A Rookie's Guide to Twain Country: You Had Me at Post-It Notes

I'm about as dependent on Post-It Notes as most people are on coffee.

I like to buy all sorts of colors. Bold, pastel, warm, cold. Sometimes I like to buy the ones that make the accordion shape when you stretch them out so I can toss them around. The other day, I even found some of those rare white ones? But they're all delightful, really.

I'm not worried for myself in the least.

I share a similar, though not quite as fanatic, fondness for most office supplies. And I know I'm not alone. I think such an affection has to do with all the ways they make your existence more organized, the promise of all the projects you envision using them for, and the little variety that gets added to your day by using, say, colored staples?

I recently discovered a local trove for all things office-related:

Meet Treu Office Supply and Furniture.

I love places like this; it's awesomely old-school in that it's been passed down from generation to generation of the Treu family since 1938, and in some of the items you can find there, plus it has everything an office could possibly ever need. And then some.

Like, tons more some.

Oh, graphing calculators. That brings me back.

In chatting with owner Perry Treu, he'll tell you that their focus is on service, keeping things simple and honest, not being afraid to really search for what a customer is looking for, and willingness to do the little things. He also clarified that, contrary to popular belief about "Mom and Pop" stores, they're absolutely in the price ballpark with other places.

Treu's also offers free delivery AND free set-up for furniture. A pretty big deal for someone as assembly-required-challenged as I am.

Here are just a few of the interesting things you can find on the shelves:

Any type of record-keeping slip or book you could ever need. Sales and delivery forms, invoices, packing slips, purchase orders, time cards, attendance books, visitor logs, family budget books, and this little gem, which I particularly enjoyed:

It's this convenient little booklet for traveling business folks in which, on a page for each day, you can write down expenses in columns designated for meals, entertainment, gas, cabs, postage, auto rental, parking, etc. I just find its "throwback" quality refreshing.

An array of message slips.

They also had a book listing every zip code in the U.S. Once upon a time, when I visited the UFO Museum in Roswell, N.M., they asked that I provide my home zip code when I signed in. The instantaneous response from the guy working the desk once he glanced at the numbers? "Oh, Schenectady." He either had been working there for a long, long, long, long time, or he'd memorized that book.

In addition to what's in-store, Treu's can also swiftly get you anything out of this catalogue:

Pretty beastly.

To say that the catalogue has a huge selection is an understatement. Additionally, it has all these helpful "buying guides" throughout to help people make the best product choice for themselves.

There are sections for shelving, binding systems, desk accessories, files, labels, pads, printers, copiers, fax machines, staplers, tables, badges, projectors, calendars, briefcases, cleaning supplies, first-aid kits, mouse pads, rulers, cash-handling equipment. I could "We Didn't Start the Fire"-style come up with a song about it.

So stop in sometime and take a gander at the granddaddy of all permanent markers: