STP bassist Sep 15, 2008
Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo is awesome.  Robert, if you're reading this and you maybe want to start a band with me, let me know. #entertainment
Toyota engine rattle Sep 5, 2008
Something that's come to my attention over the past few months is that the engines on most modern Toyota vehicles have a tendency to make a rattling noise.  At first I thought it was just my car, and I thought it only happened in the summer.  I only noticed it when I had the windows down and my car would pass by something like a guardrail, causing the sound from the engine to bounce off the guardrail and into my car.  I thought I might have a problem with my engine, but I figured I'd wait until something caught fire or exploded.  But then I started to notice the noise when other cars passed me on the road, or when I was walking around the parking lot at work.  It was the same exact noise my car made, and it just so happened that it was coming from Toyotas.  I don't know if it's a problem or not, but at least it's not just my car. #travel
MPG vs. GPM vs. percentages Sep 4, 2008
Mental Floss wrote an article (referencing this Treehugger article) about how gas mileage should be measured in gallons per mile instead of miles per gallon.  The argument is that the metric used to measure a car's gas usage efficiency should be gallons instead of miles, because it's easier to see a direct correlation to cost and energy savings.  For example, increasing your gas mileage from 10 to 15 mpg means you can travel 5 more miles for each gallon of gas you would normally use.  But that fact isn't all that useful to normal people.  Great, I can travel more miles.  But how much money am I saving?  Taking the inverse (1/10 and 1/15), your vehicle's gas usage is decreasing from 0.1 gpm to 0.067 gpm.  Multiply it by a typical number of miles you drive (say 1000 miles per month), and that equates to a savings of 100 - 66.67 = 33.33 gallons per month.  Take whatever the price of gas is at the moment (maybe $3.50), and you can easily see that you can save $116.66 per month if you switch from a vehicle that gets 10 mpg (or 0.1 gpm) to a vehicle that gets 15 mpg (or 0.067 gpm). 

However, I took things a step further and put everything in terms of percentages.  It's much more useful to see how much something has changed when it's compared to the original. 















































mpg 1 mpg 2 mpg change gpm 1 gpm 2 gpm change
10 15 50% 0.1 0.067 -33%
15 20 33% 0.067 0.05 -25%
30 40 33% 0.033 0.025 -25%
30 45 50% 0.033 0.02 -33%
40 50 25% 0.025 0.02 -20%
In plain English, the table says, "Going from [mpg 1] to [mpg 2] means a [mpg change] increase in the number of miles you can drive, or a [gpm change] decrease in the amount of gas you'd use."  The values for mpg I used were intentional.  The first example essentially proves why the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid is the Green Car of the Year.  Going from 10 to 15 mpg (essentially what the Tahoe did) is a 50% increase in gas mileage, or a 33% decrease in gas usage.  That's incredible.  It's the equivalent of going from 30 mpg (a standard "good" sedan gas mileage) to 45 mpg (a standard hybrid sedan gas mileage).  Also noteworthy is the fact that an increase from 15 to 20 mpg is equivalent to an increase from 30 to 40 mpg.  Finally, the jump from 40 to 50 mpg (a magic number for car makers) equates to half the mileage increase as the 10 to 15 jump, or only 60% of the gas savings. 

