Have a happy (and safe) Halloween guys!

@dohtem:
I think as long as no-one's handing out vaginal mints, we'll be okay.

The Phils in five. That is all.

How hard is it to mount a flatscreen on the wall?

It's not that big a flatscreen. We're starting to have to childproof so I'm thinking getting a tippable screen up on the wall is a good idea. Followed by getting a real console of some sort that all the cords can hide in/behind.

I hope I am not getting the H1N1. I feel rotten.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Get your mount from Monoprice.com. Good quality stuff at reasonable prices.

I'll be up north this weekend by the UP shooting stuff. Yell loudly if you're walking through the Northwoods of Wisconsin and hear gunfire nearby!

Is [turning on your porch light = we have candy for Halloween/no porch light = no candy] pretty universal? If not, how do you signify to kids/parents which are the houses it's OK to trick-or-treat at?

OPEN THREAD!!! YAAAAY!!
I was wondering how long it would take for the wigged cats to show up on Consumerist.

We had a skating Halloween party tonight, but it got canceled because not enough people signed up. Jerks! I had been invited to a wedding tomorrow, on Halloween, at a haunted hotel, but no, I can't go because I'm broke. Rats! Rats! Rats!

So I guess it's just me and the synopsis and some scary movies tomorrow, unless something comes up. :P

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): +1 for Monoprice.

Also, if you will have a kid running around, keep the cables hidden. Don't let them dangle from the back of the TV.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): It's not bad. We mounted mine on the bedroom wall. A drill, a level, a pencil, and a helper, and you're set. It probably took a half an hour, tops.

@dohtem: How do I fix that?

What I am thinking of doing is putting a console table -- even a regular TV console, just using the top as a table instead of for the TV -- underneath it, pushed against the wall, with a cord hider running down the wall maybe. But I don't know what to do about side inputs on the TV, etc. And I was just planning on making sure the power strip is shoved back there real good.

The console table will have some form of childproofing or child-proofable-ness. (Like handles you can put a handle lock on.

I am open to suggestions!

How do I match my mount to my TV? Can I just know the model, or do I have to, like, figure stuff out?

Started running recently and have a blog and a twitter devoted solely to that...so I need some readership.

Blog: [runnoobrun.blogspot.com]
Twitter: @runnoobrun

@AdamBC: Pretty universal. Pumpkins too.

We usually sit out on our front porch as long as the weather isn't horrible; saves the opening-and-closing-and-risking-losing-a-cat and letting all the heat out of the house, and we can watch the neighborhood kids come and go and chat with people that way.

When we're out of candy, we go inside, turn off the porch lights, and make sure all the front shades are down so the whole front of the house is dark.

@AdamBC: I think lights on with some type of Halloween decoration outside, even just lights around the door or a Jack-O-Lantern, is pretty safe. You can probably pick up a cheesy "Candy This Way" sign or something from the dollar store if you're so inclined. Or just hang out on the steps with the candy bucket.
Some apartment complexes or communities have you hang a piece of paper with a pumpkin or something on your door. Since you didn't mention that I'm guessing you don't have anything like that going on.

@treimel: Oops. Don't stop by my house, then.

@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: Re: running to podcasts -- I suggest In Our Time and Thinking Aloud from the BBC (Radio 4). The first is a guy interviewing academics on Random Topic of the Week, which is usually pretty interesting and wide-ranging; the second is a shorter podcast devoted to current research in sociology which tends to be more timely.

Both keep me going to the end almost all the time because I want to know what happens. :)

Lets get this on.

1. Had a crazy/fun extended weekend with the parents last time. Went to Clemson-Greenville-Atlanta-Chattanooga. Met up with old profs, and people I used to work with in Clemson. And oh the Clemson Girls. Beautiful, beautiful clemson girls.

2. Going as "cowboy and indian" for halloween tomorrow. Will post pics on twitter.

3. Trai_Dep, you need to get on twitter. Pecan Pi, resolve your twitter issues (create a new one). Others, if you promise not to be annoying and spammy, feel free to join. If you can find me.

4. Finally a weekend where I do not have any work planned to do except for laundry.

5. Maybe I will create a nice looking graph of something.

WOOOO! OPEN THREAD!!

First.. New Post-name-phrase thingie.. Opinions?

Second.. My system at work is DOWN and I'm FREAKING OUT.

That is all. For now. Freaking. Out. OMG.

@HogwartsAlum: Awww.. you can't go to the haunted wedding? Are they charging for admission?

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I have mounted three of them (42", 32" and a 20"), but I was fortunate in that I was able to have a contractor mount a solid block of wood mounted securely to the studs before drywall was installed, so it was simply a matter of getting the mount level, drilling a few holes and driving in some screws and lag bolts.

If you are looking for a mount for a small (20" or less) TV, you may also want to look at Ikea. I picked up a mount for my wife's craft room for about $15-20 as I recall, and it was perfect for my particular applictaion.

Oh, and if you have not, do read Phil's Book. What you say about it says a lot about you.

