13 December 2013

Free for All Friday, No. 265

The other night I had a strange dream—my Filofax was stolen! In the dream, I was sitting in a hotel lobby in New York City watching some musicians. When I stood up to leave, I found that my Filofax and cellphone were gone! The thief had put one of her shoes in my handbag to replace the missing weight, so I didn't notice right away.

I had no way to get home, since all my money and credit cards were in my Filo. Also, my own shoes were somehow missing! I thought if I could make it to Penn Station, I could arrange to have my parents wire payment for my ticket home. The dream ended with my walking to Penn Station barefoot and wondering whether I'd be allowed to get on a train with no shoes.

Have you ever dreamt of a Filofax?

35 comments:

  1. I haven't dreamt of a filofax, but I have LOST one. Fortunately, it was just a pocket flex and not a well-loved A5. It was returned to me, and I was really embarrassed that they could've read everything. That makes me wonder how personal to be in something I could lose again, but I'm already over it. :)

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  2. I once found a Filofax... a well stuffed and much loved personal. Had fallen in the guttering near the kerb outse my flat. Had obviously fallen out of a car door/seat. Duly returned it to its owner and received a beautiful bouquet of flowers in return... was just so kind.

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  3. I've found people's planners before and gone to great lengths to try to reunite them with their planner. Amazingly some people never bothered to retrieve them!

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  4. Bit of a change of subject but here's something I do and I wonder if anyone else does. I use my binders according to their inherent style. So an ochre Malden personal has a creative and bohemian character for me and gets used for creative ideas such as writing plans and photography notes. My personal Regency has a luxurious feel and I use it for journals. A personal Cuban in brown looks business like so it's my work day to day binder. On the other hand, my academic research diary has to look and feel serious and substantial and it's a Hamilton deskfax.

    I am still waiting to 'assign' an A5 Holborn in brown. Am I weird? Yes probably, but I bet I'm not alone in thinking this way.

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  5. I've also lost a Filofax - left t on the railings in the street in Blackheath, South London, when I stopped to take a call.

    (There, you see? Mobile phones are to blame for all the evils in the world!)

    I didn't realise I'd lost it until I got a call from the manager of a shop in Blackheath to tell me they had retrieved it and had it in safe keeping. By then it was too late to go and retrieve it so I had to make an extra journey the next morning - luckily I wasn't due to travel back to Somerset that evening!

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  6. Before I had a filofax, I had a spiral bound planner from like, Target or something. I lost it in the waiting room at the dentist's office. It ruined my life for a good 2 months.
    A few weeks ago, I absentmindedly put my filofax in my glove box in my car, because I didn't want to carry it in the store with me. I promptly forgot about it, and for the next 3-4 days was in a hazy panic because I thought it was missing forever. I missed so many deadlines, forgot details for so many projects, and was soooo depressed... but actually, I DREAMT the MEMORY of putting it in my glove compartment, and the second I woke up I went to my car, and there it was!

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  7. During a visit to see my folks I thought my beloved FF Personal Cross Cherry had been kidnapped. Dad dropped me off at the train station, I boarded the train & after 15 minutes or so decided I wanted to scribble my thoughts down. I reached into the bag but nothing. I speed walked to the luggage rack to check my suitcase (pretty difficult on a packed train! ) NOTHING!
    Returning to my seat sad and in FF mourning. The sheer lose was unbearable. I don't do crying in public but it nearly happened if it wasn't for my mobile ringing. Dad called to say my red book was on the roof of the car. Relief :-D

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  8. Question to all Finsbury owners--I've heard sometimes the color can wear off at the edges. Has this happened to anyone who owns a black one? Thanks for your help!

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    1. No not on any of mine... and they are all black! The oldest one is nearly 10 years old, looks like new!

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    2. I had a light blue finsbury a whole back, and I do recall some light wear on the snap closure, right I would have pressed it closed. As I recall it was just a light fade, nothing serious. I didn't keep the binder for very long, nor did I use it that much so it might gave gotten worse if I had. On the other hand, not having it for long and having that still happen is not a good thing.

