Bag Tour 2024: Daily Bag Edition Feat. Hannibal Lector
Bag Tour 2024: Daily Bag Edition Feat. Hannibal Lector
All images have alt text descriptions with items listed, bag tour, and the reasons for each item below the cut
The Bag Itself:
This bag is a Coach Turnlock Tote bag in the pebbled leather color Blossom. This bag, the belt bag I now use as a bag organizer, and the wallet were all gifted to me in 2019 by a family member. The belt is too large for me at this point in life, so the pouch has been repurposed as a Toolkit of sorts. While it is a hair small fully packed, I enjoy the color of it and the balance of it as well as the functionality of the pockets it has.
The Straps:
My straps on this bag usually aren't this cluttered. However, Hannibal has been coming with me to work on a daily basis to get him used to the idea of traveling, and I needed a place to put his harness.
On my straps there is a malachite pendant necklace attached to the charm loop at the bottom of the right side of the outer strap, and my keys are also usually attached here with a carabiner unless I'm going somewhere that I'd want my keys a little bit more secured. I just like malachite. It looks cool. It's the right shades of green, and it's fairly easy to get ahold of.
I also have my stethoscope looped here if it's not around my neck or on my desk at home. I have a neonate size littman stethoscope since I primarily work in companion animal medicine, and I find that it focuses a bit better on my patients who are less than 15 pounds. I do have a regular litmann as well, but that one stays at the office. Most of my after-hours calls are on cats and small geriatric dogs who have standing orders for as needed injections of certain medications whose owners are either unwilling or unable to administer those medications.
Then, the big thing on the straps today is Hannibal's harness. Little dude is 17 weeks, and a whopping 7 lbs already. I could gush about him literally all day, though. His harness was only on the bag while he was allowed to have free roam over the back of the reception area and wrestle with Chewbacca (my terrier).
Turnlock Pocket:
This is where I keep my human med kit for myself, plus treats for my pets, or snacks for myself. Image 8 is the corresponding image.
Human Med Kit:
Glucometer: I have struggled with Non-diabetic hypoglycemia, POTS, and hemiplegic migraines for about 7 years now due to a moderate traumatic brain injury in my teens. So I tend to take 2-5 glucose readings per day. The rubber gloves in my glucometer bag aren't for me to use on me so much as they are to be ready if I need to assist someone in a first aid setting or administer narcan to someone.
Excedrine Migraine: A tried and true beloved OTC medication, both my terrier, Chewbacca, and my malinois, Phobos, are trained for migraine alert and POTS electrolyte imbalance alert work, although Chewbacca is retired at this point. At the first migraine alert from my dogs, I take one tablet of Excedrine and then wait an hour. If the migraine continues to worsen, I then take the second half of the regular dose. This is what works for me, and you should talk to your doctor about treatment options if you have migraines. Currently, I'm down to only 2-4 migraines a month and only experiencing breakthrough hemiplegic migraine symptoms about once every 3 months with this routine.
Narcan: I carry it everywhere. I was never an opioid addict. However, after my TBI, I did struggle with perscription amphetamine addiction, and as a result of having been through that, and having gotten clean, I've become a really big proponent of harm reduction and narcan access programs. There's a few charities I'm involved with that give away narcan locally, and I'd be happy to put anyone interested in carrying narcan some national resources. I also live fairly close to Philadelphia and have unfortunately had to utilize narcan to assist strangers in bars in the past from tainted supplies.
Menstrual cup: I have PCOS, so my cycle isn't super regular and I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it.
Not Pictured: My supply of both instant iced coffee, instant electrolytes, and protein bars that I keep in my glove box, office desk, and at home. Both the caffiene (increases blood pressure) and the electrolytes (increases sodium and potassium) are important in managing my POTS symptoms. The protein bars are for when my glucose drops a bit too far.
Chicken Churu: This was Hannibal's treat for today, we worked on saying hello to strangers and walking nicely on a leash.
Tech:
Corresponding Photos: 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, & 9
Samsung Galaxybook Go: This is my laptop for work and personal use, it has an LTE data chip so I can use it on the go without sucking up my Hotspot data, and it's got fantastic battery life. I bought this refurbished off of Amazon at the beginning of the year. It also charges with a USB-C cable which is super convenient since the rest of my tech with the exception of my smart watch also utilizes USB-C charging so I can just pack a fast charge block and 2 USB-C cables rather than lug around 5 different chargers.
