[Boatanchors] RATSHACK?

[George KB2Z]

I try Radio Shack first for convenience and to save time.
Granted 9 times out of 10 they dont have what I want, but they are a 5 
minute ride away.
We have no local electronics supply houses that I am aware of.

I like and deal with Mouser. Yes I know they have no minimum order. My pet 
gripe with Mouser is they wont put a few resistors in an envelope and send 
in the mail. As an example I need two,  2 or 3 Watt 1.2k resistors. I dont 
use credit cards. For 50 cents worth of resistors I have to pre-pay  $12 
UPS shipping. You get a credit slip for the unused shipping, but it still 
costs roughly $6.50 for 2 resistors. If I used a credit card it would still 
cost $6.50. I end up buying things I dont need to justify the shipping.
I also realize that the big guys arn't staying in business on my 2 
resistors and should not cater to me.

Is there any middle ground I'm unaware of?

Thanks, George KB2Z

At 04:01 AM 5/29/05 -0700, you wrote:


>--- FRED - W4FJF <ka2hlw at netzero.net> wrote:
> >
> > "...because nobody
> > asks for them anymore. I live in a town that has 27
> > active hams, so I think my ANSWER was an outright
> > lie."
> >
> >
>
>Why would one go to Radio Shack for stuff?  If I'm any
>representation of the amateur market, the number of
>hams in a given area would have no bearing on the
>amount of business I would expect a Radio Shack would
>have.  For the most part, Radio Shack stuff
>(miniboxes, connectors, cables, etc.) is cheaply-made
>garbage.  I'll go there in an emergency, but for the
>most part it's Mouser or some other purveyor of "real"
>components.  Not being a hospital emergency room
>physician, I have few "emergencies" that can't wait a
>week for UPS.
>
>Also, I generally like to get my entire body into a
>store before I get jumped by an employee.  While I
>would welcome employee assistance in most stores, I
>have found that I can get out of a Radio Shack much
>faster without "help."  With employee assistance I can
>usually be out of a Radio Shack empty-handed in about
>23 minutes: 7 minutes to explain what a resistor is, 6
>minutes for the employee to wrestle the mutilated
>store catalog from an associate who is trying to help
>another customer find a replacement tape for his
>1985-vintage answering machine, 3 minutes until I lose
>patience, grab the catalog and look it up myself, 3
>minutes to find the chest of drawers that now houses
>components, 3 minutes to find the proper drawer, 5
>seconds to stare bewildered at the nearly empty drawer
>and tell me that they don't stock those anymore
>because nobody wants them, and 55 seconds to run the
>gauntlet of employees as I bolt for the door.  Without
>help, I can go staight to the cabinet, perform the
>ritualistic opening and closing of the empty drawer,
>and bolt for the door all in about 45 seconds
>(assuming I can get by the employees).
>
>Yes, I'm an active ham; and no, I don't shop at Radio
>Shack.
>
>73,
>Jim
>w2bvm
>
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