Things I Like

For the first time in a long time, we’ve got a Democratic Congress, both House and Senate.

This makes me very happy, and hopeful that things will change for the better.

Sharpie markers are pretty universally popular. So much so that they have a veritable rainbow of colors now as well as mini-Sharpies that you can wear around your neck. I like ‘em.

I particularly like the Sharpie Industrial Super Permanent (sooooooooper permanent!) versions. They come only in black, but are formulated to resist many different chemicals, extreme heat and steam up to 500F. I use them quite a bit to label tools, mechanical and telecom equipment, all of which often live in less than ideal environments.

I find it hilarious that a permanent marker isn’t actually permanent, so they had to develop SUPER permanent markers. Of course, this is the same industry that defines waterproof ink as waterproof when the writing is still legible after exposure to water, not unaffected.

At any rate, they really are pretty permanent. I just wish they came in the mini-Sharpie form factor.

I have a thing for pens and pencils and other things that write. It’s not quite a fetish, but it’s not entirely healthy, either. The problem is that I tend to objectify nice pens and pencils and as a result, they don’t get carried because I might (gasp) mar them and then they don’t get used, and, well, that’s just stupid.

As a result, I’ve ended up with a fair collection of decent pens that sit in drawers. I’ve given a lot of them away to people who might actually appreciate (and use) them, so I’m feeling better about my pen habit these days. And I’m not buying new pens. Mostly. I got a Space Pen a while back, but it writes IN SPACE and UNDER WATER. How could I resist?

But there’s one pen I really really like, and since it’s disposable and plastic, I don’t feel bad about carrying them around and using the hell out of them, and if I lose one, or it ends up in the dryer still clipped to my collar (9 or 10 times, so far, and no collateral damage yet), so what? It’s a disposable pen.

The Pilot V-Ball Extra Fine (in blue) kicks ass. It’s a roller ball pen, liquid ink. It rolls smoothly, without any of the scratchiness I’ve experienced with some other roller ball pens. I write pretty small, so the extra fine tip keeps my handwriting from looking like more of a shapeless blob than it normally does.

It’s easy to tell how much ink you have left, the clip throat has enough depth to clip to most clothing without getting mangled, and they last forever, if you don’t wash them. They generally stand up well to airplane travel, which has caused more than one liquid ink pen I used to leak profusely.

My only complaint is that the ink runs when it gets wet, but that’s true of all liquid ink pens. It’d be nice if they could come up with a waterproof ink that writes as well as the regular kind.

Hi.

I was talking to someone the other day about sandals. They were looking for a recommendation for a pair of sport-type sandals to wear, and I had a definite opinion, an opinion formed over about 15 years of sandal wearing, the short form of which is that Tevas are uncomfortable and fall apart while Chacos are really high quality, durable and comfy. I’ll get into details some other time.

It got me to thinking about all the other stuff I use, why I use it, and what I think of it.

I’m not a huge brand name guy. I don’t generally buy things because the brand is cool or the brand is somehow fashionable, and I don’t flaunt labels. In fact, I often remove them.

But brand names and labels are useful and they do have some concrete benefits, one of which is that certain brands generally stand for high quality products, and you can often be assured of a good product if you buy certain things made by certain companies. The converse is also true. You don’t buy a GPX brand radio expecting Blaupunkt fidelity. This kind of consumer shorthand is pretty useful, and the marketplace would be very different if nothing were branded.

I’m also a pack rat. I accumulate random things that I may or may not actually need for no apparent reason, and hang onto them for even less reason, it seems. I’m trying to get better about this, and have been working to winnow my possessions down to things I actually need and things I actually use. I’ve been moderately successful. That’s also gotten me thinking about why I have certain things and how I use them.

With all that in mind, here I am. With a blog about stuff.

A blog. Yeah, I know. I’ve been saying for a long time that I thought that blogs were wanky and self-absorbed. I think that’s still true, so I guess I’m being wanky and self-absorbed. But I’ll try to keep this about stuff and not about my cat.

About stuff. Stuff I’ve owned or used and that I really liked for some reason. Some are kind of generic, but many will probably be about specific brand items. Most of them are things I’ve used and abused and found to be of good quality and a good value.