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- Thread starter Gutwrench
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Happy, happy, joy, joy. My grail fountain pen has arrived!! 😁😁😁😁😁
I have long lusted after a Pilot Custom 823 pen. And looking around the interwebs I found that a relatively local shop (Melbourne, rather than Tokyo) had them on sale, $200 off. So I spent my tax refund on it.
It arrived, so I filled it with that unobtainium of inks -- Parker Penman Sapphire*. It writes absolutely perfectly with that ink. Just the right intensity of blue, just the right amount of shading, just the right degree of smoothness as the nib goes over the paper.
More later in the fountain pens topic.
* currently worth more per millilitre than Chanel No 5
I have long lusted after a Pilot Custom 823 pen. And looking around the interwebs I found that a relatively local shop (Melbourne, rather than Tokyo) had them on sale, $200 off. So I spent my tax refund on it.
It arrived, so I filled it with that unobtainium of inks -- Parker Penman Sapphire*. It writes absolutely perfectly with that ink. Just the right intensity of blue, just the right amount of shading, just the right degree of smoothness as the nib goes over the paper.
More later in the fountain pens topic.
* currently worth more per millilitre than Chanel No 5
Well wear, and enjoy your Pilot Custom 823 pen.
I look forward to a discussion exploring (and explaining) details in the Fountain Pen thread.
Don't like it when I'm in a room full of parents in a board meeting and I have nothing to say because I am not a parent. All the parents/actual adults there were actually smart people and knew all the ins and outs. I kind of don't know why they put me on the board. I was in a room full of parents who understood business, how property management works, the law, the needs of their own children, and just general things that older adults tend to understand. They also handled difficult points in the conversation extremely well--and researching legislation, court cases, etc. is something I would never in a million years have thought to do.
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* Unsolicited sharing of life experience & advice below.*
Part of growing into your own adulthood I suppose. No parents are masters of all but our collective strength can be formidable.
Understanding your wheelhouse in respect to others can be a lesson in humility which is a powerful intro to concepts of servant leadership … and remember; Pain & discomfort is weakness leaving the body. Growth is more often than not, painful in some recognizable way. It is important to not shy away from these painful encounters but rather dive into them and understand the why and the how. You have been given the gift of observation and you watched how these folks collectively flexed their individual wheel houses to effectively achieve collective goals. Think about it, grow from it and where you feel you can, contribute your youthful insight.
And I wanted to add that it is absolutely OK to not say anything if you feel you have nothing to add. There is nothing wrong with this. Another equally valuable skill is to be able to identify those in the room with the deeper understanding on a topic and to let them speak and in the process deepen your own understanding.
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I assume that this board concerns education, and your role would be to put the perspective of a current student (even if studying elsewhere), and to be able to discuss, articulate, express, the specific subject needs of the performing arts (management types tend not to have much experience with the arts, performing or otherwise).
More to the point, some of the most valuable life-skills - and things that one has learned, which, in turn, may serve to open other, often unexpected, doors, later in life - come from experiences that are not directly related - sometimes, not even remotely related - to what one studies, or has studied, formally.
My mom just texted me saying her year-old Subaru Outback broke down, and she has to get a tow truck. This is absolutely insane to happen to such a new vehicle. Makes me dread having my own car even more (which thankfully I won't need for at least another two years).
The EV infrastructure in my hometown is really bad. It’s better in other places but definitely not here. My parents also do a lot of long-distance driving, which an EV couldn’t do as well.
Maybe not in the US. Everywhere else you'd be fine. If you can charge at home you'd never need to use the infrastructure in your home town.
Here I'm off work for a couple of days so today is my Friday. Off to the chiropractor in the morning. Then the rest of the day is my own. I've set my out of office and packed the work laptop away so it's out of sight and (hopefully) out of mind.
* Unsolicited sharing of life experience & advice below.*
Cars are a PITA. Dont buy into EVs being indestructible. I just saw one being towed a few days ago LOL. They all break and they all cost in their own ways. I've had a car since senior year of high school. I am a fan of vehicles that I own outright and can work on but that increasingly is difficult to do the newer you get and forget about it with modern CE or an EV.
Nothing like necessity being the mother of all invention ... or in my case, the catalyst of being a poor musician/trades worker thus learning how to keep my vehicles going affordably with my friends.
For about 8 years in my twenties and into my thirties, I commuted all over with my bike (lived downtown) but always had my toyota 4cyl beater truck. That thing was cheap to drive, cheap to fix and was mostly indestructible lol - what a great design and being a gigging musician similar to you in that behavior, having a bed that would fit all my gear (SVT, 810e cab, drums etc) was a godsend. There is no way I could have played out without a vehicle with a bed anyhow.
