Why don't we take a break first and thank our sponsor, which is Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace. They will let you easily create the website that you want for your next idea, for your next project, for your online store, maybe for your event that you've got coming up, maybe for a social group that you're a part of, maybe you have a portfolio or a blog that you want to get out to the world. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you do any of these things and so much more. They have award-winning, beautiful templates which are wonderfully customizable so you can make your website look exactly how you want. And they have the ability for you to grab a unique domain name for your website as well. There's nothing to install or patch or upgrade. They take care of all of that stuff so you don't have to worry. And they back everything up with 24-7 customer support. Their customer support is award-winning. They win a lot of awards at Squarespace because their product is amazing. I've used them for so many years and continue to. When I think about building a website, I think about going to Squarespace. And you should too. Go try it out right now. There's no credit card required to do so. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict. Their plans start at just $12 a month and you can get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain by using the offer code penaddict at checkout. You'll also be showing your support for this show by going to squarespace.com slash penaddict and using the code penaddict for 10% of your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of this show and all of RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

Brad Dowdy: All right. Let's keep this going. My, I'm just, I've been grinning from ear to ear. I love these stories. I appreciate you all sending in these stories. I love them. Keep them coming. You can email them to hello at penaddict.com. I'm putting horror stories in the subject line and we will get to them at some point. It may be next Halloween, next October when we need them, but maybe before, you never know.

Myke Hurley: This isn't maybe before horror stories, the spooky time come at any time.

Brad Dowdy: That's right. And when you send them to me, they get filed. So I don't read them until this show. So, you know, you just have to wait and see when it comes up. Like Evan, who after the chatter about horror stories on the Twitch stream, I thought I'd finally type up for you my recent fountain pen experience, which I've titled the Emerald Curse. It started with a good deed, but no good deed goes unpunished. My wife isn't a pen person. She likes nice things and pretty things, and she definitely appreciates a few of the pens and a couple of the shades of ink in my collection, but she's not really interested in any of it for herself. In an experience that I'm sure is common for many pen addicts and their spouses, she humors me, which is why when she excitedly sent me a Facebook link to a calligraphy video titled something along the lines of, check out this amazing color changing ink. I was taken by how much she seemed to be generally interested by the ink, not just sending me something she thought I would like. The video itself was just footage of the J'herbal Emerald of Chavor drying on coated calligraphy paper. I thought, if my wife is so interested, surely I can buy her a bottle of Chavor. So on my next trip to the pen store, I did just that. I cleaned out my TWSBI Go because I thought the 1.1 italic nib and demonstrator barrel would suit a pretty shimmer ink. I think that's a good choice. And surprised my wife by telling her that I bought her a bottle of the color changing ink, all her own, and picked out a pen for her to use that would really show it off. While she sat in the living room, attending to our toddler daughter, I took the ink and pen into the kitchen to fill. I carefully laid out paper towels under the bottle for drips and blotting, shook the bottle a bit to get the glitter floating, and filled. I capped the bottle quickly to avoid any mishap and then turned my attention to the pen. As I was in the midst of blotting the nib and section and screwing the blind cap barrel onto the back of the TWSBI Go, the pen slipped out of my hands. The nib was fine. Somehow every pen I've ever dropped, the nib has been fine. That's good luck right there. If that is my secret superpower, useless as it might be in the scheme of superpowers, I'll accept it. What wasn't fine, however, was the linoleum floor, which was now a shade of blue-green with flecks of gold. My wife, two rooms away and around a corner, asked what the sound was and was satisfied with the answer, nothing.

