Editing The Pen Addict 337/transcript (section)

== Desk Toys Transition ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Very cool. That's tempting, tempting. All right. We took some listener requests and we're going to get to those. We have one more category that Myke snuck in on me at the last minute. And I think it's a great category. It's exactly what should be in this type of episode. So what is the fidget category all about, Myke? I think it's kind of self-explanatory, but what were you thinking here?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Desk toys for people that can't sit still.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. That's all of us pretty much.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. And I will recommend for mine the thing that kind of is the it takes is where the name comes from for fidgeting is fidget spinners. And I have a fidget spinner that I love and still play with every day. It is the Zentry Metal Fidget Spinner. I have got a link to it in our show notes, of course. I really like this thing. It's got some weight to it. It's nice and comfortable to hold. And I enjoy how comfortably this thing spins. It's a very well-made fidget spinner. You can get, obviously, a lot of junk ones. I think that this one is really cool and I enjoy it very much.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I went with the Squishy Mochi Cat.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. For being a fidgeter, I tend to fidget by doodling, sketching, drawing in meetings, like all that kind of thing. So, I was like, what do I, what? Like, this one really, like, I had to, like, think of something. And, like, my other thing is, like, if I can't keep my hands still, I knit. But I can't really recommend that, you know, people buy some yarn and some needles. I mean, I could, but the Squishy Mochi Cat, a friend of mine gave me one and I have it sitting on my desk. But it's, like, this little, just, it looks like a marshmallow cat. And you can just, like, squeeze it and push it and, like, jam on its little belly. It's very stress-reducing. I love it. I love it. That's so cool. They're so goofy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I need something with a little bit of noise. So, I tend to go to magnet-style stuff. And I have some pens that I use for this. Like, the TI2 Tech Deliner is my favorite. It's just got a small cap that I might have a pen in my right-hand writing. I might have it in my left hand just, like, lifting and letting the cap drop back on the magnet. You know, just kind of like this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I'll just sit there and fidget, like, all the time with magnet pens like the Tech Liner. The co-axis rail pen that I mentioned before, it's got a slider is how the refill gets deployed. So, I've found myself fidgeting with that because I can carry it in my pocket super easy. So, I'll just have it and then I'll take it out and fidget with it. So, yeah, I use a lot of pens just for fidgeting, just for rolling them in my hand. I don't really pin spin or anything like that. But I like having those magnets or, you know, those fun sounds and that snap feel to it. So, TI Tech Deliner gets a lot of use from me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. So, that is the end of our category-based gift guide. But as Brad mentioned, we do have some additional listener requests for some items, which, I'll be honest, I was not very good at coming up with any answers to this stuff. But luckily, my co-hosts today are the brain boxes that we need to get these questions answered. But before we do, I want to thank our final sponsor for this episode and that is Harry's. Look, we're doing a gift guide right here. Gift finding is difficult. Like, do you really want to buy people just another pajama set this Christmas? Like, is that what you want to do? Or do you want to get them something that they really want to use every day? Buy them a gift from Harry's. Their razors and shaving products make the perfect gifts because they're really practical. Once people get hooked on Harry's and they understand how great they are, they actually will save money than what they were doing before because Harry's razors cost as little as $2 each. You can personalize your Harry's razor to make the recipient feel extra special. You'll be able to choose from multiple razor handles and colors as well and even have the option to engrave it, which is fantastic. And they come in ready-to-gift, wonderful boxes. Brad, tell me about the holiday set that you received from our friends at Harry's.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So it comes in this beautiful holiday blue and red box, kind of like a foil-wrapped, sparkly, good-looking box. And it comes with two blades, a handle, the shave lotion. And I don't know. It's just a great gift. I think I've given the one that they sent me every year as a gift. I'm keeping this one for myself because I like the box so much. And you know what I do with the boxes? Plus, I get to load up on my blade inventory, which, let's be honest, that's the best thing about Harry's is their blades are second to none as far as quality goes at a price that's just unbeatable. That's why I use them. That's why I love them.