Sleep is the Best Caffeine

I've been using caffeine on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get me through my first couple classes. I am taking an energy drink during the first class. I don't think it's a good idea to continue relying on drugs to get you through, but I figure that it can't be too bad for me to shock my system twice a week as long as I don't keep it up indefinitely.

I don't drink it if I'm functional enough to not need it. This usually happens on nights after I get a lot of sleep. I think that sleep is way better than caffeine for producing an alert mind and responsive body. It's just that sleep's a lot harder to get than paying a couple $$$ for a stimulant.

I've tried a few different energy drinks and my favorite is by far Rockstar's Guava flavor. It comes in a purple can. You should try it if you're so inclined.

Pick #94

Flogging Molly - "The Light of a Fading Star" from Within a Mile of Home

Fun Fact #23

Every day, 7% of the US eats at McDonald's. Gross.

A Week Without Gas

Last Friday, September 12th, people rushed the gas stations in Tallahassee after hearing news that gas prices would jump up to $5/gal due to Hurricane Ike. I was riding bikes with Tri people when I saw the first station like this. It was on a corner and there was a line coming from both roads. I thought they must be selling gas for $1/gal or something like that. I was confused when I saw that the price was $3.729/gal. My riding buddies informed me of the situation. It was the same scene at every gas station in town that day. There was no gas on the following day or Sunday. During the past week, there've been stations getting gas then rapidly selling out. I think that we're finally getting to the point where stations are starting to be able to not sell out, but there's a bunch of stations still closed down.

I'm really surprised both at how much traffic I saw on the road this past week and at how many bike I've seen popping up lately. I guess it sucks if you don't have gas and there's not a good way to go on a long trip that you need to make. However, I hope that this situation introduced a bunch of people to the bus system or carpooling or alternative modes to the personal auto.

You expect me to go on a rant now about how price gouging laws are bad and they're what caused this shortage of gas in Tallahassee. I guess I'll be brief. If the market price was allowed to be charged, then people with 3/4 of a tank wouldn't flip out and fill up. People also wouldn't be wasting valuable gas by sitting in lines that are 20 minutes long while they let their car idle. Also, it's not like gas stations could charge whatever they want. At $100/gallon, I doubt they'd get anyone to buy any gas, let alone fill up their tanks. People will not pay more for a gallon of gas than it is worth to them. Hence, the price cannot be too high. Higher prices will reallocate the gas to the people who value it the most (instead of the people with the most amount of disposable leisure time that they can afford to wait in line).

Buckle Up for Yourself

I saw some dude with a "Buckle Up" bumper sticker on his truck, presumably encouraging random other people to wear their seat belts. I can understand why the state would want people to be more well protected in their cars, but I don't know why individuals would want other individuals to buckle up. I do understand encouraging your friends and family to buckle up because you derive utility from their well being.

As far as other people go, I'd rather that nobody else on the road with me was wearing their seatbelt. They'd be safer drivers if they took off the safety belt. In The Armchair Economist, Landsburg suggests that roads would be the safest if everyone had a spear pointing out of their steering wheel straight at their heart. Imagine how safe you'd be in that precarious position. The fact is that seat belts are a form of insurance and wearing them causes moral hazard...people are willing to do crazier things when they're wearing a seat belt compared to when they aren't wearing one, and that raises the probability that they'll be in an accident (with you!).

The same moral hazard problem is present in cyclists. One study found that cars pass helmeted cyclists with 3" less space than riders not wearing helmets. Also, a cyclist is more likely to pull out in front of cars or do something else stupid if they're wearing a helmet because they'll be more protected in the case of an accident (thus reducing the helmeted riders' costs of taking the action while the benefits are the same for riders with and without helmets).

So, I might make a bumper sticker that says: "Please don't buckle up." Actually, I probably won't do it and I don't put bumper stickers on my car anyway.

Hawking's Bettings Bollocks

Have you heard that Stephen Hawking bet $100 (I think it was 50 pounds sterling) that the Large Hadron Collider will not discover the Higgs boson (aka the God particle)?? WTF?? What kind of pussy bet is that? I would wager that it means he's not sure.

I often use the size of a bet to indicate my certainty level. If I'm 50-50 on a bet, I might bet $5 or 10, but I'll bet up to a thousand if I know I'm right with upwards of 95% certainty. I'm sure Hawking's got more $$$ than I do. I've seen news of this bet before the LHC was fired up earlier this week and I think that too much of a deal was made about it. In fact, I'd be more likely to believe Hawking if he didn't put any money on it.

Pick #93

They Might Be Giants - She's an Angel