The little ink bottle that couldn't...

If you read my reviews here, chances are you’ve come across my comments on how much I dislike the J. Herbin ink bottle design. Nothing wrong with the ink inside it (usually), but the shape of the bottle is so un-fp-friendly that I can’t help but wonder what they were thinking.

Since I've been ranting about this for a while, I thought it'd be good to actually show why I dislike the bottle, instead of just complaining for no apparent reason.

Poll: Blog commenting software

What do you think of the upgraded commenting software?
	What upgrade? I didn't even notice...
	It's great!
	It's fine - I don't really care
	It works, but I don't like it
	It's broken - won't even let me post a comment
pollcode.com free polls

Well, for a long time now my commenting software of choice has been DISQUS. Recently, DISQUS emailed me showing off their new&improved upgrade to their current commenting software. It was free, so I decided to give it a go. 

Since then I has been really hit or miss. Some commenters have noticed nothing new, while others love it, and a few folks seem to be unable to comment at all, which really sucks.

So I'm left with a decision, and I want your help. I need to choose to either stick with the upgrade and hope for some bug fixes, or revert to the old version and wait it out till the new one is stable.

This being the case, and at the suggestion of one of my commenters, I've assembled a handy poll so that I can get your vote. If you want to take part in this, it's super easy, and I would be extremely grateful. Just select an option from the poll on the right.

And be sure to leave me a comment (assuming the new software is allowing you to do so) if you have further details.

Thanks for your participation! Each vote counts, and will help shape this blog to be better than ever.

Of need to reach me, and you are unable to leave a comment due to bugs, feel free to send me an email.

Weekend Reads 6-23-12

Welcome again to another edition of the Weekend Reads. It won’t be much longer till I’m gone in Texas, so enjoy them while they last.

As of today, I have nearly 4.5 weeks till my departure. Depending on how busy I am, we may only have 2–3 Weekend Reads left.

That being said, let’s take advantage if the time we have, and get right to it!

Weekend Reads 6-17-12

Well I hope you’re all ready for a Weekend Reads. Last week’s reads were canceled last-minute due to my computer issues, but I have succeeded this week in spite of my computer still being a little uneasy.

Also, yesterday was my younger sisters birthday! So I spent the day out with her and my family. It was a worthy cause for delaying this post until today. :)

Enjoy the reads!

Just upgraded the blog commenting software

Well, the software I use for comments on the blog (DISQUS) just released a nice update for us all. Check it out below the post and give it a test run! Seems like they've implemented some interesting new features, but I'm counting on you all to let me know if you like it better, or if I should revert to the old one.

Drop me a comment and let me know about the comment software. :)

The Cartridge/Converter

Most of you know by now that I am not a huge fan of the cartridge converter filling system. But I really should say that I was not a huge fan of the c/c filler.

Yes, I’ve finally come to appreciate the cartridge converter. Believe it or not, I’ve even come to prefer it in many of my pens.

Obviously this warrants an explanation, so read on to find out more:

It's official now

Temporarily shutting down through the summer

I will be leaving in July for Texas, and I'll be gone for a total of 9 weeks. During this time, I will be unable to answer any emails, or do any pen repair. Because of this, I am temporarily shutting down my repair business till September. When I return home, I'll need a week or so to get set up, and then I should be back in the swing of things very quickly.

I really appreciate your business, and thank you all for supporting me. I will not be sad to go to Texas, but I am sad to leave everyone hanging like this. My apologies for any inconvenience this causes you.

Starting now (June 8th), I will be accepting no new pens or nibs for repair/modification.

If you currently have a pen and/or nib with me, please know that I am doing my best to finish before I leave. If I am unable to finish, you will have the choice of leaving your pen(s) and nib(s) with me (they will be safely stored and guarded), or having them returned home.

Please email your questions and comments to: tyler@tylerdahlpens.com

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This is copied over from my website, and only applies to my repair business. I will still continue blogging for as long as I can, though I will not be able to while I am in Texas. Thank you all for your understanding, and have a great weekend.

Computer issues temporarily resolved

Well, I am very fortunate to be able to say that my computer issues have been temporary resolved. I am now able to resume some email communication, as well as do some blogging.

But, my computer hard disk is still warning me of an imminent failure, so I will be very cautious, and will be making regular back-ups.

That being said, I will also have to eventually replace the hard disk. Perhaps not just yet, but I can’t keep my computer like this for too long. When I do replace it, there will be an obvious disruption to any email communications for about 2–3 days. I will let everyone know when I am preparing to do this.

Once again, thank you for your patience everyone! I will be attended to as many emails as possible today. If you don’t get an email you expected, please let me know. There is a chance that some emails may be MIA due to the hard drive errors. Just send me another one to: tyler@tylerdahlpens.com

Computer Issues

Uh oh… Those words can strike fear into the heart of many, including myself. As tech savvy as I am, I’m still not immune to computer glitches and errors. And this week I was just thrown a big one.

You’ll have to excuse me, because I won’t be getting any blogging done with my computer in this state.

Microsoft Windows has just gently informed me that my hard disk is failing. I am currently backing up everything I have, and after that I’ll need some time to think over what I’ll do. It may just be a little bug that I can fix, or I may actually need to replace my hard drive. Either way, it was not a pleasant surprise when I got that horrible little pop-up.

Wish me luck my friends. I hope to be blogging again soon, but until further notice, I am quite unable to.

I’ll try to keep you all posted with little updates. Follow me on twitter @TylersPens to get the fastest updates.

For all of you who were wondering how I wrote a blog post when my computer is crashing: Written with Byword for iPhone.

Weekend Reads 6/2/12

There's been a lot of good stuff going on this week in the fountain pen world. New inks, some reviews, and even a FPN blackout (see the official FPN status update here).

We've got lots to cover, so without further delay, here's your fountain pen fix for the weekend.

Edsion Pearl LEE Review

At the end of the day, a fountain pen is still a fountain pen.

But among fountain pens, some are more special than others. Occasionally, you find a pen that just  "clicks". It fits right in, and it works just how you like it. Today I'll be reviewing a pen that really "clicks" with me. Enter the Edison Pearl, LEE.