The end...kind of...

A quick update:
24 gauge bare copper wire is HARD to find! Home Depot-no. They suggested the electrical supply store across the street from my school. But they didn't have it either. The electric supply store suggested the appliance store down the street. There they looked at me like I was crazy for wanting bare wire and gave me the phone number for another place, which also didn't carry wire that thin.

So Radio Shack online claimed that a store just outside of the city had it. I drove all the way out their during rush hour (between school and evening study) only to find that they also thought I was crazy for wanting bare wire that thin. One guy didn't even try looking, even after I told him the site said they had it. They sent me next door to Busy Beaver, which had the colored lightbulbs I needed for physics, but the only bare copper wire they had was like 2 gauge. Okay, I'm exaggerating, I don't know what it was exactly, but I wouldn't even call it wire.

One last ditch effort was to MapQuest "hardware stores" near the school. One popped up about half a mile away. And whaddaya know...they carried 24 gauge bare copper wire! And they were closing in half an hour! So I bought them out (two spools). My wild goose chase ended successfully...but it sure took me all over tarnation just to bring me right back to where I started...:-p