MystyrMystyry
05-24-2011, 01:30 AM
I have two particular favorite swords in my arsenal of implements
The first is a Sheaffer Sports (blue on blue) which when new featured a wonderful rubberised grip, though now has become closer to plasticky over the years. This model is no longer available unfortunately, but I bought two within days of each other, the other being a black and gold which I lost at work and was very annoyed about because I'm sure it ended up in either a garbag or down an open elevator shaft just weeks after purchase
There was a third green on green that I was intending to acquire but that had vanished from the newsagent's shelves along with the replacement black on gold
The first was a constant companion for many yonks until I lost that too - and couldn't tell you where, though my suspicion is that the identical one I found unpriced in the cutlery section of the local op shop, and promptly pocketed is one and the same - so re-united by chance (that no-one required used cutlery as much as I who used it to create effects and textures in paint and clay)
But there it was after an absence of about a month, and I was quite excited about having one of the twins returned by fate that I vowed to never have another favorite beyond this
Now I have many other pens and biros and fountain pens and calligraphy sets (never know when they'll come in handy), but my Sheaffer blue on blue Sports has ever hence been 'the one' for writing
I'd grab a crystal Bic for crosswords, and a chrome no-name for addressing envelopes, and my Parker fountain present from my Dad tends to get more of a workout drawing than any kind of writing
There was also a quite excellent Papermate that went with a notepad at some pub (details are blurry), which I'd actually purchased about the same time as the Sports, which had a similar rubbery shaft, though it was thicker and honestly not as comfortable as the former - I'd regarded it as the close cousin of Blue, and didn't feel the loss anywhere near as intensely as the month when I thought I'd lost Blue
A few years ago in another op shop, in the boots section I stumbled upon a misplaced Sheaffer black and gold, but different - real gold - and not the design of my original - glistening and sparkling at me - beckoning for my attention and acquisition at any cost
Again it was unpriced, and again it was pocketed discretely, for who but I could guarantee it a good home and years of devoted use?
And regardless I'd given much more than enough to justify any arbitrarily achieved pricing arrangement the service staff may arrive at - also called a guesstimate!
A guesstimate! At the divine moment of circular completion!? Sorry, but let us not despoil and befoul miracles with such petty trivialities as pocket change!
And so for many years I considered it my second favorite, though it sometimes feels like I'm indulging in a secret affair when I use it, Blue has never seemed to notice
But a few months ago it ran out of ink - just like that - without so much as a stutter of warning sign or by-your-leave - I now needed a new refill
I didn't do it immediately because I still had Blue, and thought when I come across a refill I'll procure two, or four, - one for each and a spare
Well coming across a refill was quite another story - I simply couldn't 'come across' one for neither love nor filthy spondulicks nor an amount of enquiry into availability - there were none to be had!
Okay there were cheap 'things' which would fit in the space - but from experience they just couldn't do the job of the original - nohing has come close to the way the ink runs and never blotches, not even a Parker, which are good for using as a mini-pen, but could never be considered first choice for any serious scribing
Then one day I was reminded of my little black and gold when I found myself in the electronics store and an assistant had a similar one clipped into her breast pocket - and it occurred to me I hadn't seen Black for quite some time
And sure enough when I arrived home I hadn't the first clue where I'd last left it, and began slowly going through everything - from pen collection boxes (unlikely) to shoeboxes of odds and sods and boxes of largely obsolete electronic bits and pieces, through drawers, wardrobes -
I had no idea what had happened to it, so in philosophical mind, I decided that the best thing was probably not think about it and let it turn up eventually, in its own time, as things often do
And as often do, it appeared from out of nowhere with no announcement or fanfare - just there right under my nose (I suspect it had actually taken a quiet vacation to the Seychelles and had only just returned unnoticed to the exact same location which I must have looked at a thousand times since the mysterious disappearance)
But, grateful and relieved as I was, it was still without a refill, and Blue without a spare, so I figured it was time to rectify the situation and get out and do a thorough search of both nearby and distant businesses dealing with specifically and inspecifically Sheaffer pens
Fortuitous was my lot that day, my friends - fortuitous in the discovery that a Fisher Space Pen Refill with the least amount of clipping fits perfectly into the Sheaffer barrel unto a glove, and I was now not only in the proud possession of my two most favorite sources of inspiration, they had also been, quite miraculously, transformed into Space Pens into the bargain!
If you haven't yet had the good fortune of employing a Space Pen into your desk or jacket pocket, I can't recommend you investigate the purchase enough - the ink is under pressure and flows smooth as a river (also upsidedown, zero gravity, under water, in deepest Antarctica to Hottest Death Valley - and very likely the fires of Hell)
They are an astounding technological achievement, which though obviously overkill for most non-James Bond situations, worth every inexpensive cent outlay
The individual refill being even shorter (an entire centimetre!) than the Parker refill and my broken laser pen, has now taken pride of place as my pocket pen of choice
.
