Is It Wrong To Love A Company This Much?

The Tom Bihn Aeronaut bag

I recently purchased the above Tom Bihn Aeronaut bag, and had the pleasure of using it on a recent trip to Ft. Lauderdale. Let me just say this. I. Love. This. Bag. But then again, I love EVERY bag I've ever purchased from Tom Bihn. If you are unfamiliar with this company, let me fill you in. First, there is a real person, Tom Bihn himself, behind this company. He's been making bags for over 20 years in Washington state. The company keeps a blog that's always being updated with product reviews, new products, customer feedback and pictures, and assorted fun stuff. They also host a forum on their website where Tom's multitude of fans (yes, I count myself among them) can interact and talk about everything from bag design, post pictures of their TB bags all over the world, share travel tips, and tell the company what they'd like to see next. And Tom Bihn listens - there have been several updated products that have incorporated customer suggestions. 

This company also nails it on customer service. On the few occasions when I've needed to contact them, they've been incredibly responsive. The first time, a part of the strap buckle on my Co-Pilot bag cracked, so I emailed to let them know. Two days later, I had a free replacement. Most recently, when I ordered the above Aeronaut, it arrived in the wrong color scheme (even though the packing list had the correct color on it). I'd wanted the Forest/Ultraviolet, but got the Forest/Steel instead. When I called and said I had wanted the bag for a trip 5 days later, they overnighted the correct bag, and even included a return shipping label so all I had to do was leave the wrong bag out for my UPS guy to pick up! Awesome.

So now that it's been a few weeks since I ordered my Aeronaut, I'm getting an itchy mouse finger.....Large Cafe Bag anyone?

I'm A Sucker For A New Gadget

I can't help it. New iPhone? I gotta get it. New iPad? Sell something so I can get it. New Kindle? Who are you kidding? Two days ago, I ordered a Kindle Touch, after having checked it out in person at the local Best Buy. It came this afternoon. I'm in love. As much as I loved my last two Kindles, this one is so much better, from a user experience standpoint. I opted to get the cheaper (by $40) version with ads/offers. They are really unobtrusive, and if you want to remove them, you can do so through your Amazon account.

I never realized how much the keyboard on the previous Kindle got in my way. I like to hold it one-handed, and I would often find myself inadvertently hitting keys. Also, with the sets of page-turn buttons on the sides, I would often accidentally flip a page when I wasn't ready. I'm not having those problems with the Touch. There's enough room along both edges for me to hold the Kindle without accidentally touching the screen. So far, I have no complaints. 

Music, music, music.....

Having been an avid user of Pandora, I was excited when Spotify hit the shores of the US recently. I just downloaded it tonight, and so far, am loving it. I'm even considering the $9.99/month premium membership, since I spend a lot of time listening to music while stuck at my desk. The one thing I am a bit concerned about is the ability to search effectively for, and listen to, classical music. There are some critical reviews of the service in this respect, but I am willing to give it some extra patience.

Eeew!

Wow.

I guess this is as good as it was going to get, considering I only had my King, eh?

Is this necessary? Really?

So I'm browsing the aisles at Costco last night, and amongst all the
school supplies is a spiral notebook three-pack. With an inordinately
large amount of packaging. Hello? Who comes up with these stupid
ideas? Hello? Costco will be receiving an email from me later today
regarding their idiotic overpackaging practices. So there.

How to spend a cloudy Sunday afternoon....

New Discovery!

I always suspected as much........

Almost Time for My Trip!

In two weeks I will be on the Belize Aggressor, eating, sleeping, and DIVING! It will not come soon enough!

Will this day ever end?