Thanks - I checked preferences and restrictions, but the store was still active - not disabled. I did check with McAfee (my firewall/security/antivirus/etc provider), who suggested temporarily turning off the firewall. I turned it off, opened the store, made a purchase, and everything worked fine that way. Then I immediately turned the firewall back on. And now, everything seems to be working fine. Maybe turning the firewall off and on did something? Jarred loose some rust in the pipes? But then I grew up with a black, 6 pound, rotary dial phone with a cord and a four-digit phone number. Anyway, I'm hoping the firewall trick fixed things. Thanks again.