My own personal ebay

So, I’m losing money and gaining space and piece of mind over the next couple of days. I’ve already sold a file box I didn’t want at cost, and am covering the shipping & handling myself, just to get it out of here.

And now, I’m making you an offer you can’t refuse.

If you (like me) love green. And sometimes love big honkin’ shoulder bags that hold a lot. And/or if you’re a Harry Potter fan, and/or always wanted to attend Durmstrang, and/or are crushy on Viktor Krum –

Have I got a deal for you!

It’s the Harry Potter gear that nobody ever recognizes as Harry Potter gear unless you raise the flap and they notice the relatively discreet logo on the front pocket.

It’s this:

Harry Potter Durmstrang Institute of the Dark Arts Messenger Bag

It holds everything in the world, and is heavy-duty fabric so I never worry about it splitting or anything. I can put my laptop in the interior, or in an exterior zipper area on the back, or an interior zipper area on the front. There’s a smaller pouch/zipper-thingy that’s on the front, too. I know, I should take pictures and post and if I have time later and need to, I will.

But for now I just want to let you know that it’s brand new, still in the plastic, because I ordered it for myself last year right before Mother’s Day because I knew that even though I asked for one for Mother’s Day nobody would get it for me, and ooops, I was wrong!

So it has been in a box in the closet waiting for me to return it, and now I’m saying, if you want it, I will mail it to you for my cost plus a nickel. Yes, if you send me a check for $30, I will pay the postage and stuff and send it to you, a brand new in the bag Durmstrang Dark Arts Messenger Bag that is really very cool (I use mine constantly). If you want to see how much that saves you, click on the link below the picture and see how much the Warner Brothers Shop will charge you to ship it.

Going, going ….

GONE!  Eighteen months later an old friend found this post and contacted me, we met for dinner and now she owns the bag and we’re in touch again.  Don’t you just love happy endings?

Foreign woman creates stir in China.

I’ve last track of all the “vias” but I got it via Geonz, also the source of the eco-bra, which you have to see to believe.

But back to the foreign woman.

A foreign lady in Beijing

…So she was trying to get the car to go back into the car lane instead of being in the bicycle lane. This went on for a few minutes. The driver got mad and got out of the car to curse the foreigner. He even picked up the bicycle and (s)hook it. Even so, the foreigner would not budge and she insisted that the car get back on the car lane….

Several things strike me about the photos.

1) Her bike looks a lot like mine.
2) She’s riding in a suit. Very interesting. No helmet, either.
3) Very pretty smile.
4) How do they know she’s foreign?

Playing Catchup (lots of pics)

I went to download three or four pictures off my camera and lo and behold, there were 52 waiting.

Okay, so there were a few from the very end of our trip to Colorado, like this great barn in southern Colorado:

There were a few from our trip to the Mesquite Rodeo, like this gorgeous, gorgeous horse (dreamy sigh):

This is only the … fourth rodeo I’ve been to in my life. The first was with a youth group. The second was with a reunion. The other two have been with little kids in the family. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t go to them. I don’t dislike them at all, but I don’t like them enough to actually go to one. But when occasions come up that end up with me at a rodeo, they’re kind of fun!

This is Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey. Fun to see that monkey riding the dog and herding sheep, but it’s the dog who is the smart one and does all the work; the monkey just holds on, sheesh.

And this is the rodeo clown trying to handle the bull while the cowboy who was riding him is clinging to the rails in his fancy chaps, and another cowboy stands idly watching.

And finally, what I was actually going to blog about — today’s ride.

Only first, bicycle crack. My new accessory. I mean, gear. My new bicycle bag (on the back of the saddle I have on order — will post photo of real thing next week when it comes):

Only I’m using mine on my handlebars. Which brings me to todays blog subject.

Today’s ride was only 7.4 miles. Not far, but I’m having trouble with my saddle (hey, how rodeo that sounds!) and didn’t push it farther. But these were all green miles, because I went to the post office, and to a friend’s house to drop off some stuff, and ….

To the bank.

Yes, I realize it’s hard to tell but this:

Is me at the bank’s drive-thru window. Or, ride-thru window. (See my bag?)

And in case you’re wondering (I sure was) the tellers did not react as if anything was unusual. The first one took my deposit. I took my picture while I was waiting. A different one came to give me my cash back. Neither said a word about me being on a bike. The woman who drive in beside me was grinning, but I’m not sure she was grinning at me. I mean, she might have been listening to something funny on the radio.

Hey, she might have been!

So now that I’ve made a spectacle of myself by taking my bike into the supermarket and through the bank’s drive-thru window, and was turned out of Subway (bastids!) I have run out of challenges.

I guess from this point on, it’s just a matter of riding faster and farther.

Oh, and chalking up more green miles, saving the environment and cycling for truth, justice and the American way!

And now that cool weather is approaching, that won’t be hard at all.

Bags and bags and more bags

If you’re addicted to bags, you will love Emory’s bag review. Emory does the best reviews. Everything you ever wanted to know, even the stuff you never thought to ask.

I was going to link to the Crumpler camera bag I have but they don’t seem to sell it any more and I don’t remember the name of it. All I know is my current camera barely fits in it so I don’t use it, and that’s a shame because it’s a nice little bag. I wish Crumpler made bike stuff.

But there is a lot of great bike stuff out there. I’m particularly lusting after these tweedy bags.

Or perhaps waxed cotton duck like these.

