So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.
But to get us off to a good start... are you in the Washington DC area? Would you be interested in a Philofaxy Meet Up in the Washington DC area?
One of our readers Patricia is interested in organising a meet up in the area. If you can help with suggestions for the meet up or you are interested in attending such an event, please initially contact philofaxy at gmail dot com and we will put you in touch with Patricia.
I put my yellow Original Filofax on top of my pink Apex last night and now the pattern from the Apex has imprinted on the cover of the Original. Does anyone have any ideas how I can get rid of the mark please? I have tried a wet wipe but that didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless an apex managed to mark an original... wtf hope someone offers a suggestion...When you say imprinted are we talking colour transfer or just a pattern dented in to it just to clarify...
DeleteYes it's colour transfer, there is a line of it about 3 inches long and about 1cm wide at the bottom and thinner at he top. It isn't very dark but you can see it easily. The Apex is only six months old and the Original is new so I really hope someone can suggest something.
DeleteContact Filofax and possibly send them both back?
DeleteThanks Natalie, the Apex itself seems fine but I'm wondering if the heat had anything to do with it? It was in the 80's here yesterday. I've only just had the Original exchanged because of an issue with the stitching so I'd feel quite awkward getting in touch again but if no one has an ideas I might have to.
DeleteIt may have been the heat but it shouldn't happen. And for all you know there is a batch of Apexes out there just the same so it may be a known problem.
DeleteIt could have happened next to something valuable and expensive to fix. Car upholstery, a leather jacket, a sofa.
You won't trust the Apex again now anyway.
I would let them know, not in a ranty demanding way, but in a "this has happened, I would like your input please". Being nice goes a long way.
I didn't think of it like that, I'll drop them an email then. Thanks for your help.
DeleteHas anyone ever come across any books or websites etc about the psychology of collecting (filos or anything else) and why people do it?
ReplyDeleteOr collecting anything.... I think we should consult an expert on this!
DeleteInitial coffee break research:
DeleteInteresting starting article here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_collecting
a postvely encouyraging one here
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/imagine/201105/the-collection-connection-creativity
Quite interesting reading the Wiki entry. Who will be the first person to get their name in the 'What is collected' section!
DeleteSteve
Sheesh! Tips for using a filo to improve typing please? Should read 'positively encouraging'.
ReplyDeleteFor those that print your own inserts, what weight paper do you find works best? I printed my own last year on some white 24lb, but I want to use a color this year and I'm wondering what others use.
ReplyDeleteI've printed on 80gsm paper, I'm not sure what that translates to in lbs ? but no issues with it. Filofax white paper is 70 gsm paper, so it's slightly thicker.
DeleteThanks, Steve. That gives me a starting point. Now if I could only find A4 paper in the States.
DeleteStaples can get it to order, normally quite quickly too.
DeleteIn case there are others that are interested, 20lb paper (regular copy paper) is 75gsm and 24lb is 90. I used 24lb in my work A5 this year and it was a great weight.
DeleteDivide GSM by 3.75 to get pound weight.
DeleteThank you Alan
DeleteI just use 20 lb. for my custom pages and I think it works fine. I've used 24 lb. but found it wasn't really necessary.
DeleteA different take on Jen's question...for those that print your own inserts for personal size, how do you get manage cutting a large amount of paper so that it's the exact same size? Do you take it to a print shop to get it cut in advance? If you purchase the prepunched, blank, FF paper, has it worked well for you when printing?
ReplyDeleteI print on to the standard Filofax plain paper, either white or cotton cream.
Deletea) The thing to do is make sure the paper is fanned before you place it in the feed tray. Other wise the punched holes will keep the paper stuck together!
b) Make sure you have the paper the correct way up for your printer so the holes are on the correct side of the paper with regards to the margins of your printing.
c) If it's a continuous insert such as a diary, print odd numbered pages first, let the paper cool to flatten again before turning the stack over to print the other side. Making sure the pages are in the correct order to print the other side.
Have a go, the results are really worth the increased cost of the paper compared to cutting up paper to size.
Great tips, Steve! Now I feel more equipped to face this monster!
DeleteIn the US, Kinko's (I think it's called FedEx/Kinkos now) charges $1.49 per cut. Doesn't matter if they cut 1 sheet or 500. So very inexpensive. Depending on how you lay them out on the paper.
DeleteIs that cut on a power guillotine cutter?
DeleteFilofax Leaves....does anyone remember when the pages in Ff were referred to as leaves...my question is this: Is there any way to tell how many pages of say calendar/diary/telephone inserts a FF can hold ? I mean does or has FF ever given a recommended amount of pages (esp. in the days BEFORE we decorated our FFs lol!) to put in your planner ?
ReplyDeleteI truly think that back in the day I saw a reference to leaves being meant as pages/paper in the little darlings ? Anyone else ? Jog my memory or call me crazy ! Thanks all, have a great day !
Help! In Boots! What kind if Nivea do I need to spruce up an ochre Malden? Comes made with Shea butter or macadamia nut oil or almond oil! Lotion or hand cream. Does it matter?!
