[Rails] Interesting Class variable problem

[Commander Johnson]

class PostOfTheDay
  private

  def self.current_day
    DateTime.now.utc.to_date
  end

  @@current_post = nil
  @@current_day = current_day

  def self.get_random_post
    posts = Post.all

    posts[rand(posts.size)]
  end

  public

  def self.fetch
    if @@current_post.nil? || @@current_day != current_day
      @@current_post = get_random_post
      @@current_day = current_day
    end

    return @@current_post
  end
end

I would expect the class variables @@current_post and @@current_day to never
change when not accessed. However, in development mode, on each request, a
different Post is returned because either the Klazz has been garbage
collected (?) or the initializers

@@current_post = nil
@@current_day = current_day

have been re-run. But isn't it required to initialize a class variable
before usage?

Why is this the default behaviour? Any pointers on a different approach?

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