A guilty pleasure of mine is the television program Survivor.

This season I think I may have missed one episode — and it only snuck by me because of some wacky scheduling on CBS because of March Madness College Basketball.

Last night was the finale where they crowned the winner — Parvati outlasted Amanda to take the $1 million prize.

For those that aren’t familiar with the show, when the game gets down to the final two contestants, their peers (and former rival contestants) are permitted to directly ask them a question (or in some cases, just vent).

Based on the contestant’s answers, these eliminated players get to determine who wins the game. Usually it’s just a fluff/spite fest full of uncomfortable moments. If anything, the final episode of each season is usually the worst (not to mention the least climactic). It’s just not great television.

But on last night’s episode, one of the contestants, Eliza, really ripped into both of them by saying things that I think a lot of people feel, but rarely express.

For the record, Eliza was never a popular player (this was her second run on the show). She’s one of those people whose face can be read in an instant — she doesn’t seem to have the ability to be subtle, it’s all out there all the time. Not exactly a great character trait.

So when she gets her chance to speak to the remaining two players, she vocalizes her feelings. She calls Parvati a “mean person”. A person who very openly insulted her, put her down, talked behind her back, and was, in essence, downright rude for really no reason.

Essentially, this was the unpopular girl telling the popular girl, “You know what? You might think you’re so awesome, but you’re a real jerk. You hurt me, and I want you to know it.”

I know people like that. There was a guy in middle school, Rick, who would just walk right up to me and say out loud, “Why don’t you have any friends?” It was bizarre. I didn’t have a real answer, other than a befuddled, “What?” But he kept doing it. Day after day.

I was embarrassed.

Why was I his target? I mean, how do you answer that? I had friends. Did I have to justify it to him? Why should I have to justify anything to this prick?

At the time, I just couldn’t figure it out… He sat at a lunch table of sports losers. You know, the guys that could recite the 1927 NY Yankees batting order or tell you how much Charles Barkley weighed on any given day. Real important stuff.

At the same time, these were also the guys who always wore sweatpants in gym class and never actually participated in any of the “sports” we were forced to play. To them, talking about sports was what mattered, not actually participating in them.

They threw like girls. The kicked with their toes. They couldn’t sink a foul shot.

In the grand hierarchy of social order in our school, I was easily 200 seats ahead of this guy. What was his problem?

Plain and simple, he was a prime example of a mean person. He carried it into high school even — at which point we were segregated and herded like cattle based on our academic, athletic, and artistic talents so thankfully we never really crossed paths again.

Back to Survivor — for the second remaining contestant, Amanda, Eliza calls her really disingenuous. You know, the type that smiles at you, moves in for a hug, and says something like “Oh, it’s so great to see you!” with a slightly ‘off’ tone of voice.

There’s being polite, and then there’s going over the top, and that’s called insincere. Amanda was the type that would turn on the tears to get a reaction. She’d bat her eyelashes and frown. On a genuine person, both would be very meaningful expressions, but on her, it was so openly fabricated. And Eliza called her on it.

Relating, again, to my own experiences, I can’t stand when kids say “thank you” like robots. You know what, if you don’t mean it, don’t bother saying it. I’ll be a lot less offended — and I don’t think I’m alone.

Even better, most cashiers these days… I know that they have a “script” to stick to, but please, don’t bother saying “Have a nice day” if you’re going to say it like you really couldn’t give a crap how the remainder of my day goes. Just don’t bother.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I find it more polite to say nothing rather than saying something I don’t actually feel. A slight smile will do. No, not a smirk. A smile. Thanks. Oh yeah, no eye rolling either…

In the end, it was Eliza’s vote that determined the winner of this season. I’m sure the show was edited heavily to make it look like Eliza debated longer and harder than she actually did on whom to award with the million dollar prize — the mean girl or the phony girl — but in the end, she chose Parvati (the mean one) to be the winner.

In the same situation, I think I would have done the same. Rick, from my middle school days, certainly wasn’t fake. He was just a mean-spirited loser. Sad that someone like that could be rewarded for it. Society… ugh.

