I'm glad you brought up the consumerism angle, EEE, I mean, t'is the season, right? A few years ago, when the cold weather and early sunsets would arrive, my wife and I took to the local mall for walks. I take great satisfaction from the fact that virtually nothing in the stores calls out to me. Even the food court is lame. I see so many people buying so much shit, and to what end? Who would have imagined that self-storage facilities would be a growth industry? I may be wrong but I think there are a whole lot of people with voids that they're desperately trying to fill. And that may entail shopping, excessive eating/drinking, drugs, religion, sex, work, sports, whatever.

Peter T.