Where are the effing trick-or-treaters? Eight kids in two hours; three groups total.

I mean, I don’t actually mind hooligans not knocking on my door, but… this is pretty slow. Like, really slow. “Marin’s letting each kid pick out four pieces of candy” slow. “I’m going to have a Costco of candy left over” slow.

[For those who are unaware, the Costco is a unit of measure defined by the amount of the product you can purchase as one item from Costco.]

Do kids just not do Halloween these days, like Den Beste thinks? Or is it because I’m in a virtual no-man’s land on a rather steep hill, and kids don’t like actually working for their candy?

Time for a Snickers.

Comedy gold at Amazon this evening. They’re running some sort of wishlist sweepstakes, and the prizes this week are for a dream kitchen: a range/refrigerator/dishwasher, a mixer, things like that.

Then you scroll down to the discussion, where you find this gem of a thread: Why is this sweepstakes only for women? Tellingly, the OP is marked as “not adding to the discussion.”

It’s mostly kitchen stuff, I mean…for real?

There’s then the predictable barrage of responses: “This ain’t the 50s anymore. I’m a guy and cook nearly everyday,” “Since when is a $3,300 espresso machine only for women? Moron,” “As a male, I happen to really enjoy cooking, and would really enjoy getting a new appliance or two in my kitchen,” “Some of us women have moved on to the business world, and let you guys do the cooking!” (cringe), “Thanks to all the guys who spoke up! Men who cook are uber!,” and so on. The OP’s next post is also buried:

My bad, I guess I should have said for women and the gays.

I never thought I’d see people interacting with their very first internet troll. (PS: 7 of 68 people thought this second comment added to the discussion.)

The nausea I experienced on Thursday was fleeting, but on Friday I developed an infrequent cough. On Saturday I developed a dull ache across my entire body, and then after a nap developed my first fever in (IIRC) at least two years. The cough, while still infrequent, got a bit nastier.

Today the fever has continued, and my nose is now running so hard that I can’t go five minutes without using a kleenex.

I’ve had a lot of time this weekend, since this cold (?) wiped out all my plans. Too bad “feeling like crap” also kills any desire I have to do anything productive.

…

Compounding factors: Friday evening I added a couple drips to my watering system, and in the process of that removed some three-odd layers of skin from the tip of my right thumb. (Those connective pieces are made out of hard plastic, and my soft, silky-smooth hands have no calluses to protect them.) This wound has been hyper-sensitive to both soap and hot water, and has added an additional layer of pain to my weekend.

Also, I’m due in at work bright and early tomorrow morning to do some data crunching, that only I can do, for a meeting my boss has the next morning. As of right now, at least, I am nowhere near fit to drive (whether or not I can still think is debatable).

My dance friend, Sarah, just informed me that she danced with Zuckerberg last Friday. Specifically, they danced (if I recall correctly) the chicken dance.

This is hilarious and awesome.

I’ve been deep in the trenches the last couple days, hammering out a new blog design. It’s far from finished, but I have the general idea figured out—unfortunately for me, this is the first design I’ve made that will only be absolutely perfect in Firefox. Limitations in Safari (!) and Internet Explorer mean that even I won’t enjoy the full goodness of my new blog design in my preferred browser. I guess that’s a testament (however small) to how much I like the new design.

(Yes, for some reason redesigning the site has more interest from me than actually posting to the site. I don’t know why, but that’s the way it is… I only do this for the lulz, anyway.)

…

I’ve also been watching the new season of TV, trying to figure out what’s worth following. For the record, here’s what’s in and out:

House: murder a dictator in your third episode? I’ll keep watching.

NCIS: pretty sure I’ll follow Gibbs most anywhere he goes. (Except for the new NCIS: Blatant CSI Ripoff, which doesn’t even feature Gibbs and so isn’t an exception at all. Still: eww.)

The Mentalist: Patrick Jane seems a bit more crazy this season, but Robin Tunney is still Robin Tunney.

(and now for the shows I haven’t been watching regularly)

Castle: murder-mystery author pairs up with police detective to solve crimes and be a PITA. Nathan Fillion at his finest. I’d watch it, but it airs too late for my blood (current post time notwithstanding) and I’m already watching too much TV this season. I’ll Netflix this and the previous season, when I get around to getting Netflix.

The Forgotten: Christian Slater in yet another role that is not Fred Savage’s older brother. It seems like a decent show, but doesn’t really stand out from the mass of procedural dramas out there—except for Walter, who is annoying as hell and appears to have no redeeming qualities. Add in the late hour that it airs, and I’ll pass.

Glee: the second episode wasn’t as good as the first, but the third one was a return to form (for what little form a new series has). My favorite new show of the season.

Flash Forward: the entire world—save a couple people (!)—collapses simultaneously and has a vision of their individual futures. This seems to be ABC’s response to NBC’s Heroes, and it seems pretty well-done. I’ll be curious to see if Flash Forward’s future is unavoidable (though I suspect fighting the future doesn’t make for an inspiring story if the future cannot be fought).

Community: a show whose first episode was entirely ruined by its commercials. (A half-hour show can only have so many jokes, and promoting a show apparently means airing every joke before the show itself airs.) The second and third episodes have earned more than their fair share of belly laughs from me, though, which means I’ll keep watching… on Hulu.

Everything else: as they say in the Japan in my head: passu.