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onepageatatimeSo… the pen order is on its way. Post office says it's expected Friday, but given where the tracking shows it, I would not be surprised to see it arrive tonight.
Which is good because… I've been "off" all week. And I think the pen situation is part of it. Right now, two of my fountain pens have the ink that I think is bad in some way. Which makes them not easily used, a frustrating experience. That includes "my favorite pen." And… so everything I've attempted to write in the past couple of days has been a struggle.
But I'm not yet experienced in cleaning pens and changing inks. I've only done it once. Which means… I need to find instructions and do it. I felt I would be self-conscious and sidetracked if I tried to do it yesterday when H worked from home, so it's on the agenda for this morning: at least emptying one or both of the pens with that ink in them. I want to leave more time for the pens to dry than I did last time… I don't think that was the issue with when I refilled my favorite pen… but I want to be sure.
I'm about 95% of the way to deciding to throw out the rest of that bottle. It's a shame, because it's the largest volume bottle I have bought so far (mostly because smaller size became out-of-stock before I placed my order). But… given that it's not behaving for me… and not behaving like I've seen it reviewed… I'm going to guess it's somehow contaminated. (Which might possibly have happened after I opened it… I may alter where/how I do it to remove some risk of that in future.)
The order arriving soon will have: three full-size bottles of ink, eight small sample vials of random inks (this vendor's "birthday reward") and empty sample vials that I can use for three inks I bought in small samples, which arrived in bottles too small for me to fill my favorite pen with. So I will have plenty of inks to try out. Top priority will be getting rid of the offending ink. I suspect the "pen I don't like" (since I filled it with this ink the first time) may get my favorite ink. (It would be a match for the color of its exterior, as well as helping me determine more surely whether the issue is with the ink or the pen.) My favorite pen will probably get one of the new inks.
There is a small chance that I damaged my favorite pen during the cleaning process. At one point, I set it down and it rolled onto the floor uncapped. I am hoping it landed horizontally and didn't damage the nib. (I don't see any nib damage, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to rule it out for sure.) At least it's not a super-expensive pen. And its model is readily available: the specific color might be more difficult, but there are similar colors that would be easy to buy if it needed to be replaced. (But hopefully it's OK, and it's just the ink that's making me anxious.)
Finally, last night, I broke out the ridiculously cheap fountain pen I bought at a local store a couple of months ago. And… that is probably my pen in main use until I get new inks into pens. It's a disposably-priced pen. (Store owner said she wouldn't buy a converter for it to use bottled inks, since converter would cost more than the pen. I'm not making any decisions until it's out of ink. I don't mind the cost, if I'll use it, but… I like the way it writes, but not the way it feels in the hand or the way the pen looks. So… there is a "will I actually use it?" question. It was mostly bought to up my purchase (because I hate browsing in a small store without buying anything).)
I've also been getting into crosswords this week… I've been subscribed to a YouTube channel of somebody who solves the New York Times crossword each day on his channel, and felt like I've learned a bit more of the conventions in watching him solve and explain as he goes. I also know how easily frustrated crosswords have made me in the past. So… I decided it's time to be humble about it. When I bought something to entertain me on the trip, it was a book of Monday NYT crossword puzzles. (Their puzzles are "graded," with Mondays the easiest of the week, getting tougher each day, through Saturdays, which are the toughest - the Sunday puzzle is larger than the weekday puzzles, but I'm not sure where it falls on the difficulty scale.)
I can usually solve a Monday pretty completely, based on the first few I've started. (Though the one I started yesterday has a section where I can't seem to get any traction.) Parts of them seem "too easy," but then I get the parts that seem like I'm never going to get through them. Often I do. I am certain the Monday book was the right choice over a mixed book. Not because of clue difficulty completely, more because I need to flex the muscle of pushing through the parts that are hard. Also… I probably need to do some reframing: not quite so all or nothing. My brain is (wrongly) feeling like success on the puzzle is a pass/fail, with the sole criterion: Did I complete the puzzle fully and unaided? While that is definitely a success (and perhaps even the goal), may brain doesn't need to take falling short of that as a total failure.
A couple of recent experiences have helped with that: one was a puzzle where I had hit my limit and frustration was growing. And then H chimed in with an answer or two, and the rest of the puzzle fell into place. Another have been two puzzles I solved on my computer where I came really, really close. In one case, I was one letter off when I checked the solution. In another, I was two letters away. But in that last puzzle, I had almost given up with half of the answers unfilled. I pushed through and more and more of it came to me, until I got to one clue that… wasn't helpful… and one of the words that crossed it was outside my knowledge (I have huge gaps in mythology, for example, because it tends not to interest me that much.) And… I had another letter wrong, because I'd guessed wrong on the crossing word. But… two letters away, when I'd wanted to give up much earlier? That's a success, even if I didn't get everything!
I need to sort out for myself what I feel about help, though. Because… I know there's benefit that can come from learning what I don't know. It's somewhat easier to accept H's help than it is to look up things. Which is probably good… but… looking things up can be good, too, for learning what I don't already know.
Anyway… I'm not saying much here, so I'll stop for now.
Which is good because… I've been "off" all week. And I think the pen situation is part of it. Right now, two of my fountain pens have the ink that I think is bad in some way. Which makes them not easily used, a frustrating experience. That includes "my favorite pen." And… so everything I've attempted to write in the past couple of days has been a struggle.
But I'm not yet experienced in cleaning pens and changing inks. I've only done it once. Which means… I need to find instructions and do it. I felt I would be self-conscious and sidetracked if I tried to do it yesterday when H worked from home, so it's on the agenda for this morning: at least emptying one or both of the pens with that ink in them. I want to leave more time for the pens to dry than I did last time… I don't think that was the issue with when I refilled my favorite pen… but I want to be sure.
