An interesting thread, notwithstanding the chimps flinging poop at each other.
Here in the Seattle area, our version of OSH is McLendon's Hardware. I used to live 3 blocks from their original store in Downtown Renton, which was across the street from the Northern Pacific freight depot. The tracks were long gone by the time I moved there, and the NP Depot is now a Hair Salon. It was quite handy to have a REAL hardware store within a short walk or bike ride, considering my house was built in 1923. McLendon has everything, even knob and tube wiring components and glass fuses!!! Ya just had to know where to find it !!! McLendon Hardware is the place where you can bring in a grease - covered glob of " something ", set it on the counter and say " Help". The clerk will look at it and say " How many do you need, and with or without the grease ??? " A far cry from the minimum - wage flunkees @ the Big Box Stores !!! Alas, McLendon's moved into the former K-Mart store a few blocks away; a much bigger building but not as much fun to wander through. However, with a Milwaukee Road Substation and BNSF tracks hauling Boeing 737 fuselages behind it, there is something for the Foamer in us. The McLendon's in Sumner ( one of their other 5 locations ) has the BNSF Seattle - Tacoma mainline right behind it, too.