Mini Review: Bortoletti Dip Pen

Me thinks it’s about time I get back to blogging now, so we’re kicking things of the right way with a review! At the suggestion of one of my favorite readers, I decided this would be the best way to jump back in. No introductions needed.

That being said, give me some slack, because it’ll take me some time before I get as good as I was at my reviews and photography. :)

Read on to find out about my new favorite fountain-pen-related writing instrument…

I'm finally back...

Hey guys! It's me, no really, it is. :) It sure has been a long time, at least it feels that way for me. I hope you all missed me, cause I sure missed you.

The last 9 weeks of my life, without a doubt, have been the most difficult and long weeks I've ever been through. The experience was life changing, to say the least…

To the left, yup, that's me. That was about 3 days before we finished up our training down in Texas. I look a little different with short hair, and a uniform, eh? :)

But hey, I’m back now! And I must say, it's great to be back. I've been home for about two weeks now, but as you may have noticed, I’m not answering any emails, or doing any blogging, or any pen repair. I am taking a short break to get back into the swing of things here.

A lot has been happening lately, so I best go over the future, and let you all know what things are looking like for me. There are definitely going to be some changes. Some will be little, a few will be bigger.

For starts, let me address anyone who currently has a pen here at my place, waiting on a repair:

I will be looking into repairing your pen, but whether or not I am able to do it will depend on the repairs needed, and parts-availability. I need to get all the pens currently with me, out of my office. Whether I repair them, or return them without repairing them will be decided later on, and I’ll discuss that with each of you personally. My goal is to start back at “ground-zero” so-to-speak, and set up my pen repair business over again with no current customers waiting on me. Obviously, if your pen is not repaired for any reason, there will be no charges, and I will pay the return shipping on it.

The reason I am setting up “fresh” is to minimize distractions, as I will be changing a few things about the way my pen repair business runs. I’d like to be able to work on that with no obligations to be working with customers on a time limit. I hope that makes sense.


Let’s see… Next, I’ll probably have a very large sale. Hooray for you! Don’t you love it when I’m trying to quickly get rid of pens, and I have to sell them for extra low prices? :) I’ll be getting rid of all my current inventory of pens that I have for sale, as well as a few from my personal collection. This will once again free up my time and space to focus on reorganizing my business.

How about the blog:

I will be starting up the blog again, but not quite yet. Over the next few weeks, I will post a few things here and there, as well as some updates on what’s going on in the background for me. I don't have time to blog like a madman just yet. Once I am set up, there will be more time for that.

Emails: 

Chances are you’re probably waiting for me to respond to an email you sent. If you are, fear not - I will be getting around to answering all of those, in time. It’ll take me a while to get to everyone though. After all, I have 9 weeks worth of emails to get through… Try to be patient and understanding here. I realize some of you are still a little confused with how things worked out right before I left. I promise you, I'll be sure to work with each one of you and get it sorted out. Just give me time to get to each person, as I want to make sure everyone is fully satisfied, and not left confused.

Now, you’re probably wondering “why all this change?”. Well, there’s a good reason for it, and I’d like to make sense of it for you, so here goes:

Firstly, my future is slightly uncertain. Don’t freak out now, I’m not quitting the pen repair business, or the blog. But they may not be full-time for me anymore. Depending on how things work out, there is a chance I will be returning to Texas in 2013 to do more training there. Nothing is decided yet, and I may never go back, but the opportunity is there. I've taken a great interest in going through the EMT/Paramedics school down in Texas there. Again, that’s not saying that I’ll be doing that, but there is a chance I will. If I decided to go through that training, I’d be gone for almost a year down in Texas.

Also, I may be headed down to Texas in January to do some volunteer work. That would be for 9–10 weeks. That may or may not work out, depending on a lot of things. It's looking pretty sketchy right now though...


What this means for my little pen repair business is pretty big. It means that I may not get much time to work at it. This is why I’m trying to get back to ground-zero, and get rid of all my current inventory. I need to be able to either go mobile with it, or leave it again for a few months.

With all this uncertainty, you’re probably thinking I’m done repairing pens for good. But again, fear not. Even if all this works out, and I leave for another year to go pursue a job doing something else, I will still come back to continue doing pen repair and blogging. One of the reasons I've taken an interest in Paramedics is the work schedule. A job like that would allow me to run a small business on the side quite easily. So yes, I would continue to repair pens along side that.


Please take all of this with a grain of salt. None of this is for sure, and I’m just letting you know so you can be prepared, in case I decide to suddenly leave again for a few months. The road ahead is kind of foggy, bumpy, and uncertain. Still, know that I will eventually be continuing my blogging, pen repair, and general FP geekiness. :)

That's about all for now, but I'll keep you folks updated with any further info I get. And I'll let you know how setting up the repair business is going. I am greatly looking forward to getting back into the FP world!

P.S. - Be sure to email me here (sparingly! ;) if you're confused about something, or just want to say hi!