Lexmark 100 XL Ink

 

When my old printer/copier/scanner became to expensive to buy ink cartridges for I went shopping on-line for a new one.  This time I wanted one that was also a fax.  I was also looking at one that had individual ink cartridges for the colors!  I hated running out of one color in a cartridge while there was still ink of the other 2 colors in the cartridge and having to go out and buy a new cartridge!  What I found was a Lexmark Pro 200 series that fit the bill and didn't break the bank!  It has been a great machine but now it's time to think about finding some replacement cartridges!  In comes Viking Direct. 

 

They seem to carry ink and toner cartridges of all kinds!  And sure enough they sell just what I'm looking for!  Lexmark 100 XL ink cartridges!  The XL cartridge differs from the standard 100 series cartridge in that it's high capacity.  The black XL is a double capacity cartridge, which makes sense because it's the highest usage color.  Viking has them in stock and ready to ship so when the time comes for a replacement cartridge or 2, I know where I can find just what I need.

Compact Digital Camera

My lovely wife wants a digital camera, one, unlike mine with all sorts of features and SLR style and large size, is a compact.  Well I myself didn't have much use for a compact because of the macro feature I need in a digital camera!  But then I got to looking around and found Jessops.  There I found a host of compact digital cameras at varying prices!  Well, I've been rather happy with my Fujifilm FinePix SLR style camera so I looked at a Fujifilm at Jessops.  There, at a price closer to what I'm willing to pay for a compact camera, I found a Fujifilm FinePix JX510!

This little camera is a 14 mega pixel camera!  That's as much as mine!  And it can get as close as 4".  That's pretty darn close!  It has a host of other features that impressed me as well.  Jessops offers this little gem all by itself as well as a host of bundles not offered in stores!  And the bundle prices are attractive!  So it looks like there may be another camera in the Mrs. Old geezers future!  So if you want a new camera then by all means check out Jessops.

Picture used without permission.

Poster Printing And More

Hey, blog fans!  Just a note to inform you of yet another website that may be of interest to some of you.  It's a place called Photoline.  Check it out, they offer all kinds of photographic services such as Posters and display items, which include poster and display printing, display boards and printed foamboards, encapsulated posters and canvas prints!  Just imagine putting one of your own photos, drawings or digital artwork onto a piece of canvas!  That would be so cool!  I've seen this done on a TV special years ago!  An artist had his paintings digitized and put onto large canvas rolls!  He then added little flourishes to each, making each one unique!  Now I've found a place where I could do the same thing! The site also offers exhibition stands, leaflets and flyers, display accessories, signage and point of sale items and printing of plans and CAD printouts! So if you have need of any of the above mentioned services then by all means check this site out!

Pocket Photo Book

Hello blog fans!  I'll get back to blogging about pens and pencils here in a while, but right now I'd like to tell you a little about a website that I found that has me a bit excited.  It's a site called Jessops Photos!  They seem to offer a large line of photo services from gift cards to stationary to prints to calendars to wail art and more!  Lots more.  The reason that I'm all excited this site is because of a service that they offer called Photo Books!  Now these are just what I've been looking for!  Why?  Because I dabble in a little bit of unusual art!  That is I makes small sculptures and things out of found objects!  I also decorate small masks as well as plastic skulls some small figurines, working desk top wind mills I even turn broken glass objects into art pieces using copper foil and solder!  I do a few other things as well, but that's another story!  The trouble is whenever I try and tell anyone about my sculptures, they don't get the picture, literally!

Now I do have a digital camera, thanks in part to some generous relatives, which I use to take pictures of pens and pencils when I blog about them.  So I have been meaning to take some pictures of some of my art work so I can show them to people!  But carrying around a photo album is impractical!  Not to mention expensive!  So when I saw the Pocket Photo Books at Jessops Photo I got excited!  They make several sizes of Photo books but the Pocket Photo Book that peaked my interest!  These are books of up to 75 prints in a handy 15mm by 11mm size!  That's a perfect size!  The Pocket Photo Book comes with a soft cover and you can add pages in 8 page increments!  And the price is right, too!

Just download the free software that they offer on their site and follow the instructions on setting up you own Pocket Photo Book!  I'm looking forward to ordering mine!  Now, where did I put my camera...?

Picture used without permission

Am I Drooling?

