I agree with all this pretty much. I have to admit I wonder at wassercrats thinking on occassion. He doesnt seem to learn when the mule kicks other people, and its not even clear if he learns when the mule kicks him. I dont get this at all. Most people I know learn from other peoples mistakes. *shrug* Its his life I guess.

But I do have a nit: You said ^ (and, for that matter, $) are not special inside of character classes. which is wrong. ^ is special inside of char classes when the it is the first character of the char class. It cause the char class to be negated.