Okay, so my first real test of the toy happened last night. It's not Tucker-Max-worthy, thank goodness. But it did teach me something interesting about the way the body reacts to alcohol.

Well, the first thing I really learned is this. When you buy a margarita in a restaurant, it's a completely different thing than when you buy one in a bar. In a bar, it turns out they actually put tequila in the drinks (go figure).

Two margaritas at a bar with a friend, and I was absolutely, unequivocally not going anywhere near a motor vehicle under any circumstances. This is in contrast to a restaurant margarita, where after two of them I'm wondering what all the fuss is about.

And I was only blowing a .04.

Off to the next bar across the street, where my BAC was up to .06 as the alcohol slowly absorbed into my system. The thing was, as my BAC was creeping up, the effects of the alcohol were decreasing. I really could only feel the effects of the prior drinks shortly after having drank them. I spent some time there listening to the band and not drinking at all, feeling myself sobering up by the minute.

Eventually I felt completely sober, but the night was young, so I ordered another one. I was blowing an .08 (legally drunk in CA now) but not feeling impaired at all. After drinking that third one, and feeling its effects peak and start to wear off, my BAC was up to .10.

After that, I stopped drinking alcohol and started drinking lots of water to get my BAC to come back down, it only did so gradually. By the time the band finished up and the bar closed I was still blowing a .08. I was feeling OK to drive, but my toy told me otherwise.

I ended up walking around the block for two hours and blowing every few minutes until the toy was reading a consistent .06. At that point, I had felt completely sober and totally unimpaired for over an hour (despite the toy telling me I was still drunk as a skunk) and so that's when I chose to head home. I felt completely fine and was also well under the legal limit, so no scolding.

Remember, the point in time when I felt the most impaired, my BAC was only .04. And yet I felt fine at .08 later on.

I think that's the problem with using BAC to judge your state of impairment. What the BAC seems to be telling you is how drunk you've been recently, but not how drunk you are right now. It's like a delayed "echo" of your alcohol intake and its effects. (Just like you said, Brad.)

Oh, and boy did I have a hangover this morning. I made the mistake of trying to take advil and drink water and tea right away when I woke up. It didn't stay in me for very long. But I felt much better after throwing up the water/tea/advil mix, and shortly thereafter was able to eat a bowl of cereal, take more advil, and get on with my day.

It's been a while since I drove the porcelain bus. Forgot what a pleasant experience that was...