Office Supplies

How could a stapler make me so happy?

Nov 052007

–click on the image for a larger view–

I’ve been slowly getting my life together lately with special thanks to David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” audio book. I have to say, after using Franklin-Covey for so many years, I had no idea how much I was missing! Anyways, while getting my home office up and productive again, I decided to buy a nice stapler and thought the “Office Space” stapler would be an interesting office prop… $20 dollars later from eBay, here it is!

Holy cow is this thing heavy! At my “day-job” office, we have a bunch of old office products and one of the staplers we all fight over is this Swingline “747” model. Its all metal and just feels solid when using. Well, as it turns out, the red Swingline in Office Space IS a model 747…

–click on the image for a larger view–

I had no idea such a simple thing could make me so happy! Now I understand the significance of Milton’s stapler in the movie at an entirely new level!!

The value of note taking…

Life In General, Office Supplies

Aug 072006

I have been working at my current job for over 2 years now –a new record for me! Before that, I was changing jobs every year for the past 7 years or so. Anyways, the kind of work I do requires me to bounce from one project to the next several times a day. There’s just NO way to keep track without a good note-taking system. So I use a legal pad during the day to answer phones and attend meetings. In the evening before going home I transfer it all to a journal book that records all my hours and the like. It’s saved my tail so many times in the past I can’t possibly remember! Funny thing is that I also keep the old legal pads too. Recently I had to go through and old pad looking for some information I hadn’t copied to my journal book and I found this kewl little thing. I was on the phone with a good friend almost 2 years ago and we were talking about some neato words that he felt like sharing with me. I still have ’em down on paper –never to be forgotten!

A current pic of my “home away from home”…

Life In General, Office Supplies, PC Tech

May 132006

My lava lamp collection is growing! I’ve added a rear-view mirror and a sweet back-scratcher thanks to Pampered Chef stuff that my wife likes for the kitchen. After catching me using her’s several times, she got me my own! It’s also nice to have my entire music collection with me at my side through the work day.

Some small victories for me…and other stuff

Business, Life In General, Office Supplies

Dec 172004

I’ve managed to go for a brisk walk every day that I’ve been at work this week -and I will say that I’m starting to get back that feeling I used to have when I was in shape. I actually enjoy that feeling; an accelerated heart rate, sweating, panting…working my body out. I’m getting it back. Watching the latest episode of “The Greatest Loser” show was a little inspirational too. I haven’t started dropping the weight off but I’m not worried. It’s just a matter of time now. I am also expecting to start the 5 daily meal plan this coming Monday.

It was suggested to me to start reading Entrepreneur magazine so I’ve been reading it instead of my usual Maximum PC when I go the sit on the toilet. I’ve learned a lot recently. I also have a ton of additional ideas that I can now explore regarding other possible business directions I can go it. Their recent article that has got me thinking the most is their “Hot Trends”. They are listing some of the most recent trends in the US economy and how to possible do business in response to it. One of the things that was mentioned was “Life Caching”. That’s due to the fact that people are taking photos now more than ever since digital cameras are very affordable and there is no money spent on film. The problem is that most consumers aren’t well adept at managing the data once they’ve collected it. A possible service I can provide is management of photo websites, archiving, or even training.

I finally found my perfect pen! I remember finding these little gems at a Hallmark store years ago. I liked them at the time simply because they were thin and fit in my planner quite well. Over time, I stopped using them (AND my planner) and finally settled on the Pilot Precise v7 Rolling Ball pen:

It has a 0.7mm tip which I have found to be the perfect size for my writing. 1.0mm was way too wide and 0.5mm felt like it was scratching the paper. Well now that I’m starting to use my planner again, I’ve found that my old, trusty Pilot is just too large and bleeds through the paper too easily. I searched through all the office supply stores in town with no luck finding anything similar to the Le Pen. So with hope in my heart, I strolled on into the Hallmark store and there they were! All these years later and they’re still being sold there! Now that I’ve used them all over my office, I see just how much I prefer them over the Pilot. What’s amazing is the fact that the Le Pen has a tip of only 0.3mm yet it flows much easier and bolder. Now that I know, I’m never going back!

Isn’t this sort of information sickening to read? Who cares about what pen I use besides me? I don’t know but if you’re still reading this I thank you for paying me this much attention!!!