be prepared to drive around and drive around and drive around. As with groceries, if you see something, grab it - next visit it might not be there.

I spent several months trying to find all the parts to put in a garden watering system. Every saturday I made the rounds hoping that the stores would have what I needed - the last part took forever to find!

Be prepared to hear a lot of, "it's on order, here next week." Staff don't want to be promise something they probably can't deliver on, so they try to be nice about it.