Happy Holidays from the Couch

Well, I'm laying flat on the couch with the computer on my lap.

Seems I somehow threw my back out getting out of the car while twisting the wrong way. I've thrown my back out countless times since the teenaged years (when I grew about a foot and a half in a year). This is the worst I've had in as long as I can remember.

The most annoying part is that, in missing work today, I'll have to go work another day before the year is over. Next weekend, or New Year's Eve, looks like I'll have to break up my two weeks off with a day at the office. I'm also a little peeved that I probably will have to stay away from the new Wii for a few days, lest I aggravate the injury playing virtual tennis. Ugh.

Ice, heat, ice, heat, painkiller, ice, heat, ice, heat, painkiller.

The Undaground blog is still alive and well. I just don't know how often I'll post during my time off. If I'm not on before Christmas, have a happy holiday and best wishes to you and yours for a great '08.

Seacrest, out.

And the Oscar Goes To...

Mrs. Undaground!

.

For best performance by a lead actress in a Drama or Comedy.

.

Saturday, the Undaground Mom was in town for our first annual "Fake Christmas". By 10am, we were sitting in front of the tree, drinking Mimosas and opening presents. John Denver and the Muppets were serenading us, and we were even being nice to the dog. The fake Christmas was so effective, that I've fooled myself into thinking Christmas is over more than a few times since Saturday.

.

Last week, I made a big show out of releasing Mrs. U from her Wii hunt. After writing the post, I felt very good about myself; like I had done something selfless. I thought, someday, some marriage counselor-slash author would dedicate a chapter in his/her book to this chivalrous gesture that some dude published on the internet. Don't worry about little old me, honey. Christmas is about giving -- and I'm a giver.

.

Turns out, I was being played... like a big, bloated fiddle with blinders on.

.

Mrs. Undaground has had a Wii for a few weeks. Her acting performance rivals anything Meryl Streep has ever done, and that includes "Dingo stole my baby".

.

Not only did she surprise me by springing the gift on me early, she wrapped the present for my son, which was another sneaky but very smart maneuver. I didn't see it coming, even up to the final moments as the Undaling tore away the paper to reveal the highly-coveted treasure. He's not a huge advocate of sharing yet, so I had to wrestle it away from him, but I'm much bigger and stronger so he hardly slowed me down.

.

I'm not an easy person to surprise. It's documented. As a child, I made a game out of correctly predicting each gift before I opened it. As an adult, I realize this was a very annoying and insensitive thing to do to the gift-giver. But if we're being honest here, I still do it, because I can't help myself and I have an overwhelming natural urge to sometimes be an asshole (but in a good way, right?)

.

Suddenly, the huge "Gift Scorecard" I hung in the carport shows a very lopsided score. I've got one week to mount my comeback. Truth be told, despite the annual showering of gifts from me on her birthday, she's still leading based on our very first Christmas together.

.

Back in 2001, she got me a video camera. I got her a half-day at the spa. If I could fire up the Delorean and travel back in time, I would go back and get her the full-day at the spa. After all, she didn't get me half a video camera.

.

Anybody want to go bowling? Undaground Lanes are now open in my living room. (Shoe rental $4.00 with a double blast of disinfectant spray). Viva la Wii!

Tis the Season for Nog!

In lieu of any original thoughts today, I offer you a blast from the past. It is the time of year, when mixing dairy with booze is encouraged.

Back in the earliest days of the Undaground, I posted a recipe for eggnog. The recipe is definitely from the "keep it simple, stupid" handbook. Once you make these drinks part of your morning-in-front-of-the-tree routine, you'll wonder how you ever got along without them.

The Castro

Cheers!

Maybe I put my foot in my mouth

Ever since my throwaway joke about lepers in my "Plastic Jesus" post, I've been inundated by angry members of the leprosy community.

Back off, guys. No pun intended.

• Three lepers gave me the finger (I've since packed them in ice and hid them in the freezer behind the bagel bites.)
• Several other lepers are up in arms. Imagine that, most are down an arm or two.
• One leper, who I also believe is a member of a bike gang, threatened to "break his foot off in my ass". I believe him.
• To be fair, a leper with a sense of humor gave me a hand, but was unable to complete the standing ovation.

