Bag Tales

Having been thwarted in my many attempts to find, even for ready money*, the exact perfect know-it-when-I-see-it commuting bag that I wanted, I have decided to try a different tack.

*name that reference

The main problem I've been having with the bag I've used for the last two months is that it's not quite big enough for commuting purposes*, yet it's bigger than I need the rest of the time. So I got a slightly bigger (and better) bag to use for commuting, which is big enough to hold my actual purse instead of just having purse stuff tucked here and there, in pockets and pouches.

*Purse things, book and knitting, lunch bag, and water bottle every day; umbrella, shoes, sweater some days as needed; once in a while a bottle of lotion or box of tissues

This means that I don't need the bag to have all the pockets for purse things (part of what I was looking for in a new bag), and also that when I'm not commuting I take just the purse with me, the way I used to, instead of carrying the whole (old) bag.

Let me show you what I mean. Here we have the two bags. On the left is the one I bought in May; on the right, the new bag, which arrived this week.


The old one was about $13, bought at Home Goods, and was actually (here's a secret) intended to be a diaper bag. I know, I know, but it was in with all the tote bags and purses, and I thought it might work. Which it mostly kind of did, but not well (on Monday, I was stuffing things into it and growling, "It's smaller on the inside than the outside!"), I don't like the colors that much, it's not of very good quality*, and it has some annoying features, so while I was able to make it work, I never stopped looking for a better solution.

*Some of the stitching started coming out about a week into use.

The new one was $19.99 on eBay, brand new in the box with tags. It's well-made (by the Swiss Army Knife people), and I absolutely love the color. I wish it had a water-bottle pocket on one end, but still I think it's going to be a better solution than its predecessor.

There's even a loop on the back that is perfect for my watch; it lies flat, and is easily visible/accessible.


On the other bag, the only place to clip the watch was on the end of the usually unzipped top zipper, which meant that, a), I had to dig down in the bag to find it and pull it out to check the time, and b), if I needed to zip the bag, it had to come off.

I learned yesterday that while it's moisture-resistant, it is not fully rain-repellent. (The books that got damp are flattening nicely in a stack of other books; see the pile behind the old bag in the picture above?) Still, the rain was pretty heavy, so that's not bad.

And I would like to say, it was barely drizzling when I chose to walk home. And by the time the bus caught up, I was wet enough despite the umbrella that there seemed like no point in not finishing the walk.

Moving on.

*********
Friday morning, some people were giving away drinks near the subway station.


I'd never heard of it; you? Check out the back:

"What do vitamins actually do for you? They counteract the bad stuff you did to yourself last night."

Hmm. I really get the sense that I am not the target audience for this product.

I did try it, but I didn't much like it. On the other hand, I tend to drink either plain tap water, or sometimes soda. Wishy-washy in-betweens, not so much.

So why did you even try it, then?

Who knows. It was free. Only 30 calories, so not much risk.

Oh, just look at the pretty flower.