On Sun, 15 May 2016 19:28:39 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"
wrote:


I live close to a town of about 8,000. It's about a 50

It would help me to picture this if I knew what town and state.

mile drive one way to buy something if I can't find it nearby.
That's fifty bucks added to the price using the IRS figure of
fifty cents a mile. Internet buying beats that by a bunch in
convenience and usually price.
I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.
There were a fair number of people at a mall the last
time I hit one. A good share of them were teenagers just
wandering around.

My friend walks in one for 90 minutes 3 times a week when the weather
is cold or rainy. A big mall in Baltimore actually went out of
business, so now she has to go to a smaller one. She's bumped into
one or two other walkers from the first mall. A store often gives
her a free pretzel.