Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for August 02, 2012

Smart husband

another, " yes dear" moment.

We live in an area where there’s lots of walkers, and there is a store nearby…but it is a bit of a trek back, and bringing back all the stuff one might buy does makes it that much harder.

Yeah, believe me, walking TO the store is easy…….

She didn’t see the irony.

Think of the ice cream!

Remember stores that were actually within walking distance? That managed to squeeze in a meat counter? That had wood floors? That weren’t part of nationwide chains? I grew up with one of those. Wonder what happened to it.

DDrazen I grew up with a store just like that, small grocery section, deli counter, wooden floors, and a place to sit down and drink a cold beer or soda, depending on your age, even had gas pumps, old style… it is still open too

At the risk of sounding like my father…when we lived in Alaska, the routine was to walk everywhere because cars rusted out in a few years. We walked down to the store and lugged the groceries home. No wolves snapping at our heels though and it wasn’t up hill both ways, so i guess that dad had me beat.

I’m with her on this one. She’s right.

We all make choices. Most people want as much house as they can get for their income, in a quiet neighborhood. In order to maximize their purchase, they tend to go to the outer limits of their commute tolerance, since houses are generally cheaper farther out. But then they live in a neighborhood that is not at all walkable and have to use the car for everything, and as traffic worsens, their commute time increases beyond the limits of their tolerance. I opted for a smaller home and a tiny yard, but I can walk, bike, or take transit to most destinations (including almost all of my shopping). My job involves providing a service in other people’s homes, yet I still only need to use a car a couple of days a week. Is my home or neighborhood perfect? By no means. At times do I find myself envious of people who have newer or bigger homes that cost less than mine? Yep. But then I think of the character and history in my neighborhood, and of all of the great stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues I can easily get to without ever getting into a car, and I know that I made the right choice.

I’m sorry – this is funny why?

Uh Oh… not funny – serious. He’s doing something he would not have done, because of his wife’s request.I knew a guy once who went to get his wife some cigarettes (he didn’t smoke), had an auto accident, and ended up paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.