For my whole adult life, I have made my living largely upon my talent for knowing where to get things, and keep anything running. On the low level, every GI knows this guy: he’s the one with the connections to keep your equipment running when official channels break down.

This has been particularly usefully in my marine maintenance business, where people frequently need some really weird shit.

And, thirty-twenty years ago, living on the outskirts of Los Angeles was really nice. Because everything under the sun was available, if only for a trip “downtown”.

But now, there seems to have been a total paradigm shift. I need some New Balance CT520 sneakers in size 13EE. And, while I can find numerous web suppliers, I can find noone, noone, here locally who carries them. Further, my gardener was here today clearing out the back yard. I assured him that his 4-stroke Honda weed trimmer wasn’t running right. He told me that he can find noone locally familiar with small 4-stroke Hondas. A telephone check verified this.

WTF is the world coming to? I think we are getting ever-closer to the “everything’s disposable” economy.