It’s spring break week here at rancho indebto. While a fancy vacation wasn’t in the works, it’s been a break from the usual routine, all the same. More than anything else, this has been a week spent away from working on the computers. Okay, so we haven’t been completely away from the computers (the horrors!), but we have been getting out of the house. Of course, many of the road trips have been instigated by stints with a web browser …

This week has brought us example after example of how the act of shopping (in the real world) has become inextricably linked to the web.

Take the quest to find a new body for the R/C car, for example.

After a good many hours spent scouring the Internet, we went off in search of a spiffy new body for the boy’s Traxxas Stampede. I discovered a great little R/C shop about 45 minutes from home. Factor in an extra fifteen minutes for the confusing directions from Mapquest and we found our quarry. Even better, we found a splendid fit for the Stampede, in the form of a Chevy SSR from Hot Bodies. A can of metallic black and a can of candy blue spray paint later, and the SSR has become a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

As we drove down the highway, I spied a billboard for Peapod, the online grocer. This brought me great glee. I’ve been waiting for the reappearance of a real online supermarket since the days of the dotcom boom. Alas, I was disappointed when I checked to see if Peapod is available in my zip code. No such luck. Peapod still needs to expand southward, by a town or two …

On a sunny note, we took a ride to the beach on the one (relatively) warm and sunny day this week. As we drove through the pinelands, my darling wife mentioned that RonJons was featuring a limited edition Tiki mug from Tiki Farm (our favorite purveyor of fine Tiki decor). Of course, she would have never known this if not for a tiki-infused perusal of the web.

The beach was beautiful,but chilly. While the Jersey Shore isn’t exactly balmy in late March, we couldn’t quite swing another Orlando vacation so soon …