Treasury Secretary Yellen provides signature for new paper currency

[Roe D Hym]

Barry, you are equating education with sophistication and i was equating wearing a mechanical watch with sophistication. I made the assumption that folks who use fountain pens would be of the same mindset of those who wear mechanical watches.

But some of us have moved on away from mechanical watches towards watches that are far more accurate and also perform functions mechanical watches could only dream of.

And yet we champion the use of fountain pens which were supplanted by ink pens and roller ball pens and text machines and computers.

[guyy]

Barry, you are equating education with sophistication and i was equating wearing a mechanical watch with sophistication. I made the assumption that folks who use fountain pens would be of the same mindset of those who wear mechanical watches.

Bad assumption.

[guyy]

Barry, you are equating education with sophistication and i was equating wearing a mechanical watch with sophistication. I made the assumption that folks who use fountain pens would be of the same mindset of those who wear mechanical watches.

But some of us have moved on away from mechanical watches towards watches that are far more accurate and also perform functions mechanical watches could only dream of.

And yet we champion the use of fountain pens which were supplanted by ink pens and roller ball pens and text machines and computers.

I enjoy writing with pens. I even like tinkering with them from time to time. Some watches — and generally not those most esteemed by watch nerds — are nice to look at. But that’s it. I quickly tire of pens that are merely pretty. Watches just bore me. I only look at them, and on top of that, mechanical watches are a pain in the ass to maintain.

[Ole Juul]

Barry, you are equating education with sophistication and i was equating wearing a mechanical watch with sophistication. I made the assumption that folks who use fountain pens would be of the same mindset of those who wear mechanical watches.

But some of us have moved on away from mechanical watches towards watches that are far more accurate and also perform functions mechanical watches could only dream of.

And yet we champion the use of fountain pens which were supplanted by ink pens and roller ball pens and text machines and computers.

I enjoy writing with pens. I even like tinkering with them from time to time. Some watches — and generally not those most esteemed by watch nerds — are nice to look at. But that’s it. I quickly tire of pens that are merely pretty. Watches just bore me. I only look at them, and on top of that, mechanical watches are a pain in the ass to maintain.

I'm a watch collector and I find that others with the same interests as me are generally watchmaker wannabees or indeed watchmakers, and they have a deep interest in industrial history, as well as the general history of watches of the time. I'm talking about Soviet watches only (that would be up to '90). I think that is what most people would call sophisticated. I have no idea about what other watch communities do, but I do think this is very similar to the fountain pen community.

[Barry B. Gabay]

Quote Originally Posted by Roe D Hym View Post

Barry, you are equating education with sophistication and i was equating wearing a mechanical watch with sophistication. I made the assumption that folks who use fountain pens would be of the same mindset of those who wear mechanical watches.


Hello Roe,

While you & I, along with many others here, may still prefer mechanical wristwatches, and an occasional fountain pen in the hand, I hardly believe we should consider ourselves sophisticated based on those two criteria. I have met some horribly crass individuals at pen shows who love tossing their Benjamins around, while loudly mentioning the price of their newest fountain pen, wristwatch, or European sports car. Those folks can easily & mindlessly buy whatever they want, but that does not make them sophisticated in the least. Rather, their speech and behavior makes them boorish and revolting in my estimation. As a measure of sophistication, how about a brilliant but humble economist, regardless of what is on her wrist on in her hand?

Peace, Stay healthy,
Barry

[FredRydr]

Does that mean you won't car pool to the Columbus Pen Show in the Rolls?

[Barry B. Gabay]

Fred,

I love riding in our mutual friend's Rolls Corniche with the old Burger King wrappers on the floor. And i also liked his Silver Cloud long ago, especially when he argued with parking lot attendants who were not allowed to accept such an expensive vehicle in their lots. Once, at the Philly show, we walked about 8 blocks in a blizzard for dinner because that was the closest lot we could find to park his monstrosity.

It certainly isn't the possession of affluence, but ostentation, which offends me. I didn't mean to sound too proud of my own poverty.

Be well, sir.
Barry

[jar]

And there can be other valid reasons for ones choice.

A few years ago I experienced a pretty scary bout of fainting; simply feeling an "oh no, going down" moment and then finding myself on the floor and so totally nauseated and disoriented that I could not have crawled three feet to reach a phone. I live alone and the house is pretty securely locked and the only possible easy access would be through the garage.

Fortunately things improved pretty quickly and I soon recovered enough to sit up. BUT, I decided right then that I did not want to be in that position ever again.

I bought my first Samsung smart watch, a big square thing that also had a sim card and so it's own phone line as well as a connection through Bluetooth to my cell phone. That meant I would always be able to make a call even if I could not get to my cell phone or was beyond Bluetooth range of the phone. I also added an Alexa link to my garage door opener so that I'd be able to open the garage door by voice if needed.

I soon added a second Samsung watch so that I would always have one charged as well as the classic heir and a spare. Now I'm on the third iteration of the Samsung watches and all my really nice mechanical and battery watches sit unused. Probably need to sell them off one day.

[Roe D Hym]

My use of lack of sophistication was extreme and the wrong choice of words to use.

[Ray-VIgo]

We have a long-lived understanding in this country that a crook with marginal friends might forge currency, but a crook with voting friends eventually gets to print the original.

[Wahl]

Sometime ago, I had to give a signature sample to be digitalized, and I was presented with a sheet of paper with a signature block and a felt tipped pen. No choices.

About watches, mechanical, of course, as do most of the FP collectors and users I know.

[eachan]

I stopped wearing a watch a long time ago when I got a cell-phone. No need to duplicate.

[jar]

I stopped wearing a watch a long time ago when I got a cell-phone. No need to duplicate.

I stopped lugging around a cell phone when I got my Smart Watches. No need to duplicate.