Editing The Pen Addict 238/transcript (section)

== Stationery Gifts ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So over the holidays, did you get any stationary stuff for Christmas? I know you got a drone for Christmas because I did see that picture, which was pretty awesome. No, I didn't. I didn't get anything. Yeah, I pretty much didn't get anything, which is normal. Like, I don't ask that much for Christmas.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Nobody buys me anything, right? Because there is a strong chance I've got it, you know, and it's not really something that I ask for, so.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I did get a couple of related things. I did get the Revenge of Analog book by David Sachs, and you should all check our friend Harry Marks' interview with David Sachs he did on his covered podcast. We'll put a link to that in the show notes. And I'm just a couple of chapters into that. He, the chapter on paper was chapter number two, so I'm already past that one, and it's a chapter on Moleskine. It is very interesting. I won't spoil it yet for those of you who are attempting to get the book. I know it's been sold out in a lot of places, but I have lots of things to say about that chapter, but I'll give it a month or so, let everyone get past it, and then I'll finish the book, then maybe we can do a book report. And I've asked, I've talked to David, you know, about getting him to come on, so we might effort that in the future. He was totally open to doing that, so yeah, it's really, really good so far. I did get the extra field notes that Draplin released on his site that were part of the EEC, which is the Everything Else Enhancement Kit from the book that he did. Oh, okay. Those cool black and orange. Yeah, yeah, so that's what's in the picture there. Then I got a couple other DDC items, hat patches, socks, and I did get my Blackwing Point Guards, which, let's go ahead and talk about that now.

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you don't mind,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' we'll switch that up a little bit. So, last week's episode, I was mentioning that I was reading about them and how they weren't really working very well for people. I got mine in and I can confirm that they just don't work very well. Like, the name of this product should have been Just the Tip because that's all you can get into these things. It's not, it's not a love, it's not a hate thing, it's a, I can't recommend this product thing. Right? I don't think it really works for what they wanted it to do. They got so much feedback on this that they ended up having to write a blog post to explain their decisions in making this product and they say it's essentially working as intended. Which, if that's the case, I can't really recommend this product to anyone. Um, what they've tried to do I think was maybe too extreme. Like, I think they over-engineered this, if you will. This could have been a simpler product that worked better instead it's a more complex product that works poorly. Um, they talk a lot about the tolerances in this and if you can't, if you're making a product for your products and it doesn't fit those products, why did you do this? Like, I have a very hard time looking at this from a manufacturer's point of view that they push forward with this because you're only causing questions from your customers when they're relying on you to deliver a product that should work as they anticipate this should work. And, what the Blackwing point guard does is exactly not that. It does not work how people anticipate that a point guard should work. That's what caused all the problems. Do you think

'''Myke Hurley:''' they know this? Because the way that they talk about it in the post, they're kind of like, we made something different and it's meant to work this way.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, they're proud of it. No, they absolutely know it because they talk about the tolerances in this and they say you can only get it over the tip right where the barrel starts from being sharpened and it's tight, it pushes down on the barrel, it modifies the shape of the barrel because it's so tight. you know, if you put in a circular item over a hex barrel, there's going to be some issues there where the products that work well, like the other point protectors work well, they're flexible tin and they have a slit in them, so they're adjustable to many different pencil sizes. This is a non-adjustable item for they're asking you to place on a product that even on their own products has variants, like the Blackwing 211 has no lacquer, so it's a thinner pencil than the Blackwing 602 which has a lacquered barrel, so they're going to fit differently on their very own products. This is just something, they've opened themselves up to be challenged every time someone purchases this product thinking it's one thing and then when they get it, it's not. And this is their answer to that. That's fine. I mean, it's just not, and it's a beautiful product. I wish it worked well. I wish it worked better than it did. It just doesn't. Comfortable shoes

'''Myke Hurley:''' in the chat room sums it up perfectly. It says it kind of sounds like, no, no, guys, you're all doing it wrong. We made it right. You just don't know how to use a pencil cap.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And it does read like that. It's like, we tried to do it and then we found this better way and this is a better way and we made the better

'''Brad Dowdy:''' way. It's really, really just not a good product. Like, I would never recommend for anyone to go out and purchase this because it doesn't work as a point protector should work. It just doesn't. I mean, they're dancing around it. I think they know like every bit of feedback they're getting on this is the same thing, right? Well, it's what am I doing wrong? Like, this is a very simple product. There shouldn't be a question of what am I doing wrong with it, right? You don't create products this simple to ship to people and have them be confused on actually how to use it. So, that's the way I see it. So, I got them in and it's the truth. They do not work. They, you know, it's just not functional. So, that's too bad because it's really pretty. I don't even, I'm not even opposed to the price. I don't know that you could make something like this work. They would have to, this is a redesign from scratch type of thing. Like, this isn't a, okay, let's widen this, let's do this, let's do that with this product. It's a scrap it and start over product.

