The Record's Editor Blog

I am annoyed, agitated, and still a bit angry.

So I am off and ranting again about drivers who take unnecessary risks during student drop off at school in the mornings.

Earlier this week, it was the driver who decided to stop in the middle of the street to let their kid out. This was a first. Other drivers pull over to the curb to allow their child to cross at the marked crosswalk.

Weekly, I see something that leaves me shaking my head.

Whether it be the driver who decides to make u-turn within oncoming traffic.  Or the one who decides to let their kid out of the car while other traffic is moving. Or the driver who decides to stop, say right at the corner of the intersection, to have their student hop out of their car.

Or the ones who ignore signs directing traffic flow. You know the ones who decide that the ALL CARS MUST TURN LEFT sign applies to others but not to them. They turn right anyway.

Their actions are dangerous, irresponsible, stupid.

Who knew that school zones could be so hairy at what should be the most benign time of the day?

I guess this website proves that not everything is improved by adding bacon to it. At least that’s my assessment but maybe you disagree and do not draw the line at bacon-scented underwear. You can view the products themselves by clicking here. They cost $19.99 a pair.

And you can read more from the news release that landed in my inbox:

J&D’s Foods, makers of Bacon Salt®, is pleased to announce the launch of BaconScented Underwear™, the world’s first underwear that looks and smells like bacon. Yes, this is real.

Marrying the ultimate in comfort and cured meat, J&D’s Bacon Scented Underwear represents the gold standard of meat-scented luxury undergarments. Each pair is hand crafted in the USA to offer the support of briefs, the freedom of boxers and the smell of breakfast cooking in your pants. You really can have it all.

Featuring state of the art moisture-wicking, scent-emission technology stolen from NASA, we’ve embedded the smell of everyone’s favorite smell into the fabric of your pants. This intoxicating scent will last through multiple wash cycles and wearings – depending on the (ahem) strength of your own scent, your underwear should continue to smell like bacon for up to 6 months or even a year.

Our legal team has advised us to post the following serious warnings:

• J&D’s Bacon Scented Underwear is not recommended for people in the following professions: mail carriers, zookeepers, veterinarians, dog catchers and walkers, and circus performers (especially lion tamers).
• If you have a large dog with razor sharp teeth, please do not fall asleep in J&D’s Bacon Scented Underwear.
• If you are hiking in the woods where bears are known to roam, please do not wear Bacon Scented Underwear without also carrying a firearm.

Now this would be the epitome of an oxymoron, and one of the few times I get to use “epitome” and “oxymoron” in a sentence. I received an email about a kickstarter campaign for FAST, a tail light for bicycles and electric scooters that will alert someone of an accident and warn you if your bike is being tampered with, and among a few other features. The nearly three-minute promo video extols the bike’s safety features. If the bike is left in a horizontal position the tail light’s app will send a signal to the Android phone of an emergency contact. That sounds pretty cool.

But in the video, the rider is not wearing a helmet. Maybe they should work on an app to prevent you from riding your bike if you’re not wearing a helmet.

Click here to see the video for yourself.

What is it about school drop-off and pickup of students that turn rather sane people into reckless ruffians who think rules do not apply to them?
Too often while taking my kids to school I see drivers disobeying traffic signs, such as turning left or right when a sign, and sometimes traffic control equipment, says not to. Or they are cutting in and out of lanes as if they own them and no one else is on the road. Or worse yet, they have kids exiting their cars and crossing the street in front of traffic in unsafe locations.
It’s dangerous and an accident just waiting to happen.

I freely admit that I am a breakfastarian.

I eat breakfast foods for lunch, for dinner and even sometimes for snacks.

Sometimes I mix breakfast items with others such as the French Toast and chicken sandwich I had the other day or the French Toast and turkey burger sandwich or the oven friend chicken and waffles I recently made.

