I don't know if this design is it or not. I made it the other night and I've been looking at it periodically ever since, trying to figure out if I like it, if it's finished, if it's something I can live with for awhile or not. I'm still not sure.

Speaking of which--oops. Back to normal.

I can't remember what I was reading online last night, but it was something really interesting--oh, it was the latest Dilbert Newsletter--and for some reason the type was incredibly tiny. I was reading it from a web mail program in a browser, and it suddenly occured to me that I could increase the type size, which I did, and then I could read it comfortably.

If I made the type really small, like the paragraph above, using the manner that I used (pixel size in a stylesheet), it wouldn't be changeable through a browser on a PC. It only works on a Mac, and even then only in IE. In Mac/Netscape, both type sizes are the same.

You can increase the size of the words all around it, but that one paragraph doesn't change. Which is really good for controlling the amount of type that you can get into a limited space, but not so good for people trying to read it, I guess.

Matt said I was in his dream about me the other night. We were on Mars talking to J. K. Rowling about copyright issues. As he said, "What else would one do on Mars?"

In that same conversation, Matt said he was thinking about buying The Sims this weekend. If he's anything like me, he'll jump right in and start playing without more than a cursory glance at the manual. Of course, he may be one of those people who sits down and reads the entire manual before starting, but I'm the type of person who reads the manual after things start getting screwed up. Or he may want to figure things out for himself, like I did, mostly.

The thing about doing that, though, is that you can easily get into a bind like I have--I created two single person "families," thinking it would be fun to make them fall in love and get married, but, of course, they don't like each other, and neither of them have enough free time, anyway, to do much socializing, because they're so busy trying to do everything around the house.

Some tips:

1. Buy a refrigerator first. Without a refrigerator, they can't eat.
   
   
2. Buy a stove next. Without a stove, they can't cook, so they end up eating beans out of cans, which isn't very nutritious.
   
   
3. Without a kitchen counter with nothing on it, they can't prepare meals and, again, end up eating beans out of a can.
   
   
4. Keep an eye on that counter, too. If they lay a newspaper or mail on it, it becomes unavailable for preparing meals.
   
   
   
5. You also need a trash can right away. And a sink so they can wash the dishes.
   
   
6. Buy the best bed you can afford. The better the bed, the more energy and comfort they get from sleeping. If they run out of energy and they're not close to the bedroom, they'll just fall down wherever they are and sleep, but, as you can imagine, they don't get much comfort from it.
   
   
   
7. You have to water the flowers. This didn't occur to me until they started dying and I had to replace (and pay for) them. You can also go into "Buy" mode and rip them out. You don't get any money back for them, but at least you don't have to water them anymore. You also have to water indoor plants. You do not, however, have to water trees.
   
   
8. If you change your mind about a purchase, you can return it within 24 hours and get all your money back. You can return it after 24 hours, too, but the value depreciates.
   
   
9. Here's a suggestion I've seen other places--use all the money that you have to buy a computer right away, use it to get a job, then return it and use the money for something else.
   
   
   
10. A computer is good for more than just getting a job, though--it can also provide fun, and it's apparently useful for studying as well, although I think that may just be for kids (so far the only purposes I've seen when I click on the computer are "play" and "find a job."
    
    You'll have to go to a fan site to get the iMac, though.
    
    
11. You really need a family of at least two people. Single life is just too hard. You have to do everything--clean up and water the plants, and go to work, and study (you have to study in order to get promotions and, thus, make more money) and there just aren't enough hours in the day. If you have a two person family, one can stay home and take care of the house, and the other one can go to work.
    
    
    
12. Oh--if you possibly can, buy a burglar alarm and a smoke alarm. If you have a smoke alarm and you have a fire, the fire department will come automatically. If you don't have one, you have to call them on the phone, and who knows whether they'll get there in time. Same thing with the burglar alarm. There used to be a computer on that table. He also stole the stove.
    
    
13. The more you study cooking, the less chance of having a fire, so one purchase you should consider right away is a bookshelf. If you study mechanical, you might be able to fix things that break by yourself, but without any mechanical skills, you have to call a repairman.
    
    
14. Once you start moving up in your job, you can afford to hire a maid. She's pretty economical, and then if you're too tired to clean up, you can just leave it for the maid in the morning.