January 27, 1995
Dear Everyone:
A couple of weekends ago, I bought a new purse.
“Jeannie”, being in upstate New
York, attending “Park’s” christening, wasn't there to stop me.
Not that buying a purse is
exactly news, I'm always getting new purses, for the simple reason that
they only come in two sizes: too small and too big.
Like bras, purses never
truly fit.
They can only approximate.
I happen to like the organizer-type purse, the ones with a place for
everything and everything in its place. I
prefer knowing exactly where everything is, rather than groping
desperately for my security badge at the bottom of some cavernous
pocket, where it's just beyond the reach of my fingers.
How do they know to make the
length of the strap exactly ¾” longer than my arm?
Lately, with the need to carry two pairs of glasses with me wherever I
go, the purses have been a tad too small.
They look big enough in the store; but when I get them home,
there's a place for everything, but you can't always fit two things into
the same place (see: Newton,
Sir Isaac; Laws of Physics).
The newest purse is nice and big, with lots of room.
The front panel has slots for
credit cards. Not that I'd ever
put my credit cards there. For
one thing, there aren't nearly enough slots.
And for another, the front flap
uses magnetic snaps to hold it in place.
Put your credit card next to a magnet and you can wave "bye-bye"
to your credit card. I use these
slots for my security badge(s) and BART
Ticket, keeping the Ticket at the top, away from the snap.
By the way, if you haven't shopped in this department lately, the latest
thing is a credit card wallet that "beeps" when you take a card out.
Then it "beeps" every 20 seconds
until you replace the card in its space.
It's for people who forget to take back their card after a
purchase, or who absentmindedly drop the card in a pocket.
Next, the purse has pen and pencil holders, a built-in eye glass case
that isn't big enough for anyone's glasses (but a great place for the
Swiss Army Knife
and a small flashlight), a place for your driver’s license (which I use
for the calculator) and another pocket for business cards or whatever.
That's just the front panel. Inside,
there are three compartments (one unassigned, as yet).
Plenty of space for checkbook,
credit card book, tape recorder, cosmetics, dental floss, Cortaid®, hand
cream, 6 foot tape measure (Stanley,
of course), safety pins, emergency Band-Aids, Kleenex pack, nail file,
clippers, extra keys, small screwdriver, etc., etc., etc.
In other words, all the things you just don't leave home without.
(If you're laughing right now, just remember that the next time you want
to borrow one of the above.)
In addition, there is an inner, inner zippered pocket, just right for
guarding that most treasured of possessions, a back-up BART Ticket.
The front flap, which covers the
front panel, also has a zipper on the outside that opens to a large
pocket, just right for flat things like a small notebook, the card with
the secret code to turn off the alarm in "Livermore" when I work on the
weekends, and a book of postage stamps.
Last, but not least, is the open pocket on the back.
This is very convenient for those
things that you're always grabbing for and dropping in.
It can accommodate two pairs of
eye glasses (with cases, of course), three different sets of keys (home,
offices and “Jeannie's” place/car), and a paperback book and still have
enough room left over for approximately 1/3 of the 510 Area Code.
Or, in “Jeannie's” words: "It's
so
huge!"
If it doesn't work out, I can always buy another purse.
Love, as always,
Pete
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