Editing The Pen Addict 368/transcript (section)

== Ask TPA Segment Begins ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. Should we take a break. And do some Ask TPA?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. And let's. We'll save your voice. And we'll get to some Ask TPA. I'll read all the questions.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think you're going to have to. Tonight's show is brought to you by ExpressVPN. You might think that nobody wants your online data. Or to snoop on you. When you browse the web. Without anything to protect your privacy. You are looking at risks. You could have hackers. Or advertising companies. Even just wanting to collect. Your data. It happens to people like you and me. Which is why I use. And recommend ExpressVPN. It runs in the background of your computer. Or your phone. Encrypting your data. Hiding your public IP address. You just download the app. Click to connect. And you're protected. ExpressVPN is rated the number one VPN service. By TechRadar. And uses cutting edge technologies. New. Called trusted server. To make sure there's no logs. Of what you're doing online at all. It costs less than $7 a month. And comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. I always use ExpressVPN when I travel. So I have it there with me on all my devices. So I know that when I'm connecting to Wi-Fi networks. That I don't trust. I just get the peace of mind. Really like. I don't know what. I don't know the exact risks that are out there for me. But I would prefer to have none of them. And ExpressVPN is so easy. And it's so fairly priced. I might as well just go for it. And I do. And I'm happy with it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I pretty much had it on my entire trip. Because we're in a different hotel. Almost every night. And it's just. It's a peace of mind thing for me. Like. I don't. I'm not like. Hardcore privacy freak. Like if I was. I wouldn't use things like Gmail. And things like that. But like. There's things. Little things you can do. To give you peace of mind. Yes. Like. You know. Using a password database. Or using a VPN. Like ExpressVPN. Where I just. Practically had it on my entire trip. Because I'm going from hotel to hotel. Wi-Fi. Just constantly. Constantly. And I just. Like. Leave it on. And it doesn't affect anything on my phone. And it just keeps me. Keeps. You know. My IP address hidden. And like. I'm good to go. Easy peasy.

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'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. We got some good questions this week. I guess we always do. Ask TPA. Slash. The good questions edition. It's pretty much every week. So this first one's from Antonio. And he just finished listening to the episode. Where we were talking about being overwhelmed. By the number of fountain pens. That you have inked up. And that you decided to wash all of them. And start from scratch. This was something that I did. I don't know. A month or so ago. Probably sometime after the Raleigh pen show. When I was just cleaning things up. Although my soul hurts. Just imagining how much ink went down the drain. I must say that I completely understand your situation. And that I won't be surprised. When the sea turns a nice bright apricot orange color. As always with these addictions. The solution doesn't lie within the addict. But in additional purchases. I think that a cigar humidor. Might be the perfect thing for you. It would keep the air nice and moist. So that the nibs of your 75 inked up pens. Don't dry up. And the pens organized and out of sight. This way the issue is tucked away at one part of the room. And only causes anxiety. When you open the humidor. So I brought this up. To ask our listeners. Does anyone use a humidor. To store their fountain pens? No one has ever told me that they do. But the idea. Of a humidor. Has come up several times over the years. But I don't know. That anyone has. Put it into practical use. Like I'm not a cigar person. So I don't happen to have a humidor handy. To test these things out. It makes sense. I think logically. Like it would keep. You know. The pens from drying out. Or you know. Maybe the. Keep the ink from evaporating. I don't know totally how. It would. It would work. But that's something I wanted to bring up. Not as much. As a question from Antonio. But it's a question from me. To the listeners. Does anyone use a humidor. To store fountain pens? So I would like to hear from you. If you don't. Antonio. Has several other things to add. Which he went from zero. To 360 episodes. Listened in less than four months. Which is pretty amazing. He's also one of our. Croatian listeners. Which. We appreciate that. And he also wanted to remind me. That the scribble pen. Is still available for pre-order. For just $99. With only one day left to order. Myke. What a deal. What a deal. Everyone should get on that. Scribble