for the last 8 or so years i have lived in the midst of a big city-- either Washington, DC or San Francisco-- and sans car. most of you dear readers won't understand this phenomena for you live in suburbia or in a city with a car at hand. i love not having a car. but it does often isolate you to the citylife for the most part. the san francisco bay area has bus lines everywhere and a regional transportation system called BART, but still, without a car, it's sometimes limiting in where you can go. i don't mind this at all. i love being carless and not having to worry about car issues, car insurance, car maintenance, car repair, car crap. i hate cars. but on those rare occasions over the years when a friend has a car or when i've rented a car and my city friends and i have a chance to go to suburbia, just like most people do every day, and visit a mall-- a real one, not a city high-rise mall-- or outlet stores or Targets or K-Marts or big stores where the prices are really low, well, it's an occasion indeed. especially if you pile that occasion on with a special dinner at a big suburban steakhouse like Sizzler or Ponderosa or something like that. this is normal life for most people. but for me, as a city dweller over the last many years, it's a special time to revisit Americana and my memories of life in Kansas City and my reminders of home. and the deals you can get in the suburbs on simple, basic household needs are insane! i don't regret living a city life one bit, but it's nice to revisit suburbia every once in a while.