FP Held Hostage? Seeking Advice on Repairperson No Longer Responding

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Originally Posted by Jon Szanto

Uh, yeah, I'm well aware of this common quote, usually phrased a bit differently.

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And, it just so happens it is consistent with much of what I have experienced in my life. If you have not experienced something similar it does not mean that I have not...........

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That's fine. It means you haven't come across many - or any - of the remarkable teachers in this world. Using that phrase seeks to elevate one class of people while denigrating others, and yet there are countless millions of people who owe their success in life due to the guidance, skill and wisdom of one or more teachers.

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If the result is I have now lost all credibility, so be it. It puts me in some good company.

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Enjoy yourself and your company. BTW, who would you recommend for doing work on Sheaffer vac-fill pens?

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It's really sad you constantly spend more time trying to find something to fight with in a post than you do trying to understand it.

To suggest to a lifelong teacher that he or she has not experienced some remarkable teachers in his or her life is beyond absurd.

Every teacher knows there is plenty of credence to that quote. I did not say nor imply it applies to all teachers. Nor that a teacher who can teach, but cannot do, is incapable of serving as a remarkable inspiration to a young person and have a greatly positive influence upon them.

As for the company I keep, I will indeed enjoy them. (Suffice it to say "present company" is not among them.)

PS: I'm sorry but I cannot help you with a recommendation on a good repair person for Sheaffer vac-fill pens.

Gerry Berg

I would second that recommendation. Have sent a snorkel to Danny Fudge - great service, fast, good price - but after buying a vac-filler from Gerry I sent another to him for repair.

There's probably other people who are really good, but as I am largely isolated from pen people, I cannot name any others from personal experience.

I have two of Gerry's vac-fillers. Both would suck a golfball through a garden hose.

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Originally Posted by 724Seney

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Originally Posted by Jon Szanto

You lost all credibility with the “those who can’t, teach” rubbish. Unless you’d like to rephrase that, of course.

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It's a widely employed quote, not one I made up.

And, it just so happens it is consistent with much of what I have experienced in my life. If you have not experienced something similar it does not mean that I have not...........

If the result is I have now lost all credibility, so be it. It puts me in some good company.

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Let’s call a spade a spade: This phrase is an insult to teachers. On top of that, it is simply wrong. The teacher who taught you to read knows how to read. The teacher who taught you to multiply knows how to multiply.

And no you’re not in good company when you repeat it. In my experience, people who repeat this claptrap have unjustified confidence in their own knowledge and intellect. If you have not experienced something similar it does not mean that I have not.

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Originally Posted by 724Seney

To suggest to a lifelong teacher that he or she has not experienced some remarkable teachers in his or her life is beyond absurd.

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Read carefully, as I left the door open to the possibility. I would never think a teacher themself would offer the unfortunate quote, but perhaps I am wrong in this. I do want to apologize, without going back and deleting it (I hate revisionist history) my use of the term rubbish. Not cool.

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Every teacher knows there is plenty of credence to that quote. I did not say nor imply it applies to all teachers. Nor that a teacher who can teach, but cannot do, is incapable of serving as a remarkable inspiration to a young person and have a greatly positive influence upon them.

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To the first statement, I still most vigorously disagree, and it is woefully inadequate to attempt to retroactively callibrate such a statement: it does, indeed, imply that a teacher is inferior to a practitioner with no qualifications. This is an egregious overstatement. The final failure is that it overlooks the most powerful negation of the statement itself: those that do both, with the skills, experience, and equanimity required in both actions.

This isn't an end-all, be-all dialog. I openly entertain your proposed way of finding other sources for a talent (in this case, pen repairs) but you have been opaque about the process as well as using an unfortunate catch-phrase to bolster it. As someone who has spent a career both as a performer and a teacher, I have never seen merit in the statement, even if I have seen members of both endeavors fall short as often as succeed. It is simply not the duality that your phrase clearly implies.

I would be interesting to hear a more delineated methodology for finding those wonderful craftspeople who seem to be hidden in our midst. There is no reason to not consider adding them to the strong list I have of talented repair professionals.

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Originally Posted by Farmboy

Gerry Berg

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Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds

I would second that recommendation.

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Originally Posted by silverlifter

I have two of Gerry's vac-fillers. Both would suck a golfball through a garden hose.

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Gentlemen, I do apologize: I clearly should have labeled the rhetorical question as... a rhetorical question! Gerry has done a number of my Sheaffer's and I'm happy to attest to his work. Frankly, it's kind of interesting as he doesn't have any personal footprint on the various pen forums and doesn't run a personal site for his services (that I recall). He is simply known as one of the very best on that matter, and maybe a good example of the type of person 724Seney was referring to.

I don't know how many times I've posted on various forums that 17-second YouTube of Gerry demo-ing one of the barrel fills. Brings the house down.

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Originally Posted by guyy

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Originally Posted by 724Seney

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Originally Posted by Jon Szanto

You lost all credibility with the “those who can’t, teach” rubbish. Unless you’d like to rephrase that, of course.

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It's a widely employed quote, not one I made up.

And, it just so happens it is consistent with much of what I have experienced in my life. If you have not experienced something similar it does not mean that I have not...........

If the result is I have now lost all credibility, so be it. It puts me in some good company.

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Let’s call a spade a spade: This phrase is an insult to teachers. On top of that, it is simply wrong. The teacher who taught you to read knows how to read. The teacher who taught you to multiply knows how to multiply.

