Testers let drinkers check level of alcohol

If you’ve ever sat at the pub afterwork sipping your favorite wine or craft brew, then you’ve probably wondered: When is it safe to drive home? If your blood alcohol concentration reaches .08 percent, that means someone else should take the keys.

Whatwould it feel like to hit that magic number? How many drinks would it take?

Why do police have tools to monitor my blood alcohol level, but I don’t? Apparently, other people wondered, too, because we can now buy breath analysis gadgets that attach to a key chain.

Recently, I gave the BACtrack, a gizmo that looks a bit like a black Tic Tac case, a try. Arriving at a party around 8 p. m., I sipped my first glass of wine, then a second 45 minutes later. Meanwhile, I ate crackers with smoked Gouda.

To get an accurate blood alcohol reading, you must stop drinking and eating 20 minutes before blowing into the device.

Around 10: 15 p. m., my plate contained maybe four crumbs and my glass ran dry. I consumed nothing for 30 minutes, and around 10: 45 p. m. I whipped outmy BACtrack and tested my blood alcohol.

Holding the device I blew a balloon’sworth of air through a pinhole. Finally the beep- beep signaled me to stop.

My blood alcoholwas .08 percent.

Even if readings are not 100 percent accurate, getting a ballpark blood alcohol level made me think twice about the next drink.