Samsung Galaxytab S6 Lite: It was on special at costco and has an S-Pen which is great as someone who's memory for reading/typing isn't nearly as effective as my memory for things I've written down. I mostly use this for notes on patients and my studies.
Samsung Galaxy23 Ultra: It has a stylus and is of a similar design, feel, and functionality to my Note9 I just replaced last fall.
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro: The active noise cancelling is fantastic for working in busy coffee shops on Mondays, and the Ambient sound is great for getting a Podcast in during charting or longer monitoring stints.
Samsung Galaxy Watch5: LTE enabled watch helps when I'm away from my phone during the day, it allows me to still get calls, texts, notifications, and keep track of active time and calories burned.
Charging Bundle: One 8" USB-C -> USB-C cord for charging my tablet, phone, or earbuds off of my laptop, one 4' USB-C -> USB-C cord to charge my laptop or other devices if my laptop is sufficently charged, a USB-A -> hard drive cord for my 1TB portable drive, and a USB-A Smart watch charging cord.
Data storage: 8GB flash drive that is mostly used for ultrasound capture transfers and X-Ray Diacom transfers, although occasionally it also gets used for in-house lab data transfers when the WiFi link is acting up. 1 TB portable hard drive, this contains textbook PDFs, a large music library, archived notes, and lesser used reference tables and software. It also has copies of my more important documents.
Vlogging/Content Creation Supplies: Light bar, microphone, mini tripod, comfort grip, and microphone stand. Basically just stuff to enhance recording quality for tiktoks, reels, and YouTube videos (coming soon).
Books & Stationery:
Pocket Edition Book of Common Prayer: No, I am not carrying a Bible around, I have an app for that. This is a Book of Common Prayer (1979 edition) for The Episcopal Church. While I'm laity, I do still try and take time for Morning Prayer/Matin, Noonday Prayer/Diurnum, Evening Prayer/Evensong, and End of Day Prayer/Compline. These are quiet moments for me to break away from the stressors of the day. I also utilize 2 additional devotionals for quiet time upon rising and before bed that supplement my regular journaling, however these stay on my bedside table with my primary journal.
Martha Stewart For Staples Discbound Junior Notebook, this is my planner, quick notebook, and lazy journal, I basically dump my brain out right here throughout the day.
Paper clips: From marking off the current month and week in my planner to organizing papers from drug reps, to getting a client printed copies of their records, there's lots of paperclip usage.
Correction tape: I don't often use pencils and sometimes my brain goes faster than my hand and mistakes happen.
Erasers and pencil leads: If I'm out and about I don't want to lose my ability to sketch and use pencils if they're needed
Pens: Pink, Red, and Black ink, my standard for personal notes is Pink ink, while business notes are done in black, the red is for corrections on both
Pencil: it's the same grip as my favorite pens that I can write for hours with, super beneficial for long study sessions.
S Note App: My longer rough notes and revised notes are done in SNote with a SPen/stylus and handwritten out. I also tend to keep spare nibs on hand, however I am currently out of spare nibs.
Sticky notes/flags: great for passing off notes to coworkers, flagging charts, or marking messages.
Snack Attack:
Travel Cutlery set with a fork, spoon, and knife so that I don't have to get utensils when I grab breakfast or lunch at Wawa or the local BBQ joint
Travel straw: Save the turtles while still enjoying my Starbucks
Bandana/neckerchief: No single use napkins here
Coozie: Perfect for NA Seltzers, Sodas, or a beer at the bar after work. Plus it holds all my other eating supplies.
Beauty/Hygiene:
Hand lotion: washing hands between every patient can leave my hands feeling pretty gnarly, so I always pack lotion
Perfume: Anal Glands happen, and sometimes you just... need to freshen up a bit.
Dry Shampoo: my hair always looks super greasy after taking my scrub cap off after surgeries, this buys me enough time to get through my shift
Hand sanitizer: ideal for housecall visits or visits to elder care facilities where you may not be able to properly wash your hands between patients.
Lip gloss: I'm not a huge fan of lip balms and the waxy feeling they leave on my lips vs the glide of a lipgloss or oil.
