Jump to content

Lost.... and Found!!!


HogwldFLTR

Recommended Posts

In the beginning of the pandemic I indulged in pen buying as a method of coping and occupying my mind with positive things. Came my birthday at the end of June and during the slow down of the sickness, at my request my lovely wife gave me a James Dean (Red) Montblanc fountain pen. This was one of my last pens purchased (maybe the last pen bought). I also purchased a matching journal and ink pair to go with it. Then I was writing in journals quite a lot. I'd found a journal that she'd given me a few years earlier which I'd hardly touched. It was Nautically themed and I'd started using it on our anniversary trip to explore Nova Scotia (we stayed in Lunenburg for a week, a lovely quaint town). At any rate fast forward to completion of the nautical journal and the start of the Dean journal. It seems like a natural choice to use the Dean ink and pen to write in it. I went to my collection storage box and, what...no Dean. I looked around in other places and couldn't find it.

 

I was distressed to say the least; I looked around in other potential places but couldn't seem to find it. I remembered having it in the bedroom and thought perhaps it had fallen from the night stand. No, it wasn't on the floor. I thought about having had it in the RV but I knew I'd had it in the house since this summer's trip. The RV had been a purchase as a second dwelling in the event of COVID occurring in a household member. So far it sits for the most part unused. I gave up looking and assumed it was temporarily lost and would show up sooner or later. Regardless I was saddened.

 

Forward a couple of days as I was looking for a watch strap to give to my daughter's fiancé. Low and behold there appeared a pen case I'd forgotten about buried in the pile next to my chair. In it were three Montblanc pens I'd not been using one of which was the Dean. Finding the pen made me recognize several things. One is that I've got more pens then I'll ever use and can potentially keep in service. The pen had dried to the point that there was no ink flow. It was revived with water and repeated flushing. Another point I'd not been adhering to was that I shouldn't keep pens inked as the ink will dry. When this happens the pen is relatively easily recovered with water and flushing.

 

So what was a very significant pen find for me became misplaced with lack of care and reappeared (thank goodness). I'll attach pictures if I can figure out how working across multiple platforms of my Surface Book, Mac Mini, and iPhone.

 

Please be kind to me in response to this posting as I'm new to the forum and relatively new to active pen collecting. Thanks for reading!!!

 

-Lee

2BD89FFC-62AF-4992-B007-D7F81F433F04.jpeg

Edited by HogwldFLTR
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 15
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • HogwldFLTR

    5

  • carola

    3

  • inkstainedruth

    2

  • Paul-in-SF

    2

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Nice pen. The Dean has really grown on me after not being that fussed on it when it initially came out. 

Write more and that will solve your problem of drying out inks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Uncial said:

Nice pen. The Dean has really grown on me after not being that fussed on it when it initially came out. 

Write more and that will solve your problem of drying out inks!

Thanks, I like it a lot!!! That would require one hell of a lot of writing and going into retirement... 😄

Edited by HogwldFLTR
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too true, carola!

I lost my first "good" pen (a Parker Vector) in my house for the better part of a year once -- turned out I had been going on my old computer for something and had absent-mindedly stuck it in a drawer in the desk in my sewing room where the computer was.  Found it months later, while looking for something else in that drawer....

And the M405 Anthracite Stresemann?  That one isn't going camping any more.... Fortunately it got turned into the event's lost and found.  Complete panic there, since it was and is my most expensive pen.

Which is why I have such high hopes for the (replacement) M200 Café Crème showing up someday....

