25 March 2011

Free For All Friday No. 123

Hello friends,

As you read this, I'll be just about arriving in Jakarta. I've never been to Indonesia before, and moving to a country sight-unseen makes me a little nervous. (Ok who am I fooling, it completely freaks me out.)  But, I've done it many times before, so this is just the next phase.  I have my new Filofax to help me in my new life here!

How has a new Filofax helped you in a new phase of life, for example starting a new job, after the birth of a baby, starting or graduating university?

To those of you who are going to the London Philofaxy meetup this weekend, have a wonderful time! The question on everyone's lips: What Filofaxes are you bringing???

As always on Fridays, the floor is yours to discuss anything Filofax-related!

33 comments:

  1. Hope you have arrived safely Laurie. I got my first Filofax when I started public health specialty training in August 2008. It was a split post (academic clinical fellowship) so I had to combine normal training (75%) with research (25%). In addition to this full time job I needed to study for 2 professional membership exams, write papers, teach, attend conferences, give presentations and try to get a doctoral fellowship. My trusted personal Botanic kept me organised and sane throughout and ensured I was successful! That is why I LOVE my filofax although DH said I should probably give myself some credit! Haha.

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  2. I just fell completely in love with a Finchley A5 in Brown/Chokolate. It´s appears to only be available in scandinavia. http://www.filofax.no/store/organiserdetails.asp?sizeId=5&rangeId=84&dsizeId=5#

    Anyone know why this is? It seems strange that it is available over here in different colours than in the UK-store?
    Anyone have any opinions on the Finchley A5?

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  3. I've only just started reading this blog, so I thought I'd comment! I got my Filofax when I started Uni and I've been so organised compared to usual. We even did "awards" at Christmas, and I was given the "Filofax Award" along with some inserts! However, it doesn't take long before Filofax sucks you back in, so I'm going to buy an A5 Domino today in the sale, which will hopefully be useful when I start teaching in September! Even though I haven't used it yet, I know that the A5 size will make it much easier to organise myself and a class of kids!

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  4. @ Laurie - hope you arrived safely - I can't help feeling a tiny bit jealous about your new adventure!

    @DanishGTD - I've seen this colour in other sizes so I think it is a previous colour they did. I have an antique rose A5 Finchley which I use as my household filofax and I love it - very soft and sumptuous!


    My question: I had a abberation earlier this week and bought an A5 Black Amazona from City Organiser - on sale at £65. It is very lovely! Matches my black Jaeger business handbag and shoes! Anyway I really wanted cotton cream inserts but can't see any in A5 - has anyone come across them? Otherwise will have to do them myself which is a pain as I'm really busy just now!!!

    Also another question - does anyone know of another refill system that fits the A5? I love some of the other refills - I think they are much better thought out (eg day timer, franklin covey etc) but not sure what fits. I like to keep a monthly overview and day per page in my A5, but divided with monthly tabs (which I have) but filofax don't print theres in a very friendly way to seperate the months.

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  5. Here is another question. What (if anything) do you use to polish or clean your leather filofax's with? Can I just use a standard clear leather cream cleaner/polish?

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  6. @Alison:

    I'd like to recommend "Ballistol" which is a universal oil originally developed for cleaning guns.

    With Ballistol, you can polish leather real well but it is even better for oiling a Filo's ring mechanism from time to time.

    Hope you can buy Ballistol in your country. In Germany, we pay some 3 Euro for a 50 ml spray can.

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  7. Hello, it's my first comment to your blog I check regularly. I want to buy a new personal (although I am constantly changing with the pocket size). I am between a cuban chestnut and an amazona red. I like the amazona because it has two pen loops but the cuban seems so beautiful. What do you suggest?

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  8. @BernhardS - thanks - my husband shoots as a hobby so perhaps I will have to raid his supplies :-)

    @Mary - I would say it depends on personal preference - you want to love it for a long time, so take a look at your other accessories and the things that make you smile! I have an amazona pocket in almond which is beautiful and recently purchased one in black which is really classy. I don't kow why I didn't go for red as I am a colourful person normally! In an ideal world I would have several and change them depending on mood and what I was wearing that day(much like a handbag!). I think they will both last a long time. Check out the deals from City Organiser here - I've just got one and the delivery was really fast (no affiliation just a happy customer):
    http://www.cityorganiser.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Filofax_Personal_Organisers____Up_to_40__Discount_39.html

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  9. Whoops - I think my link was too long. Try this:
    http://bit.ly/g2mvPW

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  10. Hey, I'm in Malaysia, just next door to Indonesia. My grandfather's Indonesian.

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  11. happy FFAF! i have one question...in contributing to the upswing in filofax interest, have we created a monster? yesterday someone listed a winchester with a STARTING bid of $250? come on! really?


    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140527140430&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_500wt_1071

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  12. Laurie - have a safe trip!

    @ DanishGTD - I use an A5 Finchley and I absolutely love it. The leather is fantastic and there's so much space to store and write things inside. I just moved up from a personal size (Portland) and don't regret the move at all - the extra weight is totally worth the extra space.

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  13. @Allan, I think I´ll be quite happy with it as well. I just bought a used Domino A5 (for just 20 pounds) and I´m looking forward to testing out the format.
    I find myself using a junior legal pad for jotting down notes all the time during the work day and it could be awesome to have this in my Filo instead of having to fold the sheets at the end of the day. (A standard junior legal pad fits into the back pocket of the A5, right?).

