The World According to Chuck

Happy 50th birthday to the LEGO, which not only graces this site but the carpets of unsuspecting parents everywhere. It’s not the day it was invented but the day its patent was approved, but we’ll still wish it well. LEGO, by the way, is a fusion of the Danish words “LEg” and “GOdt” (“play well”).

The National Weather Service teased us all weekend, threatening here, withdrawing the threat there, until it became The Boy Who Cried Snow. We stopped believing, or caring, and figured what would happen would, and possibly not here, anyway.

We woke up believers, with 5 inches of new snow and the very real threat of more tonight. I prefer watching it snow to walking in it, so a little picturesque scenery goes a long way, but at least it’s change, and not too much trouble, assuming we can get Beth to the airport tonight.

And since it’s change we’re talking about, and I believe up there I mentioned walking, and since I have nothing else to say this morning on anything else, let’s do another

Weight Loss Tip Of The Day: Lose the dog.

I like dogs, don’t get me wrong. And dogs need to be walked, and walking dogs is good exercise, although I’m not sure what bad exercise is unless it involves somebody other than your spouse. And I know many people who get themselves moving by the necessity of taking the dog out.

In terms of weight loss, though, I’d submit that you might as well go grocery shopping for the amount of benefit. Which is not bad, either; any movement is a good thing.

I speak from observational experience. I walk every day; I do it on purpose, for a purpose, and I see other walkers, too, many of them with dogs, and believe me we are doing two very different activities. Dogs wander, stop, sniff, backtrack and generally have a good old time, and the person on the other end of the leash is a passive participant (Jerry Seinfeld did a routine about this, which I can’t remember verbatim but he essentially imagines a space alien viewing a dog and its owner from afar. The alien sees one creature pooping, and one creature holding the other’s poop, and there is obviously no question who’s in charge).

So if you decide walking is part of your plan, lose the dog. At least part of the day. You’ll go faster, you’ll probably go further, you’ll burn more calories, you’ll rev up the metabolism better, and you might gain some self-esteem, who knows? Let the dog hold its own poop for once.