collecting bodies & camera-store memories

It seems that more people are letting their film bodies go when selling other gear, just to be rid of them. I recently picked up the SMC-M 40mm pancake with a Pentax ME attached, then a Rikenon 35-70 zoom with a KR-10 attached. Now another ME is coming to me, with a flash, M50mm f/2 and Vivitar 28-105 along for the ride.. well vice versa, as I was seeking the Vivitar. I was forced to sell a copy of this lens last year during a budget crunch, and this one could net out as a freebie depending on the condition of the other items. I picked up some LR-44 batteries to bring these bodies back to life, and found some print film at Walgreens to try out. Gosh, film is getting rare - only iso400 was available.

For the first time in forever Lloyd Center mall has no camera store; yes, Sears and Radio Shack are in there with a few items, but no true dedicated photo stop. Kodak at Sandy's was there from the beginning of Lloyd Center, and I worked at the Picture Mill in a corner of Newberrys (another mall store) in 1979-80. Several years later Sandy's camera store sold out and mutated into a Ritz - but even then a Kits Camera store was in another part of the mall. I bought my Casio P505 on closeout at the Kits store right before they merged with Ritz. And so the Kits was gone -- now Ritz has left the building as well. That particular Ritz is where I bought my Alpha A200 in 2008. Strange days, and many memories.