Lepers of the world, lend an ear. Here comes my heartfelt apology:

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to any of you who might be reading this blog. I'm sorry I got under your skin. I was just making a joke. I have excema, so I somewhat understand your struggle. I've seen Ben Hur three times! Who else can say that, other than Charlton Heston's Mom? It's four hours long!

Lepers, I feel you -- and after feeling you I emptied a bottle of Purel over my head. There will no more leprosy jabs in this forum.

Now, about the Amish...

Baaaaa, Humbug

Way back in September, Mrs. Undaground and I saw a huge pile of shiny new Wii's at Costco. Apparently, we should have jumped on one, considering the national fervor that has since developed. Unfortunately, our time machine is on the fritz, so we can't go back and get one (anybody know of a good Delorean mechanic?).

I'd like to officially release my wife from her Wii hunt. Yesterday, I spotted a piece of paper in our bedroom with hand-written locations and phone numbers for every Walmart/Target/Toy R Us within a 40-mile radius. I suspect that my Christmas list is stressing her out.

Babe, we can get a Wii in January. Call off the search. It's craziness.

Every year, I like to sit back and laugh at all the sheep while they hunt for the media-annointed "hot gift" item of the year. I never knew I'd be one of those sheep. Frankly, it's a little embarrassing, and wool makes my neck itch.

Remember the hysteria about the Tickle-Me-Elmo a few years back? They're all over the place now. The Wii will be back on Costco's shelves, soon. By March, we'll be bowling in our living room.

Mrs. U, I'm a very lucky man. All I need, I have.

Your love, and our beautiful son, is more than one man could hope for (and a fun, interactive gaming system). Christmas is not a competition to out-gift each other (it is). There's not a giant scorecard somewhere keeping track of annual gift efforts (I've hung one in the carport). Happiness is never out-of-stock (try eBay).

Seriously, it's a wild-goose chase. End it now. Don't waste another moment of your time chasing some mythical device that will serve as your husband's fountain of youth. To make this easier, I have a few replacement ideas for my Christmas list that will suffice:

• Hannah Montana concert tickets
• A spider monkey
• Dinner with Oprah
• Wrinkle-free khakis
• A unicorn

Plastic Jesus

My boy still thinks Santa Claus is just a scary freak who makes him cry. The first effort to do the Santa's lap thing went about as well as expected. He's not big on strangers right now, but I know it won't be long before he looks at Santa Claus the same way I look at Mick Jagger. Santa Claus will soon be the world's greatest rockstar in the eyes of the Undaling.

My wife and I have discussed this, and we'll be sure to always educate him on what Christmas means, and why it's important. Once he's comfortable enough being left in a nursery policed by nice old ladies in their Sunday best, we'll take him to church. He'll attend Sunday school in his formative years, even though I'm still scarred by my own Sunday school teacher's inability to explain dinosaurs.

The biblical education of our son has already begun, and, frankly, I'm a little uncomfortable with it. My son is the proud owner of a Little People Nativity set from Fisher Price. As you can see in the picture above, the set comes complete with multi-cultural wise men (who says they're all Italian?), various members of the livestock community, and yes, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

I tried to express my concerns to Mrs. Undaground the other day and it was as if I had gotten 666 tattooed on my forehead, sacrificed one of our cats and changed my name to Darwin. Is it sacrilege for me to be concerned about a few things? I can't help it. It's just how my mind works. While she happily watched the boy begin to explore the plastic nativity scene after we removed it from the box, my brain began doing wind sprints trying to assess the situation.

It is my belief that my questions and concerns are valid, and a result of an inner voice in me trying to preserve the sanctity of these religious figures, not the other way around.

Issue #1:

I'm the guy who usually gathers a few road toys for the boy when we head out on weekends.

"Honey, did you grab some toys?", I could see my wife saying.

"Yep. I got his horse, Elmo, the farm book, and the blessed virgin."

Am I the only one who has a problem with this? He's really into naming things right now, and having things named for him. I fear his first v-word will be virgin, and I won't be ready for that conversation for a few years.

Issue #2:

"Son, we don't eat Jesus"

At 14-months. The boy still tends to put things in his mouth. It's his way of exploring, according to some big white pediatrics book we have. After several months of indoctrination into the ways of the toddler, I'm fine with this. I get a little uneasy, though, when I watch the little plastic baby Jesus used as a teething ring, even though the manger (no crib for his bed) has a nice round shape that I'm sure is soothing to the gums.

