Hard to know when a typical Tuesday might turn into a day you’re on the lam from the police at one moment, and the next sifting through chicken bones and coffee grounds looking for a lost something and then being wowed by the gift of a great looking fountain pen from Taiwan. At least by this point later in the day I’ve stopped looking over my shoulder for flashing lights and cars bearing a big gold star on the doors. I’ve washed the grease and grounds off my hands, and sit now admiring the look and feel of a new TWSBI Diamond 530 fountain pen.
On the way to the airport to pick up a visitor from Japan I got to the toll booth with too few quarters. The change-only toll fee is $1.50 and I was stuck with only five quarters at an unattended booth and a line of cars behind me, the lady in the nearest one signalling ‘Duh!’ The machine won’t take bills and I’m out of change so I hit the gas and screech off down the highway. I mean, what are you gonna do?
Later…Safe from the law and relaxing in the living room with my houseguest, he picks up a Lamy 2000 from the coffee table, looks it over and asks where the silver ring is that holds the cap on. I explained that it had somehow ‘disappeared’ and since then the cap has been falling off too easily. He drew a picture of what the small ring looks like and I suddenly felt like a replacement for the Three Stooges. Yesterday I was cleaning under a table, found a small silver ring that rang no bells, didn’t look at all familiar, so I threw it away. It was the cap ring for the Lamy pen my friend had just drawn a picture of. Spent thirty minutes sifting through garbage and came up empty-handed.
No such thing as a Japanese houseguest arriving without a bounty of gifts. Because I had asked, the five Life Noble Note Plain (unlined) notebooks were no surprise, but on top of that was a TWSBI Diamond 530 fountain pen. I’ve read a little about this pen but still know next to nothing about the history and design. It’s made by a Taiwan company and from information on their website the TWSBI team listens very carefully to suggestions from fountain pen users worldwide, and are very responsive to input. The name TWSBI has an interesting story, but I will wait for another time to write about that along with my first impressions of the Diamond 530.
That's why some of us throw very few things away and consequently have a two-car garage so filled there's no room for even a model car. Problem is finding whatever it is you know is in there.
ReplyDeleteStill enjoying my Lamy pen, you pen-pusher you.