Comments on: I can has stapler?

By: Mary Mactavish

Mary Mactavish — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:03:43 +0000

I have that exact stapler.

We have done away with the dog bed problem entirely. They’d be wasted here. They sleep on the big bed, unless we’re in the living room, where the sofa and the new freecycle papasan chair will do. They’re big fans of the domestication concept.

By: BANiece2

BANiece2 — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:09:02 +0000

Oh that’s OK, Phil.

I have one that you can collapse. It’s pretty funny, I’ll have to send you pictures on how to work it.

In a nutshell:

1) Open it up all the way.
2) Push the “switch” on top down all the way.
3) You can has stapler.
Glad you were able to move on with your life.

–Dori

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:52:58 +0000

Make sure you save the receipt so you can deduct it from your income tax.

By: ABR

ABR — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:28:06 +0000

“Regular posters to the BA Blog are all genius level IQs.

Itâ€™s true!”

Works for me!

By: Quiet Desperation

Quiet Desperation — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:20:38 +0000

>>> A manâ€™s stapler is not made out of plastic*.

Ha! Luddite! Your Victorian age, rusty metal confabulations can never stand up to manly, objectivist staplers forged from tough, Atom Era plastical materials!

They’re fanplastic!

When the mutanted insects of the distant future unearth the remains of this civilization, your metal tinker toys will be ought but mysterious dark patches in the soil layers. The Space Age plastic staplers will survive! And be worshiopped as GODS by the future insectoid races! Mwah ha ha haaaa!

By: Quiet Desperation

Quiet Desperation — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:14:50 +0000

>>> Iâ€™m not sure what this says about those of us commenting hereâ€¦

Regular posters to the BA Blog are all genius level IQs.

It’s true!

I read it in my horoscope!

By: Kyle_Carm

Kyle_Carm — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 03:05:41 +0000

Now having worked with one of them there fancy Bostich automatic staplers I gotta say sucky!!

Now the old 1955ish modle I got from an estate sale that has the open staple channel is awesome. Like others the large head that begs for wacking has a certain appeal and I swear it has never missed a staple. Great old tech that still works, from engineers who knew how to engineer. Bless their slide rules.

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:13:48 +0000

I can relate to the self employed tenancy to put off working on an opus. I was never able to work this way, but my understanding is novelist Thomas Mann would write 40 lines per day. Of course once you’ve written that many you’ll likely be on a roll so it will keep you moving. Another thing you should have left the house to get your stapler instead of delegating that to your wife. Why? Simple, your horizons are limited by your own property now, it is where you live and work. Considering that astronomer itself implies someone who has a broad view of the universe you need to get out, the muses often work their magic during commutes and recreation.

By: KaiYeves

KaiYeves — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:14:36 +0000

From my upcoming story “Star stuff and other stuff”-
“Elementary, my dear Marvin- you are a professor, a professor is a teacher, and what good teacher is ever without a stapler?”

By: Lurchgs

Lurchgs — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:22:49 +0000

Well, while I work for myself, I do have an office to commute to. THAT is where I keep the stapler. Nice black swingline that I occasionally chuck across the office at high velocity. Score to date: Swingline: 23 wall: 0. In another 6 months or so, I’ll have a doorway to the next office.

In each location, I have various and sundry writing utensils, computers, computer peripherals, and paper products. Out of the whole menagerie (including the 20 or so computer carcasses in the garage) the only item I would recommend *against* is something that has the ‘all-in-one’ connotation attached to it. Each and every one of these devices that I have has at least one aspect that’s failed – typically within months of purchase (but after warranty expiration, of course). The current overpriced Door Stop on my desk is a Lexmark X75 used exclusively now as a flatbed scanner – it prints, but only in red.

I fax from the PC on my desk. I print from my Mac (to an HP Laserjet 1320 – I like it a lot. *Duplex*). I copy from the scanner.

I still have room for my Dogbert and my Model skycar. and my palm cradle. and my phone. and my speakers.

and my stapler

By: hale_bopp

hale_bopp — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:27:07 +0000

Wait until you need a three hole punch!

Rob

By: AndreH

AndreH — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:50:11 +0000

ABR,

I think it means we all like some easy, completely off topic entertainment….

