ABAD: alum block acquisition disorder, I like it. A couple of years back, I bought a block of the Portuguese 444 alum as it was larger and cheaper than Osma. As received, it had bumps and pits all over. I used it thinking that these would eventually smooth away. Eventually, I finished it. When I moved on to an Osma block afterwards, it was like moving to silken sheets after sleeping in burlap. The Osma was very smooth, out of the gate.