ReplyDeleteI got some Wheelers leather care balm which has beeswax in it, did my maldens very nicely in deed
DeleteI just use the old fashioned bog standard Nivea creme in the little dark blue plastic pot. Apply liberally, wrap the filo in a plastic bag and leave to marinate for a few days. Then carefully unwrap, wipe off the excess with a lint free cloth and finish off by buffing to a shine. Brought my red A5 Pimlico up a treat.
DeleteHey, Steve? Is it possible when you link the blogs in the webfinds to use a .com for blogspot instead of .fr? Reading them is a common time waster at work (they don't waste my time, work does) but the .fr extension is blocked. I have a work around if it's not possible, but I thought I would ask.
ReplyDeleteI will look in to it...
DeleteJen, Not as easy as it would first seem. They are all listed as .com but when they open they become .fr because I'm in France. I changed one lot and my script kicked in for Saturdays webfinds thinking there was lots of new posts... no some where over 12 months old... scrap that idea.
DeleteIt might be easier to talk to your IT department to ask why do they block .fr addresses
Steve
Thanks, Steve. It's a school district so they have funny rules. I'll go back to copying the link address and changing the fr to com. I figured it was a default because of your location. Thanks for trying though.
DeleteI've updated Tuesdays manually but they will still change depending on your location. It's a Google thing not a lot I can do about it really.
DeleteToday I spent the first hour at my desk this morning doing a restructuring of my Cuban (I’m giving the Cuban another go), basically reverting from my customised 10-part divider set, which has grown a bit dog-eared, to the standard six-part Diary-Notes-Projects-Information-Financial-Addresses divider set, of which I unaccountably have two! To do this I’ve compressed all my GTD-style lists into the Projects section (actually looks easier to handle than the many-divider model), and so far it’s looking really neat and easy to use.
ReplyDeleteAs a way of simplifying down from GTD, I’m thinking of dropping the ‘master’ tasks list, which seems to have no real purpose in terms of event tracking, other than to generate a lot of ‘reconciliation’ of tasks and waiting-fors back to the master list. I figure that if the other lists are up to date, I can do without the Project list. I still have my someday/maybe list, but that’s an aide memoire and not involved in the task tracking function.
So far so good! I even have the first half of 2014 in my diary section now.
I’m going to start to use the Financials section, and I’ve today started building up the Addresses section (only putting in addresses as and when I need them, since I have so much ‘padding’ in my digital address book through over-enthusiastic saving of data!)
And the reason for all this embellishment of paper? Not only the desire for a leaner system but the fact that the internet is seriously on the fritz here, and numerous calls (over an hour’s worth) to charming-but-ineffective ladies and gents in BT’s Indian call centre(s) have failed to resolve it. The problem has apparently been going on since 2nd July, but isn’t any better. So we have an intermittent and unreliable ISP. Add to this the fact that when we moved to Godney we seriously considered going broadband-free (and did, for a week or two), and we are now very inclined to write to BT and tell them that they are in breach of their contract (which is still in its early stages), and that we’re not going to pay them for the non-provision of service, any longer.
In honesty, we would have preferred to wait out the 18 months of our contract while simultaneously, and quietly, planning our ‘escape’ from the Net, but our hand is, it would appear, being forced.
Suddenly paper looks even more attractive than it did previously! So I’m trying to get a fully functioning system in place before the axe falls.
There will still be email (we have wi-fi enabled cafes nearby), but the majority of recreational surfing will stop, along with such time-wasters as Farcebook and Twitter.
So there we go…watch this space I guess. More than ever I’m grateful for binder-based systems, and for the 30-plus years I’ve spent thinking about time and task management.
Beware the fragility of the Net…….
Isn't that the truth. We've been having internet problems since Monday - intermittent access. I called the provider yesterday and they believe it's a problem with our phone line (we have DSL internet) but they can't get out to check it for FOUR days! In the meantime, you just never know whether you'll have it or not. Very frustrating!!! The Net is definitely fragile!!!
DeleteI should have thought of that when it took two weeks to get my Internet reconnected when I moved house, and over a month to get the phone working properly! Hope you managed to get it sorted in the end, David.
DeleteHi Cruz
DeleteWell, we did eventually get it sorted - after i'd cancelled our Direct Debit, written to BT telling them they were in breach, etc. Altogether it only took six weeks....
Now we're on the move again, hopefully this time things will be easier - although even though I gave them a month's notice it will still be two weeks from when we move in before they can get an engineer out to us. I love progress......
You are moving again? I thought you had just done that!
DeleteYes, we thought we'd finished with that as well.....but some friends of ours have bought and renovated a beautiful 300-year-old cottage about 15 miles away, which is just slightly larger, and which means we can get all our furniture back from Wales and reunite it in one place, which is excellent news. The not-so-excellent news is that this move has to be done quickly, and so I'm utilising my GTD based system to the full, and am very pleased with how it's holding up.
ReplyDelete