Sharpeners no more?
By whyaskq
@whyaskq (7523)
Singapore
June 8, 2007 7:55pm CST
Recently, I am into the Sodoku craze. So I travel with my Sodoku book, pencil and eraser. I was using mechanical pencil and when I run out of lead. At my friend's friend, I look for a pencil. There was only a blunt one hardly writable. I asked for a sharpener.
"I do not use pencils anymore".
"Don't your kids use pencils?" I asked.
"They only use mechanical pencils, no need for sharpeners" came the reply.
I too use mechanical pencil, but I have pencils at home and even a sharpener.
Friends, what about you? Do you have sharpeners at home? Or you use a knife to trim the pencil so as to expose the lead for writing? Or you are like my friend who doesn't use pencils anymore? Do share your thoughts. Thank you :)
7 people like this
16 responses
@easy888 (10405)
• Australia
9 Jun 07
Hello,whyaskq,i still have some blunt pencils at home which i have bought them long long times ago,I have not used it for more than few years. I use mechanic pencils now because they are handier,you do not need to waste your time to sharpen them,you just need to reillt the lead.
Also,i can write better when I am using the mechanic pencils because it will make my handwriting looks better,if I am using pencils,my writting may looks nasty:P
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
12 Jun 07
Hello bighead. I have two girls attending school and naturally, I need to have a sharpener here. I can't even count the number of sharpeners I needed to replace. My girls kept breaking it. Maybe a 24 karat gold sharpener will last longer, LOL! I dislike using mechanical pencil. The regular one are more comfortable and easier for me to use. The knife is exclusively to sharpen my fangs only.
2 people like this
@dana234 (2114)
• Spain
11 Jun 07
I´m oldfashioned, I still use the good old pencils for some things. We´ve got lots of pencil sharpeners around the house . My daughter uses mechanical pencils for school, I hate those darned things, they are expensive and don´t last. Her teachers insist that all pencils must be mechanical, probably because they don´t want pupils to waste time with sharpening the traditional pencils.
2 people like this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
10 Jun 07
I actually have one of those sharpeners like the teachers have at school that is mounted on the side of my computer desk. The way my daughter goes through pencils, I HAVE to have one. She goes through mechanical pencil lead like nobody's business, and it's too expensive to keep stocking up on it. So we buy the regular pencils all the time. She would also lose the little mini sharpeners, so that's why I resorted to the old fashioned kind. Now she wants an electric one. Ya RIGHT! LOL
2 people like this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
9 Jun 07
i do use mechanical pencils, too. but when asked to choose between a mechanical and the classic pencil, i still love the old pencils. they work and write better than the mechanical ones. plus, a lot cheaper, too.
and i do have a sharpener. but most of the time, i misplace it. so, there are days when i end up using a blade or a knife to sharpen it. at times, i get wounded at times, i don't. matter of luck. hehe... anne
@annieroos (1845)
• United States
9 Jun 07
wow this is crazy cause i am thinking and you know i don't have one pencil in my house.. that i know of .. i wish sometimes i have some cause its easier to erase something if you make a mistake then to just throw it away or cross it out, with the pen.. I Love sodoku and you know doing it with pencil is better cause you make mistakes sometimes.. but i like the way the pen writes better.. and darker..
1 person likes this
@aidonia (4209)
• Greece
9 Jun 07
I surprised reading your topic.I don't know if I'm so fashioned but I still have many pencils and of course sharpeners at my home.
My son is 11 and still use for some exercise pencils and me I love Sudoko as you and always use pencil when I write.
So yes I have pencils and if even my son loose every time the sharpeners I always have few at my home.
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
9 Jun 07
yup. for me, too. pencils are a necessity. i even carry a piece of pencil with me wherever i go. at times, i love to doodle on table napkins while waiting for an order in a restaurant. but i don't bring along sharpeners though.
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (93946)
• United States
10 Jun 07
Well for me, I need a pencil for some of my college courses. Most of it requires a pen, but some of it needs a pencil. Also, for my grocery list that is on the fridge, I like to use a pencil. That way if I change my mind, I can erase the item instead of marring the page by marking out the item.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
9 Jun 07
Hi whyaskq. I don't use pencils much but my son does all the time, both pencils and coloring ones. I don't know how many sharpeners we have gone through as he keeps misplacing them LOL Only once we had to use a knife to sharpen a pencil only because we could not find a sharpener. He will be starting school in September so I will have to get him another supply.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
10 Jun 07
I'm not sure about that one - hmm I wonder if his school has them!
1 person likes this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
9 Jun 07
I come into more intimate contact with Sodoku quite recently too. But I am not that good at it. I can solve only the easy or moderate ones.
I am too lazy to have to enter a number to test, then erase, etc. So silly in my opinion lol. :P
As for your question... no. I do not have a sharpener. Goodness, how many years back was it when I last saw this word? No I don't use pencils anymore - so no sharpeners too.
I would rather use a mechanical pencil if need be (it looks cooler too). Though if I am drawing (lol, if I pretend to be an artist), I would then be using those wooden pencils.
Maybe I can try to do some charcoal paintings and sell them at eBay. LMAO.
@mean_queen (1713)
• Malaysia
10 Jun 07
Oooh, I love doing Sudoku too. I just use it in pen. I don't really like using a pencil while doing Sudoku. But since pencils is the topic here, I would have to say no. I don't have a sharpener~! I don't use those kinda pencils anymore. I absolutely adore mechanical pencils. I have 4 or 5 mechanical pencils.. So yeah, I am like your friend. No more pencils for me..
@cuttieth09 (14)
• United States
9 Jun 07
I use both, at school i use mechanical pencils and at home i use regular pencil and i also have a sharpener too. But i think mechanical pencils are much better than regular one you should start using it.
1 person likes this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
14 Jun 07
We have about 3 sharpeners in our house. We use the mechanical pencil too but we prefer the old fashioned one too.
@apakabar2007 (1693)
• Netherlands
14 Jun 07
I do have normal pencils, mechanical pencils and sharpener at home. I used the mechanical alot but it often jammed nor work properly after quite sometime. And the normal pencils just come to my rescue. I need to have at least 2 sharpener not only for pencils but I have 4 years old daughter that loves drawing with her colour pencils alot and she love sharpened them too even if not necessary, she will make them necessary...and very handy for sharpening my eyes brows/ lip liner pencils, too. So simply, can not without it...