After about ten years of having this Parker Duofold fountain pen, it seems that I may have finally learned how to write with it. The trick seems to be to press as lightly as possible when writing. It is not a whip after all (even whips can work best if not used too hard, depending on use, recipient and taste...).
Until now I have cursed this pen as the worst and least cost effective one I ever had, as it is the most expensive pen I ever bought (from Selfridges) but it has written worse than any other with little ink going into the actual writing but plenty on the fingers and everywhere inside the pen other than the part that would get it to write. If one leaves it on the bed, it will most efficiently and expediently spread ink on the white bed sheets.
Even when it occasionally does write, it then suddenly stops in the middle of a meeting or hearing when one quickly has to find something else to continue writing.
It seems that the only way to really make the Duofold write is to dip it in an ink bottle, little better than a quill pen - such is the development of writing instruments!
One does wonder if it is designed for the nouveau riche who would typically only wish to show it off without actually ever writing much anything with it. On some thinner papers it seems to write better and less so on thicker papers. I had the pen even repaired once but with little improvement.
This American product Packup Duofold like Hewlett Packup (not Hewlett Backup) seems to have the quality of American cars rather than classic Anaheim Factory Old Skool 36 DX Vans, Air Force Ones and Converses - the Superdry of fountain pens. If it was cheaper one would probably chuck it. Maybe best to flog it.
If one has a waterproof mobile phone, one should of course be careful to drop it in water rather than on the rocks on the beach, which breaks the glass screen, by which redesign the mobile ceases to be waterproof, as one later discovers when dropping it in water. If at least the droppings had occurred in the opposite order... Of course the new phone which one then drops into water first turns out not to be waterproof even by first design.
Another item for comment is a briefcase by Aspinal. While it certainly looked splendid to begin with it did not last too well as bits came off and the lock stopped working surprisingly quickly considering that it cost an arm and a leg leaving of course one to carry it but a bit difficult to kick it with one foot. The faux leather seems to age as well as modern or contemporary "architecture".
Turning to something with considerably better value for money, one can find cheap online a manual coffee grinder to replace or complement an electric coffee bean grinder in an attempt to reduce one's personal pollution through unnecessary electricity consumption. One can also benefit from some exercise in one's hands. It can however take longer even if one learns to do it as fast as possible manually. With any difficulty of getting the coffee beans to go into the right place through the manual grinder one can also make some samba dance moves to shake the grinder to the desired effect or even try to tempt the lady of the house to to perform if not risking enjoyment of the swift movement of the rolling pin.