Myke Hurley: Well, that's not true.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, that's a problem right there, Evan. That might come back to haunt you. Speckles of ink were all down the side of the counter, cabinets, the stool, and even somehow on top of the counter. I took to scrubbing, thankful that the pattern of the linoleum was busy enough to hide a potential tent. The ink on my own feet, I figured I could play off because when I don't have a little, when don't I have a little bit of ink on me somewhere. I knew that if my wife had seen the scale of the initial spill, regardless of how easy it was cleaned up, I'd be barred from filling pens in the kitchen anymore, maybe even in the house entirely. Every time I thought I was done scrubbing, I would find a new spot. Finally, I finished, certain that I had covered the entire area and the only ink left was on me. I returned to the living room and as expected, answered for the teal splotch on my own foot. I was barred from putting my feet up on the ottoman for the rest of the night, but I figured that was a small price to pay for what had occurred. And then my daughter toddled back in from the kitchen herself and my wife asked me what was that spot on her leg. Since that day, already a few months ago, four or five times, my daughter has turned up with spots of blue-green on her arms and or legs while in the kitchen. I'm running out of excuses and speculation to respond with when my wife notices. I have hunted for any trace of the ink, which should have been long dried by now, and I can't find it anywhere. Like a protagonist in an Edgar Allan Poe tale, albeit one with much lower stakes, I am haunted by this spill. Worse still, the ghost of Ink Spill's past has chosen my precious child as its target rather than myself. There is an emerald curse upon my kitchen evermore.

Myke Hurley: The end of that really got me.

Brad Dowdy: This is so well written.

Myke Hurley: It's the end of that really swung it for me, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: The issue is, well, not the issue, but the the the selling point is the child keeps getting attacked by the ink when she sets foot in the kitchen. It's almost like it's haunted, like he's calling it the emerald curse, and he can't find it, but it's like the more I think about it, the more creepy it gets. like the kitchen's been scoured, and the daughter, who is too young to know any difference, continually finds ink to attach to her somehow.

Myke Hurley: like a protagonist in an Edgar Allan Poe tale, I am haunted by the spill. Worse still, the ghost of ink spills past has chosen my precious child as its target rather than myself. There is an emerald curse upon my kitchen evermore. look, I'm being biased, that wins it for me, man. I think you write it like that, it is a crazy thing to have happened. It's a spill. We love a spill as a horror story. But is that the real horror? No, but it wasn't a catastrophic spill, like it wasn't a whole bottle. No, it's a,

Brad Dowdy: we've all done this spill.

Ink Haunting Conclusion

Myke Hurley: Yeah, but spills, spills always, spills are good winners, spills are winners when it comes to horror stories. But it is the way in which Evan has been trying to keep this secret, which is weird that you would then write into it, I mean, that could be a problem. But then, it's the way in which this continues to reveal itself, that is hilarious, but then the way it's written, I mean, this is a story that I'm gonna want to remember, so I would call it Hall of Fame worthy. I feel haunted

Brad Dowdy: by this ink, right? Like, I feel like if I went, I feel like if I went to Evan's house, I would be haunted by this ink in the kitchen, like I would be concerned for my well-being, and I think you've talked me into it. Where is it? Hall of Fame story. Where is it? Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Evan. Bravo. Oh my God. This is problematic.

Brad Dowdy: Oh gosh. I don't know what to say. This is, it's kind of creeping me out the way Evan wrote this, because I can, you can picture this, right? Like, that's what makes horror stories so good, is because you can put yourself in these situations, right? Like me sticking my hand down a drain and slicing it open. You can put yourself in these situations. And I was like, what if this ink kept showing up, like, on my kid who's crawling through the kitchen, and I've looked everywhere, and I can't find this ink anymore, and then next week, there's another dot on my daughter's shirt. I think I would be completely haunted by the whole thing. So yeah, you've talked me into it. I was not sure if this was Hall of Fame worthy, but I think we're there. This is kind of, yeah. Well done, Evan. Well done.

Myke Hurley: Our next question comes from I need a cigarette after that, and I'll even smoke. A Lacco. I've been telling myself for a while that I should send you this story. Years ago, when I had mono, it was working, I'd keep motivated at the office by using pens and inks that I love. By then, I figured the best way to use the Organic Studios nitrogen ink was to keep it permanently, in a permanently primed TWSBI. It's a lovely blue and the sheen kept me happy, so it was part of my regular carry at work. So, one afternoon after a heavy lunch, and mind you, with mono, it didn't take much for me to literally fall asleep during the day, so with a heavy lunch, I was as sleepy as ever. Suddenly, my boss reminds me that I need to join a conference call. All meeting rooms were taken, so we borrowed a colleague's pristine white desk. Oh, you did, did you?