Sewing kit: Because if your shirt rips in vet med, it's probably going to be in a place you really don't want it to rip
Manicure kit: wrestling with animals can cause nail breakage and hang nails, and I'd rather not have to chew one off. It also has tweezers that come in handy for splinters or thorns picked up from animal coats.
Blotting sponge: again, I tend to start looking greasy after surgery because I sweat. And I'd rather be able to take care of it quickly and discreetly
Condoms: These don't need to be in my work bag, but they're in the tool kit along with my most basic essentials because the Toolkit is in every bag I use, including bags I use when I go out for girls night or linedancing. Also another have and not need vs need and not have item.
Hair tie, bobby pins, barette: just little extra bits and bobs as needed for hair issues, sometimes the dry shampoo isn't enough and the only solution is to throw my hair up into a slicked back ponytail instead of having it down.
Cooling wet wipe: again, surgical sweating
Other Essentials:
Wallet: Obvious Reasons
Nicotine Pouches: I've quit vaping but I haven't quite kicked the habit entirely yet
Unpictured: Glock 43. I uber and doordash after work, I also deliver controlled substances for patients in some not-so-great areas being ravaged by the opioid epidemic. I'm also a 5'5" disabled female who lives alone and has had a stalker. Sorry not sorry, it's insured, I'm licensed, and I take courses for it routinely.
If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, feel free to DM me, comment here, comment in the tags, or reblog. Also, I'm aware this is Tumblr and that the Jesus stuff can be frightening to see, just want to make note that I do fall somewhere between a pluralist and a universalist. As long as you aren't using your religious views to oppress, marginalize, or harm people, we're good as far as I'm concerned.
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The organs will be donated, the brain will go to TBI research, and the scraps will be sent for composting/green burial. It's all in my advanced directive.
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Before I returned to Veterinary medicine, I was in Cabinetmaking and wood technology, and there were times I wondered why the fuck half the regs we had needed to be written down, why our safety briefings needed to be so damn long, I just wanted to build... then a kid the year behind me in trade school decided to skip a push stick on the jointer 7 months into his training, rushing through his spring project. Kid lost all function in his left hand, severed his FCU Tendon, lost part of his triquertum bone and required 58 stitches in his hand and wrist and a blood transfusion. The stain on the concrete never quite went away before I finished my program. Peroxide, concrete stripper... it wouldn't fully get rid of the brown stain at the base of the jointer. The next week we all had to go from a 10 hour OSHA certification to a 30 hour OSHA certification. Thankfully, he only fucked himself up ignoring safety regulations.
I've seen kickbacks fly at people operating equipment behind the tablesaws, had my own close call while running a CNC router table when someone else had a tablesaw throw a piece towards me, ruin a cnc bit and a $150 rough sawn price figured maple slab, but it got caught up in the running CNC and not me by about 7° difference in its trajectory angle at takeoff and about 18 inches from my face. The other woodworker didn't get impaled or lose a finger because they followed all their OSHA regs, I was following OSHA regs for the CNC router, but there still could have been a really dangerous incident there because of the routers location behind a tablesaw.
OSHA regs are just the tip of the iceberg for work safety, because our shop was set up for compliance, but having seen some of the shit I've seen, there are layout changes I would have made to our shop to be mindful of the fact that there were 20-40 people working in the shop at a time. I've had saws run away on me when their primary switches failed in the on position (part of why all tools need fail safes and backup power cutting options) I've had saw kicks and throwbacks, the dangerous shit that will happen to every woodworker if they work long enough, I haven't had any injuries from woodworking beyond splinters and blisters because I follow my OSHA shit.
Keep an eye out for safety problems on site when you're interviewing
Read up on your industry's safety standards
Read your material SDS sheets
Walk if your employer tries to shame or pressure you out of OSHA compliance
Keep up to date on industry safety briefings and case/post incident studies
Seriously WALK if your employer is trying to shortcut safety
I know the safety compliance/osha man is the brunt of a lot of jokes in the trades, mostly because a lot of them have forgotten that their job is supposed to protect the worker rather than the profits, but in theory, they are there to protect YOU and YOUR life, cut the fucker some slack.
