It's a Virtual Life.

• Position: Living online - Brief Article

Can someone survive on e-commerce alone? Our intrepid reporter tries to find out.

The Internet has revolutionized the selling of books and CDs. But can the Net alone provide for everyday survival? That was the question New York Times writer Matt Richtel recently sought to answer.

It is Sunday night, and I have just sealed myself into an e-cave. For the next five days, I will stay in a bachelor pad in Palo Alto, California, armed with a credit card and mouse, using only the Net to supply what I need.

I begin by clicking my way to Webvan, an online grocer. Ah, but a crisis. Deliveries are first come, first served, and the next available appointment is Wednesday night. By Wednesday, I could walk to the nearest market and back, on stilts.

MONDAY: Undaunted, I find 69 Web sites offering "grocery delivery." I register at several sites, but then I learn that one serves only Perth, Australia. Another focuses on Florida's North Pinellas County. By noon, I change strategies.

I search on "food delivery, Palo Alto" and am led to Waiters.com, a service that takes online orders for local restaurants. Two hours later, my $32 order arrives. I practically hug Louis, the Waiters.com driver. "If I were you," he says, "I would have ordered over the phone. It's easier."

TUESDAY: I decide to buy an indoor putting green to alleviate the boredom of an online, in-house life. Yahoo spits out nearly 40 merchants selling everything from do-it-yourself kits to synthetic grass by the yard.

I settle on a shop, partly because it has a number for customer service, and I'm starting to get a little lonely in the e-cave. The owner sells me a $159, nine-foot-long piece of simulated grass carpet with a golf hole at one end. "This will do more for your game than anything else in the industry," he promises. It dawns on me that it may be even more instructive to play actual golf.

WEDNESDAY: Another crisis. My neighbor has been banging on the piano for hours with hands like anvils. I will fight back, e-commerce style. My weapons: earplugs and aspirin. My destination: pharmaceutical sites. I compare two sites, and minutes later "walk out" with earplugs and Advil, opting for overnight delivery for an extra $10.

I'm on a roll. I've used the Net to gather food, tend body, and protect my sanity. Now I will endeavor the ultimate: I will find love.

THURSDAY: They say it's hard to meet good people these days. Well, they've never met Kitten664. This is the woman I am paired with by...