I have a 146 and the grand poohbah 149 Montblanc Meisterstruck pens. I love fountain pens and almost always carry one in my chest pocket. The 149 was purchased early in 2026 and I had them switch it to a double-wide pen. My 146 is a fine nib so I wanted the opposite experience. When you do this at purchase, the nib is free as is the process of changing it over. Normally, these gold/iridium nibs are about $350 and the cost can be a few hundred to change them, as they get sent to Germany and are done by their team of Meisterstruck experts. I have received the 149 back from their Germany team... twice. It's off to them again. Ink flow is horribly inconsistent. My $20 Pilot fountain pen operates WAY better than this $1300 pen. My sales' person at Montblanc pulled me aside on Saturday when I brought the pen back to the store again. She noted that nearly all of the expert staff retired, or put in for retirement, shortly after COVID. The new generation are reportedly poorly trained and she has had similar issues to my pen with 6 different customers, with pens ranging from $800 - $20,000 in cost. I cannot verify her claims, so do not take this as gospel. That said, if you are considering buying a Montblanc pen, be sure it comes with the nib you want and test it thoroughly in the store. Alternatively, go to a well-regarded pen reseller and buy a used Montblanc until this gets sorted out. This reduction in quality and skill matches with other areas of Montblanc, like their leather products. They switched from very high quality leather to horrible quality leather (there is a guy on YouTube the rips open leather products to review the quality and all of the new MB products have gotten panned). This is truly sad, as MB has stood for quality for over 100 years.

The first day in a while that is mostly just a regular day. We're doing some key opinion leader interviews to get at the current and expected future trust for using AI in our field. Even this current AI leader is skeptical on automated processes. Basically, AI is a tool, not a replacement for humans. A more basic outfit today, though I used Friday rules to ensure a few items were from the least worn of my wardrobe items. • Shirt — DS-025 (Charles Tyrwhitt): A sky blue Classic Winchester poplin stripe dress shirt with crisp white stripes running vertically through the cotton weave. French cuffs and a 5.66" spread collar give it business-formal bones, while the slim cut maintains a modern silhouette—ideal for video calls and in-person meetings alike. The 2.5" collar stays keep everything sharp under a vest, and the light-to-moderate drape breathes well for a warm late-spring Friday. • Undershirt — US-008 (Pro Club): A tan heavy-weight cotton crew neck that disappears under the sky blue shirt without any show-through risk. The tan undertone warms the blue fabric slightly rather than washing it out with stark white. • Slacks — SL-017 (Bachrach): Dark brown virgin wool trousers with a subtle herringbone pattern, triple-pleated and cut in a classic American silhouette. Made in the USA with 3/4 lining and mid-rise comfort, they anchor the outfit in rich earth tones while the heavy wool drapes beautifully without appearing stiff. Perfect for grounding a brown-forward Friday ensemble. VWC-007 (Joseph Abboud): A khaki linen herringbone vest with dark brown secondary tones and a silver slide buckle at the rear. The polyester-lined single-breasted design features five buttons and slot pockets on both sides—slightly roomy at XL but comfortable for warm-weather business wear. • Tie — NT-028 (Fort Belvedere): A golden-brown two-tone silk knit tie in Fort Belvedere's signature crunchy Swiss Cri de la Soie mottled silk. At 2.5" wide with a square blade, it's deliberately casual leaning while maintaining executive polish. The knit texture creates subtle dimension against the smooth poplin shirt, and the brown-on-brown palette keeps the earth tones cohesive without being monotone.

In Class A uniform today for the graduation day of my Cadets. 40 cadets, 4 Junior Leaders, 3 adult leaders and 2 photographers. It's been a long week. Have had time to post much this week. Many officer to thank for helping out and alot of volunteers. Building the future leaders for tomorrow is put mission and teaching our core values of Duty, Honor, Integrity, Courage, Self-less Service and Compassion and giving them expectations they need to hold themselves to.