Andre

By: ABR

ABR — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:29:27 +0000

This comments section is beginning to resemble the time that P.Z. Myers put up a blank post on Pharyngula to see how many comments he would get.

I’m not sure what this says about those of us commenting here…

By: blf

blf — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:56:59 +0000

I second the recommendation for the HP C6180 all-things-in-one-can unit if you find you need a copier. (I also very quickly found I needed a copier!)

I still have the stapler my parents bought me back in high school days, a Swingline Cub. Except that it’s all-metal, which is perhaps why it’s lasted do long (multiple decades), it’s not a fancy or high-quality unit. It’s just a stapler. That keeps on stapling.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:40:49 +0000

It made it a chore every time I had to send in a rebate, because Iâ€™d need to go somewhere else first that had a copier.

A flatbed scanner works just as well. Of course, now that I think about it, not everyoen has a flatbed scanner, either. I have one because my wife is a photographer. But still! Scanner.

The best part is our new laser printer. These things have gotten cheep enough that we were able to pick one up for under a $100.

By: sirjonsnow

sirjonsnow — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:25:43 +0000

Why are so many of you still using wood pencils???

By: Will Mattsson

Will Mattsson — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:22:58 +0000

Staplers are an essential tool, no doubt. But another really handy item which I ran across at American Science Surplus is called an iSlice. This is a small, thin mouse-shaped piece of plastic which has a v.small ceramic blade in its nose. It opens envelopes, CD plastic wrap, package tape (if it isn’t too thick), and so on, and is really inexpensive – cheap enough to buy one for several different rooms in the house. And it won’t cut you, ’cause the blade is so small and tucked away – and the blade will stay sharp and will not wear out for a long time, as well. Such a deal.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:17:00 +0000

Of course, the stapler is only half the battle. You’ve also got to get the staples!

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:09:07 +0000

A man’s stapler is not made out of plastic*. Sorry. I don’t care if it can staple a phonebook to the outside of an elementary school, if it’s made out of plastic, it’s worthless.

*I will, however, accept carbon-fiber as an alternative.

By: Quiet_Desperation

Quiet_Desperation — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:00:43 +0000

>>> I can has a Christian

Only if you are a lion.

As for staplers:

Phil, you are an author now. You deserve a *MAN’S* stapler.

I present the Stanley-Bostitch B8E

http://www.bostitch.com/default.asp?TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=B8E-Value&PAGE=PRINT

Staples 45 pages at once with the flick of the wrist.

Has the same biting power of a Saber Tooth Tiger.

OK, I made that last one up.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:54:41 +0000

By the way, your stapler is cute, Phil, but here's a real man's stapler.

By: AndreH

AndreH — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:26:50 +0000

So….

you really want to tell us you have been working for a government agency and you DO NOT have all the equipment you need at home…..

Hmm…., things must somehow be completely different in the U.S.

Andre

By: Ken B

Ken B — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:57:00 +0000

Here’s the stapler you want:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/61b7/

(Yes, I know I’m not the first to mention it. However, I do think I’m the first to show you where to buy it.)

As for the commute, some people just don’t understand the problems we run into. The two cat pileup in the hallway… The jackknifed Tonka tractor trailer in the living room…

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:49:23 +0000

Phil,
Another side effect of you quiting your job is that my name is no longer on the first result page when I google it. My student profile had your link in it and that gave me a nice boost. It always came up in the top 5. The rest of my family were in the first two pages of results. My compost pile even made the top 50. The EPO office has since taken down old employee profiles and so my 15 minutes are up. If I spin this right, maybe I can get a book deal out of it.

By: Dave Hall

Dave Hall — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:13:32 +0000

Wow!
40 responses to the stapler story!
I said it before and I’ll say it again, this blog has some of the brightest readers anywhere.

BTW, make sure you have a good staple remover. Steak knives, Swiss Army(TM) Knives, screwdrivers, (slot and especially phillips) and Bic pen caps, will not do. All will mess up the paper and/or any fingers in need of staple removal. Get one of the ones that look like kind-of like a letter opener. The biting claw types look cool and usually work well, but add a whole new demension of home office danger.

Dumb sounding advice, However, I am writing from experience: I have frequent flyer miles at the local urgent care.