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    3. Thanks Steve and Kanalt! I appreciate the feedback!
      SDFSF

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    4. Thanks Steve and Kanalt! I appreciate the feedback!
      SDFSF

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    5. A wear of leather dye depends on the depth of the dyejob in itself. Unless leather is thoroughly seeped in dyebath, it can waer during long years. This is easily treated with matching leather dye and even easier with matching leather creme/-wax/-conditioner. Just treat the leather binder / bag or whatnot just like you would polish a pair of shoes. So no worry whatsoever.

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  9. YES, my aqua/turquoise Finsbury pocket was very, very worn after 2 years in my bag. The corners and snap closure were a paler shade of blue, where the colour had sort of worn off. I use my Filos hard (I find the idea of buying then and then keeping them empty and pristine on a shelf a bit weird, but I know I'm in a minority here!). The worn look didn't really bother me, but then I wasn't using it for work. I eventually swapped it because I moved up to personal size. This year I used a personal raspberry Finsbury for 7 months, and again, there is slight wear and colour loss beginning on the strap and at the corners. Now have moved up to an A5 Chameleon - the leather feels 'tougher' and now I DO use it at work sometimes, hopefully it will wear a bit better.

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  10. I'm addicted to Franklin Covey 2day/page daily and monthly layout but hate how bulky their binders are. I really miss the Filofax Personal size binder. What to do, what to do...

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    1. With a bit of juggling and compromise you can use a Malden for your FC inserts. I gave it a try but it didn't work for me, in fact the Personal doesn't really work and so it might be back to A5 I think.

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  11. Is there anyone in London, or who is a regular visitor, who can tell me, following the demise of Conduit Street, if there is *anywhere* in the city offering a half decent range of 2014 diary refills?......

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    1. I'd also like to know David. It seems very thin pickings are available now.

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    2. Are you not going to use the Swedish ones?

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    3. I have the Swedish Wo2P, but if I try out Robyn's system, as I'm tempted to do, I'd need a DPP and a Mo2P or MPP - cue potential trip to now-non-existent outlet in London.

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    4. Have you looked for a branch of Websters 'The Pen Store' when I was at Bluewater in Kent they had a good range of inserts in stock from the UK range that is.

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    5. Fortnum & Mason actually has a pretty decent range of both binders and inserts. John Lewis are better on inserts than binders. You might get lucky at a large Ryman too.

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    6. Thanks both of you.....I'll be in the West End on Monday, I'll pop into John Lewis.

      I was very impressed with Websters at Bluewater myself, but sadly not on my itinerary this time......

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  12. Can someone discuss the Deskfax? Looking at its dimensions, I'm puzzled by it...Bigger than A5, smaller than A4, but not quite in the middle. Like it's neither fish nor fowl. What was its target audience? And nine rings--I don't get it.

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    1. Deskfax got off to a false start in 1986 as a double width personal size. That was phased out, and a nine ring "Professional" format was introduced around 1989. This later came to be known as Deskfax as we now know it.
      The beauty of the nine rings is that personal sized leaves can also fit in there, using either the upper or lower ring groups. And leaves from the original four ring pocket size also fitted into the personal and Deskfax binders. So it was really interchangeable back then.

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    2. The nine-ring Deskfax paper is B5 size.

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    3. I missed a name in the history - it was called Deskfax when the current size was first started, and then renamed shortly after launch. So it reverted to the original name.
      The purpose was as a desk diary, primarily for work

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  13. Thankfully I've never mislaid my filofax, but wondered if anyone else has come across this?
    Lost Filofax by David Shrigley
    I quite like the idea, but think it's strange that he left other people's contact details inside.

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    1. Ah. That appears to be one of those irritating 'modern art' things which for some reason make me want to hang the artist upside down over a scorpion pit...

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    2. Performance art, AKA dumbassery.

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  14. I've never dreamt about nor lost my Filo, but I cannot in my wildest imagine going into Penn Station shoeless.

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  15. Nan, what a great post! And, Anita, I love the link you put in your comment. It's hilarious to me how some people will do the exact opposite of what they see. Or, they are just a truly good person and wouldn't want a beloved planner to be separated from their owner.

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  16. Has anyone purchased a ring bound organiser from Cross Pens. It looks like they've discontinued the line, and can be had quite cheap. It also looks like the "personal" size uses the same "wide" refills as Franklin Covey Compact.

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