Pens in Use - April 5, 2024

I visit the Black Hills with Fountain Pens, tour, buy books, see Mountain Goats, and get sick.
Chapters
Start 00:00
Lead Main Street 00:30
Pen Roll 3:27
Town Hall Inn 5:00
Mule Deer 6:56
Gold Pointe No 1 8:05
To Rapid City 10:29
Book Shopping 11:05
Downtown Rapid City 11:23
Book Haul 13:56
Visconti Mirage 19:36
Out Via Skyline Drive 21:17
Highway 16 to Keystone 23:14
Highway 244 to Hill City 24:01
Monteverde Regatta Sport 25:22
Back to Lead 30:26
Loft Pens Winchester 32:46
Sick 35:01
Black Hills Return 35:43
Mountain Goats 36:30
Plans Changed 38:08
Visconti Gold Pointe No. 1 (M) - Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black (March 24, 2021)
• Visconti Gold Pointe N...
Visconti Mirage (M) - J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis (December 24, 2018) 🐿🐿🐿
• First Impressions: Vis...
Monteverde Regatta Sport (1.1 mm) - Lamy Turquoise (September 19, 2014) 🐿🐿🐿
• Monteverde Regatta Sport
Loft Pens Winchester - Parker Quink Washable Blue (April 3, 2024)
• First Impressions - Lo...
Links
Townhall Inn - townhallinn.com/
Creating statue of the 45th president - www.kotatv.com/2021/01/23/the...
Keeping statues fair and objective - listen.sdpb.org/arts-and-cult...
Vandalism of statues - www.kotatv.com/content/news/E...
City of Presidents - www.visitrapidcity.com/things...
KZbin Video Link
Pens in Use Music
• Sayonara Camtasia Audi...
Visit me on Instagram
/ waskisquirrel
Visit my slowly growing website at:
www.evernote.com/pub/jwaskiew...
For High Resolution Photos Visit:
www.evernote.com/shard/s630/s...

[@manonbelyea5931]

I loved everything about this video. Pens, books, travel, beautiful scenery, animals and educational as well. Thank you.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Glad you enjoyed it! I hope to do more videos like this through the summer.

[@mstraat]

We lived in Sturgis when my kids were small so I really enjoyed this. Thanks!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'm so glad to hear that! I would have had some Sturgis footage if I hadn't gotten sick. Actually, there would have been a lot of fun footage from Saturday if I hadn't gotten sick. So, goals for later this spring are to get that footage...

[@traditionallarry5378]

Jason thanks for the great video,living on the east coast in New Jersey where we incidentally had an earthquake yesterday on Friday and so far 1 aftershock it’s great to enjoy you part of our great country.Thanks again for the video really enjoyed it.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I heard about the earthquake! I'm curious to hear if my parents felt it? Glad you enjoyed this: similarities to East Coast mountains, and yet so many differences...

[@impish22]

This was such a fun video. Thank you for taking us along on your adventures in North Dakota and your adventures in pens Waski !!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's a magical world that people don't immediately associate with the Dakotas!

[@Calcprof]

Ben Bova once visited where I teach (actually taught, as I'm retired) for about a week. Interesting author. He spoke about his book on Chernobyl, which I highly recommend. I think there is a Schaum's Outline on "Intermediate Algebra", which is probably pretty good (problems, with solutions).

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thank you for the recommendations! I was surprised to realize that I used a Schaum's Outline when I started my teaching career: I was thrust into a math position them and used one to teach Geometry. That branch of math has been one of my weaknesses. I will order one! And I'll have to look for Ben Bova's Chernobyl book.

[@ibpopp]

What an interesting travelogue, although it took me a while to work out that the scattered white stuff was snow rather than sand. FWIW Launceston, Tasmania, has hilly streets that shame San Francisco. Perhaps one day you will show us a page of mathematical computations in your hand? Meanwhile, Mr Monteverde needs a trip to the pen doctor or some time out in the naughty corner. Cheers. as always, from Kangaroo Valley.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Good point! I never even consider sand, but I grew up with sand. It would be interesting to visit Launceston. If I end up teaching math, you may end up seeing math. But I hope we find a math teacher. What's crazy is that the Monteverde is fine, except on that particular notebook.

