Whilst cruising back home We watched to kill some time
Black Adam. Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  and another which I fell asleep to ?

Forgot to say to Smokes that the Campervan had a spat driving for 8 hrs in +30deg from Cognac and decided to shed the coolant everywhere.
Luckily we were 5 mins from the campsite and managed to get a tent for 2 nights which the Insurance are paying for (had 20 mins to empty what we needed prior to the garage collecting the van)
https://campinglapaz.com/
An amazing terraced site that I imagine has some ancient history, luckily we found the site was on The Camino, which I cycled and walked with the wife (who subsequently twisted her angle again).
All turned out OK with the Van except a front axel problem stopped us going further to Galicia, but another great site was found nearer the ferry port of Bilbao, so a great time was had.

The fact is that we lag at least 50 years behind the stage in which England finds itself at present.  There, knit underclothes have vanquished woven underclothes....We proceeded step by step, from one part of the body to the next.  ...
We began with the feet.  In this area we have also made progress.  We no longer wear foot wrappings but stockings.  ...
If a man came to Vienna from the Balkan states, where they still wear foot wrappings, and went in search of a lingerie shop where he could buy his customary foot covering, he would be met with the news -- incomprehensible to him -- that foot wrappings cannot be bought in Vienna.  He could, of course, order them.  "Well, what do people wear here then?"  "Socks."  "Socks?  Why they are very uncomfortable.  And too hot in the summer.  Doesn't anyone wear foot wrappings anymore?"  "Oh yes, the very old people.  But the young people find foot wrappings uncomfortable."  And so the good man from the Balkans decides with a heavy heart to make the attempt to wear socks.  In doing so he arrives at a new rung of human culture." 

Adolph Loos, "Underclothes" published in the Neue Freie Press, (Vienna) September 25, 1898.

So, you see, this problem is not a new one.  And it drove me across oceans in search of socks that minimized the seam over the toe.  My dear departed father had the same complaint that you make.  One could always experiment with linen foot wrappings, I guess.

I wonder what Napoleon's soldiers wore on their feet when they invaded Russia.  Probably linen foot wrappings.  I can imagine the incidences of frostbite were pretty high.

Sorry to hear that - belated condolences - but that is on you: you should have mentioned it earlier!

When we lived in Alabama we did a road trip to Ottawa because there was (back in the 1990s at least) an M&S there. Going to visit Niagara Falls was just a side benefit.

Thank you for the condolences.  It was hard to lose my father as he was a really good guy.

My main reason for the post was to see if others had sock searching trials.  I have found lots of socks in various places for women, it's just men that I know (or have known) who complain.  It surprises me to not be able to find a replacement for the sturdy cotton socks that my husband bought for years, since you'd assume that in a free market with billions of customers, a market niche could be carved out for such things.  You only have to check the reviews on amazon to see the endless complaints of people who used to buy the same brand socks and their laments that they are no longer available.  It's not a limited phenomenon.

I'm amused to hear of your trip all the way from Alabama to Ottawa to visit M&S.  That's a schlep for a shopping trip.  The first time I went to M&S was in Paris in the 1980's.  I didn't even realize it was a British store, but I was very young and had no idea.  I still have a couple of sweet rayon dresses from that shopping trip that no longer fit.  They'll join others for donations as I clean out the closets.

Oh, so he's not under the patio after all.

Who knows. It could be his missus under the patio and he could be on the run.