Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. Yeah, maybe the manufacturer knows best, or maybe the case just displays them nicely to prompt me to buy them. Can't be sure. I have come to the conclusion that it might be best to keep them on their side, as a cork in a wine bottle. And I agree that it is best to get the pen "running" by gently dragging the tip until the ink flows freely. I used to do a lot of calligraphy with nibs I dipped into ink. It is necessary to check the flow on a scrap of paper before starting to write, and after each refill of the nib. So it kinda made sense to do that for the gel pens, too. I find that many people press way too hard, and when I have had parties and let others use my pens, they were completely destroyed by the amount of pressure that was applied by most partygoers. So a light touch is all that is needed, and more than that might actually jam the tiny ball bearing. Thanks again for your comments.

Hi, I went through this exercise two years ago to install a Cummins Onan 20kw Generator. You are correct in that there are lots of trades involved here: 1) Electrician 2) Plummer for Gas 3) Gas propane supplier 4) Builder for concrete pad 5) Generator / Tunner I did not buy my generator from a turnkey place because those places are expensive. I bought my generator from Costco. It took a bit of doing but I think it came out O.K. The first issue was when the generator was delivered it was missing a few parts. Small issue in that a hinge pin was missing. A bit of going back and forth between Costco and Cummins Onan. Costco in general had no clue, you get the usual customer serrvice rep more accustomed to handling pots and pan returns. Cummins Onan was another story. These guys although dificult to get to the right person via Costco. Once there they were very good. In total they came to my place four times. 1 came out to check over the genset, 2 replace ths missing pin (free both times). I paid for them to come out for on-site turn on and tuning, And one more time to fix on a Goverment recall notice (free). I paid only once for the turn on visit. They were prompt and responsive on the phone was good. I recommend them, The installation was handled for me by a Electrician who had generator installation experience. The Cummins Onan was over 1000 lbs in weight, so my electrician used a small back hoe to put it in place on concrete pad. He also did all the trenching for the gas lines. The propane gas tank we had to purchase from the propane company. They hooked up the tank and put in the gas line and installed a gas regulator for the generator. The propane company were NOT willing to hook up the gas regulator to the generator! So we had to get a plumber to do the final hook up. My electrician had a licensed plummer to do that bit. Took him all of 30 mins and was a buddy so the charge was not too high $US 200 I think, Final turn on was done by Cummins Onan. They came checked the wiring and the tuning, My electrician was also there to make sure no back feeding to the local utility side. My ATS came with the generator as a set. The ATS has a number of additional hookups for my genset. 1) Heater on 120v to keep the genset warm for fast start up reduced engine wear 2) Trickle charger cable to make sure car battery in gen set constanlly topped up. Something like a battery tendor / charger. 3) power cables for output power. (not switched neutral) 4) Various engine start etc controll cables. My supply is 400 amps coming into two panels. My electrician rewired one of the 200 amp panels to be the 'BACKED up' panel. All the circuits that we wanted genset powered was on one sub-panel. The ATS then controls power to that panel. The non-backed up circuits were moved off to the other not backed up sub panel. I would advise that you ask your electrician to also install a whole house surge supressor on the incoming power lines. That way a lightning strike will not take out your genset, or at least less likely to.... The whole exercise took about 4 months from start to finish. The electrician was the general contractor and I think did a good job in coordinating all the trades. The only bit that I did was the gardening, planted a new lawn over all the earth excavations :) so yet another trade ..... Best, Mike.

just adding a tint to the paint is not always the best answer. The other pigments used in the mix have an important step in the balance as well. With more space in the living room, lighting and other things in the room will take on different undertones with a color. You might want to try adding a little raw umber to some of your mix , spread it out on a white sample board and use a palette knife to drag through to see some of the undertones and different values from the different test amounts you use.

Good quality paper, printed on one side, perforations are all good in an adult coloring book. I've tried to limit spending on coloring. I think it was you who said that you weren't sure how long this would be a hobby so let's not go crazy with the books and pens. I saw these books in a little store but said to myself, "No, you don't need that." But could not stop thinking about it when we went to lunch and so walked back later and got the one I liked. Not as inexpensive as some others available. I was going to post an uncolored picture here but thought it might be against the rules protecting the artist. Well, I'm on my way to Big Lots! Bye for now.....s (P.S. The books are on nice cardstock, only one side printed, and they can be removed by undoing the spiral but you'd still have the little slot holes going down one side.)