    BTW, just got word from the scandinavian store that the brown/chokolate coloured Finchley is going out of production... Hopefully I´ll order it in time - have to wait until next paycheck.

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  14. Discovered that the Domino has been released in bright orange!!! Looks awesome IMO, but I can't come up with a use for it, so won't buy it.

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  15. Laurie, all my best wishes for you and your family in your new home! I've been off the blog for a few weeks as we adopted a little puppy. Now my filo has all new notes just for her!..
    @DanishGTD, I believe Nan has a Finchley A5 in Brown/Chocolate... If you do a search on this, you may find her blog entry from about two years ago!

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  16. @colie Interesting point - my concern is that fashion is very fickle, and I fear for Filofax if they put all their efforts into riding the current wave of popularity for multiple-binder-hoarding at the expense of their core customer base of concerned and astute time managers. Only time will tell - but the 'Filofax craze' will most certainly come to a (probably swift) end leaving the core people who were around before, plus a few newcomers, to carry on.

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  17. @michele, I can´t seem to find it. But thanks anyway.

    On another note, I think the rising popularity of Filofax has to do with maybe people are beginning to appreciate something tactile and sturdy as opposed to the digital-age-craze that has been on the rise the past few years.
    But right now us - the trusted users and followers - can try to benefit from the in some cases still rather low prizes on used Filos on the used market. At least over here i Scandinavia...

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  18. I suppose the only advantage to current filofax popularity is that at some point in the future there will be a lot of nice filofax binders on ebay which will be going very cheap!

    I really wish filofax would put a lot more effort into the refills.

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  19. We're here! We arrived in Jakarta this afternoon. First impressions of Jakarta: huge city, tropical, and hot! It is very confusing and it will take me some time to figure out how to get around and where to go. Luckily we have the weekend to settle in a little before my husband starts work Monday. We are all still shattered with jet lag, I haven't slept more than a couple of hours for 4 nights in a row (due to ill children before we even started to travel) and the kids are disoriented. (So am I for that matter!) I go through this confusing phase every time I move to a new country and I tell myself it's normal and temporary, and that I'll start to feel more comfortable soon.

    Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

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  20. @Laurie I wish you and your family every happiness in Indonesia and hope you soon feel settled in. Your winters will certainly be warmer!

    City Organiser - mentioned by @Alison Reeves above - have a 20% off promo code on their homepage. Some of their Filos are now being supplied with 2011 and 2012 diaries. Not sure the promo code can be used for purchases of the already discounted ones though.

    Very tempted by the Ruby Deco but don't really *need* one. If they had Amethyst I'd snap it up.

    This is one of my first posts here so I just wanted to say thanks for a wonderfully addictive blog. I've got about 13 Filos and bought the first in 1983.

    Currently using scarlet Pocket Malden for work, lilac Pocket Piazza for health/fitness/personal diary and cobalt blue Personal Portobello for planning, big goals etc. This is such a stunning Filo, wish they'd bring it back or do other in that colour.

    Happy weekend to everyone!

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  21. @DanishGTD - Do a search on "chocolate" 2nd tab, entry from 02 January 2009 "New Year/New Filo" Nan even has photos attached. I have the Mustard A5 Finchley which I use for work - love it!

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  22. @michele... Thanks alot! Found it!!!

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  23. Does anyone know if filofax have ever done a zip lock envelope for the mini size?

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  24. @Laurie Glad to hear you have arrived and are being to settle in for the duration!

    @Colie I saw that crazy Ebay posting! That is simply ridiculous.

    @carribean princess And your Deco will be a key tool in getting that Ph.D. completed. Stylishly, at that!

    Happy weekend, all! Hope the meet up is a wild success and not too costly to your pocket books. I envy you all in the kindest way possible. ;)

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  25. Guys - For those of you at the Philofaxy meet, I hope you are OK. I just saw the news about the riots.

    Please take care.

    Nellie,
    x

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  26. I use a brown A5 Kendall and though it's a big one, it works best for me. I also have a black personal Kendall, which I bought earlier but I'm too much used and addicted to the A5.
    I use it the GTD-way. I have a week on 2P, write my personal appointments with by fountainpen in havanna inkt, my bussiness with another fountainpen in blue-black.
    My todo-lists are: Calls, Agendas, Computer, Errands, Home, Anywhere and waiting For. Ik also have checklists: repeating todo's, night away, gifts. My Notes section is my IN-box.
    It works for me to keep organized and though I love gadgets, I always carry my FF.

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  27. @Laurie, hope you get settled in soon!

    @everyone at the meet-up - hope you're all having a great time (and managing NOT to spend your entire savings!).

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  28. @colie

    there were demonstrations today against the cuts half a million people in London. Mostly peaceful, but a few hundred people broke away and attacked Oxford Street and the Ritz.

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  29. Mary:
    I just bough the Cuban Zip Personal size...it is GORGEOUS. and the rings are enormous! I have it stuffed full! Love it! The Amazona is a stunning piece of kit too though! You'll love either one. Best wishes!

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  30. Hi Everyone.
    Thanks for your concern today about us in London. All went well a few hiccups but everyone is ok.

    I will be doing a post about our adventures and the meet up with pictures etc. I will be starting on it shortly once I have caught up with other stuff here.

    We had another great meet up which I think will come across well in the photos.

    Regards
    Steve

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  31. Jotje, do you have pics of said orange domino? I hope it comes in A5. :D

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  32. @Leslie
    The Domino in Orange is available from Filofax Germany - but only in Pocket and Personal, I'm afraid.

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