People who say they just want to escape from their problems by dropping everything, running away, and starting a new life really don't know what they are talking about. Starting a new life is hard work. I've living it, and I would much rather deal with whatever problems I have.

Those fifty boxes or so that constitute your life? Well, they have to be packed, and then unpacked. If you have an office, you need to haul your stuff to the office. And if you happen to have the bright idea of moving over the weekend in order to "avoid the crowd," well, you have no access to an elevator (since you're using the "weekend entrance," which is a stairwell. And suddenly the great view you have from the third level isn't looking so hot anymore).

And then there's cleaning. Whoever lived in the apartment before you, was probably not the greatest cleaner in the world. So it's Lysol and scrub pads and acrobatic stunts as you try to reach into the impossible parts of the kitchen cabinet that probably hasn't been cleaned since antediluvian times. Just offer a silent salute to the carcasses of the dozens of exoskeletonous creatures that you chance by.

But thank God for Walmart. Cheap stuff to fill your home with, and you can even do your groceries there, to boot (although I remain amazed at how a store can stock live lobster but fail to carry parsley).