Not sure about the yellow (Aztec Gold?) Vector, which has gone walkabout more recently.  You'd think that something that color wouldn't hide, but I routinely misplace Siggy -- the brass bookmark I got at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC which has the design of "the Sigismund Dragon" -- a large embroidered piece that was the emblem for the Order of the Dragon (modeled after the Order of the Garter) after one Bohemian Prince was raised and educated at the French and Burgundian courts.  We happened on to a special exhibit of medieval art from Bohemia and I have a book with a photo of the Sigismund Dragon.  So I was all excited when I saw the bookmark (flat brass cut out in the shape of the piece, and etched to show detail).  And the cashier in the gift shop told me where the exhibit was, and it was FABULOUS!  Only I had no idea from the photo I'd seen just how large the original piece was (about 20" long and the dragon's wing as a separate flap of fabric).  The loop holding the tassel and cord has long since broken off (after being so sharp a hole that it frayed the tassel cord.  But you'd think, "metal/shiny brass -- should be easy to spot, right?"  Uh, no....  I now have to remember to put it on the same spot on the shelf next to my bed so I can find it, because Siggy likes to blend in with the sheets -- no matter WHAT color they are on any given week.... :wallbash:  (Siggy is the bookmark I use for what ever the current morning pages journal is.)  And I've looked online sporadically, and a replacement for Siggy just does not seem to be available -- ANYWHERE.  So I have to make sure not to lose him....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Too true, carola!

I lost my first "good" pen (a Parker Vector) in my house for the better part of a year once -- turned out I had been going on my old computer for something and had absent-mindedly stuck it in a drawer in the desk in my sewing room where the computer was.  Found it months later, while looking for something else in that drawer....

And the M405 Anthracite Stresemann?  That one isn't going camping any more.... Fortunately it got turned into the event's lost and found.  Complete panic there, since it was and is my most expensive pen.

Which is why I have such high hopes for the (replacement) M200 Café Crème showing up someday....

Not sure about the yellow (Aztec Gold?) Vector, which has gone walkabout more recently.  You'd think that something that color wouldn't hide, but I routinely misplace Siggy -- the brass bookmark I got at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC which has the design of "the Sigismund Dragon" -- a large embroidered piece that was the emblem for the Order of the Dragon (modeled after the Order of the Garter) after one Bohemian Prince was raised and educated at the French and Burgundian courts.  We happened on to a special exhibit of medieval art from Bohemia and I have a book with a photo of the Sigismund Dragon.  So I was all excited when I saw the bookmark (flat brass cut out in the shape of the piece, and etched to show detail).  And the cashier in the gift shop told me where the exhibit was, and it was FABULOUS!  Only I had no idea from the photo I'd seen just how large the original piece was (about 20" long and the dragon's wing as a separate flap of fabric).  The loop holding the tassel and cord has long since broken off (after being so sharp a hole that it frayed the tassel cord.  But you'd think, "metal/shiny brass -- should be easy to spot, right?"  Uh, no....  I now have to remember to put it on the same spot on the shelf next to my bed so I can find it, because Siggy likes to blend in with the sheets -- no matter WHAT color they are on any given week.... :wallbash:  (Siggy is the bookmark I use for what ever the current morning pages journal is.)  And I've looked online sporadically, and a replacement for Siggy just does not seem to be available -- ANYWHERE.  So I have to make sure not to lose him....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Isn't funny how we mindlessly do things? Sometimes I even make a mental note at the time and then later question myself, "what was that mental note I made?" I agree with you that having a pre-thought-out specific location is like having a greased skid to success. Life is so much easier when it's performed like a ballet instead of a war!!!

 

-Lee

Edited by HogwldFLTR
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, good for you for finding the James Dean pen. And the other MB pens!!!! :):)  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know your pain. All to well. One day in June 2015, between my home and my office a pen roll with about 8 pens went walkabout, never to return. The missing pens?

Parker 45 burgundy Made in Spain, Parker 51 Special Fp/mp set, Pelikan 120 Merz and Krell, M205 Black, M205 Red, Parker 45 Flighter and a Pelikan M150. 

 

I have never seen another Made in Spain 45 and I was able to get mostly equivalent replacements. But it was more expensive than the initial purchases. None were purchased new, although the 120 M & K and red M205 were in like new condition. M205'S got replaced by M200'S some of which have been purchased new.

 

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/13/2021 at 9:07 AM, Wolverine1 said:

Well, good for you for finding the James Dean pen. And the other MB pens!!!! :):)  

 

Thanks! I'd forgotten abuot the MBs. I went to try one today and found I'd never added ink to it.

