So I'm at this car event in South Beach last night (for the Ford Flex, great car, full review to come once I finish the test drive), and I'm sitting at dinner with a few other writers and car reps. And as more and more alcohol is poured, the conversation veers from cars to dating and sex. (Thank God for alcohol.)

When they find out I'm "The Bachelor Guy", women always want to give me their dating tips. And tell me where guys go wrong. (Occupational hazard.) Mix me, a liberal amount of alcohol and a couple of uninhibited women, and you've got a recipe for some revealing conversation.

Here's something brought up last night that's worth passing on. Both girls at the table disclosed that one of the main things they are watching right from the beginning of a date is how we drive. Particularly how we handle the shifter and steering wheel. In their minds, how we handle our cars gives them subtle, unconscious hints as to how we'll handle them. And they say, it could be a deal breaker.

1. Don't be a jerk.
Being smooth on the shifter is important. Slamming through the gears (in manual or auto), shows her you're too aggressive, not relaxed. And tells her how you'll treat her knobs. They look for a guy who is light on the shifter. Eases the car into gear. Just like she hopes you do with her.

2. Always be on the move.
According to the ladies, if you drive with one hand on the wheel and one hand in a death grip on the shifter, she's thinking ...More

There's new laws around the country that are meant to protect us from eating stuff we shouldn't. Not the obvious stuff like triple Whoppers with cheese (you pretty much know what you're getting there), but those things on the menu that restaurants claim are "healthy" or "low fat", but really aren't, because they are loaded with hidden crap.

David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health and author of Eat This, Not That, did an investigative report for MSN's Health and Fitness, and found a host of things that popular restaurants have been trying to hide from us. Here are 16 of the most mind-blowing.

1. Outback Steakhouse
Their Aussie Cheese Fries have between 2,030 and 2,900 calories, depending on who did the analysis. (An entire day's recommended limit for most guys is 2,000 calories.) And the Ayers Rock Strip has 60 grams of fat. Crikey, indeed.

2. Applebee's
Their old "low-fat" menu featured items like the Chicken Quesadillas, which may have been low in fat, but weighed in with 742 calories and 90 grams of carbs. Their new Weight Watchers items are all under 500 calories.

3. IHOP
You don't go to IHOP for the healthy food (you go late-night after drinking for some soakage), but when the Garden Omelette is rocking 1,150 calories, there's a problem. ...More

You may have noticed that my posting has been a little lean since last Thursday. That's because I'm in the middle of a heavy travel schedule this month (that's been dubbed the BG Summer World Tour), that started with a few days in Milwaukee for the opening of the Harley-Davidson Museum (post and pics to follow in a bit), and ends in the middle of August. And since all they like to do in Milwaukee is drink beer, eat brats, then have some more beer, to the wee hours of the morning, regardless of what day it is, I'm still recovering.

Tomorrow I head to LA to test drive some of the new Mazdas, and then I'm off to Phoenix for a week to attend the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and play a bunch of golf at some of the great courses they have in Scottsdale. The plan is to post daily about what's going on along with the regular stuff, but that all depends on how the drinks (and local women) are flowing.

Stay tuned.

Why is it you always seem to run out of deodorant on the night you've got a big date? Or you realize the morning of the national sales meeting, standing in your hotel bathroom in Des Moines, that you left your shaving cream on the counter at home? Screwed? Not if you know what to grab from the pantry. Or what to order up from room service.

With some MacGyver-like ingenuity and a few common ingredients, you can whip up some lifesaving (and date-saving), grooming supplies that'll have you looking and smelling as good as the store-bought stuff you left behind.

Shaving Cream:
According to grooming guru John Allen, if you realize you've forgotten your shaving cream, you shouldn’t panic and use soap. That'll dry your face out and make you more prone to nicks. First, Allen recommends soaking a washcloth in hot water and steaming your beard as much as possible. Call room service and order up some olive oil. Mix that with some of the complimentary conditioner they left on your counter to make a simple shaving cream that will soften your beard and leave your skin smooth. Then Allen recommends splashing cold water on your face to close your pores. Forgot your aftershave too? Allen says grab some scotch from the minibar and splash it on. (Then wait a while before hitting the meeting so you don't have to explain to your boss why you reek of minibar scotch.)

Deodorant:
Ran out of your favorite stick and there's no time to get to the drug store for more? There are two basic ways you can create your own deodorant quickly to get rid of any unwanted sweat or smell. The first is by combining 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix these three ingredients together in a small container and slap it on your armpits. (Then send me a picture.)

If you don’t have any olive oil or cornstarch around, you can mix baking soda, water, and some lotion until a paste is created. You can add some cologne if you’d like it to be scented or ...More

They call those who look at the glass as half empty, "pessimists". Those who see it as half full are called "optimists". So what do you call someone who sees the positive in a gas tank that's half full because you can't afford to fill it? No idea, but according to a recent Time Magazine article, there are at least 10 positive things we can take away from the nearly doubling of our fuel costs. And since it doesn't look like we'll ever see the price drop below $4 per gallon again, we might a well look for the silver lining. No matter how thin and barely visible it is.

Among Time's reasons for celebrating, or at least embracing, more expensive fuel:

Globalized jobs come home.
Since it costs so much to ship products made over seas, it's making some manufacturers start returning to US factories.
Result: More jobs at home, and people get to "buy American".

Sprawl stalls.
Building homes farther out into the suburbs has stopped as people look to move closer to the cities to shorten their commute.
Result: suburban areas stop looking like urban cities, and home values closer to cities rise.

Four-day workweeks.
According to Time, some colleges, companies and governments are moving to a four-day week to save on fuel ...More

You gotta keep your pad clean. But when you spray that cleaner on your kitchen counter, you might be getting rid of the remnants of last night's party, but you may also be doing as much damage to your body as a Dirty Bomb.

Everyday household cleaners can contribute to allergies, asthma, headaches, dizziness, chest pains, eye and skin irritations, birth defects, fatigue, depression, and cancer. Here's a list of 17 common ingredients in cleaners you probably have in your house right now, and the effects they can have.

Forget rubber gloves, you should be wearing a hazmat suit.

Ammonia –
Causes irritation to eyes and nose, breathing difficulties, chest pains, pulmonary edema (lungs fill with fluid), cataracts and skin burns. High exposure can lead to lung damage, blindness, heart attack or death. Has been shown to produce skin cancer. Typically found in glass cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, and disinfectants.

2-butoxyethanol / Ethylene glycol butyl ether –
This chemical can be easily absorbed by the skin or inhaled, and can damage the liver, kidneys, reproductive organs and cause blood disorders. Commonly found in all-purpose cleaners, window cleaners.

Ethoxylated nonyl phenols (gender-benders) –
This chemical has been shown to induce female characteristics in male fish (if that doesn't make you go "holy crap", nothing will), and poses such a threat to the environment that it has been banned in the UK. It is still available for use in the US. ...More