Myke Hurley: Oh, you know what? I've read the wrong story, haven't I?

Brad Dowdy: You're good. I mean, we'll just continue. That'll be, it's actually, you actually did us a favor, because this is half story, half ass TPA, so it's a good one to end on, the one that you skipped.

Myke Hurley: Okay, but I should say that this was by Anna C, not Alaco. Yes. Alaco's story is still to come, so that was a preview. This is from Anna C. So, Anna C borrowed a colleague's pristine white desk.

Brad Dowdy: With Organic Studio Nitrogen previously mentioned in the story, so just to catch everybody up.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. The meeting starts, I'm taking notes, people ask questions, we reply, all is well until someone goes on about something we're not concerned by and I decide to take that minute to prime my converter and I fall asleep doing so.

Myke Hurley: Just a few seconds later, the ink poured over my hand and wrist and it wakes me up. The whole barrel of ink is out of my pen and all over the desk. My hands everywhere. My boss, who luckily is pretty cool, is just staring at me, caught in the headlights, wondering what in the world has happened. The people on the call are asking us questions and we're well inked. So I jump out of my seat, run to the bathroom, wash my hands, grab all the tissue I can and come back to clean the ink off with paper and the water from my cup. My hands were blue, completely blue. I had no clue what happened in the meeting but we somehow managed to clean the desk. For a few days, I passed by, checked that the colleague still wasn't back and take out little flecks of sheen and blue here and there. I'm not 100% sure that it all came out but at least the owner of the desk never mentioned it nor did my boss ever bring it up again. I wish I could say this was my only accident at work or that I learn my lesson but at least when I do prime my pen in a meeting these days, I at least make sure I'm wide awake. All the best to Myke and yourself from Anna Encantadora.

Brad Dowdy: It's a very, very good story. Very good. You've been there, right? Yes. You've been there. I've been there. I've shot ink across a table during a conference call. Not at this level but expelled ink halfway across a round conference table where people are on both sides and you just kind of look around. Did anyone see that? I'm not sure anyone see that. Anna's not getting away from anyone seeing this. I was panicking for her because I've been there in this situation. It's awful and I love the fact that one common thread in these horror stories is we're all exposing our passions to people who don't know anything about what we're doing and why this is happening. Can you see Anna sitting there with ink dripping down her hand and her colleague sitting next to her who's using a bit going, oh my god, what is happening to this person that is sitting next to me right now? I don't understand what's happening and we're all doing the same things like that Anna's doing in this story and I just love that we all can share these stories together. It's awesome. Not a Hall of Fame but quite amazing. I think.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I feel like again, like with many Hall of Fames, there was a way this could have been it, you know, like if there was consistent like bad damage to the desk but you're able

Brad Dowdy: to take care of the situation. If the office had to buy the colleague a new desk, replace it somehow, oh man, that would be a racket. Oh gosh, yeah, but like I've been there, like I can see, I can put myself in this situation. We've both been in like corporate conference rooms and it's just like it can happen. Totally can happen. All right, last horror story that Myke tried to read and it's a good transition because we'll probably end this episode with a little Ask TPA and this is a little combo meal of horror stories Ask TPA. So, via Alaco. I can't tell if this is a horror story or an Ask TPA question but I really, really hope you can help. The pen in question is a Pilot Lady White which you may not have heard of. To put it shortly, it's based off the Pilot Deluxe Arushi line of pens where a thin layer of Arushi is painted on a brass barrel. My pen is painted with a light beige layer of Arushi with Sakura imprints on it. That fatal day, I thought it'd be a good idea to clean the cap of the pen. I left the cap submerged in water overnight and saw with satisfaction the water turning blue. The next day when I decided that it had soaked long enough, I found a brown color trailing away from the cap. I picked up the cap and it still pains me to write of it. Some of the brown, rusty water had already stained the cap.

