Rainwear and Underwear

Who knew back in the middle of the last century when the first tenders of the first computers were pulling formerly live bugs of the insect sort out from between the vacuum tubes that all of that bug management would one day lead to a worldwide internet full of women exchanging essential tips about their underwear!

(For readers who are squeamish or who really do not want to know a darn thing about RantWoman's underwear, this post is only minimally confessional with most commentary confined to crass commercial complaints and of course opinions about transit.)

RantWoman was once part of an online discussion about underwear strategies for extended trips abroad such as study abroad opportunities. There were several points of consensus:

--Pack with the option of just throwing away wornout undies upon return. Be sure to pack things that will meet basic requirements like staying up during the rigors of the trip, but the option of just throwing out the worn stuff upon return is not to be minimized.

--Leave a few pairs of underwear that is clean and in good shape at home so you have fresh undies upon your return and don't have to do laundry right away.

Next, RantWoman notes the following confessional bit from a cousin, also an aspiring writer about her undies issues. Well RantWoman would note it but a fast check of cousin's blog did not yield the link so you dear readers get to make up details. The main point: cousin apparently buys undies the way RantWoman buys tote bags. Well, RantWoman is a long way from a bag count anywhere close to cousin's undies count, even after cousin cleaned out drawers enough to donate a large bag to charity. But the details about the scale of cousin's undies mania and her observations about a subset of failure modes somehow make RantWoman smile.

(Nerd aside: for any female engineering students, RantWoman highly recommends analyzing failure modes as an interesting excercise for some classes in mechanical or structural engineering. If boys can get class credit for doing standard engineering tests on Twinkies....?)

Anyway, now we come to the real reasons RantWoman's underwear has come to the world's attention: RantWoman's underwear drawer is the main limiting factor affecting her decision to do laundry. RantWoman feels VERY lucky to be able to go a good interval between ventures to the laundry room, but sooner or later.... RantWoman went through a spell where she needed to do laundry and did not have time. RantWoman also found herself reviewing the typical underwear product life cycle. Rather too high a percentage of Rantwoman's underwear drawer is well on its way to any of several catastrophic failure modes: disintegrating elastic, deterioration around seams, that sort of thing.

RantWoman took stock of all this. RantWoman considered just doing mail order, but RantWoman really wanted new underwear NOW, if not yesterday. RantWomans requirements are pretty simple: fits, forgiving of slight fluctuations in body shape, covers RantWoman well, cotton, and the brighter the colors the better. This last in RantWoman's size range without mail order options took RantWoman as far as grey, black, and beige. Woo-hoo. But RantWoman is getting ahead of herself.

RantWoman came to this urgent conclusion about her underwear needs while downtown in a rainstorm after another annoying but necessary appointment. RantWoman first ducked into a large department store featuring undies that cost more per pair than RantWoman is used to paying for many small electronic devices. They were nice undies so at least RantWoman did not faint; she also did not even bother trying to look for or ask about her size.

Next stop, with no underground route to the destination but at least the rain easing, downtown, off to monster discount store. RantWoman made it all the way to the bowels of the bottom floor. RantWoman thinks she remembers some nylon thingies, but RantWoman was so overwhelmed by what she is not sure that she fairly quickly hiked back up the three flights of stairs and out the door.

RantWoman is unclear why she did not head straight away to to the other main downtown department store; there was some minor concern like another time commitment. RantWoman did still want undies NOW, not via mail order. RantWoman is pleased to note she did eventually connect with her second department store and acquired enough new undies to postpone laundry a couple more days. Connecting with a clerk able to take her money took surprisingly long; this would be one reason RantWoman did not buy more undies there.

Comes Sunday. RantWoman's supply of new underwear will hit its end soon. RantWoman remembers she has gift cards for mall-area discount store and, after her usual interval at her house of worship, decides to hop the nearby bus to the mall. Eureka! Well, colors not to RantWoman's liking. Thickness of fabric neither. Big points though for timeliness, accessibility and tiding RantWoman over while she gets around to mail order for more COLOR options.