How Much Do I Weigh Now?

I've always been a double-checker. Hell, most of the time I'm a triple-checker. I like to be sure that addresses are correct and emails have been received. I'm especially bad about this in restaurants. There is something in my brain that always managed to convince me I have miscounted the money, am consequently leaving an insufficient tip and will now have a reputation at this particular restaurant as a bad tipper, even though I've already counted it twice and closed the folder with the bill inside literally four seconds ago. At this point I simply have to look again and make extra, extra sure. But, at least I know I'm an idiot for doing this. I'm even worse when there is a fun gadget to give me data I can constantly check and re-check. Down at the family beach house there is a gauge that tells you the temperature outside versus the temperature inside. When I was down in Wareham for the latest heat wave and slowly sweating to death I must have looked at this thing 400 times a day. "What is the temperature inside now? 94? How about now? Still 94? It feels like it's getting slightly cooler, what is the temperature outside? Also 94? Really, it doesn't feel over 92."

Because of this personality trait, it was probably not good that we recently got a new digital scale that will tell you how much you weigh to within a tenth of a pound. I'm obsessed with this thing and I check it all the time. Not because I care how much weight I'm carrying - I'm not on a diet and frankly, I don't care what I weigh (welcome to the wonderful world of being a dude). No, I constantly look at it because am consumed with finding out how much weight I lose or gain while doing small activities. Walked down the driveway to pick up the mail - do you think that could be worth .1 of a pound? Oh, I ate a huge meal - I've got to be up 3 pounds after that. And, of course, I need to know the number after bathroom pit-stops (again, welcome to the world of a dude). The best part is that the scale doesn't give you a number right when you step on it. Instead you pick up a little controller, push a button and then it tells you the number, so you have the chance to guess how much your weight changed. It's like a game. For those of you wondering, my record shift came one afternoon after skipping breakfast, playing 9 holes of golf in 90 degree heat, making a pit-stop and weighing myself before lunch, at which point I was down eight pounds from the day before. Even I was surprised at how much that number dropped. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to see how much weight I lose while typing a blog post.

-I have spent many a blog post deriding the reality TV show. I don't like the people on them who over-react to situations, the manufactured drama or the fact that there is very little actual 'reality' to be found. But, I have stumbled upon a reality show this season that (so far) has avoided most of those trappings. It's called Big Break and it's on the Golf Channel. The basic premise is that they take 11 golfers (this year it's female golfers) put them through a series of challenges to pick them off one by one until the last golfer standing gets a lot of money, an endorsement contract for new equipment and some sponsor exemptions into actual LPGA tournaments. What I like about this show is that it doesn't go too heavy on manufactured drama and instead focuses on the competition to create the tension. Yes, they have the contestants live in one house and use those tried and true editing techniques to try and make things appear more dramatic than they probably were at the time, but they don't try to get the people drunk and have them fight. The main focus is the golf and the drama comes from the strategy of game-planning. Also, the show moves quickly: there is first challenge to save one person who gets a prize, a second challenge to save all but two golfers and finally a third challenge between those two and the loser goes home. Very little downtime of people sitting around talking about each other behind their backs. It's probably helping me that I jumped in late with only seven golfers left and thus could keep track of everyone easier. The only downside is this: apparently this is the fourth of fifth season and so far none of the winners have done anything once they get to the pro circuits. They need someone to start doing something big with the opportunity they have been given or else it's going to turn into a sports version of American Idol where we care for that season and then forget about who wins just as quickly.