But it annoys me that I've had to resort to K-mart yet again. Besides the fact that K-mart is just pretty grotty to begin with, I had to buy Fruit of the Loom T-shirts as they now carry only those and Hanes, and Hanes products in recent years have tended to come pre-holed so you don't even have to wear them before they fall apart. Both of those underwear companies are engaged in huge television advertising campaigns, so I was intending to buy T-shirts made by BVD, but K-mart no longer stocks BVD products-- probably because BVD is not engaged in a huge television advertising campaign.
I need flashlight batteries, too, but I won't be buying those at K-mart. They dropped the seldom-advertised Rayovac brand from their stock about a year ago, and now offer a choice of only the two widely-advertised brands. I began buying Rayovacs many years ago because they were as good as the other brands and a bit less expensive as well, partly due to the fact that the company was not squandering a fortune on obnoxious television ads. Apparently K-mart drops a product, their first choice is the brand that advertises the least, regardless of quality. It's also most annoying that Target has Rayovacs on sale this week, but the nearest Target store is in Chico.
But I don't know why I'm so grumpy tonight. It's been very nice out, what with the big moon and the slightly hazy sky and the air no longer quite as chilly as it was a few nights ago. Also, I have tasty ice cream in the freezer. And the good side of not having any good stores nearby is that I buy a lot less stuff than I otherwise might. It's just too bad that when I do buy stuff it's crap from K-mart.
A link, as compensation for the crankiness: Those who live in lively neighborhoods might be interested in outside.in, a web site intended to provide a place for people in any given locality to share information about what is going on in their area. Naturally, this will only work well in places where there are a lot of people sharing information on the site. I doubt that my backwater will ever be one of them, but even though the site was only recently launched they already feature several big city neighborhoods with considerable activity.