Thanks for the info, Gali, but I'm even meaner than you.  My sims aren't allowed a handheld or an mp3 player, because it annoys me when they just stand there and amuse themselves.  I want them to amuse me by colliding haplessly with their environment.  

And thanks for confirming that this is normalesque, Pescado.  I was skeered that I was headed for a BFBVFS...