Especially this one. I have no idea why I’d need this particular bag but I covet it.

I’d never even consider this kind of bag for carrying because they’re heavy, which might also be an issue on a bike. But that’s okay, since all I do is look at the pictures!

I also don’t need one of these and won’t (won’t-won’t-won’t) allow myself to get one because I don’t even know what I’d use it for but aren’t these the cutest bags? LLBean has the greatest selection of colors and prints.

Now that wouldn’t get lost in a sea of black luggage. (Hmm, it doesn’t look like it belongs on the same page with the bike bags, does it?)

I guess I need to do something productive so I’ll leave you to have fun with this — a customize your own duffel bag option at LLBean. Go wild. Combine colors and prints that will give the inspectors headaches!

knock yourself out

(You know I am totally hooked on the boring looking rick steves bags because I’ve finally turned my back on all the tempting eye candy bags because I know when I get ready to go somewhere, I’ll use my old faithful evergreen RS bag. Sigh.)

Hmm. If only Rick would take up cycling and design cycling bags.

GTD — The Travel Edition (what to carry)

My first attempt to find the perfect carry-on for traveling out of one bag was the Freedom Bag I saw on QVC. That thing was the ultimate organizer with so many pockets and zippers and velcro closings!

This isn’t the one, but it shows the basic setup with pouches, zippers, etc.

You know, this may work for some people. I guess it does because a lot of bags have all these organizer things in them. I tried several different ones with dividers, compartments and whatnot before I finally realized that this stuff just doesn’t work for me.

All those organizer pockets to fill! Arranging and rearranging, trying to fit everything in! And adding more and more stuff just because there were little pockets to hold it!

I have email friends who can vouch for the fact that prior to trips I’d regale them with tales of moving my stuff from one smart-looking bag to another, trying to figure out the “perfect” setup.

And always, always, gave up and went back to my old faithful Rick Steves Back Door Bag (which is now known as the Convertible Carry-On).

And the reason why is because it’s just a basic open soft-side (but tough) bag:

There are exterior pockets for holding maps, tickets, anything you want handy and don’t want to dig for. But it’s pretty much a basic bag that will work as a suitcase (with a handle), a backpack, or (if you buy the padded shoulder strap) a shoulderbag. I’ve used it all three ways now, and it rocks. If you really like a rolling bag you can get that, too. I have it — it’s great. For some reason I still prefer the original, but sometimes I feel lazy and take the roller. I do think it’s probably the best roller around, very lightweight yet roomy. It does fit American standards for a carry-on as long as you don’t expand it or get it too heavy, but those are always subject to change as the airlines keep streamlining in efforts to save money.

An aside — in Wales I ended up with shampoo oozing into my bag. I muttered, cursed, bitched, moaned, and stood at the sink in the B&B and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the soapy part of my bag until it seemed okay. I went to sleep, expecting to use my hairdryer to dry it out the next morning, but it was already bone dry when I awoke! That blew my mind. When I got home I called RS Travel Store and asked if there was a way to clean the bag more thoroughly, in case it still had soap in it. They told me how to remove the foam sizing from the back, and I simply washed it in the washing machine, then let it air dry. That darned thing looked brand new! I did tell you they’re tough.

Anyway, moving right along.

Ultimately, for me the best system is not an organizer-style bag with compartments, dividers, etc. Instead, it’s a big empty space so I find my own organizer thingys to put in it. I find exactly what I need and only what I need. Everything is contained instead of loose. And I don’t have lots of little empty corners and partially-filled compartments (and the dividers themselves) that are wasting space.

I’ve already mentioned the Eagle Creek Pack-It Folders. Check out the pics — it comes with a folding board (use it — one of the reasons the folder works so well is because you end up with all your clothes folded into one uniform shape) and once you have stuff folded and smoothed neatly, you fold over and velcro. Nothing slides around and gets wrinkled. Nothing expands and takes more room than it has to. It’s just held neatly in place.

Some people like ziplock bags with the excess air squeezed out. Some people like compression bags. The two primary cautions about the compression bags are that depending on what you’re compressing, it might end up wrinkled as hell, and compressing so that you can carry more with you pretty much defeats the purpose of packing light. The more you cram in, the heavier your bag. The heavier your bag, the bigger pain in the neck (or back or shoulder) it may be to haul around airports and lug to your hotel, B&B, agriturismo, pensione or hostel. Even if you use a rolling bag, you still have to hoist it into an overhead bin.

Even though I started out with a color-coordinated Eagle Creek system, I’ve abandoned their Packing Cubes for the Rick Steves Packing Cube Set. It’s see-through, holds more, collapses down to nothing, weighs less. Oh, and costs less, too. How can you argue with that?

I need a new toiletries kit. I’ve been checking them out and want something that folds fairly flattish, isn’t too bulky. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but will probably go with Rick Steves since he hasn’t let me down yet. The smallest one. On general principle.

If you’ve got one you love, let me know. Remember, I don’t want something that holds the entire bathroom cabinet!

Finally, I say try whatever seems the most workable to you. Only trial and error really works. Any and all methods have thousands if not millions of people who like them, so it’s just a matter of figuring out what works best for you.

But, make sure your bag is lightweight (mine weighs less than 3 1/2 pounds), will hold up to rough handling if it does get checked, is small enough to fit in the overhead bins and comfortable to carry.

Next, GTD — The Travel Edition (practice makes perfect).