Regular Purse

Hi. My name is Matt and uh...I carry a purse.

This is in response to the twins tagging me from Cami's entry, and also from Emily's entry and Melody's entry.

In 2004 I started carrying a purse (aka: man-bag, man-satchel, utility belt, bag, man-purse, hand-bag, murse, mattie-bag etc). It's a move I have not regretted for even one second since then. The main reason was to stop losing keys, wallet, cell phone etc. Many things transfered directly from my backpack from school to my purse.


Here is a list of the current contents:

1. Ipod. This clips to the strap. This was my first internet-scam trophy. I mostly use it for audiobooks and drum corps shows.
2. Tiny screwdriver set. Flat and phillips. Suitable for glasses screws. Used weekly.
3. Larger screwdriver and pilers tool. Folds out to larger tools suitable for most other tasks.
4. Pocket knife. Probably the most useful tool in the bag.
5. Pens. I loooove shopping for short pens. There are always 2. A ball point pen, and a small fine sharpie. People ask for the sharpie several times a week. Excellent for marking CD's.
6. Blistex. Necessity.
7. Nail clippers. If they're not kept here, I can never find them.
8. USB Thumb Drive. To paraphrase Billerman: "Get one. You think you don't need one, but if you get one you'll use it every day."
9. Spare Yo-yo string. Broken strings are no ones friend. And it never hurts to have a bit of string.
10. A variety of pills. I run a small free pharmacy. At least twice a week someone needs an IV Potion, Advil, Tynonol, allergy pill or Excedrin Migraine.
11. Spare keys. House and Truck. These come in extremely handy.
12. Strips. Band-aids, Thera-Flu strips and nasal strips.
13. Money clip. This recently replaced the bi-fold wallet. It holds the most important cards. Credit cards, and harts drink punch cards. Also some cash. Usualy $10-$20. I do not like to be without at least a few dollars in cash.
14. Change. I usually have a few coins, including a few dollar coins. People look at your crazy when you spend them.
15. Tic-Tacs. The purse is too small for the whole box. I carry 10 or so tic-tacs.
16. Headphones. Essential.
17. Pictures. This also came from the wallet. The wife and boy and some other memorable photos.
18. Flossers. Emily gave me one at a movie, and I was immediately hooked.
19. 5/8 inch drive chrome vanadium breaker bar with 19mm deep socket. This is my favorite tool. Clearly this is a hilarious joke. But if it would fit, I'd totally carry it around.
20. Andy's address. Drewlapalooza.
21. No parking notes. I put them on peoples windshields when they make up parking spots. It's very polite. I am a self-proclaimed parking cop.
22. Checks. Do people still use these? The ones I use have my address from 4 houses ago.
23. Other cards. Non essential cards that are rarely needed.
24. Cell phone. Duh.
25. Keys. I clip them to the strap buckle. So as to not lose them.

I'm always on the prowl for miniature items that would be useful. I find that people are very accepting of the bag. People at work know the general contents of the bag, and often ask for items. Usually screw drivers, pocket knife, pain killers and band aids.

3 things that may or may not interest you...

I'm not sure if there are Greeps, Gripes or Grumps but my feeling is that they're closer to Greeps than any of the three.

1) I called UPS the other day in response a note on my door. You know, when you miss the guys and a signature is required. So I was going through their automated phone thing. The lady was asking me questions etc. This usually annoys me as they never really ask you the right stuff. Well, this one was dead on. Every set of options had the exact one I needed. At the end of the call she said something like "or if you're finished, just hang up!" I was so pleased with the experience that I felt funny just hanging up. Like I would offend the operator. Before I knew it I was saying "Thank you" into the phone before hanging up.


2) I asked Jack to write his Uncle Andy and letter and he responded with "Ok, which letter?" Turns out there are 26 I could have chosen from.

3) I bought a new camera lens this week. A friend sent me this video about how lenses are made. It blew my mind. I understand why premium lenses are so expensive now. It's a bit long, but very interesting.

The Roboty Voices...

A few weeks ago Jack and I wrote about the Bionicles we were playing with, and mentioned that the captions should be read in a roboty voice.

We now feel that unless the robots have a voice of their own, they won't be heard (figuratively or literally.)

So, as a follow-up to that post, here are the recordings of the robots themselves.

"I just noticed that my gun is backwards. My bad."
"My hand is laaaame"
"Attaaaack"
"Bring it!"
"Grroooouuuwwwwwlllsssslllllrssooyysss"
"Steady boys...steeaaaaddy"
"You guys look like ants from here..."
"You...shall not...pass!"


No robots were harmed in the process of these recordings. These robots have all been returned to the wild. No free-range robots were used. Do not try this at home. Robots are dangerous. The management encourages you to buy robot insurance.