The first day of 2006 had us hunkering down at home or on errands to take care of lots of things left undone while we were out last week.

Mostly unrelated to today's mundane: 1) Times Square looked great on HDTV. 2) We finished off the sparkling wine. 3) Senseo coffee pods smell heavenly when you pull open a new bag. 4) Painting trim throughout the house. 5) Deploying the "mobility" module for Cianna's Lego Duplo set. 6) Cianna and I had to return something to Toys 'R Us. We had a nice walk through the store in which she behaved so well. She just picked up a scrap of yellow ribbon off the floor and was happy with that. This will probably be the last I'll see of baby's simple pleasures. 7) The family is always on the main TV, so I'm using a Pelican Gameglass on my PS2. I love its thin design and large screen. DON'T BUY the Intec 5.4" LCD--it's crap. Spend the extra $29. 8) And lastly, my four-fingered Robosapien V2 does the shocker!

One more day of freedom before we dive into the new work year...

- mike lee - wheaton, md