Monday, June 2, 2008

Large package

My trip to the Sex and the City movie last night has inspired me to use suggestive titles. It's not quite as exciting as it may sound, I just had to go to the post office to mail a large package. The box, which was full of VHS tapes and kinda heavy, wouldn't fit in my backpack - fortunately I have a quick release rear rack. Problem solved. It was a little unstable, but I made it without having to turn back to pick the box up out of the road.


On my way home I stopped off quickly (I had to rush home to meet a guy buying something from me off Craigslist) to pick up a 12 pack of diet Pepsi. I was amazed that the 12 pack fit in my backpack with lots of room to spare. I could've gotten at least one more in there and maybe two! That's one of the things about going strictly by bike, you get a real education on what you can and cannot carry. While the 12 pack easily fit in the backpack, I'm glad I didn't have to carry it more than a few blocks.

Tomorrow night, however, I have to go to the grocery store for a bunch of stuff. New Seasons Market is my favorite 'big'* grocery store in Portland. Unfortunately, there isn't one close to me. So tomorrow I'll go to Whole Foods, which is by no means close, but closer than New Seasons. I very well may be completely crippled by the time I get home with my groceries.

I've seen several people using bike trailers. While there are a couple of companies that manufacture them (see Burley and Bob), most folks just make their own. The ones by Burley and Bob are a little expensive to justify and the homemade version is probably out for a guy in a small apartment, not to mention a little too Burning Man for me. So for the time being I'll just load the backpack and strap whatever won't fit to my rear rack - or do without.

The day I have to get cat litter is going to be a sad day indeed. This might change my perspective on trailer costs, construction and/or whether or not people see me as a Burner.


*The best grocery store in Portland is Food Fight. Although it's referred to as more of a convenience store. It has everything a junk food loving vegan needs to pack on the Portland 15 (like the freshman 15, but for vegans who move to Portland.)

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