Old and new [stuff]
Nov. 7th, 2021 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterI have been doing what feels to me like a ludicrous amount of shopping lately: new running shoes, new reflective vest, new helmet, etc. in addition to buying a bunch of new winter woolens (socks, sports bra, tights). In my defense, these are all replacements for things that are clearly worn out. Also, in case anyone wonders, the wool sports bra is AWESOME (merino; non-itchy). Zero regrets there.
I also just received a wonderful early December holiday gift of a new-to-me camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1. THIS new camera might actually stick the landing (the Lytro was just a little too much).
Meanwhile, my slippers are now very much at the end of their life.
For the slippers, I'm wondering if any of you know anything about best options for wool recycling or disposal for the felt that's disintegrating. I'm undecided on what I want to do for my next slippers, but I could potentially reuse the soles and knitted liners from these ones.
For the camera, a new dilemma arises: it won't fit into the random little quilted bag that happened to be perfect for the Canon PowerShot for everyday schlepping. Does that mean it's now going to be necessary to do even more shopping? Sigh.
On top of that, my by now very old purse (~25 years old?) is reaching a point where it's beyond repair, as is the other one of my 26-year-old Overland panniers. And my replacement North Face Borealis backpack (12 years old?) busted a zipper this summer and its fabric is also getting grimy and worn.
I tried online shopping for a purse replacement, but it turns out that it's hard to estimate appropriate purse volumes on the internet on the first try. It also turns out I'm very picky about design and materials for such luggage items.
It might just be time to wait on things for a little while, keep limping along with the busted old stuff and somewhat ill-fitting new stuff. Give myself time to find things that are right and make appropriate decisions about how to dispose of the old, worn-out items. There is no "away," after all. I'm also becoming a bit alarmed by the fact that it seems like I'm accumulating stuff in this house far faster than I'm getting rid of any of it.
Perhaps when this semester wraps up I can convince myself to take some time for an inventory and clean-out, and perhaps THEN I'll be in a better place to tackle some of the items that are going to take more thought and care.
For example, perhaps I can figure out a way to adapt the awesome new Brompton bag for everyday use on Frodo so I don't have to repack between bikes and don't need to do more pannier shopping.
Perhaps.
I'd also really like to be able to make and give more handmade gifts this year, but haven't been in a great space for that activity lately, either. Disappointing.
I also just received a wonderful early December holiday gift of a new-to-me camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1. THIS new camera might actually stick the landing (the Lytro was just a little too much).
Meanwhile, my slippers are now very much at the end of their life.
For the slippers, I'm wondering if any of you know anything about best options for wool recycling or disposal for the felt that's disintegrating. I'm undecided on what I want to do for my next slippers, but I could potentially reuse the soles and knitted liners from these ones.
For the camera, a new dilemma arises: it won't fit into the random little quilted bag that happened to be perfect for the Canon PowerShot for everyday schlepping. Does that mean it's now going to be necessary to do even more shopping? Sigh.
On top of that, my by now very old purse (~25 years old?) is reaching a point where it's beyond repair, as is the other one of my 26-year-old Overland panniers. And my replacement North Face Borealis backpack (12 years old?) busted a zipper this summer and its fabric is also getting grimy and worn.
I tried online shopping for a purse replacement, but it turns out that it's hard to estimate appropriate purse volumes on the internet on the first try. It also turns out I'm very picky about design and materials for such luggage items.
It might just be time to wait on things for a little while, keep limping along with the busted old stuff and somewhat ill-fitting new stuff. Give myself time to find things that are right and make appropriate decisions about how to dispose of the old, worn-out items. There is no "away," after all. I'm also becoming a bit alarmed by the fact that it seems like I'm accumulating stuff in this house far faster than I'm getting rid of any of it.
Perhaps when this semester wraps up I can convince myself to take some time for an inventory and clean-out, and perhaps THEN I'll be in a better place to tackle some of the items that are going to take more thought and care.