Brad Dowdy: On closer examination, it seems that some of the gold plating on the underside of the cap had peeled away and my chosen method of cleaning had induced the rascals to attack my lovely pen. I've tried sunblock, potatoes, and other seemingly friendly things to remove the stain with no success. I'm reluctant to use chemicals for fear that they won't get along with the Arushi. This being my fourth day of grieving, I've nearly given up. Do you know how or is it even possible to remove rust stains from Arushi? I've attached a picture of the patient. View it at your own risk. Many thanks for all the podcasts. I'm still going through old episodes. I'm in 2018 now. So, we'll have a picture of this pen, of this image in the show notes because I want people to look at this. I have never, ever seen anything like this. This is straight up horror story. Like, I would be horrified if I did this and this happened to my pen. So, what this is, Alaco is right. I've never heard of this pen, but I kind of see what it is in the picture. And it's essentially a metal barrel pen with artwork on the outside, lacquered, and securas. The question I have is how that's the spot that the rust came through. I would expect it up more towards the clip, right, where there might be some type of puncture inside, right, you know, where the clip would attach inside the barrel and it's just got to have some type of hole there. Right there, that's an odd spot for sure.

Myke Hurley: what if it's received some stress from the clip hitting against it? Right. There might be a tiny stress fracture.

Brad Dowdy: Right. That's what I'm thinking more that it came from the outside as opposed to the inside. Mm-hmm. Plus, those clips generally tend to be folded, not solid, right? Do you know what I mean? So, like, water could get behind that clip and the fold of the metal and rust within there.

Brad Dowdy: Ooh, not a Hall of Fame, but a definite horror story. Like, I would never have expected this to happen with this type of pin. Mm-hmm. Um, I have no earthly idea how to clean it. I, I wager to say that you can't because it looks almost internal to the layering, right? It looks like it's within layers of the design on the exterior of the pen. so I, I, I like the idea of sunblock and potatoes. Those would not have been my first choices to, to clean the stain, but I guess there's maybe some, uh, some internet logic that leads you to sunblock and potatoes as the, uh, the rust cleaning choices. But, um, yeah, I'm, I'm at a loss. It's definitely horrific. Not a Hall of Famer, but I don't know how to fix this. Um, and we have probably like a year for Alaco to hear this. So, if they're only in 2018 right now, it might be a while before they get to the, uh, the podcast. But I think the consensus is this came from the outside, not the inside. And it's more than likely that that clip is a folded metal, which would then leave me to believe that water could live in there and maybe cause a problem. I don't know. I, I'm really down on the possibilities of ever being able to clean that. That's bad news. That's bad news. That's a, that's like a legit horror story. Like, I've ruined my really good pen, or not I have, but my really good pen has gotten, become ruined because I was trying to do a good thing, right? So, that's, uh, that's scary. So, if anyone has any great, uh, cleaning ideas, I will email them to Alaco because they will not probably hear this podcast if they're just, uh, if they're not listening to current episodes and back catalog at the same time. So, I don't have any recommendations right off the top of my head. So, that's our horror stories, Myke. We put one in. We put one in. They all moved me in various ways. Like, I can see myself in so many of these situations, and I, knock on wood, that, man, like, some of this stuff, it's, it's gonna happen. One of these days, you and I are gonna have a submission in this. It's almost an inevitability with the things that we deal with, which is why we have so many, uh, so many people sending this in. It's almost inevitable that you're going to have this story if you're a fountain pen user of any time, any type. Um, it's just, I love it. I, I'm, like, super anxious now. We've wrote all these stories, like, I'm tapping my toes, I'm like, all right, am I gonna knock something over while I'm in here? What is the horror story that's gonna happen to me? So, uh, I don't wish that on anyone, any of these stories, but, uh, thank you all for sharing them with us.

Hashtag Ask TPA Questions

Myke Hurley: All right, let's do a couple of hashtag ask TPA questions to round out today's show. Wayne the brain says, I'm fairly new to the wall of the pens. I want a solid rollerball. I'm looking at the Lamy Ale Star, but it seems like they only have one millimeter refill. So, are there any good 0.5 or 0.4 refills that you would recommend? I am open to other pen suggestions.

