Hit The Road, Jack!

If you're heading out of town today for Memorial Day weekend, hopefully you're already on the way. Because if you aren't, you might want to wait a while. A new study looked at Memorial Day weekend traffic, and found that things get REALLY clogged on the roads today until after 7:00 P.M. The absolute worst time to hit the road is between 3:00 and 4:00 P.M. But . . . believe it or not, if you waited until today to skip town, you're actually better off than the people who tried to get a jump. The absolute WORST Memorial Day traffic every year is on Thursday . . . and the second-worst is on Wednesday. In fact, the Thursday before Memorial Day has the WORST traffic of any day of the entire year. are you headed someplace out of town this weekend?

What Breakfast Looks Like in Ten Other Countries

As I sit here in the studio having my English Muffin with peanut butter, granola bar and water (yes, I'm dieting!) I got thinking how great it would be to have a stack of pancakes, or bacon and eggs. But no, it's the same thing day in and day out! Now, if you're sick of eating the same thing every day, check out what people in ten other countries typically have for breakfast . . .

1. Japan: White rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables.
2. India: Dosa, which is kind of like a crêpe . . . sambar, which is a vegetable stew with lentils . . . and a side of chutney.
3. Germany: Two hard-boiled eggs, two or three sausages, and a bread roll.
4. England: Eggs, grilled tomatoes, a few strips of bacon, and sausage.
5. China: Congee, which is a type of porridge. (Pronounced conjee) And a "pork bun," which is kind of like a dumpling.
6. Iran: Butter and jam on a piece of naan, which is flatbread.
7. Italy: A roll of bread with jam, and a cup of coffee.
8. Sweden: Untoasted bread with cold cuts and cucumber, plus some tomatoes, and a hard-boiled egg. And when they make coffee, they mix a raw egg in with the grounds.
9. Russia: Rye bread, porridge, and sausage.
10. Australia: Corn Flakes, and toast with Vegemite. That's a dark brown paste made using leftover yeast from breweries.

Seven Condiments And How Bad They Are for You!

It's almost Summer! Time for cookouts, picnics and all that great summertime food! But if you slather your hot dogs in ketchup and relish, or get into chips and salsa, check this out: Your favorite condiment might be ruining your diet if you eat it a lot.  Here are seven condiments, and how bad they are for you:
1.  Salsa.  It might be the healthiest condiment out there, because it's mostly vegetables.  One tablespoon only has five calories.

2.  Mustard is another one that's not bad, because it's loaded with antioxidants, vitamin B, and niacin, which can help lower your cholesterol.  And a tablespoon only has about 15 calories.  But it tends to be high in salt, so don't use too much.

3.  Sriracha.  It's made from chili peppers, vinegar, and garlic, and one tablespoon has 15 calories.  But again, don't use too much, because it has a lot of sugar and salt.

4.  Relish.  One tablespoon has 20 calories.  But it usually has a TON of salt and sugar.

5.  Soy sauce.  A tablespoon is only 10 calories, but has a full gram of salt.  The low-sodium stuff has about half that, but that's still a lot.  Most people aren't supposed to get more than two-and-a-half grams of sodium a day.

6.  Ketchup.  The tomatoes are good for you, but that's about it.  And there's a ton of added salt and sugar.  One tablespoon has about 20 calories.  But most people use more than that, and it's usually with something bad for you, like French fries.

7.  Mayonnaise.  It's probably the worst condiment for you, because it's basically pure fat.  One tablespoon has a HUNDRED calories.

Geez, what a downer! Pass me another burger!

No, I Don't Do Windows!

Have you done your spring cleaning yet? Some of us really look forward to it, others (like me!) absolutely dread it! I don't know if you have an official List of the spring cleaning jobs you need to do, but check this out: According to the website Angie's List, here are the five things you're most likely to forget about when you're doing your spring cleaning . . .


1.  The baseboards along the bottom of the walls.  They're pretty easy.  Just vacuum first, then wipe them with a sponge.
2.  Dusting stuff that's above eye-level.  Like the top of your window blinds, or your ceiling fan.
3.  Cleaning the walls.  Just use water and dish soap . . . and don't scrub too hard or you might take off some of the paint.
4.  Inside kitchen cabinets.  You might think they stay clean, because you only put clean dishes in there, and the doors stay closed.  But somehow they collect dust anyway.
5.  Under appliances, like your fridge or washing machine.  If you haven't cleaned them in a while, they're probably filthy. 


Which reminds me, I'm expecting to hear the word "window" at home any day now!

Get Out Of My Cubicle!

Since it's Friday and we all can't wait to get out of work and start our weekends, this is a good day to talk about this: A new survey by Cadbury Dairy Milk reveals that 25% of people say having their food stolen from the office fridge is their biggest office pet peeve. Other findings:

- 25% of people say stinky food in the microwave is their biggest office pet peeve

- 33% of people 'bite their tongue' when coworkers eat stinky food

- 29% of people say coworkers, who chew loudly bother them

- 31% of employees can't stand people talking with their mouth full

- 72% of people say 'Any plans for the weekend?' is the most overheard phrase in workplace.

 

My biggest pet peeve here is that not enough people bring in donuts! Just drives me crazy!

This Bud's Not Necessarily For You!

Budweiser has withdrawn a slogan on cans of Bud Light after some say it promotes rape culture. The Bud Light slogan read, "The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night." A company official told The New York Times it would be pulled from production. Budweiser said the language on the label was one of more than 140 “scroll messages” that were part of the “Up for  Whatever” marketing campaign that the company started two years ago. “It’s clear that this message missed the mark, and we regret it,” Alexander Lambrecht, vice president for the Bud Light brand at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. “We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior.”

Step On It!

Ask people about their favorite cars and movies, and you'll get a million different answers, right? Well, Vulture.com put together a list of the 29 best car movies. And they went about as broad as you can with the term "car movie." "Fast Five" was chosen to represent the entire "Fast and the Furious" franchise and it came in eighth place . . . right above another Paul Walker movie called "Joy Ride". The top spot went to Robert De Niro's "Taxi Driver". I'm not sure I agree with all of these, but here's their Top 10:

1. "Taxi Driver". Their case is that Robert De Niro's cab is a major part of who his character is, and the movie wouldn't work without it.

2. "The Road Warrior", which was the second movie in the "Mad Max" series. Mel Gibson drives a sweet Ford Falcon in it.

3. "Two-Lane Blacktop". It came out in 1971, and starred James Taylor and Dennis Wilson fromThe Beach Boys, who were racing a guy across the country.

4. "Repo Man". Emilio Estevez played a guy who repossessed cars.

5. "Collateral", where Tom Cruise plays a hit man, and makes Jamie Foxx take him around Los Angeles in his cab.

6. "Holy Motors". It's a foreign film that came out in 2012.

7. "Duel". It was made for TV in 1971, and Steven Spielberg directed it.

8. "Fast Five", which was the fifth "Fast and the Furious" movie. They chose that one because it's when the chase scenes got WAY over-the-top.

9. "Joy Ride". It came out in 2001, and starred Paul Walker and Steve Zahn as two guys on a road trip who get involved with a psycho trucker.

10. "Taste of Cherry" is an Iranian movie that came out in 1997. It's about a guy who drives around in his truck looking for someone to bury him after he kills himself.

I would have put the Fast And Furious franchise way higher on the list. And how about a classic: Bullitt with Steve McQueen?

Yeah it's an older film (1968), but if you love cars, and especially Ford Mustangs, it should be on the list!