Over the lunch hour, I decided to walk over to the Mountain Equipment Co-op to check out what kinds of work bags they had. See, my current bag goes back to about 2004-2005 and it’s really showing its age. I usually carry a variety of stuff in there: packets of oatmeal, snacks, various gadget plugs, pens, pay stubs, magazines, old newspapers that should have been thrown out long ago, lip balm, hand sanitizer, my travel mug, an umbrella and a whole other load of crap. My bag can get pretty heavy. After years of use, the strap sort of broke. The clips gave way under the stress in such a way that I couldn’t even fix it. I started carrying the think by the handles, and eventually the handle started fraying and peeling. It got pretty ugly. About a month ago I decided to become a little resourceful and just wrap the handles with black electrical tape. Yes, it restored a little bit of respectability to the thing, but honestly it’s still pretty damn ghetto.

So, all right, I’d spotted a bag that I thought would be a good fit for me on the MEC website. I specifically went hunting for the bag. When I found it though I ended up thinking that the bag just wasn’t for me. I suppose I’d gone in with my mind already kind of decided on the outcome of heading to the store. Still, I found that the bag just didn’t fit with the kind of things “Jason” would get.

I’ve noticed that happens pretty frequently with me. As much as I’m in need of replacing something, I hardly ever find a substitute that I feel meets all of the standards of the old one. That’s one reason why I ended up taping the bag instead of replacing it. After all this time, I’m still hunting. What fits my aesthetic? Same thing goes for my wallet. It has a coin compartment that just makes things so convenient for me. I haven’t yet found a wallet that has the right dimensions as well as the coin pocket. I’ve tried other wallet types thinking that I’ll eventually just get used to them, but inevitably I just migrate back to my old beat up wallet that I seem to have had forever.

Hmm…you know what? I think this bag fits the bill: Fossil Nevada Messenger Bag. Either tomorrow or Friday I’ll head over to the Toronto Eaton Centre to see if they’ve got something in stock. If that’s a bust I’ll head to Yorkdale on the weekend.

I’ve got a plan. I’m going to dump that bag one way or another.