In dire need of a writing instrument, you reach into a cup and retrieve a pen...

[Filliam H. Muffman]

I do this all the time at my Mom's house. I grab a pen and scribble, warm up the tip, scribble, warm up the tip, repeat for 20 seconds... then I break it in half so I won't have this problem the next time, and try another pen. I did this four times in a row once.

I have pens that are 5 years old that work fine, but she spends $5 a year on crappy refills that seem to turn to stone after 3 months.