"Have you seen my stapler?"

This week's Friday 5 is all about office supplies. For those of you that don't know me - I have a secret love of office supplies. I don't really know why, I can't entirely explain it, but there's something about paper clips, post-it notes, and highlighters that just does it for me. I get a strange joy out of writing on the first page of a new notebook. When I was in school, it was one of the things I most looked forward to during the first week of September.

Now that the cat is out of the bag about my secret love of office supplies, I guess I should get on to the Friday 5.

What’s your favorite small office supply (like something that can fit in your top desk drawer)?
It used to be White-Out. It's a magical bottle of liquid that can make any mistake disappear with a swipe and seven seconds of drying. Especially when I was working at TSG and I learned that you could also get yellow-out, green-out, and pink-out (those were the colors we used for our contracts, and sometimes in the world of handwriting in pen mistakes are made).
Of late, however, I've changed my direction and my favorite top-drawer smaller office supply has become panel clips. In the wonderful world of cubicles, these things are a great thing. Never has it become so easy to post schedules, pictures, calendars, and important to-do items in plain sight. Besides that I can get them in some bright colors, white ones, or clear if I so desire.

What’s your favorite medium office supply (like something that can fit on your desktop)?
I've always been a huge fan of the pen-caddy. Even if it's just a cup, I like a place that all my pens, pencils, highlighters, scissors, and letter openers can be within reach. Just a quick stretch of my left hand and I have a pink highlighter. When I'm done with it, I can just throw it back in while continuing to do work off to the side. The pen caddy keeps me from losing pens and keeps my work utensils organized.

What’s your favorite large office supply (like a furnishing or a large tool)?
I didn't really care about this for a while, and then I got a flat panel monitor. I absolutely love having the extra desk space while I'm trying to get work done that I didn't have before. So for now, my favorite larger office supply is my Viewsonic 20" Flat Panel Monitor.

To which specific office supply do you have a particular personal attachment?
My steno notepads. I lost my pink one someplace in the plant and I feel odd about not having it. I'm worried that there are notes on there of a customer I'm supposed to get back to or something that I'm supposed to follow up on. I use the steno notepads for just about everything; I use it to take meeting notes, things I'm supposed to do, notes during telecons or general inquiry calls, notes of things that people mention that I should follow up on - just about anything I need to remember goes on the steno pad. It eliminates the use of multiple post-it notes on the monitor/cube which is what I had happen to me in a former life at TSG. I would be lost if I didn't have a steno pad tucked neatly under my monitor stand to be ready at a moment's notice.

Which office supply do you consider yourself something of an expert on?
Um... I don't really have an answer to this one. My co-workers seem to think I'm amazing with anything that ends in "and there's a paper jam that needs to be removed". I don't know that I'm an expert of office supplies as much as I am a giant fan of them. Maybe I should quit AMETEK and go work for Staples or Office Max so I can better answer this question.

Have a great weekend everyone!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Current Music: AC/DC, "For Those About to Rock"