I ashamedly confess I've been seeing references to "FPN" on other boards for a while and never really took the time to find this place or register. I am correcting that oversight now

My name is Dave, based in MN. In real life I am a Quality Director at a manufacturing company in St Paul. I also moonlight - very recently - as an online dealer for Signum pens (more brands to come, and always have some used pens up too).

Other than Signum my other favorite pens tend to be Italian marques. I am fond of Aurora and also the more reliable Stipula and Visconti models. Omas are starting to come back into my good graces after a few years of iffy reliability seems to have to come to an end. Delta are always good. Outside Italy I have a soft spot for Caran d'Ache and Dupont as well as Yard-o-Led. As you can probably guess I value reliability and smoothness above other attributes in pens. My collection is only about 30% vintage but there I tend to favor large-ish robust models with semi-flex nibs. Some of my favorites here are 50's MBs, Skylines, vintage Omas and Aurora etc, although like almost all eclectic pen enthusiasts I also have a couple of 51s and Vacs and other landmark models.

Other hobbies? Well if I'm honest the thing I do most is play NTN trivia, but I'm also fond of reading all sorts of fiction, opera, watching some but not all sports, and crossword puzzles.

So again Hi all and apologies for waiting!

Hi Dave,

Great to see you over here. I've got to run to dinner with friends, but I saw you pop up here and couldn't resist.

Best of luck with your new enterprise. Bet you sold a bunch of Oriones for your debut on the web.

Enjoy!

Good to see you in this part of the woods

AZ

Hey Dave; Good to see ya here. Lots of good folks here, and I am glad to see another one join in.

Hi Dave! Welcome! It was good to see you at the NYC show. If you look under "new member welcome" there is a post about how to navigate this board easily.

Elaine

Dave, welcome to FPN! Glad you finally joined us. I know you'll be an asset.

Hello Dave,

Glad to see you here also.

Phil

Heya Dave !

pull a chair and make yourself at home.

Denis.

Hello and Welcome Dave.

I've been looking to get my first Italian pen for sometime now and seeing how a few here, none of whom are mad i'm sure , have strong opinions about Etrurias, I'm looking for an out-of-production one, so we'll have to see how my luck goes.

You moonlight eh? I was going to "sing" the theme tune to the Moonlighting TV show but I'm having one of my rare mature moments right now, so everyone is spared luckily.

What's NTN trivia? (I said I'm in a mature moment - not necessarily sharp though) :doh:

Welcome to the PT refuge, Dave. ...And good luck with your new pen business!

Best, Ann

Welcome to FPN, Dave!

Well, I am one of the people who ordered a lovely Signum Orione pen from you this weekend (check out smudgy's Orione "Pen Reviews" thread for more info)....

Nice to have you around! Where have you been 'til now?

Hi Dave.
I've enjoyed your informative posts on PT and look forward to your presence here.
Good luck with the new bidnis.

Regards,
Jeen

Hi Dave,
Terrific to have you here. This is a wonderful place with lots of great info and terrific people.
You will be an asset.

Kind regards,
Karin

Thanks all!

Ah grasshopper you ask a fine question! Out of production Etrurias? I have a few too...

NTN Trivia? Think of it as beer-soaked trivial pursuit with 10,000 players. If you ever visit these shores and see strange people staring fixedly at TV screens in bars and pressing buttons on blue plastic things that look like toy computers then there it be.

With all the ways communications satellites can be used to connect doctors and patients, lawyers and clients, aid organizations and those in need, I choose to celebrate their application to proving whether or not I know more useless pieces of data than some complete strangers in bars across the continent.