I'm about 95% of the way to deciding to throw out the rest of that bottle. It's a shame, because it's the largest volume bottle I have bought so far (mostly because smaller size became out-of-stock before I placed my order). But… given that it's not behaving for me… and not behaving like I've seen it reviewed… I'm going to guess it's somehow contaminated. (Which might possibly have happened after I opened it… I may alter where/how I do it to remove some risk of that in future.)
The order arriving soon will have: three full-size bottles of ink, eight small sample vials of random inks (this vendor's "birthday reward") and empty sample vials that I can use for three inks I bought in small samples, which arrived in bottles too small for me to fill my favorite pen with. So I will have plenty of inks to try out. Top priority will be getting rid of the offending ink. I suspect the "pen I don't like" (since I filled it with this ink the first time) may get my favorite ink. (It would be a match for the color of its exterior, as well as helping me determine more surely whether the issue is with the ink or the pen.) My favorite pen will probably get one of the new inks.
There is a small chance that I damaged my favorite pen during the cleaning process. At one point, I set it down and it rolled onto the floor uncapped. I am hoping it landed horizontally and didn't damage the nib. (I don't see any nib damage, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to rule it out for sure.) At least it's not a super-expensive pen. And its model is readily available: the specific color might be more difficult, but there are similar colors that would be easy to buy if it needed to be replaced. (But hopefully it's OK, and it's just the ink that's making me anxious.)
Finally, last night, I broke out the ridiculously cheap fountain pen I bought at a local store a couple of months ago. And… that is probably my pen in main use until I get new inks into pens. It's a disposably-priced pen. (Store owner said she wouldn't buy a converter for it to use bottled inks, since converter would cost more than the pen. I'm not making any decisions until it's out of ink. I don't mind the cost, if I'll use it, but… I like the way it writes, but not the way it feels in the hand or the way the pen looks. So… there is a "will I actually use it?" question. It was mostly bought to up my purchase (because I hate browsing in a small store without buying anything).)
I've also been getting into crosswords this week… I've been subscribed to a YouTube channel of somebody who solves the New York Times crossword each day on his channel, and felt like I've learned a bit more of the conventions in watching him solve and explain as he goes. I also know how easily frustrated crosswords have made me in the past. So… I decided it's time to be humble about it. When I bought something to entertain me on the trip, it was a book of Monday NYT crossword puzzles. (Their puzzles are "graded," with Mondays the easiest of the week, getting tougher each day, through Saturdays, which are the toughest - the Sunday puzzle is larger than the weekday puzzles, but I'm not sure where it falls on the difficulty scale.)
I can usually solve a Monday pretty completely, based on the first few I've started. (Though the one I started yesterday has a section where I can't seem to get any traction.) Parts of them seem "too easy," but then I get the parts that seem like I'm never going to get through them. Often I do. I am certain the Monday book was the right choice over a mixed book. Not because of clue difficulty completely, more because I need to flex the muscle of pushing through the parts that are hard. Also… I probably need to do some reframing: not quite so all or nothing. My brain is (wrongly) feeling like success on the puzzle is a pass/fail, with the sole criterion: Did I complete the puzzle fully and unaided? While that is definitely a success (and perhaps even the goal), may brain doesn't need to take falling short of that as a total failure.
A couple of recent experiences have helped with that: one was a puzzle where I had hit my limit and frustration was growing. And then H chimed in with an answer or two, and the rest of the puzzle fell into place. Another have been two puzzles I solved on my computer where I came really, really close. In one case, I was one letter off when I checked the solution. In another, I was two letters away. But in that last puzzle, I had almost given up with half of the answers unfilled. I pushed through and more and more of it came to me, until I got to one clue that… wasn't helpful… and one of the words that crossed it was outside my knowledge (I have huge gaps in mythology, for example, because it tends not to interest me that much.) And… I had another letter wrong, because I'd guessed wrong on the crossing word. But… two letters away, when I'd wanted to give up much earlier? That's a success, even if I didn't get everything!
I need to sort out for myself what I feel about help, though. Because… I know there's benefit that can come from learning what I don't know. It's somewhat easier to accept H's help than it is to look up things. Which is probably good… but… looking things up can be good, too, for learning what I don't already know.
Anyway… I'm not saying much here, so I'll stop for now.
(no subject)
Date: 10/27/22 12:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/27/22 03:40 pm (UTC)That makes sense… I think, at this point, I just need to figure out when I want to cross the line from attempting to finish the puzzle to looking up and learning from it. Whether that's a number of passes or a number of minutes or an emotional state. I'm less than ten puzzles into solving again (and the first time in years I've attempted them), so I'm still in the "figuring it out" stage.
(no subject)
Date: 10/27/22 12:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/27/22 03:35 pm (UTC)Perhaps… but I'm thinking not this time. The biggest part of it is that I bought the ink two months ago now. And because knowing where I had it open to fill my pens… there's a possibility that I dropped some water into the bottle which might account for some of the issue. (Also, while it's the ink I own the most of… I think it's also the one I paid the least for, other than sample sizes.)
Mostly, I'll chalk this up to a learning experience… assuming changing to a known good ink "fixes" my "bad" pen, I'll be much less quick to assume it's the pen when something happens. And much quicker to see if changing ink will change the experience. And maybe try to make my first fill of a new pen an ink I've used before (which is easier now that I have a few pens). And if I have a problem, I can find it closer to purchase, and feel more confident about contacting the retailer or the manufacturer if there are issues