Random Thoughts 10/29/07

• I had the radio on in the background this afternoon and heard Bill O'Reilly congratulate my cousin's wife for winning a drawing for one of his books. He gave her first and last name and where she lived, and said, "congratulations Abie." It was cool; I hope she was listening.
• Sony is releasing a new version of the 7-year-old Playstation 2 for $150. Why? Partly because the Playstation 3 costs over $500 and customers are leaving Sony for Nintendo ($250 for a Wii) and Microsoft ($350 for an Xbox 360). It is also because Sony is dedicated to a 10-year product life cycle, supporting the PS2 until 2010 and the PS3 until 2016. Sony lost almost $2 billion dollars on the video game systems last year.
• How do you dress your kids for Halloween? It appears that we'll have three ninjas and Eeyore. However, as Graham gets older I can see several possibilities: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a bobsled team, a barbershop quartet, the Beatles, four pro athletes (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey), the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, four servicemen (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines), etc.
  
• I'm still pining away to upgrade my computers. I'm just not sure I want to pull the trigger on it yet – it's rarely a wise thing to jump in the front of the line when it comes to technology. I'll save my money and wait a little while… then I'll pounce like a ravenous wolf.
• We were given a trampoline. Of all the gruesome injuries that can occur on a trampoline, I'm half expecting bloody noses, bit lips, sprained ankles, and (hopefully not) broken limbs. In the end, I'd rather my boys accept some reasonable risks and be boys, than avoid their childhood and be "safe." In the meantime, I'm going to buy safety nets before we set it up next Spring.