Issue #3:

When we put our own nativity scene away in January, should we put his away, too?

Nothing good can come from this.

The holy donkey is already commiserating with the iguana and the flamingo from the Little People animal alphabet set. Do we wait til he falls asleep, pack the toys up, and put them in the attic? What will that do to his newly developed sense of object permanence? It could mess him up for life. He'll have an imaginary friend named Sal by his second birthday if we start stealing toys from him in the middle of the night.

On the other hand, do we just let him play with the nativity set year-round? Isn't the original objective for him to understand the true meaning of Christmas and appreciate why this time of year is special? Next year, when we sing Silent Night in December, he's going to be like "I know, I know, you told me all about it in August. Go sing it to Sal."

I'm aware of a Little People Noah's Ark. My nephew has one. This is much easier for me to understand, except I'd have to stray from the Bible's script for that one.

"Quick, son, put the animals in that boat and move to the highest point of the living room. An angry God is about to put a hurtin' on the rest of your toys!"

Are there others? If so, I hope they don't make a Fisher Price Little People leper. Nothing against leprosy, but I'm worried about choking hazards.

The whole thing reminds me of a song made famous by "Cool Hand Luke", most recently covered in concert by Jack Johnson:

I don't care if it rains or freezes

as long as I've got my plastic Jesus

sitting on the dashboard of my car

it comes in colors pink and pleasant

it glows in the dark cause its iridescent

I'll take it with me whenever I go far

Blogerrific Relaunch

How do you like the new look? The Undaground has a new snazzy template, and I've added a vase of tulips to ratchet up the good chi.

Someday, these two months of emptiness will live in my blog archives as "The Dark Ages of the Undaground". Maybe some Indiana Jones wannabe will unearth the lost books, if they actually exist. (Hint for archeologists: go to the TGIFridays in Sao Paulo, Brazil, walk 44.6 miles due west, then ten steps north. Dig.)

I'd like to address some widespread rumors on where I've been.

• It is not true that I've been in a Sudanese prison for naming a teddy bear Muhammed.
• It is not true that I've been in a foreign country filming next season's Survivor.
• It is not true that I'm running for president in 08 and wanted to limit my digital footprint. (my campaign was only able to raise 22 dollars, and I spent it on cheesecake).

The truth is, work was pretty crazy for a few months and, now, the situation has somewhat stabilized. I figured I needed to fully dedicate myself to the craziness and turn my back on the blog for a little bit, considering my source of income.

The boy is now fourteen months old, and is walking in such a way that would make any drunken sailor proud. His current obsession is the king of the jungle, so I'm trying to find a wholesaler who sells lion cubs. Am I spoiling him? At the very least, a pet lion would eventually serve as an effective teaching tool about first aid.

My recent intense grief over the Mountaineers loss to Pitt has subsided, and I've finally accepted last Saturday's gut-wrenching result. I shall never speak of it again on this blog (until I forget that I made that pledge, but not before).

The Christmas lights are up on the house, and, as usual, I'm reminded of the true meaning of Christmas every year when I thank God that I didn't fall off a ladder or get electrocuted.

I'll be back. (much sooner this time)

9/11

Yesterday was a somber reminder of the act of war against our country and the lives that were lost six years ago.

Last night, Mrs. U was able to enter a more happy occasion on the calendar that will give us another reason to remember the date: The Undaling took his first steps.

It will be a few weeks, most likely, before he is actually walking with confidence, but we both witnessed the magical moment and celebrated it. We were playing a game where I put my baseball cap on the coffee table and ask him to go get my hat. He would scoot along the table, retrieve the hat and bring it back to me. I'd then put it on my head and say "Thank you". He loves to hear us say "thank you". Hopefully, that bodes well for his future manners. Anyway, after repeating the game three or four times, he decided he didn't need the table to guide his steps as he lunged forward, hat in hand. The first time, Mrs. U didn't see it, so I hesitated to call it "first steps", fearing that she would be upset that she missed it or that she would think I was making it up. Luckily, he repeated the feat a few more times under closer scrutiny, and to the sound of cheers. Then, he did the same thing on the other side of the table to Mrs. Undaground. I was equally delighted, but a little concerned that my wife wouldn't give me my hat back.

