RentADog

Say the phrase "owning vs. renting," and you're likely to find yourself in a debate between the merits of a mortgage and a landlord. But that's thinking small -- these days, almost anything you can buy, you can also rent. This particularly makes sense when you're talking big-ticket party or home-improvement equipment, whether it's a big-screen TV, a steam carpet cleaner or a rototiller for your garden.

One of the worst aspects of business travel is the inability to call upon those things at home that help me unwind at the end of a hard day. For me, an important part of that is worshiping our cats. The Japanese, seemingly always in the forefront of innovations that nurture the soul, have come up...