'''Myke Hurley:''' There we go. All right, we were talking about resolutions a little bit earlier on in the show. One of the things that I was talking about was selling some of my field notes and I'm doing it. I'm putting them on eBay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I saw that yesterday. Like, I was surprised. You were actually tweeting me out. He's like, hey, I think I'm putting these on eBay and then I looked and they were all up there.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So this isn't everything I've got. I have a bunch of duplicates and some more stuff that I want to get rid of, but this is just stuff that I'm selling right now to go into the Nakaya fund. So there's a bunch on there. There's some rare ones. I really have put basically everything up that are duplicates except for the stuff that I really want. Like, I kept a selection of byline. I haven't put any of those up at all because they're like a daily use thing for me. I kept a handful of arts and sciences and a handful of night sky as well because they're my favorite editions. So I've kept those, but everything else I'm down to just one unopened packet of all of these, including stuff like a DDC factory floor pop-up limited edition, the roastery edition, the Starbucks one, the large one, the arts and sciences size one, which is made of wood. Yeah, this one and Field Notes, XOXO 2015 as well. So I've got them up there. Now, I actually still have some duplicates of these, so I have more that I'm going to do something else with and I haven't decided what at this point, but maybe I'll do giveaways or sell them for charity or something. I'm not sure yet, just because I have some extras that I want to get rid of, but they're in there. I think that there's some deals to be had, honestly, with some of these. So I started the bidding low because I'm not going to be that guy. You can go check them out. They're in the show notes. It's over at eBay and I think they ship basically worldwide. You can check the countries that it ships to because I'm doing this thing that eBay has which I didn't know about where it was shipped worldwide. All I need to do is send it to them in the UK and then they take care of the rest, which is kind of cool.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it's kind of cool. So I'm proud of you just for starting to

