Ode to an automatic stapler

Okay, I'll spare you the hackneyed poetry, but I do have to gush over my latest office crush. I have an automatic stapler at my desk that works just fine for most of the things I'm working on at my desk. But at our department (I'm at Vanderbilt's Department of Political Science), the graduate students and faculty are often printing out long articles or book chapters. Previously, we had two options. An automatic stapler that would work for up to 20 pages, or a bohemuth heavy duty stapler that sits like a tempermental dragon next to the copier. I am one of the few people who can tame the beast and make it work, but even with my coaxing, it wouldn't work well for less than 50 pages. That meant that for the many print outs that were between 20 and 50 pages, there was not a good way to staple them. We just had to use a bulky binder clip. It vexed me. Very much. Did I also mention that the automatic stapler was a little touchy itself - you had to put the paper in just the right way to get the sensor to trigger the staple. Again, I rarely experienced any problems with it because I tend to obsess on how to get things to work the best way they can. But others would get frustrated with it.

Well, I got my big chance to affect office morale when the automatic stapler recently died. It would no longer staple at all. Inside, I was cheering with glee, as I fired up the Staples.com site and searched for ''automatic stapler''. Because of budget constraints, I had to keep the cost similar to the same style of stapler we had before. But, I found one stapler that stood out in several ways from the competition. The Swingline Optima 45 Electric Stapler. Unlike almost other electronic stapler in this price range, it staples up to 45 sheets of paper. There are a few other cool features, but they weren't ones I was mainly basing my purchasing decision on. The look of it was a fun factor though - it is silver and has a red racing stripe that blinks when staples are low.


I unwrapped the stapler like a kid at Christmas a few weeks ago. Since then, I've had nothing but excited exclamations by co-workers who typically aren't that thrilled with office efficiency and smooth workings (aka, they aren't crazy in the same way I am). It works incredibly quietly and smoothly, right up to the paper limit. I want to tell all department admin staff to get one of these for their offices! Sadly, we don't have a way to share information like this with each other. Can you believe there isn't an administrative assistant connections email, blog, site, listserv, etc so we can share amazing finds, and not all of us have to reinvent the wheel each time? Of course, if I had my way, there would be a newsletter of some sort for many internal departments of Vandy to communicate to each other. Oh well.

So now, if your office is looking for a stand out electronic stapler, you know which one to choose!

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Hats Make Me Happy

Hats Make Me Happy
An Easter Hat and Me

Step into my inner world.

Sometimes, I hesitate to share thoughts that flit and emotions that surge and wane. Yet I so value when my friends share these insights with me. I get to know them in a special way.

So I invite you to get to know me - or continue knowing me - through this space of exploration.

I promise to reveal some of the joys, fears, observations, profundity, and ironies of life that come to mind day by day.

Don't forget to share with me your own inner sphere!

"To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting." - e.e. cummings