Wii Fit - Do You Have One

One of the things I purchased for my beloved bride this Christmas was a Wii Fit. We bought the Wii a few months ago and it has been an interesting thing to play with - good graphics and games - but it was under utilized and really not something we were getting a lot of value from. Good friends from HTG3 - Dave and Lisa Seibert - shared the fun they were having with their Fit and even brought it to show us at the last HTG3 meeting in Burbank in November. I figured as much as they were convinced, it was worth a shot. Of course some of my best (?) friends tried to spin this gift as an indication that my bride was overweight or out of shape. Not the intent at all, and she knows I am not stupid enough to send that kind of message, so it was well recieved.

The buying process was quite interesting. Those little critters are hard to find. I looked all over the Internet to try and find one online, and had no luck around Thanksgiving. Mid December I decided to give it another shot and this time found some but they were marked up almost double the list price. Now that is marketing. Getting an old tightwad to give up enough cash to pay way over list for a product is quite a feat. But they did, and I am really glad I did.

I am not sure how much value there is to the exercise part of the Fit, but the fun part is definitely a good thing and even old people can enjoy it. It gives us an outlet for the competitive nature we all experience and is the kind of enjoyment that will last year after year because I am convinced I will never conquer the activities it comes with. We have had a lot of fun as a family and with friends trying out the various activities. And it is somewhat adictive so it keeps one coming back to try it over and over again. The most frustrating part is the reporting on weight control or lack there of, and its sometimes harsh words about my lack of exercise or work ethic toward exercising. But I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to mechanical women beating up on me because my GPS does the same thing when I don't do what she thinks either. Good thing I still remain completely sensitive when my bride gives me her play by play advice. I only tune out the electronic voices......

So my advice is - check this Wii Fit thing out. It really is fun, I think has some actual exercise value which all of us in IT can use a lot more of, and most of all, can help reduce stress at the end of a long day. I am going to try and figure out how to set things up so I can be ski jumping while I am on a con call or maybe doing a tight rope walk while negoitating a deal. Thankfully my balance on the Wii does not directly correlate to my ability to walk although I do get asked that question a lot by my Wii trainer - if I fall down often when walking.

One other short note - my grandson loves to race cows with me on that little box. He can kick my butt as we knock over trees and fences but it is a fun thing to do together. Fishing is a lot less messy on the Wii too......