Lot less news about gas prices, but it should be noted they have quickly fallen from their mid-June highs.

Yes, it is nice paying less. Yes, it is frustrating when they shoot up, but there seems less relief when they go down.

But knowing details helps. Again, as I've said, seeing the green to yellow to red light in my car and seeing the up and down of the miles per gallon has improved my gas mileage.

Just seeing that number change makes it easy to not race to the next light and puts an emphasis on coasting. I've gotten the number from 16-miles-per-gallong to up to 20. A trip on the highway has me at 23, and I'm working to keep it there.

The trip took me to a McDonald's for the first time in a while, meeting family to drop off daughters for a visit (picking up halfway), and I was amazed at the calorie counts on the menu. They were more prominent than the prices, and believe me, they make one reconsider what to order.

Used to be it was easy to add an item because it was a dollar, but not when it adds 500 calories. Information helps.

Makes me wonder what the big deal is with Snowden telling that the government uses the information that is available.