Tomorrow, it's off to Chicago for us and the much-dreaded first airplane trip with the suddenly-mobile kid. As always, I'm expecting the worst, so the actual ordeal should be less traumatic than the nightmare I've created in my pessimistic head.

Stay classy, San Diego. Oh, and, go Mountaineers.

Back and Badder Than Ever

Not bad meaning good, bad meaning bad.

I'm back and I'll try to get back to my old ways of posting early and often.

I think I'm done posting my weight here, unless I hit some crazy milestone. I'm still losing about a pound a week and, in all, I'm down to 225 or 226 (depending on the scale's mood). My huge gut is gone, and now I just have a regular 36-year-old guy gut. I just survived a weekend out of town that included a huge, cheesy dinner and many indulgences and somehow still lost a pound. I guess I shouldn't make a habit out of it, but I'm happy to come out ahead because I was convinced all weekend that I would gain weight.

Mrs. U celebrated a birthday on Monday. I got her a new car stereo and some new pajamas (and a pedicure, and a babysitter for a dinner out). It was just going to be the stereo and the dinner out, but I had to scramble after I ruined the stereo surprise. You see, there was a 24-hour period a few weeks ago when we were going to get rid of our van. At one point in that 24-hours, I decided to tell her that I had been planning to get a stereo put in. I guess I wanted credit for the thoughtfulness. The next day, when we found out the van problem was only $44 to fix, we decided to keep it for another year and the only wreckage from the decision was my blown surprise. Me and my big mouth.

Announcement

The Undaground blog will return from summer blogging vacation on Tuesday, Sept 4.

Until then, please enjoy the rest of the internet, and, as always, cook your chicken thoroughly before eating.

Tuesday Tidbits

Weigh-In
Starting weight: 243.2 (July 2)
Current weight: 230.4 (July 30)
Total Weight Loss: 12.8 pounds
Weight Change this week: -1 pound

Just one pound this week. I wonder if that was a "plateau". I guess we'll see. All in all, I'm pretty happy that I survived the week, considering I was out of town for two days at a conference. I ordered room service in the hotel and there were some unexpected french fries on my plate. I have prided myself in strong willpower over the past month, but that was a little too much temptation. I ate half the fries. I stayed within my "points" for the week, but I may have slowed the weight loss a little with those delicious fries. This weekend, I'm off to Key West for a bachelor party so I'm anticipating another slow week. Blame it on the beer.

Age of Love
Did anybody watch this show? It ended last night. It was a very predictable ending, since the guy had to choose between and 48 year old and a 25 year old. (He is 30). Throughout the whole show, I've been telling Mrs. U that there was a much better way to do it. They pitted a bunch of 40-somethings against a bunch of 20-somethings. They should have made it a bunch of 40-somethings against a bunch of 19, 20 and 21 year olds. That would have made his decision much more difficult than it was.

Baby Talk
The baby is picking up a lot of language lately. He attempts many words and mimics our own words. Right now, he's really into learning and saying animal names.

Also, he had his first haircut on Sunday. He now looks more like a little boy than a baby. This is good, because I'm ready for him to be a little boy (since I'm not a big fan of babies).

Frank

Baby Frank

Welcome to the world, Frank.

Born at 2:53am. 7 lbs, 12 oz. His father says he has a big head (more evidence that he has Dad's genes). 19 inches long.

Mom and baby both doing great.

I will post a photo tomorrow morning, assuming they're able to get one to me.

Monday Weigh-In

Starting weight: 243.2 (July 2)
Current weight: 231.4 (July 30)
Total Weight Loss: 11.8 pounds
Weight Change this week: -3.4 pounds

Good week for weight loss. That's nice because I have some upcoming danger spots, like a business trip out of town and a bachelor party in Key West. I'm happy to report that my jowls are gone. I was developing some very impressive basset-hound type flaps on my face and I think they've completely disappeared. (I wasn't sure if it was my weight or aging, so this is a nice surprise).

In other news, still waiting on the birth of the Undaground nephew in New Jersey. I think yesterday was the actual due date, so he's late (which makes me believe he takes after his father).

