June 23, 2010
Dear Everyone:
For reasons too complex to go into tonight,
“Jeannie” and I have begun taking our lunches to work with us.
This means we each need something in which to carry said lunch.
A few weeks ago, I stopped in a nearby “discount
department” store, looking for something to carry lunch items in.
In the “seasonal” section (read,
anything-having-to-do-with-summer, including picnics, camping, etc.)
I found an insulated “tote” bag that looked promising.
It could hold several plastic containers (½-cup each of two kinds
of salad dressing, larger bowl of tuna with sweet pickle relish and mayo
already mixed) along with several baggies of carrots, celery, radishes,
small tomatoes and a “blue ice” bag that goes in the freezer at night,
then sits on top of everything to keep them cold until lunch time.
Unfortunately, the “tote” soon revealed a bit of a
problem. It was too big to
carry along with the “regular” tote bag that I use to get things from
home to the office and back again.
The insulated bag had straps that could, theoretically, fit over
the shoulder, but then there wasn’t sufficient room for the other bag.
Back to the drawing board.
Last weekend, I was in another “discount
department” store, wandering the aisles, looking for any kind of
insulated lunch-bag-like object.
In one (sporting goods) section, I did find a “cube” that would
hold up to twelve 12-ounce cans (presumably of beer) and some “extras”;
but that was too big for either of us.
Then I happened to turn into an area that looked like it had
kitchen containers.
And there, between plastic and rubber-like
containers with matching lids, was a whole line of insulated “lunch
bags”. I picked out one that
was about the size of a small shoe box.
It had two sections:
The “bottom” section was lined with a stiff insert that would hold the
plastic containers, plus a few baggies.
It had a zipper that opened up until the “top” and “bottom” were
side-by-side. The “top”
(it’s all relative, after all) section could be closed with a
Velcro
fastened flap. Or you could
expand it with a zipper so that the whole thing is a big rectangle.
The “top” holds the frozen “blue ice” and more baggies.
I also found something more like the “traditional”
brown paper bag that we all remember:
You filled it with a sandwich, bag of cookies, piece of fruit
(according to season), then you folded the open end down two or three
times. In the case of the
insulated bag, you have the choice of folding down the top with a Velcro
fastener; or, if you need a little more room, expand the top with a
zipper. This would
definitely work for “Jeannie”.
Only problem:
How to carry the “lunch bags”.
Both have nicely cushioned handles.
But I have already discovered even a nicely soft handle is more
than one hand can take when also holding several other items, including
the house keys. We both need
a way to “connect” the lunch bag to another item.
In my case, the usual tote bag.
In “Jeannie’s” case, literally a suitcase handle.
“Jeannie” has a large suitcase that she uses to carry all of the
equipment that she absolutely must have to do her work, regardless of
where she is.
I was thinking of going to the fabric store and
looking for some kind of canvas that I could sew into a “strap”,
possibly with Velcro fasteners that she could loop through the lunch bag
handle and the suitcase handle.
Then I saw something at work and suddenly realized there was a
much simpler, and already assembled, solution:
Carabiners!
I have two in the office.
They hang from wires connected to extremely large and powerful
magnets attached to the office wall and supporting a wire basket usually
filled with various types of candy for all of my co-workers.
At least three people from clear at the other end of our building
came by this afternoon to say, “Hi!” and, incidentally, avail themselves
of badly-needed chocolate.
(They have a very tough workload going on right now.)
A “carabiner” is “an oblong metal ring with one
spring-hinged side that is used especially in mountain climbing as a
connector”. The ones I have
in the office came from one of the
really-big-home-improvement-warehouse-stores.
They cost pennies each.
I already tested one with my bags and they work like a charm.
I’ll pick up some more this weekend and “Jeannie” and I will be
in business.
As for the insulated “tote”:
It’s not going to waste.
I keep it in my office.
When I get in, I transfer everything from the smaller bag to the larger
one, where everything has lots of room.
At lunch time, I add a soft drink, some utensils and dish/cups
and we’re ready to go. At
the end of the day, what’s left (mostly the “blue ice”) goes back in the
smaller bag on its way home.
And now it’s time for me to start fixing tomorrow’s
lunch.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |