Steven Helmer Publications

This may seem strange, but I've been driving for about 34 years and never used cruise control until today. This is primarily because every car prior to the 2024 Chevy Trax I now drive didn't have that feature. Plus, when I did attempt to use it last year (while driving to Mississippi), I couldn't get it to work and just figured the car wasn't equipped with it either (it wouldn't be the first time I've driven a car that had buttons that didn't work). However, while driving home from a Costco run in Sun Prairie, I noticed the speed enforcement signs up on the highway and since I've been known to have a bit of a lead foot, decided it would be a good excuse to give the cruise control feature another try. After two failed attempts, I figured out how to get it to work and used it for the last half of the drive. My opinion is a bit mixed. It was nice not to worry about getting pulled over because my foot got a little heavy on the accelerator. At the same time, ...

OK, to be fair, I don't blindly put things in my cart and do take a moment to at least glance at an expiration date or look for mold (especially with produce). However, I had to do some grocery shopping yesterday evening and was beginning to feel as though I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. It seemed as though every aisle I walked into had someone closely inspecting some sort of food item. And, when I say inspecting, I mean they looked at the food the same way an antique collector would inspect an item to determine its authenticity. Photo Courtesy of Pixabay For example, I needed some buns (I made brats for dinner) and, when I went into the bread aisle, there was a woman already there. I waited patiently for her (she was blocking the aisle) as she took probably a dozen loaves of bread off the shelf and examined each and every one of them before settling on one. I thought this was a bit odd and, when she walked away, ended up (out of sheer curiosity) picking up one ...