"It doesn't help your credibility to exaggerate, most employers wouldn't literally work you to death" like, I used to work in distribution. If booking a truck driver for back to back shifts until they fall asleep at the wheel, crash, and die counts as being worked to death, I have personally met employers who've worked employees to death and gotten away with a slap on the wrist. It may not be universal, but it's a hell of a lot more common than a lot of us would prefer to think.
"Witness my Act and Deed", 1882 - Frank Paton, British (1855 - 1909)
And the sudoku and the little sweet treat just before bed. And actually turning down the bed. And closing down the house at the end of the day, and also soup.
you can make fun of old people all you want but then you'll be knitting with a good album on and a cup of tea and you'll be like this is excellent actually. the old ladies were right about this one. about the crosswords too, by the way
"If I'm going to be a partner in a law firm by the time I'm 30, I'm going to need a boyfriend who's not such a complete bonehead."
~Elle Woods Legally Blonde
Children are like dogs, they need to be socialized and put into situations in order to learn how to behave in them. Yes, children require adaptability for their parents, but they also require adaptability within their society. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and while they should be expected to behave in developmentally appropriate ways, treating them with scorn is an exercise in foolishness, and often deeply rooted in misogyny.
the demonisation of babies and children in public is a feminist issue when mothers are the primary caretakers of their children and constantly making them feel unwelcome existing in public is not okay. ur demands for children and babies to be kept at home all the time is not only detrimental to those babies and children but what. do u just want mothers to be kept chained inside their houses?
For reference, I live in a not so great Philly suburb, unfortunately, so I'm a little bit more heavily armed than I would be in other places
I carry a 9mm Glock 43 with a 6+1 round capacity. You can also go for the 43X, which has a similar profile but double the round capacity. The sizing is right for my grip, and the texture is less sandpaper like than the S&W and Sigs on market. I payed about $470 for my Glock as a factory rebuilt gun. My holster is a convertible kydex holster as well, able to be mounted both in the waistband and outside of it, I find these to be the best for me personally as a southpaw shooter since they're usually ambidextrous. I also added an under barrel mounted flashlight and laser combo (Streamlight TLR-6) since the 3 times I've considered drawing my firearm from holster in real world events happened either in my darkened home or at night at a gas station. I pair my primary holster with a belly band as well that I keep my debit card, ID, and spare mags in. My secondary is kept in either a boot holster or an ankle holster *with trigger guard*
The glock does not have a manual safety, it has a safety trigger, but that is not the same. My secondary sidearm (Kimber Micro in .380 ACP had the thumb safety removed by its prior owner (likely another southpaw shooter since 1911 style models are incredibly difficult to handle the safety on as a southpaw) which is why I carry that one condition 3.
My next handgun purchase will be the Glock 17 for in home situations, open carry when necessary, and competition shooting.
I have had to draw my gun once, and I will tell you right now, it is an adrenaline surge, whether or not you have to take the shot. I can't tell you which factors played into it more vs others, but despite hearing the blood rushing in my ears I do know I would have taken the shot had he not opted for the more peaceful option to GTFO of my house. I also know that I would have been an emotional wreck afterward.
I'm seeing a ton of Feminists urging eachother to get a gun due to the election results, which is fantastic news imo American women please please please assert your 2nd amendment rights and get a gun if you're able to <3
You can start by looking into the gun laws in your state: https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/compare/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_by_state Gun safety: https://www.agirlandagun.org/how-to-shoot/4-rules-of-gun-safety/ Youtube has thousands of gun related videos, it's a male dominated culture but there are absolutely a ton of resources for female shooters and beginners. Reddit has a handful of firearm related subs, included r/firearms(skews conservative/rightwing) and r/liberalgunowners and r/concealedcarrywomen Facebook has women's gun groups also, many of them skew conservative but can still be a valuable resource for beginners Check out your local area for self defense firearm classes, some will have classes geared specifically to women. Check out your local gun stores, or sporting goods stores, some will have a range in which you can rent a firearm before purchasing but many don't have this feature, so it's important to do product research before buying. https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-handguns-women/ https://tombstonetactical.com/blog/best-guns-for-women (Most guns range from $400 to $700 btw) Gun store employees are overwhelmingly male (and in my experience, old) and might try to steer you towards the tiny pink pistol, or a .22, or something else equally impractical for self defense. It's important to be assertive and clear in what you're looking for!
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