Small Errands & an Impromptu New Orleans Trip

After an hour or so of perusing the kitchen and bath section of the local Lowe's for counter and sink ideas, I got a call from my contact in New Orleans – "hey, you've been looking at day packs and I need some bike gloves, you wanna go to Massey's and then get some coffee?"  Don't need to twist my arm twice.

Massey's was a success.  We spent some time comparing and contrasting two packs in particular, the Osprey Talon 22 and Escapist 25.  The difference in capacity was a wash, but the Talon seems to have slightly better back-panel ventilation and with a ten pound test weight somehow it felt narrower, less blobular, more bike-able.  The Escapist has its own plusses too, like an integrated rain cover, but in the end the Talon won out.  Got the electric green one.  It's a funny thing, but I bought a really great day pack my first week in college, been needing another one ever since that one blew out about ten years ago.  May have found it, I'll let you know in another ten years.

Then it was off to Coffee Science, a new place opened just last winter by a true master of the brew.  The coffee was wonderful, and now I'm pretty well ruined now from ever drinking a bad batch.  Mostly I hung out while Tom the owner and The Darling Daughter talked about on-line marketing.  The the place was meticulous without being fussy, right down to the tube amplifier sound system.  If you're in the neighborhood (410 S. Broad St.), be sure to stop in.

Listened to Dom Flemons' new album all the way over and all the way back.  More on that album later, but on the whole: thumbs up, go buy at your earliest convenience.  Took Hwy 90 for the late-afternoon drive home, that's somehow always better than the mad rush of I-10.  It was a good day well spent.