You can’t resist the suspense, huh? What five random topics will Brent write about tonight? Okay, enough of that. This blogger is at least grounded enough to realize that you most likely accidentally tapped on the link to my latest Thursday Rundown 😉. So let’s get right to it…

Trick-Or-Treater Count – It was another lively Halloween night at my parents’ house. They passed out candy to 292 trick-or-treaters who came to their door on Tuesday night. The tally could have easily surpassed 300 but the candy supply was exhausted. Congratulations to my wife who won the annual Reser family poll on how many trick-or-treaters would stop by (she guessed 304). The 292 trick-or-treaters eclipsed last year’s total of 275.

Here is the tally sheet for the trick-or-treaters at my parents’ house on Oct. 31, 2023. You can see our predictions at the top of the sheet.

2023 Pumpkins – Because I wrote about grocery store pumpkin patches earlier this fall, I felt obligated to follow up with a photo of the jack-o-lanterns we carved. Our pumpkins came from our local Safeway as Sloan went for the biggest gourd she could find while Beau prioritized symmetry. Both opted for the happy jack-o-lantern approach this year.

This photo is terrible but I am entitled to a blurry image every now an d then.

National Cash Back Day – Today is National Cash Back Day which I semi-celebrate because there is nothing like bypassing ATM fees by walking into a supermarket to buy a .99 cent soda only to request $60 in cash back. With that said, I do recognize that some places now charge a $1 fee for cash back which will promptly persuade me NOT to request cash back. Also, I will admit that cash back can be a bad thing when tempted to blindly request it with every purchase you make. My advice is to use cash back when you need actual physical dollars for a cash-only event or a birthday gift and there is no fee for doing so.

It is a pretty cool option to use your debit card to get cash back.

Saintly Rhymes Through The Year – Our dear friends Tim and Kathy McCormick, who also happen to be our marriage mentor couple and the godparents to Beau, recently sent us a special gift. Sloan and Beau received Saintly Rhymes Through The Year just in time for All Saints Day. The book was written by their daughter, Meghan Bausch, who also authored Saintly Rhymes For Modern Times. This latest children’s book uses rhymes to tell the stories of saints on their respective feast days. All of the rhyming biographies are informative and creative while the illustrations are beautiful. You can order the book here.

Beau holds “Saintly Rhymes Through the Years” by Meghan Bausch

Pain Hustlers – Over the weekend I watched “Pain Hustlers” on Netflix. The film centers on a desperate and broke woman, Liza, who gets an opportunity as a sales agent for a pharmaceutical company. The movie follows the character as she teams up with some other driven people at the company to persuade doctors to prescribe the drug they are pushing. Once Liza tastes success there is no going back as she does whatever she can to gain influence and push a drug that isn’t safe. The movie kept my interest and portrayed the shenanigans and corruptness of some pharmaceutical companies while offering subtle commentary on the opioid crisis. “Pain Hustlers” gave off “Wolf of Wall Street” vibes in a less effective manner but if you are looking for a movie this weekend it might not be a bad choice.

“Pain Hustlers” reminded me of “Wolf of Wall Street.”

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I hope your November is off to a solid start. Thanks for reading and I will catch up with everyone next week. Don’t Blink.