tommyrot, I'm glad there's a way around this for you. I wouldn't care if I was being treated for elbow itch. I wouldn't want to hand my personal medical information to one of my bosses, even though I've liked all but one of them.

Lee, I'm Xposting a Yay for your job offer and acceptance! Go you!

In mememenew$, I think we may have just saved ourselves $50/month on our cable bill.

When FX started rerunning BtVS, I wanted FX, badly. Our then-cable provider (either Warner/Time-Warner, or AT&T, which took over our area from T-W) didn't offer it. RCN was coming to town though, and they offered it as one of their basic channels. I didn't find Buffy 'til season 3, and the early DVDs weren't yet released. We had to have our Buffy Backstory, so we switched.

In addition to cable TV, RCN offers local and long distance phone, and internet access. The salesman came out to our house, went over the packages with us, and because RCN was new here, they had spectacular deals, in order to entice the locals to drink the Kool Aid. We drank deep, and signed up for their second highest bundle, because it offered us all sorts of stuff we weren't getting for either a lower, or same price, as we'd been paying to get all these services through separate providers.

Over time, we realized we just didn't watch HBO, and the other premium stuff enough to bother, but every time we've checked, we weren't going to save anything if we cut them.

This time, we went over the website, and picked what we "needed", wanted, and then those nice-to-haves-but-we-don't-care-about features. The RCN sales rep was really helpful. In fact, after a very long investigation, she said she'd call us back.

She called back, and listed everything she can give us. For the short term, we should be saving $70 a month (because of a promotion we didn't think we were eligible for as down-grading existing customers), with a regular savings of $50/month, once the promotion ends. We'll have to watch and see what happens for the next couple of billing cycles. We do lose some cable TV features. We're getting rid of the converter box on the 2nd TV, because for the most part, only the children watch that one. We're getting rid of the premium stuff like HBO, and Starz that we never watch, anyhow. We're keeping the digital stuff in the living room, so we can get channels like National Geographic, History International, etc (which are the main things we watch, anyhow).

I know I'm unduly excited about this, but I never expected to save $50/month. We were hoping for $25, and knew we could at least save ~$15 by cancelling one channel. Again, we'll see when the bill comes in, but still.

I'm so boring. I'm sorry. It was just very happy making.

How about biker gangs invading the neighborhood.

I don't have any of the expansion packs. Maybe if you get two Sims to hate each other they might do things.

Sims will slap each other (if you hit on them too soon or hit on a significant other).

Walking away and leaving them on free will can have interesting results. They stop going to work or paying the bills and all of their stuff starts getting repossessed. Then there are things like cooking fires -- if your Sims don't have any cooking skills they set the stove on fire.

I do know of someone who based her Sims on Buffy characters and had them all living together. One Sim was always unhappy until there was an unfortuante fire that killed everyone, then he perked right up and was finally happy.

If you introduce a Sim vampire to the neighborhood, do all the Sims eventually get turned?

One Sim was always unhappy until there was an unfortuante fire that killed everyone, then he perked right up and was finally happy.

Spike?

They need to make some kind of Sims game just for creative ways to torture the Sims.

I just read this reivew [link] of Downfall (about the last days of Hitler) and now I'm imagining a Hitler's Bunker Sims.

Cindy, that is definately of the happy making! I hate to think what our cable bill is. Thankfully, I don't even see it. I'd probably cringe.

I didn't know money wasn't a factor in the Sims, it is in every other Sim game out there.

It is, but there's a money cheat that I (ab)use. And even without cheating, they work, and you can sell their furniture if you need money. It's hard to go *completely* broke.

There's a rocket in The Sims?

It's a toy rocket in the first expansion pack, Livin' Large-- the Sims fire it off and it goes floof, and they're happy watching it. Unless you fire it off in a small room, in which case they're happy watching it until they catch on fire.

Do Sims ever kill other Sims?

No. They slap, though, usually out of sexual jealousy, as askye said.

Are there pets? Can you raise a pitt bull Sim badly and let it loose?

There's a pet expansion pack, but I don't have it.

How about disease? Can you spread a plague?

They can catch colds, but they don't normally die of it, though I'm sure they could if you were mean to them when they were sick.

Or can you give a teenage Sim lots of beer and a sports car and see what happens?

No teenagers, no cars and no beer. There are also no vampires, at least in the games I have.

Sorry.

There are alien abductions.

Toto is currently curled one the couch with his head on a throw pillow. I love it when he does that. It's so damn cute!