[@jeffroberts532]

Wow, what a great video! Gorgeous scenery and lovely, picturesque towns, along with your great pens made this vid so interesting! I’m sorry you felt so terrible and am very impressed that you soldiered through it! I hope you are feeling better now. BTW, I’ve had a couple of Monteverde pens and they’ve both been terrible. One went straight into the garbage! Monteverde inks are very nice though. They should focus on ink, imo. Thanks for being so tough and giving us such a great vid!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I had a lot more planned for this video, but did my best with what I felt I could do. I'll be back this spring and I'll try to do the rest of it... I have had good luck with Monteverde pens, but I've only had 3. This one was interesting because it was being so awful in that notebook, but just fine on other paper, all at the same time.

[@marilyngardner4269]

What a fun tour! I really enjoyed that. I've only visited South Dakota once, and I did find that avoiding the tourist traps while enjoying the best features was a bit tricky. I enjoyed seeing the child's toy metal typewriter with the dial. I have a small collection of those, although I have nowhere to display them so I'll have to get rid of them at some point. The goats really are cute!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

The Black Hills are best enjoyed in the early morning during tourist season. Too many people otherwise. The typewriter was tempting, as was a working Olivetti, but I resisted both. Hopefully your typewriters can find a good home when that time comes! Yes, Mountain Goats are really cute! I don't see them often, but I love it when I do!

[@barbarawhipple2016]

Loved the Lead video-steep hills- who knew? Glad you got so many books- happy reading! And-glad you’re feeling better ❤

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Yes! Thank you! And this is a beautiful, rugged part of South Dakota. One day this summer I want to visit the former gold mine in Lead: it is now the site of high-level particle research.

[@christophermckellar1352]

Thanks. Glad you are mended!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Me too!

[@karens-j2231]

That was a lovely trip thank you for taking us along and sharing your knowledge. Too bad you got sick, but glad you are feeling better. About that Vault Room, if the room next to yours has the door to the vault then maybe your room had been the actual vault?

[@WaskiSquirrel]

That would be a big vault...with a window!

[@archivist17]

Very interesting driving video. Loved Spearfish Canyon goats 🐐

[@WaskiSquirrel]

They're so cute! Usually they don't come down this low, but they must have been hungry...

[@dannyg3916]

If you ever get back to the Dakotas, make sure you visit Crazy Horse Mountain (the largest monument in the U.S., four times larger than Mount Rushmore). Also, when you are in Deadwood, make sure you check out the last cigar bar where you can actually smoke inside the restaurant bar (they got grandfathered when the smoking laws took over). The cigar bar is called "Deadwood Tobacco Co. and Cigar Bar." And don’t forget Custer State Park in the Black Hills. You were all around those places but didn’t visit???

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I do live just a short distance away in the other Dakota, so this is a short trip for me. I've been to all the above except the cigar bar, and my channel has video evidence. I don't smoke, so that cigar bar probably isn't anywhere in my future.

[@nicksg3002]

What a fun video about many entertaining topics! Hey yes I'll love videos about bookstores! I have no idea about the fiction books you showed but very interested on your future reviews. What I do know and like is Algebra and what a great math teacher you would be if it comes to it. Leed town (sorry if I misspelled it) has interesting buildings and the steam engine story. I bet this video took you longer to make, but you nailed it!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I would enjoy sharing some bookstores. I don't care so much about the chain store, but I'd include it with the three local stores. I also visited an interesting antique store that I'd like to share. Hopefully I can be a good math teacher if it becomes necessary! Lead is a very interesting town. I've done videos on it before and I'm sure I'll do more in the future!

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

Great video. Anytime you want to talk about books; I'm here for it. I never did learn algebra. All those x's, and y's just didn't make sense to me.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I'll start doing book videos again after Science Olympiad is over.

[@barbarah-p8661]

I have the J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis and always want to called it Bleu Mitosis. 🤣 The video portion with the mule deer is similar to what the swarms ... oops... herds of white tail deer devouring everyone's bushes and plants.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Deer seem to do that, no matter what species they were!