The Undaling is obsessing over Elmo these days. Elmo's cool, and I can accept that. I'm so happy it wasn't Barney. We've done our best to shield him from that purple freak. He's still cruising furniture and I think he'll take his first steps sometime in the next month. No pressure, son. Honestly.

He's also experimenting a lot with language. He has his own words for cat, dog, monkey (Bob), and Moooooooo. Dada is still his favorite word, but Mama is his favorite person.

Live Blogging from Daddy Daycare

Just me and the boy today... at home.

Daycare lady is on vacation for 2 weeks, so I'm taking one day and Mrs. U is taking 9.
That sounds fair, right?

Oh, first things first. I weighed in at 235.0 today. I'm going to get on the scale again in a little while and see if I can't get a lower starting weight this week. I have to blame the low weight loss on a great dinner at a friends house Saturday night. It's hard to count points when the host plates the food for you.

Here we go:

7:14am: Mrs. Undaground sneaks out the door and leaves for the day.

7:30am: I heat up an Eggo for the boy's breakfast. Then, over the course of 30 minutes, he puts tiny pieces into his mouth and quickly demands more. If I gave him the whole thing, he would most certainly shove it all in his mouth at one time. Apparently, at this stage, putting food in the mouth is much more fun than chewing and swallowing.

7:52: Three loud baby farts and some grunting. This is officially the first time in the day that I panic. Please make this a slow-metabolism day, Undaling.

8:00am: OK. Changing table no good since baby is in phase where he fights diaper and clothing changes with everything he's got. I move to the living room floor. I am armed with a diaper, wipes, diaper rash cream, and a strong resolve. He is armed with underdeveloped fists of fury and a baby mean streak that would predict a future in cagefighting.

8:03am: Getting the diaper off is the easy part. What a treat! The grunting and gas was a false alarm. He's just wet. Nonetheless, he treats the changing like a warm-up sparring match and definitely gets the better of me. If that had been an actual emergency, our walls would be painted with baby poop. Note to self: I might have to change poopy diaper while he sleeps.

8:07am: Baby is happy and toddling around in walker. I blog. Now he's looking at me for direction. I must find something to entertain him until morning nap time (approx 930am). I shall fire up the tivo and try Elmo. (to be continued - time permitting_).

8:50am: Early nap. I attribute this to his hour-long opera aria this morning from 4am-5am. Just as I got him down, the lawn guys arrived and are now buzzing past his window with a weed-whacker. If he wakes up from that, it will surely upset the balance of the rest of the day and I'm in for it. Note to self: step one: invent a quieter weed-whacker, step two: tba, step three: profit. Despite my dread from the lawn guys, I must remark on the overwhelming feeling of freedom that occurs as I slowly close the door of the baby's bedroom. It's not unlike the feeling you get in college when you show up to class and the professor is nowhere to be seen. When that would happen, we'd go to a bar and enjoy fried food and beer. With my current momentary freedom, I will use the bathroom and eat a weight watchers 1 point carrot cake. My, how times have changed. (to be continued).

9:05am: If I go more than three hours between now and 430pm without updating, it means I'm in trouble. If this happens, somebody please call Supernanny, stat. Baby still napping. Weed whacker is gone. Phew.

After a "moment of personal reflection and positive thinking", I now weigh 234.8, and will accept that number as this week's starting weight. So, here's the official update:

Starting weight: 243.2 (July 2)
Current weight: 234.8 (July 23)
Total Weight Loss: 8.4 pounds
Weight Change this week: -1.4 pounds

(to be continued)

9:40am: Baby woke up at 9:30. 40-minute nap. Still no poopy diaper. I think I just changed a clean one. Nothing like throwing diaper money away. Oh well, maybe he had a "not-so fresh feeling". Somehow, I miraculously got him dressed and ready for the day, and now he's chugging a bottle. As soon as that's done, we're going to take a father and son trip to Walgreens to get some baby Ambesol for his aching gums. I'm not sure if his clothes match, but I still look at him being dressed as a win for me.
(to be continued)

10:56am: The eagle has landed. Wow! We got back from Walgreens with Orajel in hand (not ambesol, orajel). We started playing on the floor, then, I smelled it. I had a mini-panic attack and all the blood rushed from my face. After a few minutes of rocking back and forth and singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, I scooped up the soiled infant and pressed on. I decided to use the changing table and strapped him down (even though that doesn't stop him from rotating around like a rotisserie). I made every goofy sound I could and then started talking in a Swedish accent, telling him I'm the Swedish nanny, Sven. He was distracted and amused just long enough for me to get the job done without incident. Some higher power took over my hands as I was changing him, and, just for a moment, I was like a diaper-changing ninja (a Swedish diaper changing ninja). I thanked him profusely after the event and we have moved on.

