This well packed item was received very quickly and I was delighted with that side of my purchase. Initially the notepad appeared ideal - until I tried to use the useless pencil supplied. It is not easy to write on the pad using that. The package says you can use a permanent marker or a dry wipe marker so as I had a permanent pen I tested that and thought all was fine.... except it was not quite thin enough to fit in the spiral slot. Have searched local shops for a thinner version but they do not exist and dry wipe pens are all even thicker. It doesn't help matters that the ceramic opening at one end of mine is not perfectly circular so even the pencil supplied creates a problem. Not to be beaten - I have stuck a slim piece of velcro on the side of a pen and attached the matching piece to the pad side. It works well now.