Belted

[kevin_standlee]

As I mentioned yesterday, Lisa made and gave me a leather belt pouch for my mobile phone.



She made this using a kit we picked up from Tandy Leather Co. in Sacramento on our way back from SMOFCon. It uses Velcro to hold the pouch shut. I do have to take some care not to close it too tightly, or the phone will try to stay on continuously, which of course will drain the battery fast.

I've been surprisingly lucky with the current phone. It popped out of the old holster several times in Iceland, and a few weeks ago did it again while I was crossing the street here in Fernley. Every time, it has landed on an edge or back, rather than on its face, and thus only has a few nicks rather than a shattered face-plate.

Comments

[scott_sanford]

A few years back, as an Orycon wrapped up one of the dealers left a whole stack of Tandy Leather catalogs in the pile of leftover flyers that conventions generate. All Sunday evening fans were flipping through them and taking copies; I've still got one myself somewhere. Apparently leather crafts overlap with SF fandom.

[kevin_standlee]

As you may be aware, Tandy Leather was once part of the Tandy Corporation that owned Radio Shack. The store in Sacramento is across the street from a Fry's Electronics that was originally an Incredible Universe (also, as you probably know, a part of Tandy Corporation). The legacy of this is visible in that the access road to the Fry's is Tandy Lane. I had assumed that the Tandy Leader across the street was part of when the Incredible Universe store was opened, but reading up on it, Tandy Leather had long since been spun off and merged with The Leather Factory before that store opened in Sacramento, so it must have been merely a coincidence.

[scott_sanford]

I knew the Radio Shack connection years ago but had not thought of it in a long time. It might be of interest to Lisa that old Radio Shack catalogs have been scanned and put online. As a teenager I wasted more than a few hours flipping through those and daydreaming about toys.

[garyomaha]

"Wasted"?!?

I think of it as a rite of passage. (Thanks for that link, by the way.)

[scott_sanford]

Now that I'm older I'll only spend a little time flipping through toys that were once available... *grin*

[garyomaha]

I was all ready to launch into a Tandy-Radio Shack comment, but you beat me to it. And just last week, M needed something that would have been available in town and just when he needed it, if R-S stores were still open. (Yes, he can order it online, but where's the fun in that? No aisles to browse, no employees to stump with the simplest question.)

[garyomaha]

Oh yeah, one more thing. I recall that the first and only Incredible Universe store I ever visited (in Kansas City, I think) was perhaps the greatest store I have ever visited. Apparently the world didn't quite agree with me as Incredible Universe lasted only a few years! **sigh**

[kevin_standlee]

Long ago in her college days, Lisa was assistant manager in a New Mexico Radio Shack, so she's imparted a lot of RS lore to me. We even visited the Tandy Center in Fort Worth once and got to ride the shortest public transit subway (privately owned) that connected it to their parking lot, back when it still existed.