This fits this general theme, but at least it has a happy ending:

The Door from the House to the Garage (hereafter TDftHttG (why doesn't this door have a catchy name like "Front Door" or "Garage Door"?)) stopped shutting on its own about a month ago. I've been yelling at the wife and kids ever since to try to keep it shut to avoid air conditioning the garage as well as most of Thornton and parts of Westminster. Eventually I decided I just needed to fix it, so I took a look at what kind of spring hinges were already on the door. I took one off and looked up the serial number.

It was classified as a 4" Rounded Corner Spring Hinge. Apparently there are 2 variations on "rounded corner" and this was the more roundier cornery one. So off to Home Depot I go! And they have some 4" Spring Hinges, but only square cornered ones. I think: why, oh why is it always like this? I head over to Lowes just to confirm my fears: Lowes carries the exact same 5 hinges as Home Depot, and none of them are the 4" Rounded Corner Spring Hinge that I need. BUT: The square cornered ones are about a buck and a half cheaper than the 'depot, so I buy one there. Sales attendants at neither store can tell me if one spring hinge is enough to close my door, but I decided to chance it.

At any rate, it wasn't a big deal to chisel out the corners, and the new hinge closes the door like a dream... BUT WHY IN THE WORLD IS IT SO HARD TO FIND the EXACT SAME HINGE THAT MET SOME STANDARD of COST vs FUNCTIONALITY vs AVAILABILITY when my house was built? Why is that so hard? This problem seems to be the norm when replacing parts like this.

AND what's the point in having the two largest hardware store chains have exact same inventory? I have never found something at Lowes after not finding it at Home Depot. Like a fool, I keep trying. But it does seem they have some pact to carry the exact same inventory so that "it's fair."