Unless I Move It

I have mentioned before in this blog that I have a fascination with pens, fountain pens in particular, but pens that write well with a line that isn’t too thin or too thick and of course they must feel good in your hand. The appearance isn’t really very important but who wants to hold an ugly pen?

 

Now, I am far too frugal…cheap to buy pens at a stationary store and the thought of owning a $1000 pen is laughable, but, I do have a plentiful source that offers a variety that suits me. The local thrift store has a small bin that holds baggies of up to about twenty assorted pens. The pens get donated by misguided people who are cleaning out drawers and boxes that have housed the pens for years. Most of the pens are cheap Bic pens and some are even cheaper knock off Bic like pens. A lot are pens that people have picked up as advertising from some now defunct company here or abroad.

 

The down side of my interest in used pens is that I have hundreds of pens in various places throughout the house that I will never use and no one that I offer them to wants any. I am beginning to understand where the secondhand store gets the pens. They have probably sold the same pens a hundred times.

 

The advertising ones can be pretty interesting. Some have little fuzzy teddy bears on top kind of like if you stuck a pen up a bears ass. Others have carabiners(?) so that you can clip them to a belt loop or lanyard I suppose. I’ve found a few that have pull out calendars but of course who needs a calendar from 1993. Still, Tornado likes the idea as much as I do. The ones I don’t really understand are the ones that have a tiny flashlight incorporated on one end. I understand the ones with laser pointers, who doesn’t like playing with laser pointers, putting a bright red dot on your significant others chest. Okay, the significant other might not like it. In order for the flashlight to be any use it would have to be in your pocket or purse just when you needed it and it has been my experience that what you need, when you need it, it is never available.

 

Yesterday morning I woke up far too early, I’d like to say I had a “EUREKA” moment but I just had a “got to pee” moment followed by a “why does the dog breathe so loud” moment. Anyway, it was as they say it’s always darkest before the dawn and I was lucky enough to see a spectacular sunrise. I tiptoed into the office room to get my camera which was on the desk but since it was dark and I was trying to let Louise sleep I didn’t want to turn on the light. Yes, she was in another room and asleep, but hey, I wasn’t thinking clearly it was early. As I was feeling for the camera on my messy desk my fingers found a pen with a flashlight on it. I turned on the flashlight, stuck it in my mouth and rummaged on the desk till I found the camera. It worked like a charm!

 

I did get the picture and interesting enough a new respect for pens with flashlights. I won’t carry one of course, but for now I will keep it to the left of my keyboard so that the next time I need a small flashlight in some Mission Impossible moment I will know exactly where it is.

 

Add caption

Well, unless I move it.