While surfing the web I came across the Viking Direct website.  I looked around a bit then, I found "it".  The all stainless version of the Porsche Design Tec Flex P'3110 Fountain Pen!  I'd seen this fountain pen some years back and was struck by it's overall beauty and design. I was also struck by it's price tag!  While I'd love to be able to afford such a magnificent pen, like most very high quality fountain pens, the price is a bit out of my reach - like from here to the moon out of reach!  But that does not stop me from wanting one!

It features a rhodium coated 18K gold nib, silver plated and palladium* coated finishes, and a barrel made from the weaved stainless steel material used to make metal flex hoses for a cars electrical system!  It also accepts international sized ink cartridges or bottled ink with the use of the converted provided with the pen.  It also carries the Porsche Design name!  While it may not approach 200 mph it sure looks like it could!  It's just one of those iconic items that I just know instinctively that I'd really, really like to have.  Or at the very least have the chance to write with one for a day!

So, if any of you rich blog readers out there just happen to want to lavish a perfect stranger (OK, so I not perfect) with an expensive gift, send me an email and I'll send you my shipping addy!  In the meantime go check out the Porsche Design Tec Flex P'3110 Fountain Pen at Viking Direct!

August Giveaway

Hello blog fans and other assorted peoples!  It's time for a little giveaway!  It's not much but up for grabs are 6 Uni ball Signo 0.7 mm bits in assorted colors.   In this case the colors are green, red, pink, violet, blue & orange.  That's six, count them!  They are band new, never really used (except enough to make sure that they still work!  They work!

I'm not a fan of 0.7 mm writing instruments so I decided to give these puppies away to a good home where they will get used up!  So, that's just what I'm going to do!  Yep, I'm giving them away!  To a good home.  Yep! A good home...

"GEEZER!"

Huh?  Who said that...?  Oh, Tommy it's you!  What's up, Tommy?

"You were rambling on!"

I was?...  Oh, yeah, I guess I was!...

"Come on, Geezer!  Get it together!  You're on the Net!"

Oh, Yeah, the Met!  The Giveaway!  Thanks, Tommy!

"You're welcome, Geezer!...Some one's got to watch out for the senile old fart!"

I heard that, Tommy Turquoise!...  Now where was I...  Oh yeah!  If you'd like a chance to win this months give away then all you have to do is send me an email (theoldgeezer@live.com) telling me whether or not you think I need Tommy to watch out for me!  It's that simple.

In the subject line of your email please put... August Giveaway...  That way I'll know that you want to enter the contest!  You must send me an email in order to enter the contest.  A comment  on this or any other post on this blog asking to be included in the contest will be ignored!  The email must be one that I can reply to as this is how I will notify you that you have won!  Please, also include your name in the email so I'll know who you are. 

The contest will run from now until Sunday, August 26th, 2012.  At that Time I will let the Random Integer Generator at the bottom of this blog to pick a winner!  So send me your email telling me if  you think Tommy needs to watch over me or not!

OK blogfans!  The contesr is officially closed!  No more emails will be accepted as entries into the giveaway!  I have picked a winner in the usual fashion and the winner is... Arisu!  Congratulations, Arisu!  I'll be contacting you asking for shipping details!  I hope that you enjoy your new pens!

Thr Old Geezer.

The rotring 800 Drafting Pencil in Black

Hey, Tommy!  Long time no see!  Where you been, Tommy?

"I've been around, Geezer!  The question is, where have you been?"

Well, I've been sick, real sick!  And I'm struggling to get better. It's a hard road, buddy!  But I'm going to make it!...  Say, what have you got there, Tommy!  Is that a...

"That's right, Geezer!  It's a black rotring 800 0.5mm drafting pencil!"

Oh my word!  Where did you get that!?

"It's yours, Geezer!"

No!  I can't afford one of those!...  Tommy, if you stole that from someone...

"No, Geezer!  It was a gift, remember?  You got it from someone very special who really cares about you!  You got it from..."

YES!  I remember!  I remember, now!  I've, I've been so confused lately, Tommy!  I can't seem to remember things like I used to!  I, I think that I'm losing my mind, Tommy!...  I'm really loosing it...

"Oh, come on, Geezer!  Quit being so melodramatic, will you!  You're just getting old, that's all!"

Hey!  It's my blog!  I'll get melodramatic if I want to!

