Last year, my Bauer Curve post was met with cries of "You did what?" and "Dude, you've got waaayyy too much time on your hands!" not to mention general eye-rolling.

Now, thanks to the Bauer Blog, I discovered that I'm not the only one to mine the Chron's review database for statistical information. This time, a CPA did it, looking not at the restaurant star ratings as I did, but at the noise ratings. The conclusion: restaurants are just to dang loud!

For those who prefer not to have their hearing damaged while eating out, the news is not good. Mickey B. observes, "if anything, the problem is escalating."

Ladies and gentlemen, wear earplugs.