[nabs-l] Backpack alternative at convention

[Joseph C. Lininger]

Man, too bad it won't take a 17 inch laptop. I've got an HP business
notebook with an extended battery, so it almost certainly will not fit.
I'll tell you what though, it really is unpleasant carrying all that
stuff around sometimes, and I've been looking for a better alternative.

I know about the "kitchen sink" problem as you put it. All the junk for
my laptop and other devices I carry, (including an extra laptop
battery), an extra telescoping cane, papers of various sorts for school
and work, and an asortment of other stuff I don't even know about off
the top of my head. I think my favorite from a weirdness standpoint is a
small set of tools for working on computers. Screw drivers, a couple
types of plyers, that sort of thing. That one caused quite a show at the
airport a while ago when I completely forgot I had them in there. I
removed all the junk that I thought they might flip over, the pocket
knife and whatnot. But I forgot about the damn tools. In the end I ended
up having to empty my entire bag because I couldn't figure out what
could possibly be showing up on their scan. The very last item was that
tool set. I just kinda held up the holder with the tools in it, and, in
a very sheepish voice said, "I forgot about this." Luckily security
thought it was funny rather than being upset about it, but talk about
embarrassing.

Rolling bags work, but they introduce a completely separate set of
propblems as anyone who has used one for long enough could tell you. Oh
well, the search continues I suppose.
-- 
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." George E. P. Box
Joseph C. Lininger, <jbahm at pcdesk.net>