Thailand N.U.K.E.S.

Evidentally, the government of Thailand reads Sluggy Freelenace.

The Search for the Ultimate Container

For some bizarre reason, I like things to be efficient (something that is apparently too much to ask of the fashion industry). So my father and I share a common obsession that we call “the search for the ultimate container”. For him, it’s something he can fit on his belt that will hold all the things he carries on his belt now plus all the things he wishes he could carry on his belt but is still compact and light. Since he already carries a pocket knife, a jeweler’s screwdriver, a lighter, a pen, and a flashlight on his belt and keeps adding to the list, you can see how this would be a problem. And on the less portable side, he’s always looking for the ultimate toolbox – all the tools you’ll ever need taking up as little space as the laws of physics will allow while still making the tools easily accessible.

For me, the ultimate portable container would hold my palm pilot, cell phone, a writing utensil, a pad of paper, a pocketknife, and a flashlight. Oh, and be small. I can carry some of those things in my pockets, but I am my father’s daughter. This means I must have a flashlight and pocketknife on my person at all times. However, since my pockets are small (I’m not going to keep linking to that other rant), I carry a small knife and a small flashlight in my pockets. The full-sized Leatherman and the EternaLight need to go somewhere else. I have a purse-like thing from Eagle-Creek, but it’s bigger than I need. And everything smaller isn’t organized the way I need it to be. Once you get below a certain size, the attitude seems to be “Eh, it’s small. Who needs compartments?” Wallets have freaking compartments, people! Why is it so difficult to put compartments in a small purse? And not just that pitiful excuse for a cloth divider in the middle of the main compartment. Cheap! Pointless!

Okay, getting away from portable containers and my continuing frustration with pockets (Stop. Now.), let’s talk about shelving, shall we? Shelving should be modular with modules of different orientations. And it shouldn’t be in my way when I’m not using it. Being short, I figure I could install a lot of overhead storage that I could just pull down when I needed it, thus freeing up a ton of floor space. But you know what I’m jealous of? Those giant filing cabinet systems at doctors offices. You only need one aisle at a time, so it moves the filing cabinets around so that only the ones you need access to at the moment have an aisle between them. That would be perfect for my closet (by the way, does anyone want 3000 Putt-Putt tickets? Maybe I’ll leave them to my kids, if I ever have any. Too. Much. Stuff).

The search continues.