'''Brad Dowdy:''' put together the details and put it out there. It took a long time. Yeah, it does. It takes forever. So that's always the hesitancy up front. So very cool. Good on you for doing it and add it to the fun.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, Tony says you should have been that guy. And I know I just don't want to. I really don't want to be the person that puts the field notes up for 50 pounds or whatever. It seems silly to me. So if you want them, go get them because there are some in there that you might not get for the price that they're selling at anywhere else. So go for it. How's the mod 3 going?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's not.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' that's good news. So I kept it on my, so I loaded it and then I unloaded it with the thought that I'm going to go back and I'm going to commit to figuring this out. And so I sat down and I kept it at my desk for a few days, tried different things, putting it in and out, and it was just a frustration. Like, again, like the Blackwing point guard, I want things to work a certain way. I have expectations and this was not fitting me, how I use things. Like, it doesn't fit how I use pens and paper and electronic devices to carry them all in this type of device. So I am sending this to Susan, who's always wanted the mod 3 and she's going to review it for the blog and see if she likes it. So she wants to try it. She's like, you know, I see what you're saying about it. You know, I've always eyeballed one. So I'm going to let her do the review on it. So I'm going to ship that out to her this week. But I have already raised the white flag. I surrender on the mod 3. It is not going to work for me at all. I did see a cool case. Father Kyle sent me some pictures of one he's had for years, which is a different model that looked better than the mod 3, but I don't think they make that model anymore. So I won't link that in the show notes, but I'm already done. So, yeah. That's a shame. no, no, it's a it was valid. It was it was for research purposes. I had a theory. My theory is now proven, but you know, it's also just for me. Like it's a it's a personal thing, right? For me, it does not work. For other people, it absolutely works. and Susan, I think, will do a better job reviewing it than me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's fair.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I'm going to send it off to her and we'll get a review of it in the next month or two. So look for it then. And then we'll decide what to do with it. Like if I told her if she likes it, it's hers. You know, if she thinks she's going to use it and commits to it, it's my gift to her. And then we'll see. She may not. And so we'll see.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I just got some bids coming. I get push notifications of bids because I put the e-mail on my phone today.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And there are bids coming in on the field notes. That's funny. I was surprised how many bids the workshop got so far.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Me too. I think maybe because it's like a full sealed pack of six. Yeah, maybe so. It's a more expensive edition anyway. Right. So maybe that's the case. Yep. Who knows? All right. This week's episode is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace. Enter the offer code INC at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. Make your next move with Squarespace. Squarespace lets you easily create a website for your next idea with a unique domain, award-winning templates, and more. Maybe you're looking to create an online store. Maybe you want a store like Knock or you want a store like the Relay FM store. Guess what? They're on Squarespace. Maybe you want to create a portfolio for your artwork. Or maybe you're looking to create a blog like The Pen Addict. You've heard of that blog, right? Guess where it is? I hate that guy. Me too, but I love his blog and it's on Squarespace and that's why Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that lets you do whatever you want to do. There's nothing to install, no patches to worry about, no upgrades needed. You don't have to worry about any of this because Squarespace have got it covered for you. They have award-winning 24-7 customer support if you need anything. They let you quickly and easily grab a unique domain name for your idea and all of the award-winning templates that they have are beautifully designed. That's why they won those awards and they're all there for you to show off your great ideas and they look good on all sizes of device whether you're coming from a desktop or a tablet or a phone. Your site's going to look fantastic to whoever goes to visit it. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month but you can start a trial today with no credit card needed by going to squarespace.com. Then when you decide to sign up, use the offer code ink at checkout. You'll get 10% of your first purchase and show your support for the pen addict. We'd like to thank Squarespace for their support of this show. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So last week we talked about cold weather ink and pens and I gave some diatribe, nonsensical type of thing that was just kind of in my head. Okay, this kind of makes sense and but I wasn't sure.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Needless to say, that was a call for help and the pen addict community delivered in such a way that it's mind-blowing. So our good friend Dave Ray in the pen addict select room drew this diagram and there's math and there's science and there's all kinds of awesomeness. Did you get a chance to even view this, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I'm looking at it now. I just assumed that you copy and pasted a bunch of stuff, he said. I had no idea there was all of this. There's images, there's little scribbles of pens and H2O density and calculations and formulas that I don't understand. Something's got a line through it. Oh, it's very confusing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and the end result is it's a thing. The expansion and pressuring, pressurizing of the ink from the temperature changes, will push the ink out of the nibs. So let me read a little bit of what Dave's conclusion was and this is all based around math and science that we'll have a link to in the show notes. So he says the bottom line is you have a fixed volume at pretty much a fixed pressure. You go from controlled room temperature to freezing temperature outdoors and the existing air and ink both contract. This draws more air into the pen. Then you warm everything back up. The total volume, including the air you've drawn in, will be higher than the original volume. If the pen is nib up, the extra air drawn in will just flow back out. If it's nib down, then the expanding contents push ink out into the nib and feed. Depending on the feed's ink capacity and saturation level, some or all of this ink might end up inside of the cap of the pen or if you're writing with it at the time, burping out onto the page. So in some ways, this is actually worse than the airplane scenario, though the volume change, unless you're in Siberia and it's negative 40 outside, in which case you have freezing problems instead of burping problems, is a bit smaller. In the airplane, you have a single ascent during event during which P, which is something mathy, goes to about 80% and V and T stay constant. When you descend, the pen is drawing air back in. So, yeah, there's math, there's science, there's awesomeness, and it's way above my comprehension level, so I'm glad we have friends that are able to put this into two black and white terms. So it's pretty awesome. Oh, and there's Dave in the chat room as I'm butchering his whole explanation.

'''Myke Hurley:''' He's just laughing right at you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know, right? We should have him on sometime just to math and science us to death. Basically, if you

'''Myke Hurley:''' don't understand what Brad just said, I didn't understand it. Take a look at the image to help you try and understand it. I still don't understand, but I guess what I've maybe taken from this is that you should be really careful.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes, I'm gonna put this in Brad terms. Cold, bad.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, and then switch back to heat, bad, after cold.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So it's the change.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Make pindo boom. Boom, right? Yeah, yeah. Yep. Okay. So there's changes. There's changes. So thank you, Dave. There was a huge long conversation in the Slack channel about this. It was fascinating. I kept reading it over and over trying to get a better grasp on it, but I get the general points here that it's a real thing and the temperature changes is gonna cause some issues for you. So that is why we see pens leak and ink bottles explode when it's cold.