The ridiculously high cost of gas may be what's got everyone grabbing pitchforks and torches and calling for a revolution, but gasoline isn't the only utility draining money away from your weekend entertainment fund. Electric bills are set to jump this summer as well. And powering your 42" plasma and the rest of those high-tech gadgets you bought back when you actually had equity in your home to borrow against, is gonna cost you. Especially if you're not watching how you use it, or don't realize where it's being wasted.

According to recent studies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the average family household is spending nearly $2,000 per year in utility costs. And wasteful kitchen appliances alone are at fault for almost half of these costs. That's a whole bunch of Benjamins that could be back in your pocket. So here are some tips to help you reduce your need for the juice, and give you a greener (as in more money) summer.

Clothes Washer:
1 - Only use your clothes washer when you have large loads to do and avoid using warm/hot water unless necessary. And if that means buying more boxers to make it to the weekend, so be it.

Refrigerator:
2 - Avoid overheating by allowing a space of at least one inch between the wall and the back of the refrigerator. This will help allow air to circulate and control the temperature.
3 - Try to steer clear of placing your fridge by areas that produce heat. Radiators, vents, heat ducts, stoves, and even sunlight from your windows can cause the unit to use more power than needed.
4 - Check the temperature of both your fridge and freezer regularly. Keep the fridge between 35 and 38 ...More

Look who finally got his lazy ass around to putting up a new poll...

The results of the poll asking who gets more attention, Mom or Dad on their respective Hallmark Holiday, weren't all that surprising. 41% of you show Mom the love for all those years of torture you put her through, while only 6% felt dear old Dad deserved more. (I guess being half responsible for that egg getting fertilized and putting food on the table aren't worth all that much to ya.)

Just about the same number of you, 26%, felt they both deserved equal attention as felt neither of them deserved any more from you than on any other day. Come on, you can't spring for a bouquet of flowers and a tie once a year?

This week's poll (and, yeah, it'll be a week or so this time), is about your gas-buying habits. Since working with BP and talking fuel with friends, I'm getting some interesting answers about how guys buy gas. What I want to know is, what do you buy, how do you buy, and what makes you buy what you do, as the price of gas inches towards the $5 per gallon mark.

Answer in the box to the right.

If you’re not using them to hide your identity from the paparazzi, you’re wearing shades to protect your eyes from the sun, and to let you better enjoy the outdoors. So how do you choose the best shades for you? Here are six tips from the experts to help guide you.

Remember: Drug Stores Are For Drugs.
The staffs at drug stores, or that 2-for-$20 kiosk at the mall, are not trained to help you choose the right sunglasses. So the only way to get answers to important shade-related questions like: “Are these lenses polycarbonate?” is to shop in a store that specializes in selling sunglasses, or a store with a trained optician on staff.

Get Specific.
“The most important thing to know when shopping for sunglasses is the primary activity or sport you’ll be using them for,” says Colin Smith, the Tech Guru over at Oakley, maker of cutting-edge sunglasses for over 25 years. “That will help to greatly narrow down your choices.” So which shades are for which activities? Here are some examples:

Driving: “You’ll want a grey or green lens,” says Tom Clayton, President of Europtik, US Distributor of Polaroid Sunwear. “They’re great all-purpose lenses, and are the best at keeping colors natural.” Which is why the military specs gray or green for their glasses.

Golf: Go with a brown or bronze lens. It’ll filter out the harsh blue wavelengths and enhance the greens. “This creates greater contrast and better depth perception around the greens,” says Clayton. They are also a good choice for skiers.

Boating/Fishing: You’ll want a lens that blocks a lot of the blue from the sky and water, so choosing a brown or bronze will work well here, too. “That will also allow you to spot features in streams like logs where the fish hide,” says Smith.

But the most important thing to look for in any of these lenses, and a must-have according to both Smith and Clayton, is polarization. Which brings us to…

Stop the Glare.
What is “glare”? Basically it’s light hitting ...More

With gas prices making it too expensive to actually drive your car, you might as well put it to other use. Like as a love shack.

Over at Spike.com they've got inventive 10 ways to get busy in your Buick, go down in your Dodge and get freaky in your Ford with sex positions like the Backseat Driver, Asleep at the Wheel and Pumping Gas. Definitely beats a long road trip.

Click here to read the Car-ma Sutra.