pen deal. And you know. There's only one day left to order. For the next 365 days. At least. And yeah. It'll be a good deal. So yeah. Let me know. Let me know about your humidors. If anyone uses that. That's come up. Multiple. Cigars. Have come up multiple times. In this show. Because they also make a. Make some like sealable. Small cases. Like people were talking about. Airline travel. With fountain pens. And they would make. They'd have these cigar. Cases. That would travel very well. That people would store their fountain pens in. So. It's kind of like. The right shape and size. To. For fountain pen storage. So it keeps coming up. So let me know. Next one. It's from Patrick. And I really like this question. Myke. And it's a long one. So bear with me. So he had a question. For me and you. For STPA. He just graduated from. University. And landed his first big boy job. Says this is third week on the job. And just got my notebook situation stabilized. I like how this is going already. Like. Three weeks on the new big boy job. And he's mostly concerned about getting his notebook situation stabilized. Patrick. You are my people. Like. This is it. This is why I put this here. So let's go through his notebooks real quick. Because he has a question. For both of us. So he uses. The Rhodia Heritage sewn spine notebook. For his meeting notes. Only meeting notes. And he likes the Rhodia paper quality. And it lays flat. And the design. Doesn't break the boardroom. Boring. Aesthetic. So he's not. You know. Getting called out. But he does feel like he's giving. A small little middle finger. To conformity. Every time I walk in the boardroom. With this special notebook. Number two. Rhodia number 16. Top. Wirebound notebook. Orange. This is my to-do list. It stays on my desk at all times. After meetings. My actionable items. Go from the Rhodia heritage. To this. It's small. It sits conveniently. Next to my computer. This is why I'm such a top bound notebook fan. For desk use. So perfect. Number three. Claire Fontaine. Eight and a half by eleven. Spiral bound notebook. This is my kitchen sink notebook. Any ideas that need to work. Be worked out. Go here. It's sloppy. Messy. And organized. But that's what it's for. And I love it. So yeah. About the question. I promised. If you and Myke. God forbid. Were forced. Kicking and screaming. Back into corporate life. What would your setup be? Brad. This assumes. You don't get the privilege. To play with all the stationery. You do now. You have to pick one system. So. Can we. Think. Think. Think. About. Putting ourselves back. In the cubicle forearms. That we were once a part of. And. Think about. What notebooks. We would use. For that situation. So like. If you were going back. To an office job today. What would you bring. With you. To write on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Um. I'll probably go back. To field notes. Mm-hmm. I always really enjoyed. Using them. They're easy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I remember you talking about that. And I always question. The size. About that. Like. Can you. That would work for you. In like. A day to day. I just need to write. My things down. And stop me from taking.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Too many notes. Sure. Because when I have a bigger notebook. I take too many notes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. That's fair. Um. My go-to. Would probably actually. Be number two. On this list. Or something similar. Anything. With a durable cover. Top bound. Preferably spiral. And perforated. So I can tear things out. And share notes. And has good quality paper. The Rhodia Ice Pad. Is like my favorite. A5 size Rhodia. Um. And they still make them. Thankfully. It's the white cover. With the gray grid. I love those. Uh. Second would probably. Be this orange or black. Um. Covered dot grid. A5. Top bound books. Are. My jam for desks. That's why we made. The red one. We make for knock. Right. That was one of the first products. We ever made. Because that's the thing. That I want to use. It's the right size. Without being too big. Or too small. It's portable. You can throw it in a bag. Leave it on a desk. You can have multiple of them. Without like. Overwhelming yourself. So. Um. Yeah. I would totally pick. A5. Top bound. Something. And it's probably rhodia. In my former job. I used. That. Plus. The large. Done paper. Um. Idea journal. Is that what the big. The big boys called? It's like the eight and a half. Eleven. Heavy. Heavy chipboard cover. Because I could carry it around. And. Use it to. You know. Do different drawings. And different tasks. That I needed to do. It was a good. Organizational notebook too. So. But if I was forced. To just pick one thing. It would be. Rhodia. A5. Top bound. Would be. Would be the jam. Because we assumed. That I hadn't created. Knock by this point. And wouldn't be using. My own notebooks.