I do a lot of note taking in my job. I administer tests of personality, intelligence, cognitive functioning, and adaptive functioning to people through the age span and I have to record their anwers verbatim, quickly. I conduct in-depth interviews and have to get the information jotted down. My favorite writing instrument is a 0.7 Pentel mechanical pencil. I have used them since grad school. I am spoiled at work since I am the only person there who uses mechanical pencils, but the Business office person manages to find a State approved procurement source for them.
Husband does exactly the same work I do. He prefers ink pens, preferably a Pentel Energel Needle Tip 0.7. He buys his own at a local office supply store. Our dog prefers either pen or mechanical pencil, since both are so delightfully crunchy when he steals them out of briefcases and off tables and chews them up.
A friend of mine with MS used to see a neuorologist who would dictate his progress notes for each session during each visit simultaneously while he interviewed her. She said it was rather disconcerting to talk to him while he was repeating everything he wanted in the note into a dictaphone. I am sure someone else transcribed the note. We used to dictate our evaluations using dictaphones, and then into voice recognition software when that became available, but at this point we type reports right into the computer into an evaluation template. No wonder Husband got carpal tunnel issues from all his years of typing. I have been lucky in that regard.
What is your favorite writing instrument? What is the first typewriter you ever used? How fast could type in your prime? Ever read your medical chart?
Trail Baboon 
I received my first typewriter for Christmas my senior year in high school. It was a basic Royal and I kind of remeber being disappointed that it was so “basic”. I think I was the fastest in my typing class, but second fastest in all the typing classes. After college I bought an Olympia with italic print. I still have it and even used it to a few years ago to retype a letter I had written many years ago. Very slowly and with several mistypes, as I recall, but was kinda fun to try it again. Cynthia “Life is a shifting carpet…learn to dance.”
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I’m grateful not to have to type on an actual typewriter anymore. Word processing started to replace typewriters in the mid-90s and that helped a lot. Now it seems fashionable to leave punctuation out completely. That’s what we get in return for the efficiency of texting.
I used to be a good typist but I don’t think I’m as fast as I once was.
I just got done reading my medical chart (online edition) this morning.
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No particular pen or pencil. In learning to write, I developed a holding style that eventually caused a callous to grow on the left side of my right middle finger. I’m quite sure I wrote more frequently than my fellow students what with in-class notes and outlines of most every book I read, even fiction. It took decades of non-use for the lump to diminish in size. I’ve since learned that I was holding the stylus incorrectly. In high school typing class, I graded out at 45/minute errorless. “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” I no longer us qwerty as password.
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The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
The first typewriterI typed on was the school’s; an ancient grey manual typerwriter that required a lot of finger strength. I was always lightening fast and exceedingly inaccurate. I had more mistakes per paragraph than anyone. Much later in life I discovered that I have a mild learning disability that makes it difficult to read and transpose text. This showed up early on “aptitude tests” making me peculiarly unfit for the many clerical jobs I held in young adulthood. In those jobs my typing was, of course, incredibly inaccurate and mistake-ridden.
I am now facing several dozen thank you notes following my mother’s Memorial Service. The cash gifts will be going to a scholarship program in the school system where she taught. Handwriting is not something I enjoy, nor is my handwriting legible. I am considering making a typed insert for the notes, although that is not considered kosher in the world of Thank You notes. Do you want to read it or be proper? Hmmmm.
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Oh, I remember those thank you notes, and yes, I think you should do the typed inserts, and hand write “Thank you” and your name.
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Done!
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When I first started typing my school papers it was on my dad’s old portable manual typewriter that he’d kept from his Air Force days. Later in high school I got an electronic typewriter with plastic ribbons, and during college I got my first desktop computer, a small Mac. I was never a demon typist, but I typed well enough to pass the temp agency tests. 70 wpm, IIRC.
I love the idea of fountain pens, but I know I used to press too hard so I’m afraid I’d ruin the nibs. I don’t care for gels, rollerballs or felt-tips (the last are a particular disaster because I write very small, so if ink spreads my handwriting turns into an illegible cardiogram). Regular old Bic Round Stic pens, the ones with the plain grip, are excellent.
I have read my medical chart, specifically the report about my surgery a couple years ago. Very interesting, so long as one doesn’t think about it too much.
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I think we had an old Olympia portable, but I couldn’t take it to college so always borrowed someone else’s, often an electric that I loved. Then I remember having an office job when the Selectric came out… In top form I think I tested at 65 wpm, but that was not error free…!
I love the yellow Paper Mate Sharpwriter mechanical pencil, since you can dial the lead out and it doesn’t break off as easily. And I guess I do have a favorite pen – like CG, the Bic Round in blue, though I keep a black handy..
I have not read my medical chart, but I probably should.
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I have really messy handwriting. I remember this chart in my elementary classrooms that had the sentence “My name stands for me. I want to write it well” in varying examples of sloppiness. My writing always resembled that of the messiest example. My mother had perfect school teacher penmanship. I am still embarrassed by my writing on things like thank you notes. It doesn’t matter how slowly or carefully I try to write, it is still messy.
