Current mood:

curious

What's In The Bag, Dad?
Sometimes, I use this blog to write about something really profound and/or touching. This is not going to be one of those times.  :)

For those of you that don't see me regularly (or at all), my almost constant companion in life is an Eddie Bauer messenger bag I bought a few years ago.  Basically, it's what I use to carry around whatever I need to carry around; I suppose I could get a briefcase, but I don't feel like being that much of an adult.

Anyway, the messenger bag had gotten a little dirty, so I took out all of the assorted junk in it and took it to the laundromat with the rest of the wash. I was amazed how much junk was in the fool thing, especially since it was in a state I would normally to consider to be "empty". Here's the inventory from tonight's unload, with snarky comments included as appropriate and in no particular order:

1. Two books, including one I've been trying to find time to read for the book review blog for at least two weeks.  (I pretty much don't go anywhere without at least one book.)

2.  One magazine (Budget Travel, in case you're curious).

3.  Cell phone.

4. Bluetooth headset for the cell phone.

5.  Bus schedule. (I commute to work most days on the bus.)

6. Eyeglass case. No glasses in the case, you understand. If I ever decide I'm going to put my glasses away and walk around blind, at least I've got someplace to carry them.

7. iPod and headset for same (and not the freakin' Apple earbuds - I hate those things).

8.  Mini first aid kit. I have no clue what's actually in this kit - small generic Band-Aids, apparently.

9. Mini sewing kit. (Well, at least I'm prepared for a wardrobe malfunction...)

10.  Plastic bag still prepped to go through TSA screening at the airport for a trip I made 4 months ago, containing:

     a. Two hand sanitizers (which I may actually start getting some use out of now with the swine flu thing).
     b. Travel toothbrush.
     c. Travel size toothpaste.
     d. Travel size dental floss container.

11.  Digital voice recorder, which I last used at a press conference over a year ago.

12. Reporter's notebook (which I guess is there just in case the voice recorder doesn't work).

13.  Two sticky notepads from the Disneyland Media Relations Department (from the 50th anniversary, no less).

14. Two AA batteries (which is odd, because nothing in my bag actually uses AA batteries).

15.  Mini eyeglass repair kit. Guess I won't have to run around blind if my glasses break after all.

16. Two free tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood, which I've had since February and expire June 1st. (Anybody want to go to Uni for free?)

17.  Business cards, both for my real-world job and the NFFC.

18.  Address book, which, believe it or not, is actually a little black book - no ex-girlfriends' numbers in it, sorry.  Never mind that I have phone numbers for everyone I know in the cell phone...

19.  Lens cleaning cloth.

20. Tide To Go pen.

21.  5 pens and 2 pencils (one mechanical, one golf).

22.  One eraser shaped like a book.

23.  No-name lip balm.  (Apparently, I've never seen a promotional item I didn't grab.)

24.  Bottle of ibuprofen (which I never take, because it upsets my stomach. Where'd  I put the stupid bottle of Aleve?)

25.  Tin of Altoids.

26.  Bag of cough drops. (When exactly did I last have a cough? Never mind, I think I'm getting a cold anyway.)

27. Various individual packets of cold medicines. (See above.)

28.  Calculator (which I also have on my cell phone).

29  Name badge from NFFC Chapter at the Park. (The last meeting I attended was over a month ago.)

30.  Parking pass from the Disneyland Hotel dated early March. 

No wonder my back's been tweaked lately. All I need is a cask of medicinal brandy and I could be a rescue Saint Bernard.  

So why am I even bringing this up? A cheap laugh and an easy topic for a blog post, to be sure, but also consider this a friendly bit of advice to those who might be tempted to criticize the excessive contents of your wife/girlfriend/significant other's purse or backpack.  You probably have more junk in your own carry-on items than you might think, and you know what they say about people in glass houses...