For example, perhaps I can figure out a way to adapt the awesome new Brompton bag for everyday use on Frodo so I don't have to repack between bikes and don't need to do more pannier shopping.
Perhaps.
I'd also really like to be able to make and give more handmade gifts this year, but haven't been in a great space for that activity lately, either. Disappointing.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 01:58 pm (UTC)You could make candy or cookies. All it would take is one afternoon to batch-produce. I'm sure you know many recipes that taste delicious but are actually healthy.
my replacement North Face Borealis backpack
I don't know anything about North Face sourcing, but given how erratic the supply chain is right now, I think there's a good likelyhood that if you order now, you won't get delivery for a couple of months—by which time the bottom will have fallen out of the current backpack, so you'll be desperate for the replacement. 😊
no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 02:29 pm (UTC)For handmade gifts - thankfully I'm all set on general handmade gifts - just need to think about a smaller number for certain specific people in my life, if that makes sense. :^)
no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 02:21 pm (UTC)Time is finite! You can only do what fits into the day, and you're already pushing that hard.
Wool composts. Whether your local compost centre will take it or not I don't know, but fundamentally if it's done it will rot.
For panniers, I heavily favour Arkel. Well-made and a superior fastening system.
For backpacks, Savotta which you can buy online on this continent from Varusteleka or the Outdoor Store. Varusteleka also has various surplus and house-brand packs; robustness will start about the same place as a North Face pack and increase. (Savotta's primary virtue is that the packs are designed for skiing so they don't stick out of the side enough to interfere with arm swing; that they're made to a simply silly standard of robustness ("we threw it out of a helicopter and it was fine") explains a chunk of the price but also supports long-term usage.)
Tom Bihn makes robust travel gear (and has segmented their website into "we have it" and "we're working on it" in response to the Everything); while they make packs, and while I have nothing bad to say about my Brain Bag, they're not my first thought for backpacks. They would be my first thought for "purse"; they're they only manufacturer who has ever produced something where my first thought was "I don't know what to do with all these pockets". (That's the Maker Bag.) And they make a broad range of shoulder bag/messenger bag sorts of things, from the four litre Sidekick (a great belt pack if you make it a better belt) on up. Not a presentable or formal purse but pretty good for the "this stuff goes with my wallet" category of always-with-me stuff.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 02:27 pm (UTC)I'm also a huge fan of Arkel for any and all pannier shopping. Most likely one or two of their panniers will replace the ancient, worn-out Overland one, and possibly upgrade the current Arkel Shopper pannier which holds the backpack. The backpack-pannier combo made slightly more sense in the past than it does now; with Frodo's big front rack what probably makes the most sense would be a fold-down shopping bag that could clip onto the front rack as needed, with a rear pannier that's more pannier than shopping bag.
Thank you for all of the bag recommendations - those look like great places to check, as soon as I have more bandwidth for more shopping. :^)
no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 02:39 pm (UTC)I have a weakness for luggage, but thank you!
Bandwidth is most certainly a thing, and I would imagine you're heading into Marking Season pretty hard about now.
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Date: 2021-11-07 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 04:57 pm (UTC)These are bamboo rather than spandex but I like them as an under layer.
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Date: 2021-11-07 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-07 05:12 pm (UTC)Wow, that's an antique! :) I'm using the GX9 presently. Which lenses came with it?
it won't fit into the random little quilted bag that happened to be perfect for the Canon PowerShot for everyday schlepping. Does that mean it's now going to be necessary to do even more shopping?
Yeah, especially if you have more than just the kit lens. But this is the sort of thing Flee Bay can help with: there are tons of used camera bags floating around these days. I have a bunch myself, though I don't think any are the right size for the GX1 + lenses. It's easy to sell a used camera, but not as easy to sell used random camera accessories.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-19 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-19 04:45 pm (UTC)crazya hobbyist.I'm sure I'll be able to find a good home for the GX9, but she'll have to fight me for the Olympus macro lens I use. :)
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Date: 2021-11-07 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-17 03:02 pm (UTC)