I (mostly lol) followed this formula - I bought that used no-frills Toyota (no ac lol) mostly outright from savings as a senior - my mom n dad helped me as a graduation gift too before starting trades school. As soon as I owned it, I continued making "car payments" to myself and was able to mostly buy my next car outright with extended warranty so owned my vehicle and just continued that behavior. I wasn't paying interest to the bank, I was bankrolling all of that myself for my next car or condo or house or whatever you want it to be for. Anyways, I got over the desire for new cars pretty quickly lol so have two paid for old cars (one 1980s 100% analog diesel and another 1990s UL truck with an easy to replace/work on gen1 OBDII computer/PCM) which I fix as needed and nowadays that car payment goes to investments. My goal is generational wealth for my three sons (7/5/1.5) at this point so when I bite the big one in 30 or so years lol, they'll have a big, tax free (after tax roth monies for those curious folks) head start financially speaking. A little forethought and planning with something as simple as a car payment and what you buy/spend can have real compounding positive effect down the line for you and your future loved ones so when you do get serious about buying a vehicle, be smart about it.
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Just thought I would pile-on to the unsolicited-advice-from-older-people going on here.
;-)
A possibility is you were selected because somebody thought you would bring a valuable perspective to discussions. Another is you are perceived as a high potential person so the board has an interest in getting to know you more closely. Why not ask one of your fellow board members?
In any case, an important way you can benefit from your board seat, even if you haven't begun actively participating in meetings yet, is getting repeated in-person exposure to influential or highly accomplished people. So much these days depends on personal links and shared experiences, because companies like Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok have made it incredibly easy to have shallow connections to others. More often than not, something that determines if somebody who may seem unreachable to you chooses to give you some of their time—or even better, becomes a mentor eventually—is whether you have some connection to them that is deeper than Facebook-friend status.
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Cars always cost you whatever you do. Repairs, depreciation and running costs.
Personally I’ve always paid cash for my cars and never had a car payment in my life. Not always made the most financial sense, but I don’t want to be tied to a monthly payment for anything if I can help it.
Looking forward to finishing the mortgage (for the second time) in a few years time.
Something very interesting just happened to me.
I found myself needing to occupy more of my time, and I have always wanted to learn more about cars from a mechanical perspective. While getting an oil change today at a popular in and out spot, I was talking to the manager and I mentioned that I was always fascinated by places like this. I mentioned that I admired how fast and efficient the workers were and how knowledgeable they are as well.
He said that they are looking for very part time workers, and that if I could do weekends it would be a great opportunity to learn more as well as make some extra cash. I reaffirmed that I have no idea what I'm doing, as in never even done an oil change before.. he said don't worry. We will teach you everything on the job!
I can't believe it, but I think I'm going to do it! I've never had two jobs before, but I am excited. I will still have every other monday off too from my gov flex days.
I found myself needing to occupy more of my time, and I have always wanted to learn more about cars from a mechanical perspective. While getting an oil change today at a popular in and out spot, I was talking to the manager and I mentioned that I was always fascinated by places like this. I mentioned that I admired how fast and efficient the workers were and how knowledgeable they are as well.
He said that they are looking for very part time workers, and that if I could do weekends it would be a great opportunity to learn more as well as make some extra cash. I reaffirmed that I have no idea what I'm doing, as in never even done an oil change before.. he said don't worry. We will teach you everything on the job!
I can't believe it, but I think I'm going to do it! I've never had two jobs before, but I am excited. I will still have every other monday off too from my gov flex days.
Also, thanks, everyone for your responses to my board of directors concern. I think I was chosen because I have been involved in this organization since the beginning (since I was a kid), and now teach/conduct. I think just through attending board meetings, I'll learn a lot. I've even done some research myself after the meeting yesterday to better acquaint myself with the circumstances.
Performing is great, thanks for asking. I haven't played many gigs this summer, which is unusual. Think I've only done 6 in the month I've been back. Partly because all my time is taken up teaching, which this summer is the first time I've had that happen. I actually don't mind it--teaching is a change of pace, and working with different people in a different music genre (rock and roll) which I'm happy about. Also working on LOTS of video projects (for my own YouTube channel and for clients). I think the performances are starting to pick up though.
I always used to work on cars as a teenager. Now I’m a lot older I’m glad I don’t have to, but enjoy.
As for having a second job the taxman would make that a pretty pointless task for me.
Hope it works out for you.
Very cool. I like the teamwork as well. It’s fun to watch them do their thing. Oil/fluid changes are so messy at home, paying to have it done is something I generally like to do anymore. I spilled old fluids one time in my garage and wowsa what a mess that was to clean up LOL
. Sounds like you will learn a lot and get comfortable under the hood of your vehicle. I have often dreamed about carving out a service tunnel/channel in my garage (vs says a lift) to make it easier to get under my vehicles similar to what many oil change/service shops have.