The first is a Sheaffer Sports (blue on blue) which when new featured a wonderful rubberised grip, though now has become closer to plasticky over the years. This model is no longer available unfortunately, but I bought two within days of each other, the other being a black and gold which I lost at work and was very annoyed about because I'm sure it ended up in either a garbag or down an open elevator shaft just weeks after purchase
There was a third green on green that I was intending to acquire but that had vanished from the newsagent's shelves along with the replacement black on gold
The first was a constant companion for many yonks until I lost that too - and couldn't tell you where, though my suspicion is that the identical one I found unpriced in the cutlery section of the local op shop, and promptly pocketed is one and the same - so re-united by chance (that no-one required used cutlery as much as I who used it to create effects and textures in paint and clay)
But there it was after an absence of about a month, and I was quite excited about having one of the twins returned by fate that I vowed to never have another favorite beyond this
Now I have many other pens and biros and fountain pens and calligraphy sets (never know when they'll come in handy), but my Sheaffer blue on blue Sports has ever hence been 'the one' for writing
I'd grab a crystal Bic for crosswords, and a chrome no-name for addressing envelopes, and my Parker fountain present from my Dad tends to get more of a workout drawing than any kind of writing
There was also a quite excellent Papermate that went with a notepad at some pub (details are blurry), which I'd actually purchased about the same time as the Sports, which had a similar rubbery shaft, though it was thicker and honestly not as comfortable as the former - I'd regarded it as the close cousin of Blue, and didn't feel the loss anywhere near as intensely as the month when I thought I'd lost Blue
A few years ago in another op shop, in the boots section I stumbled upon a misplaced Sheaffer black and gold, but different - real gold - and not the design of my original - glistening and sparkling at me - beckoning for my attention and acquisition at any cost
Again it was unpriced, and again it was pocketed discretely, for who but I could guarantee it a good home and years of devoted use?
And regardless I'd given much more than enough to justify any arbitrarily achieved pricing arrangement the service staff may arrive at - also called a guesstimate!
A guesstimate! At the divine moment of circular completion!? Sorry, but let us not despoil and befoul miracles with such petty trivialities as pocket change!
And so for many years I considered it my second favorite, though it sometimes feels like I'm indulging in a secret affair when I use it, Blue has never seemed to notice
But a few months ago it ran out of ink - just like that - without so much as a stutter of warning sign or by-your-leave - I now needed a new refill
I didn't do it immediately because I still had Blue, and thought when I come across a refill I'll procure two, or four, - one for each and a spare
Well coming across a refill was quite another story - I simply couldn't 'come across' one for neither love nor filthy spondulicks nor an amount of enquiry into availability - there were none to be had!
Okay there were cheap 'things' which would fit in the space - but from experience they just couldn't do the job of the original - nohing has come close to the way the ink runs and never blotches, not even a Parker, which are good for using as a mini-pen, but could never be considered first choice for any serious scribing
Then one day I was reminded of my little black and gold when I found myself in the electronics store and an assistant had a similar one clipped into her breast pocket - and it occurred to me I hadn't seen Black for quite some time
And sure enough when I arrived home I hadn't the first clue where I'd last left it, and began slowly going through everything - from pen collection boxes (unlikely) to shoeboxes of odds and sods and boxes of largely obsolete electronic bits and pieces, through drawers, wardrobes -
I had no idea what had happened to it, so in philosophical mind, I decided that the best thing was probably not think about it and let it turn up eventually, in its own time, as things often do
And as often do, it appeared from out of nowhere with no announcement or fanfare - just there right under my nose (I suspect it had actually taken a quiet vacation to the Seychelles and had only just returned unnoticed to the exact same location which I must have looked at a thousand times since the mysterious disappearance)
But, grateful and relieved as I was, it was still without a refill, and Blue without a spare, so I figured it was time to rectify the situation and get out and do a thorough search of both nearby and distant businesses dealing with specifically and inspecifically Sheaffer pens
Fortuitous was my lot that day, my friends - fortuitous in the discovery that a Fisher Space Pen Refill with the least amount of clipping fits perfectly into the Sheaffer barrel unto a glove, and I was now not only in the proud possession of my two most favorite sources of inspiration, they had also been, quite miraculously, transformed into Space Pens into the bargain!
If you haven't yet had the good fortune of employing a Space Pen into your desk or jacket pocket, I can't recommend you investigate the purchase enough - the ink is under pressure and flows smooth as a river (also upsidedown, zero gravity, under water, in deepest Antarctica to Hottest Death Valley - and very likely the fires of Hell)
They are an astounding technological achievement, which though obviously overkill for most non-James Bond situations, worth every inexpensive cent outlay
The individual refill being even shorter (an entire centimetre!) than the Parker refill and my broken laser pen, has now taken pride of place as my pocket pen of choice
.