20 June 2014

Free For All Friday No 292

Free For All Friday is a place to ask questions or discuss anything ring binder organiser-related. What's on your mind this week?

23 comments:

  1. I appreciate that I might be showing my age and studenthood here, but: does anyone else use their Filofaxes as a resource for tabletop gaming as well as for organisation? I've found that it's really useful for storing character sheets and maps and the like, and was just wondering if anyone else did the same.

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    1. Heavens, that takes me back a bit! Dungeons and Dragons and the like! Sadly my D&D period and my Filofax period didn't overlap, but it sounds like a great combination. Are you normally a player or a 'DM' type? I can imagine the DM having a little black filofax with all the hit matrices and suchlike would make life a lot easier and probably result in quicker gameplay too. :)

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    2. Haha - yes, exactly! It works really well, because it means that I can't lose any character sheets. :) I'm usually a player, but having a gaming section in my Filofax is almost enough to convince me that I might be able to run something - and you're absolutely right, because I find that if I bodge together a character sheet in my filofax, I know what information I'm going to need and can write it down so I don't need to flick through sourcebooks!

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  2. Not my thing, but my wife (not a FF user) is interested in D&D etc. I can imagine this would be a very good use for a FF - Personal or A5? I'm not sure how much data would need to be stored in each instance, r what system you use? Drop me an off-list email davidpopely (at) googlemail (dot) com and maybe I can advise....

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  3. Not a gaming thing but back in the day, I would store my personal measurements and materials list on A5 Balmoral for my tailoring & sewing projects. They lived behind their own tab and when ever I was out and about, I could easily access "to acquire" list for ongoing project. The back pocket stored samples from fabrics and sometimes patterns even.

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  4. Just found out this week that when using GTD they recommend waiting two years before giving up, it takes people that long to really get up and going. Made me wonder if other systems just are not given enough time before they are throwed to the curb.

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    1. I think it's like diet pills. People expect a magic fix and unfortunately, just like health and fitness, organisation takes a certain amount of effort and discipline. No amount of pretty paper or planner systems will help unless you actually put the work in.

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    2. @Christine Farndon - amen to that. Even the most organised person can fall off the wagon, and it takes effort and discipline to clamber back on and make it all work again. Buying a new planner could even be a form of displacement activity or procrastination!

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    3. Just yesterday I boxed up all my "extra" planners and planner pages/inserts and put them in storage until year end in order to force myself to use what I've got, just for that reason. Am fed up to here with planner fiddling. Have wasted colossal amounts of time on this.

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    4. Erin, GTD is the system Getting Things Done by David Allen.
      There's lots of info here:
      http://gettingthingsdone.com/
      http://gettingthingsdone.com/gtd-times/
      The book walks you through the system & is probably the best way to start, if you're interested :)

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  5. Can anyone tell me about a personal York? I'm interested in date of manufacture, quality and any other info you can offer. Thanks in advance.

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    1. Hi Trina,
      OK I've looked through the catalogue archive... the York appears in the 1997/98 and 1998/99 catalogues
      The 1997/1998 catalogue lists it as being available in Mini, Pocket, Personal, A5 and Deskfax sizes. It was available in Black and Tan Italian Calf leather in all sizes with the exceptions of Mini and Deskfac which were only available in that catalogue in tan leather.
      As the archive isn't complete in terms of years, I'm not 100% sure when the York was introduced or when it ceased to be available.
      A Personal Size York in 1998/9 was priced at £78.70
      I hope that helps.

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    2. Thanks Steve. That's great info as I found it very difficult to find anything on the web.

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  6. Does any one know if there is an A6 binder that exists with the full-length back pocket (similar to Gillio/Raika) ?

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  7. Does anyone have any information about the pocket Portobello? The only thing I have been able to find while scouring the depths of the internet, are some really vague posts and an eBay listing with no information that is useful. I know they are Italian Leather but I would like to know the date(s) they were sold, what country the primary sales were in and the colors that were available, too, if at all possible. Thanks in advance!!

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    1. I have an A5 version. Can't add much to most of your questions, but the quality is very good. The leather is probably best described as a cross-hatch pattern. There's a pocket on eBay at the moment. If you have a look at the photos, you might think its a smaller version of the rambling grain like the Finsbury, but in reality, its not, its far more subtle. I quite like the pattern now. And the leather is very hard wearing. The inside of my A5 is suede, but not sure about the Pocket variety. Mine is read, I have also seen black, Orange and baby blue.

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    2. I have a pocket in red and the inside is leather with the leather pen loop. The black one on eBay is the only one I can find that is still available with all the info I already know but I found a listing that didn't sell last year that says its vintage (of course, who knows how the seller defines "vintage") with all basic info. like measurements and whatnot.

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  8. When I bought mine, it was unused from a lady who received it as a present, so it was still wrapped. The small, credit-card sized catalogue inside had a couple of organisers with dedicated pouches for Palm PDAs, so I suppose it would be sometime in the 90s?

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  9. Is there a company who offers computer paper similar to Filofax but with better paper quality?

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  10. Is there a company who offers computer paper similar to Filofax but with better paper quality?

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  11. I have permanent marker smears on the back of my new pink patent leather domino. I've tried rubbing alcohol, hair spray, Dawn soap, and a Magic Eraser with no luck whatsoever. I am hesitant to try finger nail polish remover. Has anyone had luck removing marker stains?

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    1. Try antibacterial hand gel that contains ethanol. That removes Sharpie ink, it might work on this one too.

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