Editing The Pen Addict 213/transcript (section)

== Mechanical Pencils ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' A mechanical. And I've said this before. A mechanical pencil is much and much the same. No matter where you go. Right. Because the pencil lead. At least to me. There's not as much variance that you would get in the way that a pen would write. You can get like the harder and softer and stuff. But it's for me anyway. With the way that I use this stuff. They're a lot closer to each other. So the actual brand of the. You know. The brand of the pencil lead doesn't excite me so much. Right. So the performance of the pencil itself doesn't vary. And I just much prefer the look and feel of the rotorings. Because they're so close to each other. The way that the Retro 51 pencils look. Like the hexamatic and the rotaring. What's the name of the rotaring? It's just got out of my head. The one that I use. You said the hexamatic. Yeah. The hexamatic and the 600. Oh.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The rotaring 600. Yes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They're so close to each other. That it's kind of. Just like a choice of what. Branding you like the most. And when it comes down to mechanical pencils. Mechanical pencils are rotaring. Right. Like they are the same. Right. Rotaring 600s are mechanical pencils. And that's why I'm sure the hexamatic looks so similar. Because it's the iconic design. So for me. Just. I just. We'll just go with the rotaring. You know. The thing is like the retro 51 stuff. I love the tornadoes. Because the ink is amazing in them. Like the refills are amazing in them. But so many pens carry that refill now. But I still keep coming back to the tornado. Because their design is unmatched. Nobody even comes close. To putting out special editions in pens. Like retro 51 do. Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There you go. So yeah. I think the answer in a nutshell is. There are a lot better mechanical pencils. Than a retro 51. Mechanical pencil. And there's not a lot of better roller balls. Than a retro 51 tornado.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I would say it's the best. Obviously.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. So yeah. I agree with that completely. All right. Todd. Former pen blogger. Who's. Who's asking this question. Because he's going through some changes. He wrote that one pen. And now he's changing. His format. Going to write about different things. About teaching and chemistry. And some other things. Along with pens that he's interested in. And so he asked. If you didn't blog and podcast about pens. What would it be? And you can't pick baseball. Which for me. That would be the simplest. Obvious answer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I want to say music. But that wouldn't be. Because. I've always had a problem. With music reviewers. And how they write. And they seem to be. Do me. You might have to cut that out. I. The music review. Business. Is really. Really weird. I. Just. Could never get into that. In a way where I felt comfortable. Um. And I don't listen to quite enough. New stuff. To. To do a podcast on it. So I think. If I did something. That wasn't. Baseball. And wasn't music. It would be just kind of. Life. Related. Like. In. Either some type of. Life hacks. Common sense. Work. Type of stuff. Stuff that I like. Really believe in. And try to like. Implement. In. In my life. You know. Um. Like. Not a lot of. Like. Wasting time. And idle time. What to do. And things like that. So it would be some kind of. Life hack type stuff. I think. Do you. You do so many. Different podcasts. Like all your. All your. Boxes are checked. Right now. Is there something else. Besides wrestling. No.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is the last. The last bastion to fall. At this point. I've. I've covered every single. One of my interests. I don't. I don't have anything else. Yeah. I'm all done now. I'm all tapped out. Yeah. Tapped out. Perfect. Nice. Is that going to be the name of it? No. The ring post. What is it? The ring post. Ring post. Nice. Has the best artwork. Of all time. Oh. I haven't even seen this yet. Oh. It's so good. Go to ring post. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. F.M. Okay. It's the best. It is the best.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh my god. I'm going to get some hacksaw. Jim duggan out on you.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Hello.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So from storm. You know. I say I'm going to skip through some of these. But actually all these questions are good. So.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I'm enjoying getting a good job. Of this random thing you were talking about.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I want to answer these questions. They took their time to pose these questions. I would like to answer them in retrospect. Instead of cutting some out. So storm asks. Have you ever worked out the dollar per use ratio for each of your pens? Which is the best and worst value from that perspective? This is a really, really good question.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't even want to think about the answer to this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, it's. I do. Because it's basically. It doesn't matter how much you spend necessarily. It's like what pen have you gotten the most value out of? I mean the obvious answer is going to be one of the cheap disposable pens. That I use so much. Like the Kuretake Zig Mangaka. Is a cheap pen that I use all the time. That would be the one. But if I got to like the expensive pen range. Say like over a hundred dollars. What pen. Have I used the most. That I've gotten the most value out of. Is probably Pilot Vanishing Point. You know. I use that pen a lot. It's probably. I've probably worked. You know. It's like the fashion world. You know. The cost per wear. Right. Is it worth it? So like the Vanishing Point was a pen. That's totally been worth it for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. I'm really struggling with this one. Because I start thinking about it. And the idea of some of the money that I've spent on pens. That I don't really use.