You can never have too many Matchbox cars

When it comes to buying toys, I have all but launched an ultimatum around here that, if we buy new ones, or even accept toys as gifts, we must, for every one that we get, throw at least one away/donate it. Our house, like the houses of many parents of young children, is very easily overrun with balls, little people, dolls, puzzles, books, blocks, stuffed animals and other kid stuff. You clean one room completely and it's wrecked 7 minutes later.

So we have to control the intake of toys.

But when it comes to Matchbox cars, there's always an exception to buy one, or five, more.

I have this weakness because I remember them so fondly from my childhood - and I still think they're cool. The crazy thing is, of course, my son, who is not yet 4, has dozens more than I did at 8. I think at some point my mother made me earn them - "if you go to the doctor today and he gives you a shot, you can get a car - out of your allowance. Meanwhile, I'm way more lenient:"If you eat half your breakfast today, we can go to Target today to buy that cool Matchbox car race track! C'mon, hurry up, let's go, I'll help you eat your cereal..."

When I was the age at which boys play with Matchbox cars, or HotWheels or even lesser known brands, for that matter, there was a store in Bristol, where I grew up, Playtown, which had some totally awesome toys. They had many, many varieties and models of cars, plus Godzilla figures (Godzilla-King Kong was big then), LEGOS, bikes, real guns (which I never figured out) and Star Wars action figures. I remember crying once when I did not get Luke Skywalker because my parents claimed that Santa might bring it. I think he did end up bringing it, but I was scarred nonetheless; it was too late.


Getting a new Matchbox car was a cause for genuine celebration. I added the new shiny car next to my fleet of cars that had been run over by my dad's car in the driveway, and cars I wrote in black marker on. I kept my cars in a carrying case. A lot of kids did back then. We showed off our modest collections.

Now, there needs to be no good reason to purchase cars, basically, and if this is the biggest problem we have, so be it. (It's not, by the way. It's just my way of justifying it.) And they have cool cars now - Land Rovers, retro 70s Chevy vans, a blue Mini Cooper hardtop, an Audi TT convertible, a white Ford convertible concept car, and of course a full assortment of emergency vehicles, most of which lost their ladders and moving parts.

When I look at these cars, as my son is crashing them into each other or leaving them outside in the rain, I still inspect their interiors, with their tiny steering wheels and bucket seats, stick shifts and tiny tires. I push them down the rug if we're inside and make revving sounds. Ethan likes when I do this. Alison, who is a year and a half now, is starting to make siren noises. It's good imaginative play. And the cars themselves are cheap, still around $1. Not that I need any other reasons to justify purchasing them.

I can think of plenty more, though.

Musical cards

The idea that cards now have music - and cost $6 - is an intriguing thing. You'd think people wouldn't spend that kind of money on one card, particularly in this awful economy. But then you stop for a few minutes in the card aisle at the grocery store or CVS and listen to "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, which I listened to today, and so you say, "Screw it, I'm buying that card" - even if you don't give it to anybody.

My son Ethan happens to like these cards. Too much. He can stay in the music card area for 20 minutes and look inside every one multiple times. He's not really good about putting the cards back where they belong. Alison, who is one and a half, also likes music cards. She picked one out today for mommy for Valentine's Day that she refused to let go of when the cashier asked for it. She held in during the whole car ride home, opening and closing the card about 25 times, so it'll be a miracle if it still works come Saturday.

You have to hand it to Hallmark, though. Pretty smart company. They purchase a huge display with the music cards - and put it in a much more prominent place than the regular cards with actual sentiments. And suckers like me, who like music and have little kids who like music, keep buying them.

Six dollars is pricey for a card, but they are cool. I have one on my desk at work that has a picture of Steve Carrell of the Office talking about "reverse psychology."

'Reverse psychology is an awesome tool. I don’t know if you guys know about it, but basically you make someone think the opposite of what you believe and that tricks them into doing something stupid. Works like a charm."


More cards with sounds/music:
http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/GoldCrownStores/lp_songcards%7Cstores

Watch Scrubs

Last night's two Scrubs episodes had some of the best lines in the series' history.

"She has girl balls" - Bob Kelso

Watch for free.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/scrubs/index?pn=index

I LEGO N.Y.

I wish I could think of stuff like this.

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/i-lego-ny/?em

Record profits

I guess Exxon is immune from the recession. Stories like this greatly irritate me.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/business/31oil.html?hp

What Life Asks of Us

This column by the New York Times's David Brooks was thoughtful and interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/opinion/27brooks.html?_r=1&em

Prescription Fever

All right, someone help me understand this.

First, I have health insurance, and I understand that this is not a God-given right. Many people don't have it. But when you are fortunate enough to have health insurance, which includes prescription drug coverage, you believe - at least I believe - that an illness such as bronchitis, which I have, should be covered by actual prescription drugs, which is why I went to the doctor in the first place.

But a funny thing happened when, after the physician asst (reg. doc not avail on such short one-day notice) wrote a prescription for an antibiotic (co-pay $5), she then proceeded to rattle off a number of more expensive, over the counter medications as supplement medicines. This seemed weird to me, and she sensed my puzzlement, yet had nothing different to offer.

In the end, I spent $41 on trying to get better.
a. $10 copay at the doc's office
b. $15 for Mucinex, recommended by physician asst to break-up phlegm in lungs
c. $15 for Zyrtec, recommended to stop nasal drip at night so I can sleep

The odd thing is, I used to take Zyrtec, an allergy medication, but then it went over the counter and became more expensive. It's now basically $1 per pill. Before, it was $10 for 30 pills. When I asked for a prescription instead of Zyrtec, the p.a. wrote a prescription for Allegra, but said it was a third-tier drug and that my health insurer, ConnectiCare, which I like, wouldn't cover it. I asked her to write it, anyway, since I'd rather pay $5 for Allegra instead of $14 for Zyrtec. Perhaps it would work.

When I brought it to CVS, the pharmacist said that my insurance company was refusing to pay anything toward Allegra, and that, if I wanted, I could refute the decision, and that it would take two days to resolve it. So I'm supposed to wait and get more sick during this time? I told her to rip it up.

I ended up getting the Zyrtec, but the larger point here is that I don't need a professional at a doctor's office to tell me to get over the counter medicine. I want them to write me prescriptions so that my insurance company will pay for them.

Oh, well. My cough is breaking up today, thanks to the Mucinex (which has funny commercials). And I slept well last night due to the Zyrtec. The only thing I can't tell that's had any positive influence has been the antibiotic, which, if irony is cruel, I probably didn't even need in the first place.