Arrrgh...I'm so #$%$%# angry with myself right now.
I have bottle of Alt-Innsbruck aftershave/cologne. It is wonderful, heavenly stuff. However, the lovely glass bottle does not have a dispenser top, so I've periodically decanted some into a small Nalgene bottle with a dropper top so I don't lose or waste any of this precious elixir. After this morning's shave, the Nalgene bottle was empty, so I decided it was time for a refill. I got out the A-I bottle and carefully poured what was left (about 10 or 15%) into a clean cup, and took a blunt-tip syringe that I use for refilling eyedropper pens. I inserted the tip into the cup and pulled up the plunger, completely filling the syringe with a brilliant red(!) liquid! It turns out that my supposedly-clean syringe had been used previously to fill a pen with Diamine Ancient Copper ink, and although the barrel of the syringe was clean, the needle must have been loaded with dried ink. I momentarily considered saving the bright red liquid, but common sense prevailed as I realized I didn't want to walk around looking like John Boehner after too much time in the tanning booth!
I ended up pouring it all down the drain...whilst sobbing uncontrollably. 
The moral of the story is never assume that an instrument that has been in contact with ink is actually clean unless you test it first!
I have bottle of Alt-Innsbruck aftershave/cologne. It is wonderful, heavenly stuff. However, the lovely glass bottle does not have a dispenser top, so I've periodically decanted some into a small Nalgene bottle with a dropper top so I don't lose or waste any of this precious elixir. After this morning's shave, the Nalgene bottle was empty, so I decided it was time for a refill. I got out the A-I bottle and carefully poured what was left (about 10 or 15%) into a clean cup, and took a blunt-tip syringe that I use for refilling eyedropper pens. I inserted the tip into the cup and pulled up the plunger, completely filling the syringe with a brilliant red(!) liquid! It turns out that my supposedly-clean syringe had been used previously to fill a pen with Diamine Ancient Copper ink, and although the barrel of the syringe was clean, the needle must have been loaded with dried ink. I momentarily considered saving the bright red liquid, but common sense prevailed as I realized I didn't want to walk around looking like John Boehner after too much time in the tanning booth!
I ended up pouring it all down the drain...whilst sobbing uncontrollably. The moral of the story is never assume that an instrument that has been in contact with ink is actually clean unless you test it first!
