Did you know understanding the workings of a fountain pen can help solve everyday problems? Yup, sure does. Let me explain, my wife purchased a set of clear glass coffee mugs on Amazon. The mugs were made in China and of dubious quality. These glass mugs are double-walled and “hand blown.”
Hence the appeal, but the glass-blowing process leaves a small hole in the bottom outer wall. The manufacturer mentioned the hole has a purpose and that no water should enter.
Even though the hole had been “sealed” it contained a defect, in short, the hole has a hole. Naturally, when washing the mug soapy water enters and stays.
Isn’t this nice! In response, I shook the mug, cursed the mug, ignored the mug, and the water remained. I got to thinking (scary)….. wait, have you enjoyed the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law? In the movies, there are slow-motion depictions of Sherlock considering the cause-and-effect relations needed to solve the problems. Sorta-kinda what happened with me.
- Problem: Water trapped inside a double-walled coffee mug
- Solution: Fountain Pen
I made all kinds of unrelated associations (take that CharGPT) until it occurred to me that the fountain pen held the solution to my problem – capillary action courtesy of water molecule affection for one another (cohesion and adhesion).
Yes, the process by which liquids travel along the surface of a solid material because of attraction (to each other not the solid). Think how water spreads across a paper towel when soaking up a spill. I set the mug on a cloth and capillary action did all the work.
Following my thoughts can be dangerous (ask my wife why she is often frustrated with me and frequently asks, “What are you talking about!”). Several hours later, I had an empty coffee mug, inside and inside! Naturally, I got out the Nespresso machine and repeated the whole process, less the cursing.
Chronicles of a Fountain Pen 
LOL Oh baby i absolutely loved this one!!! LOL and please don’t let the wifey discourage you, genial minds aftsr all don’t work the same way other minds do. Please keep sending us news of your “silliness”. Cheers. Vic (from Portugal)
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P.S. almost forgot, i know for an absolute fact that the cursing and swearing helps. A LOT!!! Vic
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It always makes me feel better. LOL
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Excellent deduction. What Sherlock might have called a “three pipe problem”.
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Enjoyed this post mightily. Those two Sherlock Holmes films are amazing. A pondering mind? Keep it under wraps until the solution appears. Or disappears in this case. 😊 I blurt out things like ‘Do spiders eat the paint off painted wood chip wallpaper?’ The response to thinking out loud is always similar to your wife’s. I did find out that it was wood lice as the culprits. A fine mind you have there Danny. Love the diagram too. All the best.
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Wood Lice! I used to photograph old abandoned housed etc and was curous as to why the wall paper peeling off a wall looked as if it was eaten. Assumed it was just how the paper decomposed.
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I think it was a guy from America who spotted them on the low bottom part of his wooden house outside after painting. He went out and saw them at night. Think the USA call them pill bugs. Not sure about paper though. Cheers.
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Pill bugs, YES. They are actually a form of crustation
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We have hundreds on thousands in the garden. Lift an old log or big piece of slate? Yup! They’re there. But they do munch down all the stuff needed to be munched down to create a good soil result.
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Brilliant!
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Thanks but my wife would say delusional.
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