From the name of the thread, I was expecting an "upper decker" story.. (neighbor's a plumber...the concept just makes me laugh, but he doesn't think it's so funny...)
Your pen looks fantastic. I have a bunch of these blanks and made one pen so far out of it. I'll agree that they can be a bit plain looking as solid pieces, but just polished up (no finish, treat them just like acrylic...) it has a nice soft warm feel to it, which is quite different from the cold hard feel of the many varieties of acrylic...