[@MrAndrew1953]

Wow- Leed looks like a challenging place to live. That little rainbow 🌈 number goes for about $534 in Australia 🇦🇺 so I bailed on that one. If you have problems with ink flow,a few drops of Monteverde’s Pen Flush will sort that out. Thinking about it,the topography of this place is a bit of a contrast to the flat landscape where you live.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

It's a lovely town! They're looking for a science teacher this year and I'll admit to being tempted. If it weren't in South Dakota, I might have decided to make a change. $534 AuD is a lot! I paid less than that. What's crazy is that the Monteverde played well with any other paper, just not the notebook I was trying to use. I do live in a flatter place, but still pretty rugged. And I do have forest nearby. But the area where I live was never developed for tourism, so my most scenic spots are far from any paved road. I like being a place people travel through rather than a tourist destination.

[@MrAndrew1953]

@@WaskiSquirrel I do have a few Regattas with stub nibs. Most of the time I use notepads I get from supermarkets, newsagents. Some Tomoe River or 120g paper from LEUCHTTURM 1917 produced in Germany 🇩🇪. Diamine Ancient Copper is the only ink that gives me grief when left unused in a pen too long. The grass around here’s green again after some recent rain. More showers this week.

[@davidanderson3425]

That was fun. It was unfortunate that you weren't well enough to fully enjoy the trip. The book haul was interesting. I especially like seeing the artwork on those old horror/sci-fi paperbacks. I like how everyone seems to drive very considerately in rural states, unlike where I live! The pens in use proved to me that I will never understand fountain pens. How is it all pens but one performed fine on that paper? The Visconti's were excellent but the poor old Monteverde failed miserably. Yet on different paper the Monteverde was OK. There is little doubt the Loft Winchester is your new favourite pen of the moment and rightly so. It has some beautiful colours in the design.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Saturday was a bad ending, but it did get me out of there before I would have been snowed in! There are rude drivers, but you're right: they're pretty considerate. I think the lack of heavy traffic helps. I have no idea why the Monteverde was so bad on that paper. I just wrote a full page to a pen pal with it, went back to the notebook, and it was awful! And I do love the Loft Winchester!

[@Juan_C84]

Thoroughly enjoyed the different take on Pens in Use. Those changes in elevation are breathtaking, since where I live, the terrain is very flat. That triangle of nib/feed, ink, and paper is very valid. I run into those issues where certain pens won’t work well with certain inks or the pen/ink combo is good but the paper doesn’t cooperate as it showed with your Monteverde pen with Lamy Turquoise. Great video!

[@keraba1]

:-) I only suggested drawing the solid portions of your quadrants in one direction for shading or sheening inks. I'm not sure that it would do much for a dark black.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Thanks! I feel like I missed part of what you were suggesting!

[@drew......]

Very interesting look at Lead. This has altered my perception wherein I assume that region of the US is an endlessly flat expanse. I like the hills. I wonder if people who grew up there (or other hilly areas) are better off in the end being that a short walk is something of a workout.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Walking in Lead is definitely a workout! I can't see where that would be anything but healthy! And the Dakotas have more variety than people expect.

[@alanpareis734]

