THE REAL PACK-MAN
BY DAN MILLER
June 15, 2006
The post-vacation process of "unpacking" is still underway at our house.
For me, it's a process that could go on for another week or so.
The extent to which I "over-pack" for a trip surprises even me.
Did I really need all those extra shirts and shorts and shoes and belts and sweaters that I never once considered wearing?
And why did I pack several pairs of socks?
I never wear socks at the beach.
Now, it'll take a few days for me to sort through everything and determine what's dirty.... what's clean.... and what's reasonably clean.
(For the peace of all mankind, I won't even talk about all the stuff my wife and daughter packed!)
(Of course, to be fair, they've already unpacked all their stuff and put it away)
Years ago, when I took a car trip, I could pack -- or unpack -- in 2 minutes.
I simply threw a few things into a plastic bag and took off.
Nowadays, along with all the extra clothes, there's one piece of luggage I dedicate exclusively to electronic stuff.... one whole bag!
My wife leaves the "electronic selections" entirely up to me (though I suspect she thinks I take too much of it).
This vacation I packed:
The digital camera....
The charger and cord for the digital camera....
The video camera....
The charger for the video camera....
The wire that connects the digital camera to the computer....
The laptop computer....
The wire to charge the laptop computer....
The cell phones....
The chargers for the cell phones....
The rechargeable flashlight we take with us everywhere....
The charger for the rechargeable flashlight....
Two hand held walkie-talkies we use on the beach....
The charger for the walkie-talkies....
Extra batteries for the headsets my daughter uses in the car....
Extra batteries for the cameras (in case the chargers don't work)....
A multi-plug surge protector....
An extension cord....
An electronic musical instrument (Omni-chord)....
The wires to run the musical instrument....
An electric shaver (which I never used)....
(I'll be honest.... I'm not sure I needed the extension cord.)
Ahhh, the simple joy of getting away from it all and roughing it on the beach.
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