Switching Handbags - something all women do from time to time.

 

Normally, I carry my personal items in a bag similar to this.  Being able to wear a handbag makes things so much easier for me, that I have started to hate having to use pockets when presenting as a male.  Yet, I'm not out to say which is easier, as pockets reduce the number of things one must hunt through to find the things one wants.

Today, I received a small Crossbody bag that I can use to hold my essentials while traveling.  Why is this important?  I don't want to be rummaging through a small backpack (my personal item) to find things when at the airport.  Instead, I want to carry a small bag to carry things such as my driver's license, cash, and my cell phone that I can stuff in my backpack when I no longer need access to them.

Although it will feel very awkward at first, I expect that I will find this bag very useful when I travel en-femme, and flying with only a carry-on.  But if I'm checking bags, it makes much more sense for me to carry my usual handbag, as this gives me much more flexibility when I arrive where I'm going.

Let's hope that this isn't wasted money....

 

 

 

PS: I ended up changing my wallet too.  See why in future posts....

I'm preparing to travel, and I'm missing things

 

Since I started to clean out the clutter in my apartment, I kept stumbling into the compression bags that I use for travel.  Today, I looked for these bags and couldn't find them.  AARGH!  I knew where things were in the old clutter.  But I don't know where things are in the new mess.

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Right now, my apartment has a vacant space where a sofa used to be.  Things which would normally be near the sofa have been pushed away, so that the new sofa can be put in place.  But this gets in the way of me accessing those compression bags.  In the game of Jenga, I'm caught between a rock place.  No matter what I move, I lose.  In the case of my apartment, if I move something, I will lose track of where it is.  And I am already upset that I can't find the costume jewelry I had in the bedroom that I moved as part of the electrical work done over a month ago.

Luckily, I sorted much of what I need for travel into two easy to find bags, and much of the stuff I will need for the trip is already in my "Go Bag".  But I think I will repack things when I get back from RQS's place, as I know that my backpack should be treated as a personal item.  This way, I can stash my pocketbook in the backpack (or in my carry-on) and retrieve it when I land in Chicago (or when I return to New York).  

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My upcoming trip will be the first one I take with RQS as Marian.  This will be a very interesting trip, as the women we're meeting in Chicago only know me as Marian, but know of Mario's existence.  Let's hope it all goes well.

The search for the missing set of keys

 

Unlike most men, most women carry their essentials (e.g. Wallet, Keys, Tissues, etc.) in a handbag.  When going out as a female, I do what other women do - use a handbag.  I have humorously described a handbag as being like a black hole: It has infinite capacity, and useful things can only be extracted from its "event horizon." Once deep enough into the bag, it's hard to find anything anymore.  This weekend, I learned how deep a handbag could get.

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On Friday, RQS and I decided to spend the afternoon driving out to Paramus, NJ again, so that she could pick up a miniature roasting pan like the one I have, that she could use in her toaster oven. Since this was a day I would be presenting as a female because of a planned stop at Lane Bryant, I got shaved, showered and dressed.  Then out the door we went.  It was a smooth drive until we crossed the river into Rockland county, where we hit the expected traffic jam just West of the bridge. But soon afterwards, it was smooth sailing to Home Goods, and then to Ikea.  After buying the pan, it was off to Lane Bryant where I looked at a few blazers that were slightly too small for me, while RQS looked at a couple of dresses.

Soon, it was a short drive home, where the next day's "fun" was to begin.  On the way home, we stopped off at Trader Joe's to pick up some food and loaded 3 bags into the car.  When we got home, I opened the door, put the keys into my bag, then loaded the refrigerator with what I brought inside.

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Saturday came, and we didn't start getting ready to go outside until early afternoon.  After getting ready to go out to RQS's friend's exhibit at a Yonkers art gallery, I noticed something was missing - my keys!  There was no way I could go anywhere without them.  It was a mad search for keys, and all I could find were Mario's set of keys on my desk.  So I knew to be extra careful with this set while out for the day.

We arrived at the art gallery and chatted with RQS's friend.  I was introduced as Marian, and RQS caught up on old times.  Then it was time to go home.  Once home, we tore apart the place and found nothing.  The keys found a good place to hide from us, and they weren't coming out without a fight. After a 2-3 hour search, we gave up, and I resigned myself to paying a locksmith to cut a new set of keys, and to programming the car key - at a cost of $250 or so.  Ouch!

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The clocks changed, but I couldn't get to sleep until 4 am or so.  Sunday morning arrived, and I only had 4 hours of sleep - for 2 days in a row.  But this time, I had an idea.  My bag has front and back zippers.  The front zipper opens a small section of the bag where a woman can put her lipstick, etc. to be accessed easily.  The back zipper opens a section of the bag (along with a bottom zipper) which can be used to attach the bag to a luggage handle for travel.  I've misplaced my keys in that pseudo-compartment before.  So I'd check this area again when I got up.  Lo and behold, the keys were there.  What a relief.  What a way to start the day!

Back to work

 

Now that I've been to DC and back, it was time for me to go back to work.  AARGH! 

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Most of my readers know that I have one of the most boring jobs around.  Today, I started the day by almost forgetting my wallet at home.  When I reached the deli where I usually get my morning egg sandwich, I didn't find my wallet in my pocketbook.  It got to the point in my search that I was going to return home to search my bedroom, and I texted my boss.  One problem - my wallet fell out of my pocketbook and was sitting on the seat where I found it.  So I had to text an OOPS to him before going inside for my sandwich.

Getting into work was little better.  The configuration for one of the programs I depend on to do my job got screwed up in the week I was gone.  It took the better part of the day to get that issue fixed.  Luckily, I was able to begin work on other tasks while the computer technician did his job, and I started to wake up before lunch.

Yet, by the time I got home, I was tired.  I stopped by Walmart to pick up some bathroom furnishings needed before RQS comes here for the first time.  Hopefully, she won't be turned off by the place when she's here....