Yet, here I was at an American shopping mall talking to my husband, an Air Force physician, from his distant war zone. For 15 minutes, we were able to catch up a little, to hear the other's voice, to know the other was doing OK.

Shopping online after a libation or two is far less dangerous than drinking and driving but there is the potential for reckless spending.

COMPUTER STORE: Dell delays opening St. Louis Post-Dispatch, United States - A 3,000-square-foot showroom in West Nyack, NY, slated to open before the 2006 holiday shopping season, won't open until early next year, Mike Maher, a ...