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Same here with both my writing and my mom’s. And now mine looks like my grandma’s, and looks kind of like another language!
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I have a new favorite pen I found in a parking lot. It’s a B2P pen, meaning bottle to pen, as the plastic parts are made from recycled clear water bottles. It’s a gel pen. It glides nicely.
I also have a wooden pen that I bought at an art fair, carved from old barnwood. It takes a Cross refill.
I got a typewriter for Christmas when I was in high school. I could type about 40 words per minute, but I was never a very good typist. I still don’t type all that well, and often use voice recognition.
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My typewriter looked something like this:
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“What is your favorite writing instrument? What is the first typewriter you ever used? How fast could type in your prime? Ever read your medical chart?”
*****************
So many questions, so little time! 🙂
1. My dad made a pen for me out of walnut (I think) that I use all the time. Doesn’t quite fit my hand, but it’s quite special to me. Problem is, it takes Cross refills, which I must order online–no one seems to stock pen refills anymore! 😦
2. Probably Dad’s old whatever it was. He was a journalist and a college student during my early years (worked on his Masters one class at a time for about 10 yrs.). I never learned to type in HS, but bought a software typing program in the 2000s (by “Mavis somebody” and learned the basics.
3. To this day, I still type rather poorly and would probably test out at 10-20 perfect words per minute. Thank God for word processing and the “Backspace” key.
4. I read my medical chart all the time. Before and after every doctor visit. Hasn’t changed much in the 10+ years Mayo has offered their patients online access to their charts. Knock on wood, I’m still pretty darn healthy for an old fart.
Chris in Owatonna
**BSP** A busy ten days coming up for me as the Little Mountain, Big Trouble book launch tour continues.
Downtown Owatonna tonight, Northfield on Saturday morning, Chapter2 books in Hudson WI on Sunday, and Up North next Friday and Saturday at Beagle & Wolf Books & Bindery on Friday afternoon, and the Northwoods Art and Book Festival in Hackensack MN all day Saturday. For details, check the Events page on my website, https://chrisnorbury.com. **END BSP**
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Most of the time I print rather than write and my printing looks like typing – small and very neat. My handwriting is the same, though I rarely write in cursive anymore – mostly my signature. I have had sales clerks ooh and aah at my small, neat writing on checks. Once a clerk handed my check back to me because she thought I hadn’t filled it out properly. I have tried to write bigger but it just gets messy. One upside to tiny writing is that I don’t think anyone could forge my signature. Because of this, I prefer to write with fine tip (.38mm) pens. Gel pens don’t work well with small writing. And fountain pens – forget it!
I was never a good typist on any typewriter, nor am I fast on a keyboard. I have to look at the keyboard or else what I type is just gibberish. (This despite being able to play piano perfectly well without looking at the keys).
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That is interesting, considering the piano!
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My handwriting is not as good as it used to be, but I try to hold it together because I still like to hand write notes. I’m particularly fond of Paper Mate pens — mostly because they come in so many pretty colors. I have a variety of colors in my bedroom, a variety of colors in my studio, and also variety of colors in my purse so I always have options.
I started teaching myself to type before I took it in school. I used my dad‘s old typewriter, which was even older than the one in Linda’s picture, and when it was in its case, it weighed a ton. By the time I started taking typing in school. I had a big headstart , and being very competitive, I was always at the top of my grade. I don’t remember how fast I used to type but it was pretty fast. Since we moved into word processors and spellcheck, I’m not as good a typist as I used to be because it’s just too darn easy to type fast and then go back and fix it if you have to. Kind of sad when you think about it.
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These are fun reading.
I took a typing class in 11th grade and seemed kinda silly at the time. I’m not even sure my folks ‘made’ me; seems like it was my idea, which I still don’t understand. But I’m sure glad I did. That upper row of numbers is hard. We had IBM selectrics.
When I worked for the Dept of Ag in the late 1980’s, they were just transitioning to computers and we had to input a lot of data.
We still have a big heavy manual typewriter downstairs. Needs a ribbon. And I got an electric one for my graduation I think. Used it a bit.
I use mechanical pencils too. I’m particular about them and I’m using a Pentel brand that came from the college.
I always preferred blue in in the pens, but it was hard to find them. I always carry a pen in my pocket, even farming, so it needs to be tough enough not to break easily. And they all need better pocket clips.
My current pen is from John Deere. No idea of brand, but it’s a good pen. They don’t have them on the counter anymore and I don’t know what I’ll do when the 6 I’m currently using wear out.
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Thank goodness I took typing in summer school in high school. The speed I gained was invaluable in college, graduate and medical school as I could compose on the typewriter. When I started using electronic medical records (EMR) in 2005 being able to type made the transition to EMR relatively painless. I can’t recall the 1st typewriter but whenever I could I preferred the selectric as the correction was easier (remember the correction tape?). The beauty of computers is you no longer need correction tape or white out.
I used to like pens with ink cartridges but they were messy.
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Took typing in high school and was pretty fast and accurate. This skill helped me compose on the typewriter in college, graduate and medical school. Made using the electronic medical record painless compared to those who never typed.
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