FYI: If Mrs. Undaground asks, the poopy diaper experience went horribly. I pulled a hamstring and shouted every swear in the book. The baby's possibly scarred for life. I accidently kicked the dog, and I broke the knob on the dresser. I am no good at poopy diapers. I repeat... NO GOOD at poopy diapers. Carry on.

Now, as I prepare to publish this update, I think he's pooping again. (to be continued).

1:18pm: Lunch time was a success. Turkey and vegetables for the boy (in jarred form). He doesn't like to be fed from a spoon ever since he can feed himself with his hands, so this was another major victory. I had to fool him into every bite by doing the airplane sound and then making an explosion noise with my mouth each time a spoonful landed in his gullet. I don't have some twisted fascination with plane crashes; I just do what I need to do to get the boy to eat. Besides, I don't believe the little spoon-shaped planes carrying turkey and veggies were actually crashing. They were just making hard landings in his mouth.

The grunting earlier was a false alarm and he wasn't pooping. I think he is now, though, but I hope I'm wrong again and he'll save the second one for when Mom comes home. The boy sure does grunt a lot. Wonder where he gets that. (to be continued).

2:17pm: This will more than likely be my last update. The boy has been asleep for his afternoon nap for about 20 minutes. That gives me anywhere between 20 more minutes to an hour before he's up. Bottle is locked and loaded and ready to go in the fridge. I've eaten. All is well.

There were a few casualties today that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention. I am wearing my third t-shirt of the day because of various fluids and substances that I somehow like to wear. Also, it looks as if a tornado hit Babies R Us and then hovered over our living room for a little while. Other than that, I'm proud to say the child is fed, clean and well-rested and nothing happened today that will have him bitching about it in therapy when he's twenty.

Seacrest, out.

Monday Weigh-IN

Starting weight: 243.2 (July 2)
Current weight: 236.2 (July 16)
Total Weight Loss: 7 pounds
Weight Change this week: -2.8 pounds

Not bad. My spare tire is now one fit for a family sedan, rather than an oversized SUV.

Sorry the blog updates have been few and far between. The dog days of summer have been busy.

Happy Birthday to Third-Born. The big three-oh... and, about to become a Dad any day now. "Feliz Cumpleanos Hermano", which, of course, means "Happy Birthday Herman."

Good Monday Morning

Accountability
Starting Weight: 243.2
Current Weight: 239.0
Weight Loss in Past Week: 4.2 pounds

Not bad for a week that included two barbeques and a trip out of town. Plus, no real exercise to speak of besides carrying the boy around in his car seat and bending down repeatedly to pick up items he's thrown on the floor.

Tooths
Speaking of the Undaling, his top two front teeth are coming in now. I think I can feel the bottom ones as well. He seems to be doing very well with the teething. We really haven't noticed any difference in his mood. He is fascinated by these teeth, and constantly feels them with his tongue. His favorite word is now "Aaa". Sounds like the "a" in "cat" or "hat". To him, "Aaa" seems to mean all sorts of things, including:

"Hey, look at me."
"Hey, look at that."
"Hey, give me another piece of food."
"Good morning."
"Good night."
"This is a good television program."
"I seem to have soiled my diaper."

And much, much more.

Viva Kobayashi!

Did you watch the Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest yesterday? If not, I feel for you. It was one of the finest dramatic moments in sports that I've ever witnessed. This will be a match that I'll tell my grandkids about. For my grandkids, it will probably be the first sign that Grandpa's losing it, but that's besides the point.

Joey Chestnut defeated Kobayashi, by eating 66 hot dogs and buns in just 12 minutes. (that's one hot dog every 10.9 seconds.) For a moment, it looked like it was going to be a photo finish, until Kobayashi had what they call a "reversal" in the last 10 seconds of competition. That's a fancy sports term for puking. After watching it, I almost had a reversal of my own, but was able to keep it together.

