One of the joys of having a personal web site is the feedback received from people all over the world. Through the years — since 1994 — this has been a source of much learning for me. Once in a while I receive a flame or barb or criticism or crazy question but for the most part the email has been very sincere and thoughtful. Of the many subjects I have written about on patrickWeb, the one thing that elicited the most feedback is The Pepper Ball.

In a posting in 1996 I said that my all time favorite, most used gadget was my electric lighted pepper mill. I happen to like pepper on food so it had a practical application but I think what I liked most about it is that every time I used it, it made my wife or kids or guests laugh and that made me laugh. I would always say, "I don’t know why everybody doesn’t have one of these". But then my family surprised me at Christmas in 1997 with "The Pepper Ball".

This single item from the gadgets section of my site, for some unknown reason, has caught a lot of interest. Even more amazing is that it seems at times that I have become the technical support department to the world’s pepper ball users! I have gotten emails from many asking where to buy one. One email from a frustrated pepper ball user, asked if I could tell him how to add additional pepper to the device. Just this week I received the following email…

I came across you on Google search. I have ones of these too that I received as a gift years ago. One of my favorites too. Just recently the metal grinder broke off. I am not sure if it can be soldered or not. Kind of a can’t get to area and gluing doesn’t sound healthy. Would you happen to know where I could purchase another? I live in Allentown, Easton, Bethlehem, Pa area. Thought you might know and I guess I could call the company too. Appreciate a response and Happy New Year! Sue

I have no idea where the Pepper Ball was originally purchased so I "googled" on over to "Pepper Ball". There were 267,000 matches found in .23 seconds! Number ten on the first page was my own posting so that explains why I get so many inquiries. The best link to learn more about The Pepper Ball is the ratings and reviews page at Epinions.com. Happy Holidays to all fellow pepper lovers!