Well a fantastic video as all the rave reviews attest to. I think you have invented an additional format for occasional use: PIU/Driving Hybrid aka PIU Touring Hybrid. I hope you are fully recovered by now, can’t wait till your warmer weather return to Lead. As for the strange behaving Regatta, I have a pen that is worse, on most paper, a pen I waited for 4 decades to get. Had it almost a year and it is still skipping on all paper most of the time.....wait for it..... yup my new last summer Lamy 2000!!!??? I believe it is the last third of a 10 year old bottle of ink that is the problem (I hope). I used some White Lightning in the ink a few months ago, a little better yet still no joy. Its soaking now for the 3rd time in 6 months, tomorrow it will get filled with Waterman Serenity Blue, hopefully that will solve the problem. If not then I will conclude I own the one L2000 that is the exception to all the others. Love the deer in the city park. And as I think you know, the Spearfish Canyon drive is a fav of mine, can never get enough of it. And then you had to add Mountain Goats on the road! 2 summers (1966 &1967) living, working, and hiking in Glacier National Park I only saw a few Mountain Goats and only at the top of mountains, usually through binoculars, or doing their physics defying thing on sharp cliffs or near vertical slopes, never on the roads. And the M. Goat is the unofficial mascot of Glacier Park. Oh and my wife Lea says thanks for the goats, I showed her this PIU after I watched it the first time, she loved it too.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I had hoped for less driving and more scenery/walking. But viruses are unpredictable, and that one hit me hard on Saturday. Sorry to hear about your trouble with the Lamy 2000! I'm curious which nib that is! I got lucky with the Mountain Goats. They sometimes come down at this time of year because the food is so short. Otherwise they stay up high because that is their natural defense.

[@alanpareis734]

@@WaskiSquirrel The L2000 has an XF nib, which is my preference for nibs, especially on pens from across the pond. Stay tunnel for the rest of the story after I try a few more remedies.

[@sathishrao7926]

These towns in SD are really nice. (Living in a city of more than 10 million people, I don’t like to call them Cities !) Scenery too isn’t quite the same as what we often get to see in your Drive videos ( mountains, winding roads, trees as against straight roads with plains on either sides ) ! So, Is it fair to conclude that that SD is more beautiful than ND (just based on what I saw in this video )? Also, I had heard of only two towns in these states even though I didn’t quite know which states they belonged to (before I started following you) Fargo - because of a Netflix series by the same name. Sturgis - Because of Harley Bike rallies held here (since I’m a motorcycle enthusiast)

[@WaskiSquirrel]

There's nothing close to 10 million people, even if you put both Dakotas and their surrounding states together! The Black Hills of South Dakota are unique. But most of South Dakota looks like North Dakota, just warmer. But don't give up on North Dakota. There are several forests in North Dakota, and I prefer North Dakota's Badlands. And North Dakota has not developed its scenic places for tourism the way South Dakota has. To get to North Dakotas scenic areas, you might be far away from paved roads! Fargo has been an interesting series. I'll be there on April 20 for State Science Olympiad! Sturgis is a fascinating place: overbuilt for tourism, but with a nice little town underneath.

[@nicksg3002]

"Physics defying mountain goats" there you have an interesting video for you physic teacher to explain me ignorant😂

[@WaskiSquirrel]

Their ability to defy Physics is their defense. They live in places predators can't go!

[@MissMarilynDarling]

that monteverde pen is not cute drying out like it did I have the same problem with conklin duragraph pens they are aweful their beautiful but aweful in that they almonst always dry out :(

[@WaskiSquirrel]

What's crazy is that this pen is doing fine on other paper. But it does not get along with that notebook at all!

[@nicksg3002]

My Reggatta pen skips, bad flow, etc...hate it!

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I've had a few comments about Monteverde pens that say the same thing. It has been a good pen for me...except in this notebook.

[@ichirofakename]

7% grade is a steep street? Hahaha. If you drive 4 blocks from my place, on MY STREET, you'll come to a block that has a grade of 31.5%. It's so steep they molded steps directly into the cement sidewalk. And it's tied for the SEVENTH steepest street in town. If it ever snowed here this town would turn into one giant demolition derby.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

I think your town would be a nightmare if it got the weather that Lead gets! I'm curious what the grade is in the residential streets in Lead and nearby Deadwood.

[@archivist17]

That's an extremely hilly town you live in! Steepest Street in the UK is Vale St in Bristol, at 22%, and the steepest I have regular experience of is Blake Street, Sheffield, at 16.6%. 31.5% is almost unimaginable.

[@ichirofakename]

@@archivist17 It still terrifies me to drive down it though I've lived here since 1983.

[@archivist17]

Monteverde pens are overrated. Start to finish. Waste of plastic 😂

[@WaskiSquirrel]

My experience is limited. But I'll defend this one: as shown in the video, it was working, just not in that notebook.