The Undaground blog would like to honor this great champion, Kobayashi. He won the contest the previous 6 years. He is the Lance Armstrong/Tiger Woods/Babe Ruth of competitive eating, and he went out like a true champion, besting his own career record by more than 9 hot dogs. On this day, Joey Chestnut was just better.

Just for kicks, I added up the Weight Watchers points for 66 Nathan's hot dogs and buns. In 12 minutes, Joey Chestnut ate 726 points worth of food. Under my current plan, that's the equivalent of what I'm allowed to eat in 19 days. It would take Mrs. Undaground 36 days to eat that much. Incredible.

In a related note, I ate 8 Tostitos Baked scoops with salsa last night in under 5 minutes. Weight Watchers points: one.

I fully expect Kobayashi to train even harder this year, and return next year to try to reclaim his mustard yellow belt. I'm not sure anybody will ever hit 66 again, but fans of the sport once thought 40 hot dogs was impossible.

D-day

243.2.

That's my starting weight.

It's easily the most I've ever weighed in my life. It's about fifteen pounds more than my weight on my wedding day. It's a few pounds more than the height of my "pregnancy weight", when I went on a crash diet and lost 15 pounds (only to gain it back while celebrating the joy of fatherhood).

My wife is doing Weight Watchers for a month. She wants to lose 8 or 9 pounds to get back to pre-pregnancy Mrs. Undaground. I've decided to join her. I had two choices: go on a diet, or gain another 100 pounds to qualify for gastric bypass surgery. Even though gaining 100 pounds would be fun, it would probably have a negative effect on other aspects of my life (like my range as a softball shortstop and having to buy a new "fat guy" wardrobe.)

The Biggest Loser resumes on NBC in the fall. Last year I watched as a 400 pound guy lost weight week after week. When there were about 4 episodes left, he passed me, then continued to lose weight until he weighed 75 pounds less than me. I don't want to go through that viewing experience again.

So, every Monday morning, I will step on the scale and report my weight here, for accountability.

Stay tuned.

Goal weight? I don't really have one, but in a perfect world I'd hover around 200-205. I'd be able to buy pants at Old Navy again if I lost 20, so that's my immediate goal. Until then, I might have to visit Big and Tall man store.

They say it's a lifestyle change. I'm fine during the weekdays. It's the weekends and the evenings where I need to change. No more TGIFridays fried macaroni and cheese, unless I'm willing to use up an entire day's worth of "points" on them. As long as my wife is making whole wheat tortillas wrapped around rabbit food for dinner, I should lose some weight.

When I arrived at work this morning, you guessed it, there were donuts. I looked right at a little glazed bastard, took a deep breath, and told him, "go f*** yourself". That's willpower, baby. If I don't get called upstairs to human resources later, I'll consider it a small victory.

If you'd like to jump onboard the Undaground weight loss challenge, post your weight in the comments section and join us. Go ahead, I dare you (I'm talking to you, third-born).

A Word of Caution

I learned something last week, and I'd like to pass the nugget of wisdom along to you.

When a heavy thunderstorm is bearing down on your home, unplug your DSL or cable modem from the wall if you're in a position to do so.

My wife called me at work last Tuesday to tell me that the power was out and the dog had run away. By the time I got home, the lights were back on and the dog had returned muddy and soaked. Later, we found out that those were only minor and temporary annoyances. The bigger, longer-lasting problem was that our modem, wireless router and computer were all fried. Normally, I'm a big fan of anything fried, but not this time. Whatever happened came through the phone line and destroyed everything in its path. (I'll be sure to stay away from the phone during a storm from now on as well.)

I've since replaced the modem, thanks to the good folks at AT&T and UPS. We have internet service again, but only on our laptop (and not wireless). I guess next I'll have to buy a new router, then begin to assess the damage on our desktop computer. What a pain in the ass.

I would also implore those who have large amounts of personal items like photos, videos and music on their computer, to back it all up on an external hard drive or on CD. I would hate to lose all those years of memories because of a stupid electrical storm. Thankfully, no matter how damaged our computer is, we have an unharmed, external hard drive that houses all of our photos and my collection of 80's power ballads. (Phew, don't know where I'd be without "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger.)

There. That's the end of the useful information. Now back to the mindless drivel that will do nothing to enhance your life.