Brad Dowdy: As much as I love almost everything that Lamy does, I hate their rollerball refill. It's way too wet and too bleedy on most papers. It's very wide, and it's not a good refill to swap out. You know, there's not a good match to take the All-Star and find a good comparable refill for that. So, I'm almost looking at a different pen. You know I'm going to say Retro 51, but you may not like that style if you like the All-Star.

Brad Dowdy: But I would look at something like the Retro 51 because you can get something. I'm working on a review for the Otoe Dry Flash Gel refill, which is a .5 needlepoint gel that fits without modification into the Retro 51. So, I'm working on that review. That might be a consideration to look at some of the Retro models, even if it's not the Tornado models, some of their larger models. They just use a better refill with the Schmidt. And then you're opening up a whole other world of barrel types that you can use with that refill. The problem with the All-Star is that it's a tough refill to replace, match and get something of quality. So, I would steer you away from Lamy's rollerball products. Their ballpoint products are good, if you want to go that route. But the rollerballs, I have not had a good luck with. And I'd look at something like Retro. And if that's not your style, then we can look at all kinds of other different models, like the Mark 1 and Tactile Turn and all of these other types of things. But that's the only thing I have to say with that is Lamy's refills are pretty proprietary usually.

Myke Hurley: All right, next question comes from Michael B. Lasher. I'm finally ready to make my jump to buy a bongbox pen. My question is, how?

Brad Dowdy: So, last episode, we revealed a secret network of underground spies and

Brad Dowdy: carriers. that we have in our underground worldwide network. But honestly, what you should do is follow Bungbox on Instagram. That's where they update the most frequently. And then they have their information on Instagram and you can send them an email. And when they release a pen, and a lot of times they can work with you via email and set up something like a PayPal invoice. They're not always going to be able to do that, but they are pretty good with working with you if you contact them. And you're going to have to do it when they launch the pen. They sell out of all of these things reasonably fast. So, shoot them an email, give them a couple days, hopefully they'll get a response. In your email, give them very specifics. If you see a pen, say, I want this pen with this nib, and this color, whatever, give them all the details to pull that specific pen for you and send you an invoice at the time when you're communicating with them the first time. And then hopefully they will get back to you and go that route. They used to at a time for the US market, they'd throw some of their pens on the Amazon bung box store just so people could order them, but I don't think that's a thing that they still do. At least I haven't been paying attention to that. So, the best way is to contact them directly, and they're pretty good about working with you on that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I've done it a couple of times and I've had no problem. Like, they work pretty, they're actually very open to it, and they will help you as much as they can. As long as there's stuff in stock, they'll do what they can for you.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep. So, I think they're probably the best at doing that, and it's still no guarantee, right? Like, it's tough sometimes to make that jump and make it happen, but that's your best option for sure.

Myke Hurley: All right, let's finalize today's episode, I don't know why I said it that way, of a question from Greg Co3, have you seen anything about these .28 needle tip uni jet stream pens? They look a little higher end of a metal barrel too.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, these are super cool. At first, I thought it was a Lamy Safari knockoff, to be perfectly honest. Greg Co sent me this on Twitter, I saw this, and I had never seen this pen. I like how it looks. I want a .28 needle tip jet stream. I've never seen a refill that matches that description. I'm curious if this is a real thing, a concept thing. I don't know what's happening here, but I want it. I at least want to learn more about it and understand, you know, is this like for real? Because this would be pretty cool. So, I mean, it's got the uni stamping, uni jet stream on there, it's needle tip, it's got a cool barrel design. Like, I'm all in on this pen if I can get a hold of one. So, I'm glad Greg Co sent me that because my interest is peaked.

Myke Hurley: Thank you to everybody who sent in horror stories and hashtag us TPA questions. You can always send in stuff by tweeting with the hashtag us TPA or email to hello at penaddict dot com, right? Yes. Wonderful. Thank you so much to our sponsor this week, the fine people at Squarespace. Thank you for listening. If you want to find us online, Brad is on Instagram. He's penaddict. I'm iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. You should always tune in to Brad's Twitch streams at twitch.tv slash penaddict. And, yeah, we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.