Indeed. I have a very clear memory of sitting there glancing at the clock and thinking "they don't have long to get out of this one" and a few minutes later 😮 🫢 😶😭

The actual reason for the AliExpress binge, namely the transparent/glitter Jinhao 20, is in a different package, which might not get here until after Christmas.

Oh, and the cheap J20s arrived with that protective plastic cap over the click button we were discussing last month.
5/5

And finally a set of ridiculous gel pens trying to look like a glass dip pen, bought purely for the giggle factor. I'll probably take those along to the Eastercon meet for others to point and laugh at. They're less than 50p each, so they'll be reasonable pens for the office.
4/5

A set of Majohn A1 cartridges with stoppers and pipette in a nice plastic carry case. Must try them out once I've got to the end of the current fill of the converter in the J20 I'm currently using. Those could be quite useful if I use one of the click pens at work.
3/5

The transparent Jinhao Century/100 with heartbeat nib is pretty, and again appears to be genuine, but not in a Jinhao box unless they've changed their packaging recently. Might just be the thing with Jinhaos being made all over the place.

2/5

Still tempted to set up a hardback omnibus edition when I have spoons/time, but that would very definitely be "buy a proof copy before putting it on sale". Spindrift 1&2 would be $15/£12, which is at the level where you don't want people unhappy with the physical product.
3/3

The physical quality is pretty good, apart from the minor detail of the covers rolling up at the edges. That won't be helped by them being packed in the same card envelope as something small and lumpy, but it's come from the printing press that way.
2/3

If you really want to feel old, I think I did the first volume of Tales in Ami Pro.

It is. But I have to find the text, and prep it. With any luck this will not involve having to get out the old laptop that has Lotus Word Pro installed in order to read a file, because I am *not* going to try installing that on the current Win11 laptop.

Don't flush your pen holding it above a metal sink. It seems to have survived me dropping it nib down, though. Still writing smoothly, and I still like this pen. We'll see how it is after a few months.
3/3

Flushed it and refilled with Diamine Cult Pens Robert, so a different colour and will be able to tell where a fill started and ended on my diary for a better estimate of page capacity. The small capacity suggests that traces of a previous colour will be a lot more obvious for a lot longer.

2/3

There's nothing quite like going to fill the feeder and having an inch long self-propelled dagger a foot in front of your face complaining about the poor service in this establishment.

But no Disney means no Rocky Horror now. :-(

(Still cackling over Frank being a Disney Princess.)