Despite all this wonderful math, the problem with this way of thinking is that percentages are relative (I think that's a math joke; please don't laugh).  To say that something increased 50% from what it originally was ignores the fact that it may have originally been quite low.  Such is the case with gas mileage.  Sure, going from 10 to 15 mpg is a 50% increase in gas mileage, but a 30 mpg vehicle is already using 67% less gas over the same exact distance.  So of course it's good to get better.  But it helps when you're already doing pretty well. #travel
Dos Equis guy (1) Sep 3, 2008
Those new Dos Equis commercials that talk about the most interesting man in the world (who's been known to say, "Stay thirsty, my friends") are quite odd.  On the one hand, they always catch my attention and pique my curiosity.  But on the other hand, they always end with "the guy" speaking in a raspy, apparently Mexican accent (since it's a Mexican beer), saying, "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis."  I don't understand how that's supposed to convince me to drink Dos Equis.  Wouldn't it be better if (a) he had a convincing accent and (b) he always drank all kinds of beer, but his favorite was Dos Equis? #entertainment
Mildly derogatory names for women Sep 3, 2008
There once was a time when you had to be careful about how you referred to women.  Calling them the wrong thing could get you banned from their presence for life.  Thankfully, the laws have been relaxed a little, so that many previously derogatory names can now be used freely, as long as at least a slight amount of sarcasm is implied.  My favorites: 
  1. Babes
  2. Chicks
  3. Broads*
*Ding ding!  This one's my favorite. #language
Beverage snobbery Sep 2, 2008
It's funny how we humans are such snobs when it comes to our beverages.  Only the finest wines for our delicate taste buds, while most of us likely can't tell the difference between $10 wine and $100 wine.  Only seasonal and microbrew beers, because it's cool to like unusual beers and make fun of people who drink Bud.  Only the finest organic coffee, grown in the mountains of some impoverished nation, though again many of us likely wouldn't know if we were actually drinking Folgers.  Green tea, white tea, antioxidants R us.  I even like to take it a step further and be a snob with root beer.  A&W?  That's for jerks.  Barq's is where it's at. #food
Slate rod Sep 2, 2008
Perhaps one of the most useful tools ever created is this thing called a slate rod, purchased at my local Home Depot.  It's just a simple metal rod, about 4 or 5 feet long, weighing about 15 or 20 pounds.  One end is pointed; the other used to have a flat part with a hook, but it broke after about 30 seconds.  My dad always used to carry a metal rod around the yard while doing odd jobs, and after buying a house a few years ago, one of my happiest purchases was this same metal rod.  Seeing it in a store, I'd have no clue what to use it for.  But once you use it for a few things, you realize you could never live without it.  I just used it this weekend to dig up rocks from my backyard that I kept hitting with the lawnmower.  If I used a shovel, I'd have to dig and dig to try to figure out how big the rock is, then hope to somehow pry it out, likely snapping the shovel in the process.  With the slate rod, I just poke around for a few seconds, then use it like a crowbar to dig the rock out.  Since it's a solid piece of metal, it pretty much can't break.  I can easily put all my weight on it and use all my strength to try to bend it, but it won't budge.  Other uses include moving large heavy things like trees and railroad ties, digging and prying out stumps, and destroying things like bricks and cement. #products
Olympics on TV Sep 2, 2008
I have to say I was disappointed with the TV coverage of the 2008 Olympics.  I felt like the only things I actually saw were beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, and diving.  What about any of the other 28 sports?  Badminton?  Handball?  Shooting?  Taekwondo?  Why didn't I see any of these events?  Yes, I realize China is on the other side of the planet, so when it's morning here, it's tomorrow there.  But still, none of the coverage was live anyway.  If it's not live, they might as well have broadcast some of the unusual events.  I, for one, wouldn't have minded seeing a men's field hockey game, which in non-American cultures, is not considered girly. #sports
Rubber grip jar openers Sep 1, 2008
If I was stranded on a deserted island, the three objects I would want in my possession are: 
  1. Leatherman
  2. Duct tape
  3. Rubber grip jar opener
Rubber grip jar openers are usually used by old people and weaklings.  But like duct tape, it's easy to find more and more ways to use them.  I just loosened the head on my cordless drill so I could remove the bit.  I couldn't do it in my own strength.  Only with the help of rubber. #products
Salad definition Sep 1, 2008
Last night I ate a pile of steak, shrimp, nuts, assorted green leafy vegetables, and cucumbers, and since it was seated atop some lettuce, it was called a salad.  Salad has a pretty loose definition. #food