Thanks for the fascinating look at a writer and his pencils! For me the most important feature of the standard yellow pencil is the eraser...after skipping a critical grade in grammar school nobody, including me, can read my writing unless I slowly and carefully print. The PC and word processing enabled my writing to a huge degree, I can type fast enough to avoid frustration and can easily edit, usually on the fly.

I did use carpenters pencils for decades, have left countless schematics on the insides of walls, but when I sketch out the drawing for a watercolor the eraser is my savior, just can't get the line where I want it without at least 4 or 5 tries;)