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So as a special offer for listeners of this show, Harry's are going to give you $5 off any gift set, including their limited edition holiday sets. When you go to harrys.com slash penaddict, plus you'll get free shipping as well. And this offer is for new and returning customers available for this holiday season. Every set comes with that ergonomic weighted handle, which you can engrave, German-engineered five-blade cartridges, the shave gel for a rich lava, the foaming shave gel, travel cover to protect your blades, and that beautiful holiday gift box, which is just ready to go. You don't even need to wrap it. Or maybe you're looking for a treat yourself. You can also get a trial offer with Harry's. You can get a trial plan to experience the quality of shave before committing. Get your holiday shopping done early. Free shipping ends on December 12th. So don't delay. Act now. Go to harrys.com slash penaddict, and you'll get $5 off a gift set while supplies last. That is harrys.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So in preparation for this show, I sent out a tweet and took specific questions, and I grabbed a few of those that we could talk about here. Some very difficult, some even more difficult than that. These were the tough questions I grabbed to see what we can come up with. This first one was actually my toughest one, and the Pastoral Urbanite wants to know about pen sets. And when I think about pen sets, all I think about is your traditional pen and pencil set. And I was stuck on that, right? I was stuck on that, and there's not an answer to that that I'm happy with, right? I can't say, here's the pen and pencil set you should get, because one or both of the products is flawed in anything that's existing right now, in my opinion. So I left it blank, but y'all came up with some other things. Y'all got out of the stuck-in-the-tradition mindset that I did and came up with some other cool stuff. So what do you have?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I recommended, just as a set of pens, you want just one small collection of pens, the Retro 51 Space Race set, which was announced over the past week, which is super cool. It is a Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo-themed Retro 51. So there's three of them. You can buy them individually or as a three, and if you buy the three, it comes in like a nice presentation box as well. So I think this is a really, really nice one for the space nerd in your life.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I completely agree with your call there, Myke. And I was actually surprised when it came out, my husband, the nerd who named his letterpress business after Skylab. I was like, so the whole set? And he said no, and he just picked one. But he has all of the, he has all of the other space and, and airplane and related Retro 51. So I think he was just trying to dial it back a little, but the box, the box that the set comes in is just, they did a really nice job on that. Always. I went back to the, the JetPens samplers. Yeah. As a way, like they have so many different sample sets, which would be a really good way to have a pen set. It's not really the traditional one, but there's lots of, I mean, they have, they do brush pen sets. They do gel pen sets. They do ballpoint sets, permanent drawing pen sets. There's a whole bunch of different ones. So you can kind of find something that might appeal.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So our next question comes from Tim Fowler. Tim, Tim, Tim's a nice guy. So some of, Tim says, some of my pals like to make fun of me for being a pen addict. So they're going to be getting a handful of five or six pens that are good, but not expensive for Christmas, including a JetStream. I like that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Subversive.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Sigma DX, Paper Mate Flare, Blackwing 602, that kind of thing. And I need help with a pencil case. The good, but not expensive pens can be got for like less than $12. So I cannot find a pencil case to stash them in, which is comparatively cheap. I don't want to spend more on the case than the pens, although it's beginning to look like I might. Do you have any suggestions for something that I could use here?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that's a tough one to get like a super, super cheap on, but you can get reasonably cheap. I'm a huge fan of what Lihit Lab does. They have one called the Actac, which looks like a really, really nice case. It's like nine something us under $10. You know, that's kind of just a good all around pen case. Reading back through the note, it's not going to fit the Blackwing 602. You're going to be hard pressed to find anything that will. Just chop those in half. Just buy half of them, cut them in half, and give them to each person. They don't know what they're getting. So anything Lihit Lab, and they have a really good quality one under $10. So, Ana, what did you, which one did you put in here?

'''Ana Reinert:''' I put in the Velos tin. There's a small flat tin, which would double as a presentation. So basically, all you'd have to do is like wrap a string or ribbon around it, and call it done. You've got a present. And I believe it is large enough to hold that retro, or that Blackwing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So I think it should hold that five or six pens, plus the Blackwing. And it's just a nice little tin box.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it looks good for like the presentation. Just like you said, it would kind of be kind of like a perfect fit.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And it's $4.25.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Perfect.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Any better than that. All right.