Contents of the Bag of Holding
There is no end to the ideas I will come up with for blog posts when I have better things to be getting on with (like loading the washing machine, or tidying up). Today's “bright idea” is an inventory of the messenger bag that I keep my stuff in to avoid it becoming buried under an avalanche of somebody else's stuff, and lost forever. The bag itself is a Rothco messenger bagapparently made famous by the TV show “24”, but having never watched it, I couldn't say. If I didn't know better, I would say it was army surplusit's never going to fall apart.
I actually wrote a very similar post months ago (I borrowed the photo), so it's interesting to look back, and see what has changed.
So what's in the bag now?Google ChromebookI like the Chromebook because it's cheap, fast, and lasts for ages on battery. For blogging it's pretty much perfect. I have an ASUS Windows 10 laptop available to me too, but it's more hassle than it's worth, given that the Chromebook starts from cold in seconds, and lasts for hours on a charge.
Moleskine NotebookI've written about the paper notebooks many times before. It's filled with doodles, notes from meetings, journal entries, and all sorts of other random detritus.
Amazon Fire tabletI used to have a Kindle Fire HD tablet, but then this Christmas I bought my other half one of the new Fire tablets, and was massively impressed with it for the price. It goes on work journeys with me, filled with movies, music, books, and comics. We have a Prime subscription at home, so movies and TV shows are essentially free.
Bluetooth Keyboard I bought the keyboard last year, and wished I had bought one earlier. It turns the Fire tablet into a great note taking device, and a brilliant blogging platform when squashed on a train (Evernote is surprisingly good as a word processor, it turns out).
Keys (with ridiculous Superman keyring)I have very few keys. The house keys, my bike lock key, and the key for my desk at work (that I never lock).
Amazon Kindle (3rd Gen)I know it's stupid to carry the Kindle Fire tablet, and the original Kindle around with me. It lasts for weeks on a charge though, and is easier to read I would love a Paperwhite, but cannot justify buying one for myself at the moment.
FilofaxI've been carrying this little personal organiser round for years. I have sworn against re-filling the calendar in it for several years now, but I get to the stationary shop in town, see the inserts, and carry on using it. The battery never goes flat in a filofaxand I'm pretty sure the act of writing things down in it helps me remember (somehow).
Assorted pens and USB sticksI tend to use ink roller pens. I used to use drawing pens, but they are expensive, and I can never find them for sale in normal stationary shops. The USB sticks are all 16Gb (I think), filled with all kinds of rubbish. One of them was free from Dell with promotional movies on itI formatted it before even looking at them (sorry Dell!).
BooksI'm still trying (unsuccessfully) to finish reading “Armada” by Ernest Cline. It's nowhere near as good as Ready Player One, but it's not bad.
External Hard DriveIt's filled entirely with movies, ebooks, ROMs of games, emulators, and television shows. It's my “go to” option when staying away with work. I have been known to stay in a hotel for an entire week without watching any broadcast TV in the room, if I have the hard drive with me. Favourite TV show on the drive is still “Community”.
Nintendo DSiI hardly ever play it, but cannot bring myself to sell it. It has an R4 card in it, filled with ROMs of old games. Before anybody starts shouting about piracy, we have most of the (real) games at home.
Can of DeodorantI'm a guy. I smell. Lovely.
For work I have a much more substantial backpack that travels with me on the mountain bike across town to the office every day. When I need it, it carries my work laptop, along with a few of the items above (typically just the Moleskine, Filofax, and the Amazon tablet).
What do you carry ?