"Sure, Geezer, sure!  How about reviewing the pencil, OK?"

Oh, yeah, the pencil!  Well, since you brought it out...

When this fine example of the pencil makers art arrived in my mailbox I was flabbergasted!  I had dreamed of owning one of these superb pencils ever since I bought my silver rotring 600 0.3mm pencil.  But economic times being what they are and all, it was forever going to stay a dream!  But I guess dreams do come true, due to the generosity of a few kind souls!  So, what makes this pencil the stuff of dreams?  Craftsmanship and design!  I put craftsmanship first because the design, rather the look, is classic!  The general shape of the pencil has been around for years!  Koh-i-noor, Pentel, Ohto even Retro 1951 all have used the hexagonal shape with a round grip in some form or another, and there are others!  But the quality, the craftsmanship of these fine instruments may equal but never surpass the craftsmanship of the rotring 800!

This pencil is externally all metal, whether it be brass, stainless steel or hard anodized aluminum this is a well built pencil.  The joint between the body and the grip is seamless!  All the joints are this way from head to toe.  Inside the quality continues.  There are non-metal parts on the inside, but this by no means implies lower quality!  No, on the contrary, the use of flexible synthetic parts helps the pencil deal with internal pressures, like repeated lead advancement as well as continued use by cushioning the impact of both internal and external applied stresses!  In other words it helps keep the thing from being pounded a part and gives the pencil a softer feel when writing.

But that's not to say that the rotring 800 isn't a looker!  Because it is!  I'm a fan of silver colored pencils myself but when I saw the flat black finish of the 800 with the red and gold colored accents, I couldn't take my eyes off of it!  This pencil is a real beauty!  It looks stealthy!  Kind of reminds me of a ninja!  Lurking in the dark, ready to strike!  And like a ninja the rotring 800 has something up it's sleeve!

The lead sleeve retracts into the grip with a simple twist of the knurled top end of the red ringed pencil.  Twist the top the other way and the lead sleeve extends!  It retracts with a snap!  However if there is no lead in the clutch, the mechanism does not work smoothly!  In fact, it is rather difficult to get the sleeve to extend without some effort!  The same is true for retracting the sleeve!  With lead in the clutch the mechanism should work almost effortlessly!  This feature is an elegant way of solving the problem of having the slender lead sleeve sticking out when carrying the pencil in a breast picket, especially when it's a shirt pocket!  Ouch!  If you've never been pierced by the needle like lead sleeve of a drafting pencil then you have no puncher marks in your man boobs!


The rotring 800 breaks down into 5 components.  The grip, the main body and enclosed mechanism, the lead sleeve/tip the eraser and the push button.  Unless you happen to work for rotring in the assembly plant or as a engineer, that I suggest that you do not attempt to dismantle the pencil any further than this!  There is no clean out rod, but I don't think you're going to need one as 0.5mm lead does not break as easily as 0.3mm lead does!  Lead capacity is good, a tube of 12 leads should fit easily and still have the pencil feed.  With the lead pushed back flush with the lead sleeve 2 depressions of the push button advances enough lead to write with.  The eraser is about as useful as  drafting pencil erasers are!  Which is next to useless!  Get yourself a stick eraser ll be happier.

The 800 measures 133.04 mm with the lead sleeve retracted and 143.49 mm with it extended.  It's 8.38 mm across the flats and the grip is 8.25 mm in diameter.  It weighs 24.5 grams making it a heavyweight in the pencil world!  But I like the weight of an all metal pencil!  Normally I would measure the balance point from the tip of the pencil.  However the tip of the 800 moves so that wasn't possible.  So I measured it from the push button.  Extended the balance point is approximately 69.10 mm from the push button and retracted it's approximately 65.85 mm from the push button.

The writing experience with the 800 was a dream The weight and balance are good, for a boy like me!  The knurled grip is just the right cut neither too course nor too fine!  It affords me a good hold so I'm not having to spend so much trying to hold onto a poorly made grip!  If you write a lot with a pencil then the weight of the 800 just might be enough to fatigue your hand.  If not then I suggest that you dig deep into your pocketbook if you want a rotring 800 for they don't cone cheap!  The rotring 800 in both black and silver and in 0.5 mm and 2.0 mm (lead holder) is available from our friends at JetPens.