Order arrived!

Recently, I ordered a bunch of refills from The Daily Planner. Along with the things I really needed (To Do pages in both A5 and Personal formats), I ordered several items I didn't need. Why? I wanted to experiment with Filofax products I'd never used before to round out my experience and collection, and to report to all of you on this blog.

Today I'll start with an insert called "Erasable Marker Memo" on the Web site and on the invoice, and "Most Used Telephone Numbers" on the package. It's a single sheet of plastic, about the same weight and flexibility as a dishwashing-liquid bottle. In other words, quite a bit thicker and stiffer than paper.

The insert is ©1995, and the packaging seems to be from the same era. (The more recent packaging is mostly white with only a little dark blue.) Also, it was made in the UK, which makes it a rare find these days.

The front of the form reads "Most Used Telephone Numbers" (as shown), and the back says "Messages," with just a page of blank lines below.

The instructions read, "Write in pencil or non-permanent marker. Erase with rubber eraser or damp cloth."

Just testing it briefly, pencil marks look lighter than on paper, and erase easily. Marker also appeared fainter, and rubbed off easily with just a finger -- no water needed! That leads me to believe just as I suspected -- that marker would smudge more easily than pencil.

I would love to use a form like this as a To-Do list for ad-hoc tasks, or capturing temporary notes. But it would also be great for its intended purpose, since the numbers we call most often change from time to time, as family and friends' phone numbers (or relationships) change from time to time.

Order placed

I just placed an order for Filofax refills with The Daily Planner.

For my work A5, I ordered a horizontal format week-per-two-pages. Since these are 2008 calendars and we're well into 2008 now, The Daily Planner has them on sale now. My work life is driven by deadlines, reminders, and occasional appointments, rather than constant appointments every day, the horizontal format, rather than the vertical format that comes standard with the A5 filo, is better for me. More on that in a later post.

I also ordered 1/5" grid paper that I use for my food journal, and everyday items like ruled paper and To Do pages. I ordered a couple of items -- Personal Computer Paper (3 Personal pages to one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet) and an erasable single sheet ($6) -- that I wouldn't normally order. All in the line of duty. I'll report on how well these items worked for me. As a Filofax blogger, I feel it's incumbent upon me to test these items.

I didn't bite the bullet and buy the $50 A5 hole punch -- more on that later. But I ordered almost $90 worth of Filofax paper. I'll let you know how it goes.

How sick am I?

I like to frequent a local restaurant because it has delicious, freshly prepared appetizers and I can usually get a seat at the bar in front of a TV where I can satisfy my obsessions with CNN, Law & Order, and the Red Sox. The restaurant has a satellite TV system whose channel numbers are completely different from our cable TV channels at home.

If you've read this far, you can probably see where I'm going with this. Yes, I have a page in my Personal Filofax, behind the Lists tab and in alphabetical order by the name of the restaurant, with the numbers for my favorite channels on the bar TV.

So, I got there the other night, and another solitarily dining woman was watching public TV and had taken dibs on the remote. When she was getting ready to leave, she offered me the opportunity to change the channel, and said she was looking for CNN. I whipped out my Filo and gave her the channel number.

She was grateful, but gave me a seriously funny look. In the end, she and I had a lovely conversation and made a good connection. I find that pulling out my Filo frequently turns out to be a conversation starter, usually beginning with someone remarking, "my, what a long to-do list you have." I'd appreciate hearing, in the comments, if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon.

And of course, feel free to tell me what a sick puppy I am for using my Filo to keep track of my favorite TV channels at the bar.

It's my bag, baby

Some Philofaxers are into taking pictures of what's in their bags; i.e. pocketbook, briefcase, backpack, messenger bag, or whatever bag we carry through our day. I've been promising for a while to do my own. And now I have.

Please add yours to the Philofaxy pool!

Java Jive

Here's something I did in my Filo that seemed like a good idea at the time...but in retrospect I realize is incredibly goofy. You see, I got a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas one year, and it came with an assortment of sample K-cups (individual coffee charges). As I drank them, I made a list of which ones I did and didn't like, so I'd know which ones to buy when the samples ran out. You can see the result here:



Other things to note in this photo: You can see how I date my pages by year in the upper-right corner. Since this is a list, I keep it behind the List tab; also, lavender paper is my default color for lists. (But I've ended up with other colors mixed in as well.)

What brought up this topic today? I found my local supermarket now carries the K-cups! As I raised my eyes to see them on the top shelf, I swear the heavens opened with a Hallelujah!

Which means I get to throw away this page!