Trade 37: Cross pen for whiskey

Here’s one of the few trades I didn’t feel satisfied with, in retrospect. To be clear, the fault is entirely mine; the other Bun delivered what they promised.

The last couple of years, I haven’t been happy with the writing implements at my disposal. I’ve suffered through a series of cheap disposables and one semi-decent ballpoint whose ink is always running out.

Those of you who still write anything by hand know what I’m talking about—a classy, quality pen is hard to find.

I saw this post and got unreasonably excited. I amped myself up and persuaded myself to part with the whiskey I’d acquired in Trade 12:

Here’s the pen:

What’s the problem?

It isn’t that great a pen. I don’t like the way it feels in my hand—it’s too thin, and the ink flows too sparingly. So I don’t use it much.

Also, I didn’t do enough Googling beforehand. It’s not a $70 pen; it’s more like a $20-$30 one. I guess the copy really sold me.

You can suggest that I didn’t get very much, ultimately, for the WiFi extender I started with. But that’s how trading goes sometimes. And don’t forget I got the extender for nothing in the first place—so I can’t complain for what amounts to a free pen!

The key for me to remember is, I’m always trading away something I don’t need or want. So I’m always in the black—no matter what happens.

What’s interesting to me from a psychological basis is, I don’t feel the desire to re-trade the pen—in my own assessment of it I don’t think it’s that good, so I can’t visualize trying to trade it for very much. That would crystallize the ‘loss’ on this trade.

On to the next exchange!

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Next—Trade 38: Dissection kit for Rushdie and Sedaris
Previous— Trade 36: Typewriter and Telephone loan for liquor and giftcard

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