JB's Miscellaneous Ramblings

So, 3 years ago for the winter holidays, Ted gave me a pen. A very nice pen - a fountain pen from Paradise Pen Company's 5280 line. (I'd give you a link, but it seems that this pen - hell, this line - is out of production at this time.)

The pen's always had a problem with running dry faster than I think it should, and so - after talking to the nice folks in PPC's Las Vegas store, who had no idea unfortunately - I picked up a new brand of ink to give it a try and see what happens.

I wash out the pen, as the new ink's a totally different color. It seems that I wash out nearly as much ink as I've lost to drying over the years. It's very impressive. I keep washing, blue keeps coming out. Eventually it's clear, and I fill with the new ink. Very nice color. (Noodler Ink's Nightshade) :)

The next day I discover, much to my annoyance, a nice big stain on the pocket of my shirt, in a very nice shade of ink.

I put the pen in a baggie and make my way up to the PPC store in the Woburn Mall.

They take the pen and clean it up and poke around to see if there's anything obvious. There isn't. They give me a receipt for the pen, say their service guy will look at it tomorrow and give me a call.

The next day they call and say that they found a crack in the barrel of the pen, near where the (ink cartridge|converter) seats in. They're going to be getting a new barrel for me from Denver (PPC used to be Colorado Pen Company) and will let me know when it comes in.

More time than I think should pass passes. I call them. We're really sorry, they say. The part hasn't come in yet. We'll let you know.

The next day, they call to say that it came in... but that it wasn't the right part. They've called Denver, who said they should send the pen out there. They'll let me know when it comes back.

Today, I get a package in the mail. I'm puzzled by what it is until I see "5280 Repair" on the shipping label.

It's an awfully big box for a pen.

Inside is another of PPC's sales/presentation boxes. 5-6" square x2" tall. In there is the pen, a PPC polishing cloth and a note. Hand written, in ink (fountain pen, pretty obviously), on a nice stationery card:

Mr. Segal,
I sincerely apologize about The Problems you have experiences with your 5280. I have gone ahead and replaced the defective part so that you should not experience this problem again. I also noticed while repairing your pen that the barrel would not screw on with the converter inplace. I went ahead and replaced the barrel and put a new converter in the pen so that this problem has been remedied as well. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any future problems.
Best Regards.
Jim Paradise

Now... I'd never known if the "Paradise" in the company name was a posessive or a descriptive. Looking at http://www.paradisepen.com/paradise/about.asp it seems to be a family name. I don't know if this Jim Paradise is a scion of the family or not, but it certainly seems likely.

All in all, this is the best outcome I could have hoped for... assuming it works when I refill it. (The ink's at work...)

Kudos to PPC.

I did laundry last night. Among it all, I did my flannel shirts.

This morning I grabbed one of them from the pile of clean and dried laundry to bring in for protection when the AC kicks on at 5:30. WHY the AC kicks on at 5:30 I have no idea, but it usually does.

I open up the crumpled-up shirt and discover that there's a pen in the pocket... It's the Four Seasons Hotel & Resort pen I picked up someplace in Vegas and which I've been carrying around since I pulled it out of my checkbook a week or so ago (It's slim and so makes a good pen to leave clipped to my checkbook.).

Amazingly enough, not only is there no stain on the shirt, the pen still works just fine.

Pock.

Small pock, but still, take 'em where they come. :)