I Must Be The Odd One Out

[bemon]

Hi Bemon,

 

My first car was an '80 Caprice Classic coupe... from my ma... who gave it to me when she replaced it with your first car in '86.

 

Now, my dad... he was all about Grand Marquis'... he could have had Lincoln's... but was too practical and level-headed for "putting on the dog" as he called it.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't inherit my dad's good sense... I like land yachts... and I miss the old ones that had the floaty, cloud soft rides and the fingertip controlled recirculating ball hydraulic steering.

 

 

 

 

Yes, it's definitely the pre-owned lot and the service/parts departments that keep the lights on.

 

 

 

 

I think it's because we have more money than common sense.

 

 

Be well.

 

 

- Anthony

 

EDITED to correct typos.

I hear you. I'm driving a Taurus now which is the closest you can really get these days. That or maybe a Chrysler 300, but in my experience the ride is a bit softer in the Taurus, plus it's bigger. Mine's getting up there in years now (2009) but still has fairly low mileage. Since it's not worth anything as a trade we figure we can easily get two more years out of it to make in an even 10. Then see what's out there.

 

The CT6 is a nice ride, but well out of my price range. The Buick LaCrosse is a bit small for us to use as our only car since we travel a lot. The current body Taurus has less space on the inside than the 2009, and some jack ass at Ford headquarters decided to make the new Continental a front wheel drive 3 litre. Likely to try and sell it in Europe, but no one who lives on the other side of the pond is going to try and squeeze a Lincoln down a 16th century cobble stone street. So.. who knows where we go from here?

 

Funny, I was just telling my fiance this morning about how I used to steer with my finger tip using recirculating ball steering

[sirgilbert357]

Yeah, that happens mostly in innocence I'm sure. So I say "Hey! Pen." And point to my desk as they're walking way.

 

I had a manager grab at my Vanishing Point to make a note- he's a great guy, but massive ex line backer who doesn't know the definition of delicacy. But he was on the phone, I happened to be beside him and he grabbed the first writing utensil he saw. I managed to grab it back and give him my Duofold roller just in time.

 

I'd just got my VP back from Mikeitwork and wasn't in a hurry to send it back.

 

LOL! I had a co-worker do something similar: he brought me a document that needed a handwritten note, so he grabbed my Lamy 2000...I quickly and smoothly plucked it from his hand before he could attempt uncapping it. He laughed (because he knows I'm a FP freak) and I handed him a Uni-ball Vision instead. What's annoying is the Lamy 2000 was within my "personal space" on the desk and the cup 'o pens I keep for guys like him was on my desk right in front of him... *eyeroll*

 

Edit: Oh, and to answer the thread query, I use all of my pens regardless of value. I carry the nicer ones in a Franklin-Christoph leather pen case, but they still get used whether I'm at home, work or out and about. I don't have to worry about theft at work though thankfully...

Edited June 28, 2017 by sirgilbert357

[bemon]

 

LOL! I had a co-worker do something similar: he brought me a document that needed a handwritten note, so he grabbed my Lamy 2000...I quickly and smoothly plucked it from his hand before he could attempt uncapping it. He laughed (because he knows I'm a FP freak) and I handed him a Uni-ball Vision instead. What's annoying is the Lamy 2000 was within my "personal space" on the desk and the cup 'o pens I keep for guys like him was on my desk right in front of him... *eyeroll*

 

Edit: Oh, and to answer the thread query, I use all of my pens regardless of value. I carry the nicer ones in a Franklin-Christoph leather pen case, but they still get used whether I'm at home, work or out and about. I don't have to worry about theft at work though thankfully...

I don't have to worry about theft in the offices, at least not in a malicious way. Pens are always of short supply to the point that accountants label their office supply closet ball points with their names. So just like your situation, someone will always be scrambling to a meeting and realize they don't have a pen and try to "borrow" the closest. No one would take one for the sake of taking something valuable, but they would borrow a pen and forget it in a meeting room somewhere.

 

I bought a set of Parker Jotters and I always put one on my laptop above the keyboard. Since my laptop is on a raised dock beside my monitor it's always line of site for someone to grab. My alternative to the cup 'o pens. And it works because I work with plenty of "guys like him". At least managers and sales guys usually have their own decent pens so while the people I work with don't usually need a pen the people I work near do.

[WaskiSquirrel]

There are a few pens that don't go out either because they're delicate or because they're irreplaceable. Otherwise, most of my pens go out at some point. (Centropen 100820 doesn't go out because it's irreplaceable, Visconti Homo Sapiens doesn't travel well, Omas Ogiva is irreplaceable, and I'm nervous about my celluloid Platinum 3776.)

 

In the winter, my Lamy 2000 (F) is always inked up with black, and may get a rinse at Christmas. It's my daily writer. In summer, the Kaweco Sport (F) becomes my daily writer since I wear fewer shirts with pockets. But, for writing at home, there are a few different fine nibs I'll cycle through.

 

I used to keep a Waterman Hemisphere (F) filled with Baystate Blue for highlighting. But, since I got into vintage, I've been exploring a lot more.

 

Generally I have 8-10 pens inked up total. This spring I got as high as 20, but the problem was that they weren't seeing enough use to have regular replacement.

 

One thing for me is that I just grab what appeals. At some point, I'll be able to look back and see an objective measure of what pens I do and don't use. I have visions of downsizing to a few I love and use all the time (same with the inks) and getting rid of the rest. But there are so many I feel like I want to keep!

[Arkanabar]

While every pen I've bought has been for use, some of them turned out to have flaws.

For example, the caps on my Pelikan M200 and M400 tend to crumble, right below the clip. In years past, repair required shipping it off to Chartpak, and they'd send me my pen back with a new cap. However, some four years ago, Chartpak decided that the warranty on these pens only lasts three years, and ought not be renewed in perpetuity. A replacement cap now sets me back some $50. As the cap on the M200 is currently cracked open, and the one on the M400 is showing signs of imminent failure, and I am sufficiently close to desperately poor that paying that for new caps every three or four years is not a tenable situation, these have become desktop denizens. I hate having expensive things that I can't use, and since carrying these seems to always destroy the cap, the only place I now am willing to use them is at my desk.

My "51" is a legacy of my father. It's about as basic a "51" as can be found; fine point, black body with a lustraloy cap. But it't the only thing of his I still have. I cannot stand to lose it. Thus, it too is a desk denizen.

There are pens I just don't use, as they are not to my taste. I am going to see about PIFing them at some point. A couple have trouble loading with ink (in spite of being sent to *two* different restorers), and are gifts from my in-laws, so I am keeping them (sentimental value again), but I reckon I ought to get rid of most of the other unliked pens. I'm in the process of rethinking what sort of pens I want to have and use. I doubt I'll find myself buying a >$50 pen again, any time soon. Not unless my office supplies budget hits $300/year.

I used to work at a desk, in a critical-access behavioral health agency, keeping the medical records and herding the consumers' charts. (Nota bene, the consumers were NOT allowed into my work area.) My fountain pens went there and stayed at my desk. So too did a cup of cheap ballpoints out of the supply closet. The closet AALWAYS had plenty of cheap black ballpoints, with ink that would smear if you rubbed it with Germ-X or Purell sanitizer. My coworkers, many of whom I tried to convert to FP use, were really good about only grabbing pens from that cup.