> Has anyone else noticed this site loading *really* slowly lately? I have to spend sometimes several minutes just waiting for the next page to load... is there suddenly a lot more traffic, or is there a connection problem, or is just just my fat self? I have no problem with any other sites.

The slowness you are experiencing is due to the
failure of my web host's equipment. I have
complained to them about the problem; they will
either fix it, or I'll move to a more reliable
service. (When I do, however, I'll try to do it
transparently to you readers, unlike last time
where there was a significant downtime.)