> the world has become one big city really.
Not.
Still significant shipping and tax issues between North America and Western Europe. My last order from Wales was declined when they figured the shipping cost was more than their flat-rate.
With wider wires we are "seeing" people from places we knew only from the maps. Areas behind the former Iron Curtain. India, Malaysia, Brazil. Some of these folks have the technical know-how but don't have a way to do international payments, or their postal service is lame, or their customs charges are huge. US/EU, we buy transformers from China; Brazil charges like 100% import duty (to support a local industry which does not do specialty audio; and as general revenue).
Once in a while location helps enormously. Elsewhere I see folks from Toronto who know active electronics store-fronts where you can park-and-buy 2N2222s as easy as potatoes. (2-day trip for me to find anything more than a Radio Shack cell-phone store.)
> my medical and police files, you can PM me.
Don't bother. It has become easier to find your personal info online than for you to dig-out your papers. I just remembered someone I last saw in 1972. In a few minutes I had a wealth of info: spouse (ex), a half dozen residences, telephone, recent company, recent scandal of that company, several degrees, several small businesses, organizations.... a few dollars more for police records, and medical records are a little tougher. BTW, this person would never be on Facebook Twitter etc., where you can sometimes find things you really do not want to know. (How infected Glenn's foot got after he fell off the ladder and didn't get treatment...)
