Wide Open Road - Typewriter Day, 2014

Sadly, the materials I set aside to undertake Michael Clemens typing challenge were accidentally disposed of in a freak cleaning accident. So, instead I decided to strap my typewriter to the motorbike, and head out on to the 'wide open road' - a cafe in Brunswick. 

And let's face it. If there was every a cafe that sounded like the place I'd be typing at, 'Wide Open Road' would be it. 

*Just a note on the use of the word 'hipster' below here. The cafe wasn't actually filled with hipsters on MacBooks  but rather I'm making a play on the 'hipster on a typewriter' stereotype. It is a lovely cafe with a warm and open feel. While for the first 10 minutes I felt like the oldest person in the room, soon I discovered that I was actually comparatively young compared to a lot of the customers! The W.O.R. is a very diverse and interesting cafe.

I parked down the alley way beside the cafe, where someone has worked on a gorgeous design along the side of the building. Also, check out how perfect that case on the SM3 is for motorbikes!  

Is that a Macbook I see back there? One of three I saw adorning the tables of the cafe. 

Oh my gaaaaaawd! Thick cut bacon. My mouth is watering just looking at it. Okay, time to push the typewriter aside and.... eat. 

Thanks guys for letting my type in your cafe! 

As I was packing to leave, I got approached by someone who wanted to talk about typewriters. They were very interested, and I'm going to bring some other machines by write some more in the future. Looks like there's plenty of typewriter love out there. 

Happy Typewriter Day! (internationally)

 

This lasted two minutes, before I put a towel down, stripped the machine's shell off and tackled the muck properly. 

The end result was worth it:

 

Our DSL modem and router packed it in sometime on Friday, and I was largely on a digital detox of my own for the weekend - the exception being that I still had net on my iPhone. Maybe I should just accidentally drop that next time.

Come Sunday afternoon I had blissfully enjoyed a lot of quality time with my new SM1. But more on that story later. The other 3 people in this house of 4 were rather desperate to get their 'net back. So, off we went to Officeworks, and got a brand-spanking-new DSL+ router, for more than I have spent on all but 1 of my typewriters. And going by our history with electronics here, it will probably fry and die in two years. Compare that to the longevity of this SM1.

I got some good writing done today too, after I had to make a pretty major repair to the SM1 which was sadly unexpected. It still needs some work on the escapement (it often jams after I release the carriage shift) but can I say... such a beautiful machine! Have you ever seen one like it? And there still was some ink in the ribbon!

Happy Typewriter Day! Love your typewriter, and it will love you.