 

43 minutes ago, Runnin_Ute said:

I know your pain. All to well. One day in June 2015, between my home and my office a pen roll with about 8 pens went walkabout, never to return. The missing pens?

Parker 45 burgundy Made in Spain, Parker 51 Special Fp/mp set, Pelikan 120 Merz and Krell, M205 Black, M205 Red, Parker 45 Flighter and a Pelikan M150. 

 

I have never seen another Made in Spain 45 and I was able to get mostly equivalent replacements. But it was more expensive than the initial purchases. None were purchased new, although the 120 M & K and red M205 were in like new condition. M205'S got replaced by M200'S some of which have been purchased new.

 

 

Ouch! That is really unfortunate!!! Painfully expensive as well!

 

-Lee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Runnin_Ute said:

I know your pain. All to well. One day in June 2015, between my home and my office a pen roll with about 8 pens went walkabout, never to return. The missing pens?

Parker 45 burgundy Made in Spain, Parker 51 Special Fp/mp set, Pelikan 120 Merz and Krell, M205 Black, M205 Red, Parker 45 Flighter and a Pelikan M150. 

 

I have never seen another Made in Spain 45 and I was able to get mostly equivalent replacements. But it was more expensive than the initial purchases. None were purchased new, although the 120 M & K and red M205 were in like new condition. M205'S got replaced by M200'S some of which have been purchased new.

 

That hurts even reading it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, carola said:

That hurts even reading it...

Yeah, I didn't even know that Parker had a facility in Spain.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/12/2021 at 11:56 PM, HogwldFLTR said:

having a pre-thought-out specific location is like having a greased skid to success. Life is so much easier when it's performed like a ballet instead of a war!!!

I wish I could persuade my spouse of this. Not only does he borrow stuff of mine, he never returns it to where he found it (which is where I knew it to be). He is constantly misplacing his wallet when he is out shopping, usually finding it after a frantic search in one of the bags, or under his seat in the car, or in a jacket pocket. I couldn't live like that (except perforce I do). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

I wish I could persuade my spouse of this. Not only does he borrow stuff of mine, he never returns it to where he found it (which is where I knew it to be). He is constantly misplacing his wallet when he is out shopping, usually finding it after a frantic search in one of the bags, or under his seat in the car, or in a jacket pocket. I couldn't live like that (except perforce I do). 

Been there, done that, won´t do it again. That man is an ex now, for several reasons, but this aspect contributing a lot. 😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

I wish I could persuade my spouse of this. Not only does he borrow stuff of mine, he never returns it to where he found it (which is where I knew it to be). He is constantly misplacing his wallet when he is out shopping, usually finding it after a frantic search in one of the bags, or under his seat in the car, or in a jacket pocket. I couldn't live like that (except perforce I do). 

 

It's funny that my wife is a lot like that even to the extent of something as simple as finding her phone in her purse. I can understand. Usually it happens to me when I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I try to be more mindful of what I do. BTW, how's the Bay Area during all this; I miss the area and it's been at least 10 years since I've been out there. My oldest buddy finally sold his home and moved back east for retirement using the money from the home sale as a nest egg. Be safe!!

 

-Lee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, HogwldFLTR said:

how's the Bay Area during all this

As well as any place, I suppose. I don't go out much, and when I do I see everyone masked up and doing social distancing (mostly). Yet the cases are still rising and ICU beds are getting in very short supply. Come on, vaccine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can empathize.  I've never bought a pen quite as expensive as that particular Montblanc, but I have mislaid some of my pricier pens for a while.  And I get annoyed with myself for mislaying some of the less pricey ones, just on the principle that I ought to be able to keep track of my stuff.

 

Currently I'm annoyed with myself for not being able to find a spare Pelikan nib unit which I know is around here somewhere.  I might not even use it.  Just want to know where it is.

"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do."

 

- Benjamin Franklin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...