@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: Will try and remember to add you to my twitter of Rattycake.

@AdamBC: I must live around bratty children because even with our porch light off they still come begging for candy.

But yes, I would think that is pretty universal.

WOOO! FRIDAY! OPEN THREAD!
So, i thought it might be fun for everyone to show their pumpkin carvings...
i'll go first:

(made with an image from the internet, MS paint skillz, and a dremel.)

@MostlyHarmless: I am still waiting for your story of last weekend. If this is all there was to it, I am disapointed. You were taunting me with it all week.

I had my interview for both promotions at work yesterday, and I'm pretty pleased with how it went. I got to interview for both a high school and a middle school position, which is cool since all the high school team knows of me is what they've heard throughout the department.
I am, however, displeased with how long everything will take. My boss said we should start hiring in late November and argh, it's so hard to wait that long! I know I'm going to drive myself nuts until then.
(And okay, it's also because if I get this thing I've promised myself a new set of microdermals, and I reaaally don't want to try to heal those things up in the winter.)

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):
Our awesome house decorations involve a blacklignt, so we can't have the porch light on- and that winds up confusing lots of people. We're going to go with making a rope light path to our door so we can try and welcome folks in.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: Kimaroo - More like a Koala.

@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: Wheeee another twatter!

@AdamBC: In my area it is, although one year our neighbors had some relatives staying at the house from out of the country and they turned on the lights and had no candy. They could not figure our why 2 young kids dressed as a Dragon and a princess were stanfing at their front door with pumpkin baskets, and we did not speak their language. Eventually we were able to use hand gestures to tell them they should turn off their lights (either that or we told them that the Mafia was coming over to pay them a visit...hard to tell the way that they scurried away. Come to think of it, I have not seen them in a while.)

Sooooooo, had my birthday this week. Going for sushi this weekend as my treat meal. Also going to buy myself a birthday gift--either a Zune HD or iPod Touch at this point methinks, unless I can find some Canon-mount lenses on super cheap. I'm still trying to weigh pros and cons here, but the ZuneHD is winning so far. Unless there are a lot of "ZOMG NEED TO USE EVERY DAY" iPod touch apps and at least 10 stellar games it'll likely stay that way.

Work is doing Oktoberfest today. except no beer. So... sausage. Whoopie? I wonder if the whole shindig is insulting to the German man we have running the operations here.

@dohtem: You too!

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): There are pipes you can buy, like this - [www.alibaba.com] that you run the cables from the TV through. They can be painted to match your wall color.

Some people use plumbing pipe or any PVC pipe. I am really horrible at cable management but I'm sure Google can help you out.

@MostlyHarmless: Koalas are vicious.. and flamible.

I am goingto start the obligatory Pet Thread-
Though, pets IN COSTUMES are highly encouraged!

@Ratty: Happy birthday!!!

I have an Ipod Touch (Mr. Touchie) and I use him eevverryyy day... for hours... Mostly doing web things on the couch.. and twittering (now that we're all doing that.)

I love it. But your milage my vary.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: And tiny. Which is exactly my point.

@Ratty: Happy birthday Ratty! Congratulations on not dying!
My fiance loves his Zune. I'm still rocking my 5th gen iPod, dead pixels and all, so at least I can say that they're sturdy.
Please tell me that if you didn't get beer, you at least got lederhosen. I mean, c'mon, you take away the alcohol and you have to leave *something* to make it fun.

@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: grr, i fail at "special gawker HTML".
DON'T CLOSE THE IMG TAG!

@MostlyHarmless: Also.. that is not a clever play on a marketing phrase.

@MostlyHarmless: What do YOU say about it?

@Rachacha: Haha I'd love to hear what they told their friends about what happened when they got back home.

"The readers who joined that got error codes and were unable to get the annual sub will be recontacted and provided a link to sign up for the one year trial."

Anyone, anyone? Bueller?

My hamster, Dreamsicle, died this week. She was the kritter in the blog post introducing me here at Consumerist.

I've been looking for a new hamster, but the shelters around here are fresh out and I've even been competing for the unwanted ones on Craigslist. It's the craziest thing.

Oh boy. It's Friday!

1) I went out to the on-campus bar last night, my friends and I dressed as a 6-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Pie tins as tops and PBR shirts we made ourselves. This is Colin, he's a little crazy, but we love him: [twitpic.com]

2) I'm really hungover today, more than I have been in a long time. My plan to have two drinks then head home to my warm bed did not come to fruition. Thank goodness for the lab!

3) I'm going to a Halloween party tomorrow night, my friend and I are dressing as a boy scout (him) and girl scout (me). I found my old Juniors sash, and I plan on getting my hands on some teal knee socks and maybe a scrunchie. I'm excited.

4) I didn't get up til 1 today, and I still need a nap. Sigh.

@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: Bahahah. Nice. I did the Berlin archaeopteryx last year for the office pumpkin carving contest, but it didn't win. :(

@gStein_has joined the star bandwagon: Lol.. Pumpkin Pi..

@Laura Northrup: I am sorry Laura.