Mother Of Invention

The forecast today called for a high temperature in the mid-60s, not at all what you would expect for St. Louis in early February. After lunch Tony and I decided to take a walk and enjoy the nice weather. He had some paper to return to Office Depot, about 2 miles from our house, so we decided to make that our destination.

Tony chose to wear a windbreaker, but I decided that my shirtsleeves would keep me warm enough. Since Tony is the one who bought the paper, he got to carry it. He put it in a small day pack , hoisted the pack on his back, and we were off. There were a few piles of dirty snow from last week's storm blocking the sidewalk that we had to navigate, but other than that the walk was uneventful. Partway through the trip, Tony shed his jacket and carried it. I was glad I hadn't worn an outer layer.

When we got to the store Tony returned his paper, and then remembered we needed a box of file folders for the office. Unfortunately, the new purchase wouldn't fit in the day pack, and was pretty heavy for the store plastic bag, which wouldn't make the trip home without breaking. Tony put his jacket in the day pack, put that back on his shoulders, and carried the bag in his arms. We started walking; five minutes later I had an inspiration.

I asked Tony for his jacket and the bag of file folders. I spread the jacket on the ground, set the bag in the center of the jacket, and zipped it up. Next, I cinched the drawstrings at the hood and bottom of the jacket as tight as they would go, using the cord locks to keep them that way. I hoisted the whole thing over one shoulder, tied the sleeves into a knot across my chest and Presto! Instant pack!


I carried the box the rest of the way home. It was much easier and more comfortable this way, although it looked a little funny. When we arrived home, it was easy to "unconvert" the pack back into a jacket.