The McRib locator: Tracking the Bigfoot of McDonald's sandwiches

I have a friend who is obsessed with the McRib -- the elusive McDonald's sandwich that comes and goes seemingly on a corporate whim. The McRib is officially a boneless pork patty molded into the shape of short ribs, but it still leaves many -- like me -- mildly grossed out by the thought of scarfing down the bones that should be holding all that meat together.
Still, it turns out my McRib-craving friend is not alone. And coming to the aid of the addicted is Alan Klein, a Minnesotan who three years ago launched the McRib Locator, a site that tracks appearances of the Yeti-like sandwich. Sightings are even organized into categories:

Red Icon = McRibs are hot and saucy (sighted in past 10 days)

Yellow Icon = McRibs are getting cold (sighting more than 10 days ago)

Red X Icon = Questionable McRib sighting in past 10 days

Yellow X Icon = Questionable McRib sighting more than 10 days ago

Klein and my friend will be relieved to know that starting Nov. 2 the McRib will be available at all of the nation's 14,000 McDonald's outlets and are, indeed, already popping up at some area locations. According to the locator, McRibs were spotted (and, we assume, happily consumed) today in both Fredericksburg, Va., and D.C.

But eat up, ribbies, the sandwiches are slated to disappear again in mid-December. Want to protest? Join the growing "Bring Back the McRib" Facebook group. Tagline: "It's sloppy, it's disgusting, it is the opposite of healthy, but we still want it back!!!"