I just got gas yesterday.  $2.07 per gallon.  That's a 35% decrease from when I last mentioned gas prices about two months ago.  Not bad. 

A lot of people blame someone for a certain bad thing but then don't give that same person credit for an improvement in the bad thing.  For example, if we blame George W. Bush for the high gas prices, shouldn't we also credit him for lowering them?  I'm all about finger-pointing, but let's give credit where credit is due.  Gas prices are just an example.  I don't think GWB has anything to do with gas prices.  So in this case, I think he deserves neither credit nor criticism.  Maybe we can point the finger at the oil industry (bingo!).  They're the ones that are truly at fault.  But it looks like they got things back under control for the most part.  So, good job guys.  But maybe you can give me back some of the hundreds of billions of dollars in profit you got last month.  Maybe.  That would be nice. 

If anything, this sudden rise and gradual fall of gas prices has made me appreciate the fact that they've fallen at all.  If you told me six months ago that gas was gonna cost $2.25 a gallon, I would've been pretty mad.  That would've been a big jump from the then-current price of about $1.85.  But since it's dropped about a dollar per gallon in 2 months, it doesn't feel bad at all. 

Bottom line:  High gas prices were a good thing, George Bush is infallible, and Exxon is giving me $4.45 billion. #politics

I just realized quite recently that I'm not wearing matching socks today.  This bothers me, not because I can't match things in the morning, but because I didn't even know I had navy blue socks.  I thought all my socks were black. 

So now the question is should I own up to it and throw the other non-matching pair in the laundry, or should I stick it out and wear the other non-matching pair?  A dilemma indeed. #lifestyle

Engrish.com is a collection of "humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design."  I found one of these one time. #language

DNE is math terminology for Does Not Equal.  Actually, it really means Does Not Exist, but that doesn't apply to my statement.  Marriage ≠ kids.  Or marriage != kids.  Nya!  [Pushes up taped glasses] [Surrenders lunch money upon request]

My least favorite thing about being married is that everyone assumes that marriage equals kids.  I feel quite a bit of pressure concerning this.  When you're dating, no one asks, "So are you thinking about kids?"  There's still that unwritten taboo that having kids out of wedlock is somehow wrong.  But as soon as you're married, that's all anybody talks about.  "Any buns in the oven?"  No.  I just graduated college.  I just spent 80% of my life in school.  I've had no time to be myself.  Now you expect me to care for another human being?  A human being that can't control its bowel movements?  And I just got married.  Can't I have a little time to enjoy being a young married person?  With no kids?  I understand the argument that kids come from marriage.  That makes sense.  But give me some time.  C'mon.  I'll have kids as soon as I grow up. #math

Remember when going to a movie used to cost $3?  Way back in 1962?  Actually, it was in 1995.  That was 10 years ago.  Since then, prices have increased to about 300% of the 1995 price.  And that $3 movie wasn't at some backwoods hick shack.  It was at the mall.  Now that same mall has gone from having two movie theaters to having no movie theaters. 

Why do movies cost more now?  Are they better than they used to be?  Nah.  Are they more expensive to make?  Yes.  Don't all those commercials at the beginning help at all?  Apparently not. 

So what's the real reason they're move expensive?  Food.  How many times have you gone into a movie theater with candy in your pocket?  That's every time for me.  So instead of paying $15 for food and $6 for a couple tickets, we're paying $18 for a couple tickets with no food.  Apparently this says we're actually doing better than we were.  But I don't think I agree with my argument. 

It's not that movies cost more, it's that movie theaters cost more.  You can buy DVDs for about $15-$20.  You can watch them a million times.  But watching a single movie a single time will cost you about $10.  That's because big dumb theaters need to pay for big dumb seats and big dumb speakers and big dumb teenagers to sell overpriced food. #entertainment

Fall colors in New Jersey. #nature

Why is there a heat lamp in hotel bathrooms?  One website said it's to warm up the bathroom before taking a shower.  Why?  Doesn't the hot water from the shower eventually warm the room?  Does anyone actually use these things?  Maybe I'm low-tech, but I've never even considered warming up the bathroom before I took a shower.  My parents definitely didn't have one of these things in their circa 1800s house. 

Wikipedia says a heat lamp is for "animal husbandry".  Hmm.  I don't follow. 

Oh I get it.  Gross. #entertainment

Don't show up late to a meeting that you organized. #business

It's official.  Google no longer hates me.  When I search for my name, my website comes up as the first result.  Maybe Mr. Google listened to my plea.  Maybe he said, "You know what, Dave?  You're right.  We've been ignoring you for so long.  And it's our fault.  It's us, not you.  We just got caught up with being so busy and we felt like we didn't have time for the little man.  But you're right.  We need to pay attention to you, and to every little man.  You are the internet!  Hoorah!" 

Or maybe it's because I put my name in the title of every single page on my site, all 300 some pages. #technology

I've been using Google Maps for my mapping software almost exclusively lately.  Although it isn't all that accurate (just last night I ended up several miles from where I needed to be), it's smarter and has a much nicer user interface.  Oh yeah, and there are no stupid ads. 

It's smarter because of how it handles what I type in.  Here's a little comparison:

Mapping site	State road	County road
Yahoo	US Highway xxx	County Road xxx
Mapquest	US Highway xxx	County Road xxx
Google	anything	anything

For example, if I search for "435 Route 206, Newton, NJ" on Yahoo Maps or Mapquest, it gives me an error.  It doesn't even give me a suggestion.  When I search for the same thing on Google Maps, it finds exactly what I'm looking for, no questions asked.  Google sees two numbers and knows you mean #x on street #y.  That's smart. #technology