Interesting Industry Tidbits

Lose weight? The secret: “sprinkles” that are poured over food and fool you into thinking you’ve eaten more than you have.

CHANGING ATTIRE AT 60 MPH

Multi-tasking is generally a good quality, but there are limits. Take trucker Terry Gilmore, 59, of Ohio. While traveling on U.S. 6 near South Bend, Ind., Gilmore set his cruise control to 60 while he began to change clothes, according to what the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department told the news media. Unfortunately, he misjudged a curve and rolled the truck off the road. Gilmore’s body was not seriously injured, but his pride might have taken a hit: A witness told investigators Gilmore was naked when she checked on him soon after the accident.


SNIFF THOSE POUNDS AWAY

Retired trucker Ed McElroy lost 50 pounds in six months without dieting, according to ABC’s KAKE 10 in Kansas. “I ate exactly what I always ate, the same lousy food, sausage, hamburgers,” McElroy told the station.

The secret: “sprinkles” that are poured over food and fool you into thinking you’ve eaten more than you have. The flavor-enhanced glycerin powders, made by The Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation of Chicago, have only slight taste but a strong smell, which affects the appetite. Dr. Alan Hirsch of the foundation is doing further study of the product’s effectiveness; volunteers can call (800) 664-3880.


DRIVER GETS THE POINT

A routine tow job for Barry Higgins turned into high drama when the owner of a Buick Regal in West Palm Beach, Fla., a shirtless man wearing a red bandanna, black pants and sandals, opened his trunk following an argument with Higgins. Nettly Fils-Aime, 24, of Delray Beach, Fla., brandished a sword that had a 3-foot blade with a skull as part of a decorative handle, according to a police report cited by the Palm Beach Post. Fils-Aime put the sword against Higgins’ ribs to prevent him from shutting the truck door. Higgins had his dispatcher summon police, who arrested Fils-Aime, the newspaper reported.


IT’S PURELY PHYSICAL
“There’s a lot of skepticism with the husbands.”
– Hazmat hauler Jim Cabage, who sometimes calls female Jazzercise instructors at home to get directions to classes. Cabage, 38, told New Hampshire’s Telegraph that he has exercised at more than 450 Jazzercise locations in 47 states and Canada.


CHOOSE YOUR WORST TORTURE

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If traffic jams drive you nuts, you’re hardly alone. Respondents to a Yahoo! Autos online poll say they’d rather endure the middle seat on a trans-Atlantic flight, a filling at the dentist’s office or a crowded mall on the busiest shopping day of the year than getting stuck in gridlocked traffic for more than an hour. The only scenario ranked worse is standing in a subway for more than an hour.


WAITING TO LOAD

“I work all week for $700, $800, and if I can go save in one night a couple thousand dollars, it’s worth it.”

– Trucker Matthew Gaynor of Loxahatchee, Fla., who camped out at a Best Buy in West Palm Beach on Thanksgiving Day night to be among the first of 700 shoppers the next morning. After buying electronics at Best Buy and elsewhere, Gaynor told the Palm Beach Post he spent $5,000, saving $2,200.

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