Birthdays and Time Zones

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Well, it was my birthday yesterday - 24th March in the Northern latitudes... and that got me thinking. I'll have to check my actual time of birth because if it's after 12 noon then technically in New Zealand my birthday should fall on the 25th. What do you think of that? Has anyone else moved time zones such that their birthday should be locally different form their place of birth?


Anyway, my birthday is not normally celebrated - there are no cards, presents, or usually even any well-wishes (most people are unaware of the date), and that's okay as it's not exactly an auspicious day.

This year I decided to treat myself a little. So I ordered up a Ranga 4NC in blue ripple ebonite.



It's the one in the middle.


And then, on the 23rd Franklin Christoph had one of their 'online pen shows'. As usual, the timing of this was hugely disadvantageous to those of us this far away geographically, but as I was working from home that day (fortuitously as it happens) I was able to take a moment to look in. To be honest, I actually got up at 4am for the first showing in the hope that they would have a Model 20 in an interesting (to me) colourway... they didn't... but a pocket Model 66 did catch my eye and so I jumped in on the 3pm showing. Luckily I got in ahead of the crowd, and I took an enormous risk in getting it with a Nagahara needlepoint nib - really I wanted to buy a couple of other nibs (a Nagahara broad CI and and a medium S.I.G.), but that will have to wait until I can get a model 20.

Here it is:




Both pens are inbound, and no doubt the FC will get here quicker as they usually employ FedEx.

So, happy birthday to me!

[Wile E Coyote]

Happy Birthday!

[Ole Juul]

Happy birthday EOC!

I was born 9 time zones away from where I've lived for the greater part of my life. I never considered that my actual birthday could have shifted. People take it as a date no matter what time of day you were born. However, I take issue with the concept of how old one is as a whole number. To me if you were born 5.6 years ago, you are 6 years old, expressed to the closest whole number.

[Blue Note]

Happy birthday EOC!

I was born 9 time zones away from where I've lived for the greater part of my life. I never considered that my actual birthday could have shifted. People take it as a date no matter what time of day you were born. However, I take issue with the concept of how old one is as a whole number. To me if you were born 5.6 years ago, you are 6 years old, expressed to the closest whole number.

I agree. Round up or round down.

And Happy Birthday EOC. I always enjoy your input here.

[catbert]

For years I lived hours ahead of the time zone in which I was born. Now I live hours behind. I figure it averages out.
Anyway, those are some good-looking pens, which is what really matters.
Happy birthday!

[mizgeorge]

Happy Birthday It was my daughter's 18th on Sunday, so I think it's a lovely week to have a birthday, however uncelebrated it may be. I made cake, so please have a virtual slice from us!

sokkerkaka.jpg


I'm a big fan of Range ebonites - they have a great hand-feel. And that looks like the Brooks Grizzly - which is absolutely gorgeous!

I also got lucky in the stockroom - and with a 20 Marietta, which I've been looking at for months. Mine's a bit less classy in terms of colour, but perfect for my rather spring-like mood!

Model20CandystoneFP_1024x1024@2x.jpg

I've already had a shipping notice on the F-C and Ranga are usually incredibly quick as well, so you should have both in a matter of days.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I had that Marietta in my cart, it's the model I most want to get, but wasn't sure if the colour is really me, even though I love the way it looks. Then they were all gone, so I didn't need to make a decision. I just hope they will make some more 20s, as there were none on the site when I last checked.

Thanks for cake! I can get virtually fat and not feel guilty!

[mizgeorge]

I had that Marietta in my cart, it's the model I most want to get, but wasn't sure if the colour is really me, even though I love the way it looks. Then they were all gone, so I didn't need to make a decision. I just hope they will make some more 20s, as there were none on the site when I last checked.

Thanks for cake! I can get virtually fat and not feel guilty!

I'm not sure if the colour's me either, I normally go for much less glitzy pens (my only other, very recent, F-C is a vintage green), but I'm trying to get into the spirit of spring, and, like you, I've been hankering after a Marietta for a while. I suspect it will be fun for some of my more weird and wonderful ink colours. I'll be interested to see how the nib is on this one - I went for the stock 1.1 stub, and I may be having a bit of buyer's remorse that I didn't go up to the 1.5. I guess I can always broaden it up a bit if I need to!

I'm so impressed with their shipping - I've just seen that it's due to be with me tomorrow! Amazing, given that it's freepost.

[Yazeh]

Congrats EOC...

[KrazyIvan]

Happy Birthday!

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Well, the Franklin Christoph has arrived... and I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed. The packaging was perfunctory at best, and arrived somewhat worse for the journey, which part I lay firmly at the door of FedEx. Battered boxes are not what you want to see on the doorstep.

The pen itself is a lot smaller than I expected, even though I knew the raw dimensions from the online site. Incidentally, it looks bigger in SBRE Brown's hands. One of the perils of not being able to try before buying I suppose, and I feel a bit regretful that I didn't hold out for the Model 20 that I was really after.

Also, didn't get a leather pen pouch either. Bit disappointing really.

My pen life - frustratung.


I can only hope the Ranga makes up for this.

[mizgeorge]

EoC, my Franklin Cristoph was also a surprise, in that I had underestimated how big it is - I did read the dimensions, but I didn't factor in the lack of taper, so it feels a lot bigger than my 45L, which is (for me) almost the perfect size.

I quite like the minimalist packaging - I'd rather have the super quick free shipping and a neat little pouch - I never know what to do with boxes once I've taken the pens out of them.

Are you happy with the nib?

[oldfarmroad]

Happy Birthday! Beautiful pen btw. Congrats.
Jim

[mathogre]

Happy Belated Birthday to your daughter on her 18th!!!!! I love the skull, btw. On the virtual piece of cake, it's yummy!!!! Thank you. Oh, and on the color of the pen, if ya can't have some fun, what's the point? All the best to your baby.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

EoC, my Franklin Cristoph was also a surprise, in that I had underestimated how big it is - I did read the dimensions, but I didn't factor in the lack of taper, so it feels a lot bigger than my 45L, which is (for me) almost the perfect size.

I quite like the minimalist packaging - I'd rather have the super quick free shipping and a neat little pouch - I never know what to do with boxes once I've taken the pens out of them.

Are you happy with the nib?

Got the pen at work, but in the spirit of giving it a fair go, I shoved one of the provided cartridges in. Not sure what the ink is, very pale blue on the page. The nib - a Nagahara needlepoint - is interesting. Wasn't quite sure what to expect, to be honest, it was all a bit of a gamble. On the same paper, but with different ink, I get the same line width with the Needlepoint as I do with the fine nib in my Pilot 823. The former has the ink cartridge, the latter has Iroshizuku tsuki-yo. There is a marginally more feedback with the Nagahara and it seems a drier writing nib, though that may also be an ink factor.

I'm not displeased with the nib overall, as it can also be fitted into any of my other custom pens, but it's not a revelation or anything.