Inky delight

For years I worked as a techno-person; I had a company which built, installed and maintained computers and networks. But my real delight is still the heft of a jolly good pen.

I collect classic and vintage fountain pens and pencils, some of which are real corkers. However, my current favourite for daily use is this luscious Yard-O-Led Viceroy Grand pen in solid silver, of course.

These are still made and it's perfectly possible to order them online from Filofax, but I bought this one some years ago from a chap who had fallen on tough times and needed to sell his pen collection. I'm ashamed to say that I got a really good deal and I'm hoping the chap managed to climb his way out of the mire, despite flogging off his treasures.

Pens are a wonderful displacement for actually facing the paperwork. After all, first you have to choose your pen, then you have to wash it out, refill it and give it a bit of a polish. Then you realise they could all do with a bit of TLC, so some hours later you have a pristine set of pens, inky fingers and a big pile of paperwork, untouched. There really isn't a computer equivalent.