You Know You've Exceeded The Fountain Pen Limit When....

[JakobS]

You find yourself buying and using more "enter other type of writing instrument here" instead?

[Paul-in-SF]

You have your pens delivered to your office...because you haven't figured out how to tell the spouse you bought another one... I'll think of something though.

I'm retired so this wasn't an option.

 

So I rented a mailbox on the QT. It's not that my spouse would object, really, it's just that I'm avoiding sarcastic remarks at my expense. Also going to the mailbox gets me out of the house.

[bemon]

...When you actually might be DONE. I mean there are pens out there I want but I don't have the same ability to justify the costs anymore and I just keep saying to my self "I'm happy with what I have...."

 

Sure didn't have those reasonable thoughts even as recently as year ago!

[DilettanteG]

When you think of sending a pen out to a nibmeister for a mod and then fill it up to make sure and find out it already writes perfectly.

 

Then you check your data base to realize you had already send it in, waited for weeks/months, got it back, written with it, cleaned it, put it away, and had totally forgotten about it.

[sandy101]

When you have more than 1...

[thx1138]

When you have more than 1...

 

One what?

[Maurizio]

Equally guilty. I keep mine on Evernote, so it's always at hand, as in on my iPhone.

 

Just in case I need to look it up in a hurry.....

 

.

Yup good move

 

I use an app called OneNote which is one of the rare things Microsoft has done well: it’s useful, free, and works on my iPhone and iPad so if I fill a pen with one of the inks I keep in my office I can note it right away and not forget.

[Maurizio]

When you think of sending a pen out to a nibmeister for a mod and then fill it up to make sure and find out it already writes perfectly.

 

Then you check your data base to realize you had already send it in, waited for weeks/months, got it back, written with it, cleaned it, put it away, and had totally forgotten about it.

 

I think you and ASmugDill are neck and neck for the “best” answer here

[bemon]

When you think of sending a pen out to a nibmeister for a mod and then fill it up to make sure and find out it already writes perfectly.

 

Then you check your data base to realize you had already send it in, waited for weeks/months, got it back, written with it, cleaned it, put it away, and had totally forgotten about it.

I think you win.

 

I should really create a database. I keep thinning the herd but it's hard to think about what I want to sell when I can't quite picture my collection. Especially since most of my pens are socked away in pouches inside a shoebox in storage.

Edited October 15, 2019 by bemon

[inkstainedruth]

I'm a little OCD (okay, maybe a lot). So, besides the "what's currently inked" file on my laptop, I have various inventory files. One is the comprehensive one, with information about color, nib width, age (as far as can be determined if it's a vintage pen), when I got it, cost (including repairs or a converter), and so on. It's color coded so specific information such as price are easily spotted. But I also have one for when pens are purchased (by year), and a spreadsheet to see how my expenditures compare (I still have more pens under $75 than about above $150). If I buy just a nib, or just a converter, those are a different color to highlight them.

Then, just for personal curiosity, I have a SEPARATE set of files of pens sorted by color -- one is a list and the other two are charts (because you can do that with iNumbers); one of those has a variety of charts all together (you just plug in the numbers to the included spreadsheet and the bar and pie charts automatically update) and then then the other is just a bar chart.

I have several different files for the ink inventory as well -- listed by color family (both as a list and a spreadsheet file), and then listed by brand. The spreadsheet notes what inks I've tried or not (and what ones I liked, didn't like, or am still trying to make up my mind about), and also has a column with notes such as that the ink is a limited edition or exclusive to a specific retailer.

And I have two DIFFERENT spreadsheets for the inks I want to buy -- but I really need to consolidate them, and keep better track of what colors I'm using to fill the specific boxes. Plus a file of a series of spreadsheets -- hopelessly outdated -- of the sample vial trays and what's in them, and whether I like the ink enough to have gotten a full bottle (I keep those vials to use as traveling inkwells) or don't like the ink at ALL, and if I haven't gotten around to trying something yet.

I've tried to note the inks I've given away in the various ink files, but have failed there too, to some extent....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Oh, and NONE of those ink files/spreadsheets helped ONE IOTA when I bought a large bottle of Noodler's Blue Ghost a couple of years ago, forgetting that I had a 3 oz. one already....

Edited October 15, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[sirgilbert357]

When you think of sending a pen out to a nibmeister for a mod and then fill it up to make sure and find out it already writes perfectly.

 

Then you check your data base to realize you had already send it in, waited for weeks/months, got it back, written with it, cleaned it, put it away, and had totally forgotten about it.

 

 

[sirgilbert357]

I'm retired so this wasn't an option.

 

So I rented a mailbox on the QT. It's not that my spouse would object, really, it's just that I'm avoiding sarcastic remarks at my expense. Also going to the mailbox gets me out of the house.

 

Heh, not a bad idea. I actually didn't bother telling my wife. I just brought the pen home and started using it. She never said a word. I don't think she remembers which ones I have and what they look like. Its not like I even have that many (I'm at 14 now including 3 beaters that I consider disposable), its just that she cares so little, LOL. Despite her not caring, I'd get sarcastic remarks too, so I pick my battles!

[markh]

I'm a little OCD (okay, maybe a lot). So, besides the "what's currently inked" file on my laptop, I have various inventory files. One is the comprehensive one, with information about color, nib width, age (as far as can be determined if it's a vintage pen), when I got it, cost (including repairs or a converter), and so on. It's color coded so specific information such as price are easily spotted. But I also have one for when pens are purchased (by year), and a spreadsheet to see how my

 

[...skipped..]

 

And I have two DIFFERENT spreadsheets for the inks I want to buy -- but I really need to consolidate them, and keep better track of what colors I'm using to fill the specific boxes. Plus a file of a series of spreadsheets -- hopelessly outdated -- of the sample vial trays and what's in them, and whether I like the ink enough to have gotten a full bottle (I keep those vials to use as traveling inkwells) or don't like the ink at ALL, and if I haven't gotten around to trying something yet.

I've tried to note the inks I've given away in the various ink files, but have failed there too, to some extent....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Oh, and NONE of those ink files/spreadsheets helped ONE IOTA when I bought a large bottle of Noodler's Blue Ghost a couple of years ago, forgetting that I had a 3 oz. one already....

 

It's obvious you have reached professional status.....Your certificate will be arriving in the mail - hand signed of course.

 

 

.

[pajaro]

When you start turning to collecting ballpoints.

[Arkanabar]

When you know what you like, and you have it.

 

I can tell you from experience, that is a good place.

[markh]

I just read an article about old libraries. it described one book which had been purchased by a "noted bibliomaniac"

 

Maybe we need a similar word??

 

 

..

[A Smug Dill]

Maybe we need a similar word??

 

Confirmed Bachelor of Pens, or Master of Pens?

[sirgilbert357]

I just read an article about old libraries. it described one book which had been purchased by a "noted bibliomaniac"

 

Maybe we need a similar word??

 

 

 

One of the vocab words this week for my daughter's Latin class is "stylus", it can mean pencil (calamus is usually used for pen, reed, or stalk) and sometimes it is used for pen.

 

How about "Stylumaniac"? LOL...doesn't really roll off the tongue, but...

[Namo]

... browse for pens, with suddenly enough money so you don't have to retrain, and realize there is nothing that you really want to buy.

 

I am in this situation right now, and I see pens I find beautiful and some other I've been dreaming of. And I think I will not buy any: the truth is I do have the pens I need and the pens I love and the pens I love to use.

[GardenWeasel]

When inks migrate from their room to the kitchen cabinetry...and start crowding the cups and mugs. And instead of reducing inks, I rid myself of some cups and mugs to make more space!