DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It's days like today that make me all the more amazed with my neighborhood. In the process of moving apartments I managed to lose the cord to my electric razor. I didn't actually realize this until a couple weeks later, when the battery started to get low and I made a futile search for it. So now I've got a dead razor, and being the lazy person I am, that means I shaved less (I'm not all about real shaving...).

Today, though, I decided to take matters to hand and go find a replacement cord. I've mentioned before the joys of living downtown and having multiple electronics shops within a block or two of my apartment. No problem finding something that works then, right? Well, not so much. Electronics shops didn't really have anything, one of them said to try Rite Aid, since they sell the razor. Rite Aid did have the razor, but no cords. The guy there told me I might try Ross Cutlery, which was at Broadway and 3rd, or Broadway and 2nd... I had seen it before, though, so I knew it was 3rd (right next to the Bradbury Building).

Ross Cutlery is an amazing shop. Things I remember them selling: Mag lites, razors, fancy German straight-edge barber shop type razors, barber shop type scissors, barber poles, knives, watches... You get the picture. They had a couple cords like what I was looking for, but with European plugs. Doh.

But the guy who was helping me was like, "Hold on, you might be lucky today." He went to the back and came out with a 1960s Norelco razor for women. With it was a cord, a cord which just happened to be exactly what I was looking for. The guy had been at a garage sale this morning and had bought the razor. He was willing to sell me its cord, and find another one later. After clearing the person-to-person transaction with his boss, he sold me the cord for $5.

So now I've got my late-model Norelco razor charging with a cord straight out of the 60s. And I love it.

Total time away from the apartment? A half hour.