Alas, retail stores for us solder-junkies seem to have all but disappeared. I live in a major city (Los Angeles) and the only place left within easy driving distance of my house where I can buy components is Fry's, and all they have is NTE. It was just a few years ago that I could buy brand-name parts at several different places locally, but that seems to have gone the way of the drugstore tube-tester.
Good-bye Sandy's, ITC, Marvac-Dow, Electronic City... and now, even good-old bad-old Rat-Shack. I shouldn't complain too much, getting stuff online is convenient, affordable and usually fast enough, but I still feel like something important has been lost.
Oh well. I guess most people just don't get sentimental about buying transistors, do they?
Reid