I don’t know where this inclination began. Rarely as a child did we have breakfast at night. As a broke college student I often ate pancakes when I could because they were cheap. Not nutritious mind you because they were made with basically flour and water. And for 99 cents you could buy a tub of syrup. They were filling and tasty enough, that’s all that mattered back then.

But now, omelets, pancakes, waffles, all work their way into a rotation of lunch and dinner menus.

But little did I know that there is a group that celebrates this culture – the Breakfastarians.

Their slogan: See the light. Eat breakfast at night.

For more info go to gobreakastarian.org

It was a view that brought back memories. In the auto service department lounge were a bank of five old-school gumball machines. For some reason this time they caused me to take pause.

I thought of how I used to see these all of the time as a kid. They were at grocery stores, gas stations, barber shops and many other places.. And every so often I would have the change to get some bubble gum.

I remember that it never seemed to be quality bubble gum as the gum was often hard to bite into and the flavor did not last long. Yet I always yearned to get a piece. It was probably the thrill of dropping the coin in the slot, turning the handle and hearing that piece of gum drop into the slot and then my hand.

I passed on getting anything out of these machines this time around.

Yet the memories they brought back were worth far more than the 25 cents needed to purchase a gumball.

Congratulations. If you have made it this far with your New Year’s resolution, you are well past the 21-day mark needed to establish your new habit.

That’s the common goal a number of researchers say have to be reached in order for a new habit to become ingrained.

So whether it be going to the gym, reading more or getting more sleep, if you are still at it, then you have the habit going. Of course habits can be broken, so be careful to not backslide.

I usually do not set resolutions but I discovered that I inadvertently started a new habit that my family is pleased with.

I began cooking more during my Christmas week vacation. You can read that story by clicking here.

More than a month later I am still cooking, primarily on weekends, much to my wife’s delight. She is even happily picking up ingredients for me during her grocery shopping trips.

Last weekend I made Shepherd’s Pie, scones and French Onion Soup. This weekend I am making Lemon Chicken, Pigs in a Blanket (with dough from scratch), Boston Baked Beans and a double chocolate cake. I may also make some biscuits and a lemon loaf, depending on how my time works out.

One good thing about this habit is that it keeps me around the house more, which is another thing my family is pleased with.

The gyms this time of the year are full of people wanting to make a fresh start by getting into better shape.

I usually wait them out and look to see how many are still gym regulars in February and of those, who will still be a regular patron come the fall.

Making a change is not always easy.

I have always worked out regularly but it has only been recently that I have gotten myself into the shape that I have wanted. And it took me the better part of two years.

In 2014 I rode my bike 6,512 miles.

For perspective, I drove my car about 10,000 miles.

I ride for heart health, fitness, performance and stress release.

It has really taken me two full years to get to this point that I can do bike rides that I only dreamed of before.

The Tour of the California Alps Death Ride, 122 miles over five mountain passes. Double centuries, 200-mile rides. This year my goal is to do three 200-mile rides to get what is called a California Triple Crown.

A friend of mine since college saw a recent photo of me and commented on how fit I looked. He was surprised when I told him that I have not weighed this little since my college track days.

And he asked why I did the work of getting into shape.

As I have said before, it is because I wanted to get into better shape for riding my bike. I also wanted to get my health back.

I have high blood pressure, it’s hereditary. I have arthritis – had my right hip replaced in 2004 and need my left hip replaced. And I was carrying around some additional pounds.

I would have been happy to have lost 10 pounds. Instead, I lost 30.

More importantly, I got my health back.

You don’t have to be in the gym now, you can start a program at any time. My real weight loss work began in April 2013. You just have to have the right method and the desire to work at it.

Nomophobia is an interesting term used to describe the anxiety of not being able to use your mobile device. Fast Company writes about a California State University, Dominguez-Hills study of the anxiety among a group of 163 student-volunteers, average age 24, who are not allowed to use their phone for an hour. That’s right, just 60 minutes. Some of those students had their phone confiscated, while others were just asked to put their phone away.

You can read the Fast Company story here.