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So there was an answer. A question in the pen addict members this weekend. Have you ever added up all your purchases? I'm like hell no. Don't do that. No.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's a terrible idea.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That would be a terrible idea.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So play repeat. Our good. Speaking of music. Our good friends at play repeat. Want to know. How many unwrapped notebooks should be in a dresser drawer. Before you feel embarrassment in your own company.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Don't ever be embarrassed. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So don't ever be embarrassed. But if you can't shut the drawer. You might have a problem.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You need a new drawer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Just buy a bigger drawer at that point. But if you can't shut the drawer. Um. You might need to rethink your priorities. And I say this as someone. Who has a field notes bin. That's like the lids bowed on. Because I can't shut it anymore. But I refuse to buy another one. Or move some out to. So it can actually close. Because it's ridiculous. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm looking forward to going through a bunch of my stuff. And working out some new storage solutions. When we move.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. I've got to do that too. That's. That's on my like forever list.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That never happens. Because I have like a big bin thing. And uh. Some shelves in a wardrobe. And none of it's working right now. Like it's all fit to best.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. For sure. So um. Cliff wants to know. I know you're not a huge fan. But sometimes a ballpoint is the only option. What would you add to your lookout? So this is kind of what prompted. That other question. Well the topic where we revisited the ballpoint gels and liquid pens. Because I've been using a lot of ballpoints recently. And none of them have been jet streams. Because I've been using the pocketable stuff. I've been using two different things. The Lamy Pico. I'm using a lot. Lamy's ballpoint refills for a standard ballpoint. A non-hybrid ink refill. Are really good. Probably like the best stock writing option. So those I enjoy. The Lamy Pico. In any color. Any style. Shape. Design. I love that pen. It's very cool. It's pocketable. It extends to full size. It's just a flat out good pen. And it writes well. My second choice. Is. Well it's probably number two. And number three. Because they both use Fisher Space Pen refills. I'm using a standard Fisher Space Pen. In the brass. I've never owned the traditional Fisher Space Pen. So I wanted to put this brass one through the paces. It's quite enjoyable. I'm actually. Going to pick. The shown design. Aluminum barrel pen. Because Ian just sent that to me. After I didn't like the stainless. Because of the weight. The aluminum one. Is. Perfect. So I just got that. I'm playing around with it. It's going to be better than my Fisher Space Pen. In the end. Even though they use the same refills. I like the feel of it in my hand better. I like the. The cap posting better. And the weight is spot on. So. Besides those two. Pockatable pens. At my desk. I use the Lamy 2000. Ballpoint. Which is. For people who want a nice ballpoint. Like as a gift. I end up recommending that a lot. Because. I mean the Lamy 2000. The macaron barrel. Is just so cool. It's so well made. And it writes very well. For a ballpoint. So the Lamy 2000. Is another one. I use. So. I'm actually. I'm not a ballpoint hater. I love my ballpoint pens. And. Aside from that. I use the Jetstream refills. In the. TI2 Tech Liners. Since they. Got modified to fit the Jetstream. I have one of those. With the Jetstream loaded up. I don't use that one as much. I just tend to reach for. One of the Lamy's. Or the. The Fisher Space Pen. Refills. In either the. Shone or the. The Brass Bullet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Wow. You should give me a lot of stuff. To put in the show notes there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh. Sorry mate.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't. I just don't enjoy ballpoints. If like. If I was going to go. For a ballpoint now. I'm still just going to go on style. Because. The refills. They just never. They never really do anything for me. And. I mean. And I've tried so many. And I just never really get that. Good feeling from them. So. These days. You know. I'm always going to go with a. With a. Retro 51 tornado. Right. Because it's like. A rollerball. But if I had to go for a ballpoint. I would probably pick up one of their new slim models.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's a good idea.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because I can still get some of the great design. That I like. But yeah. I'm just. You know. I know that this is a. A drum. That I have probably beaten to death. At this point. But. It's just not a style of pen. That I enjoy. To use anymore. Sure. I do. The things that I love. About. Pens. Doesn't come through. With this stuff.