And no you’re not in good company when you repeat it. In my experience, people who repeat this claptrap have unjustified confidence in their own knowledge and intellect. If you have not experienced something similar it does not mean that I have not.

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It was designed to be a phrase to disparage teachers. According to what I've read it originally came from George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman where the teacher discouraged the novel that a pupil was writing.
Either way it's not worth repeating and claptrap is a great description of it.

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Originally Posted by FredRydr

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Originally Posted by DayOnFire

...The name of the repairer is Write On Time West, on the West Coast. The name of the person I messaged back and forth with is Ray.

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What address or city, or more specifically, which county?

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Sacramento

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Originally Posted by RobJohnson

Sacramento

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Damn, that was quick, before I posted my edits! :)

According to the Sacramento's clerk's office data records updated as of today, the user of the fictitious name "Write on Time" (with or without "West") has failed to file the mandatory registration that identifies the individual and address using that name (and requires payment of a business tax to operate in the city). The typical ramifications for the violator are penalties and inability to avail the business's use or protection of the courts.

Have a search if you will: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/Fina...for-a-Business

I noticed a reference to Maiden NC on the facebook page in the link above. Likewise, there is no registration of the name in North Carolina.

Ditto: https://www.sosnc.gov/online_service...name/search/id

The very purpose of mandatory fictitious (assumed) name registration is to protect the public against unscrupulous individuals hiding behind business names without identifying the true legal entity behind it, whether it is a natural person or a corporation. The OP's dilemma is a perfect example. Hopefully he will be able to piece together more precise information from his correspondence and from other victims.

Regarding the quote about teachers. I don't think it speaks to the quality of a teachers ability at all. I've always taken it to refer to someone who doesn't have, or is not interested in, what it takes to compete in another market. For instance, and engineer might not like the harsh and competitive environment of the business world, so he decides to teach engineering instead. An artist might now want to stress over competing in the commercial world in order to pay the mortgage - so they decide that teaching art is a good idea. Etc. Whether of not that is considered a negative thing is up to somebody's personal philosophy, but it certainly doesn't say anything negative about their teaching ability.

BTW: If Write on Time used a PO Box, the true identity of the box holder is available from the relevant post office.

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Originally Posted by Ole Juul

Regarding the quote about teachers. I don't think it speaks to the quality of a teachers ability at all.

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I realize we all parse language differently, and I really didn't leave space for your interpretation, but there is an inescapable fact (to me) in the structure of the actual phrase ("Those that can, do; those that can't, teach.") There is a duality inherent in the wording that distinctly implies 'those unable to do 1 will have to do 2'. It casts teaching as a 2nd tier ability, relegated to those who couldn't cut it in the 'do' department.

I'll wager that this is how most people read the phrase and the way it is most often implied in use. That is the manner that I objected to, because I don't think teaching takes a back seat to any other endeavor.

One further perspective on the teachers/doers thing.

In many fields of endeavour, including fountain pen restoration I would wager, one can really only teach (credibly) after a long and successful period of doing. So it isn't an either/or, rather an evolution. You do something well enough for long enough, and eventually you are in the fortunate position of being able to share that experience and wisdom with others.

Well, I will add that just because someone decides to teach does not mean they are good at it. The same would hold to any professional. Finding a teacher skilled in communication, mentoring, and of course knowledge is a wonderful thing to experience and it usually only takes one, maybe two to set the student on the course toward success.

I assume I am the product of many teachers. Perhaps we all are.

The OP must think he's posted his pen dilemma on the NEA website by mistake.

He's probably curous why he got the responses he did. I am curious why the same member(s) respond that way and why they usually have to say they shouldn't have responded that way? :crazy:

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Originally Posted by Chuck Naill

He's probably curous why he got the responses he did. I am curious why the same member(s) respond that way and why they usually have to say they shouldn't have responded that way? :crazy:

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I can tell you for a fact that the OP is getting a start on information regarding the repair person in question and his pen, and I can also tell you that a number of us know exactly who he is dealing with and know a history of this. Not all dialog exists strictly in the thread, but can occur in other ways.

Don't assume, please. Be open to the possibility that we are actually helping someone.

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Originally Posted by Jon Szanto

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Originally Posted by Chuck Naill

He's probably curous why he got the responses he did. I am curious why the same member(s) respond that way and why they usually have to say they shouldn't have responded that way? :crazy:

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I can tell you for a fact that the OP is getting a start on information regarding the repair person in question and his pen, and I can also tell you that a number of us know exactly who he is dealing with and know a history of this. Not all dialog exists strictly in the thread, but can occur in other ways.

Don't assume, please. Be open to the possibility that we are actually helping someone.

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For the rest of us it looks like a few egos arguing over unhelpful, off topic minutiae. It’s certainly off putting and belongs in the lounge, if anywhere. I was starting to feel concerned for the OP and any new member who stumbled upon this mess.

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Originally Posted by Baisao

For the rest of us it looks like a few egos arguing over unhelpful, off topic minutiae. It’s certainly off putting and belongs in the lounge, if anywhere. I was starting to feel concerned for the OP and any new member who stumbled upon this mess.

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As I said, the OP is appreciative. They are new here and might not have known a particularly good place to post. For a pen 'lost' with a repair person, maybe this was as likely a place as any. I realize that, once again, the thread drifted. These things happen. We'll try to sort that out.

But beyond the excursion, we're trying to help the guy out. I've got contact info emails out to a number of other people. If anyone "new" reads the thread, maybe they'll see that this is an honest effort to be helpful, no matter how anyone wants to paint it, and in spite of some errant comments.