That’s the part that sucks about many of these reality elimination shows… When you get right down to the end, you’re left with two people who don’t really deserve it. Erik and Cirie should have been the final two, at least I like to think so, but between them, there wasn’t enough meanness or fakeness to get it done… Hey, even Eliza would have been more deserving…

Tonight I stopped by the bank on the way home from work — you know, the drive up ATM…

Well the car in front of me was one of those beat-up used sub-compacts like in the catchy FREE CREDIT REPORT .COM commercials.

Seriously, it was even the same color.

I didn’t pay them too much attention until they peeled out after completeing their transaction… Real winners, let me tell you.

I mean, the squealing tires immediately solidified their “coolness” in my eyes.

So I pull up to the ATM and their receipt is still in the machine. Now usually when this sort of thing happens at a gas pump or something, I just grab it, crumple it, and tuck it into my pocket.

But due to their obnoxious behaviour, I took at look at the receipt.

Wow.

Can you imagine? I had to look at it twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. Yep, 95 cents.

I mean, I’ve run my checking account down pretty low, but never this low.

I also thought it was kinda funny how the little advertisement up top is for “Debt Consolidation”. My receipt advertisements are never for stuff like that — usually it’s BoA’s “Keep the Change” program.

I wonder what the balance threshold is to get the “Debt Consolidation” header… Under $1 perhaps?

Anyway, little things like this make me feel even better about my current financial standing.

Last night while watching, um, American Gladiators on NBC, I saw a promo for a fluff-piece on the Today show about a blue man that would have aired this morning.

I’m at work when the Today show is on, but I looked the story up and it stems from a December 19th story out of Oregon:

It’s not makeup or paint that makes Paul Karason’s skin a bluish color.

The 57-year-old started making the transition from fair skin and freckles to what he looks like today 14 years ago.

“The change was so gradual that I didn’t perceive it and for people around me, likewise,” Karason said. “It was just so gradual that no one really noticed. It wasn’t until a friend that I hadn’t seen in several months came by my parents’ place to see me and he asked me ‘what did you do?’”

What Karason did was use a substance called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. It goes into water with an electrical current and then you drink it. Colloidal silver is billed as something that will cure just about everything that ails you and Karason swears by it.

Karason does not believe drinking the potion is what caused his discoloration. He believes it happened because he rubbed it on his face to treat a skin problem. A medical condition called Argyria has been linked to such discoloration since the days when silver solutions were used as antibiotics.

Whatever the cause, Karason said it is not easy living life as a blue man.

Interesting stuff. I’d actually heard of this condition before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Makes you wonder if he grew the beard to look like Papa Smurf?

Yep, another “end of the the year” post.

In the last few months of 2007, we actively started trying to cut down on our utility expeneses, but for

comparison’s sake for 2008, last year’s totals are to the right.

With the cost of everything seemingly going up each year, it will be interesting to see if we are able to cut these costs any…

It’s a bit of an eye opener to see that the cable bill adds up to so much — eclipsing the phone (which is more important) and the internet (which we use a lot more than the tv). I’m not about to drop cable though — the History Channel comes in mighty handy when the networks are all showing infomercials. And my wife is addicted to the Food Network…

Is it worth almost $700? Well, I’m not so sure now…

One value I know will drop in 2008 is the cell phone expenses. I dropped Verizon Wireless in favor of a pre-paid plan with Virgin Mobile in the Fall and that could lower my yearly costs to under $100.

Last week, my wife and I were discussing the aspects of falling into a large sum of money while watching one of the ridiculous new prime time game shows that seem to taking over network television. This particular one was on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel — the name escapes me. Yes, the show really was that forgettable.

Anyway, the topic was really, “How much would it take to make us happy and change our lives for the better?”

Would something like $10k do it? What would we do if, tomorrow, we received a check for $10k?

We’d throw it 100% at our credit card debt. Sadly, though, $10k isn’t enough to wipe it out — and realistically, it wouldn’t change our life one way or the other. Not one bit.

How about $20k?

Now we’re talking… Right now, $20k would wipe out all of the credit card debt and take a large chunk out of our auto loan. Would that be life altering?

Honestly?

Yes! The added savings that would result from not having those debts would accelerate our payments on the mortgage and our contributions to savings greatly.

A quick $20k boost would, no question, alter our bottom line for the rest of our lives — I’d even go so far as to say it would guarantee us hitting the million dollar mark at a relatively young age.

Sadly, in today’s society, you can’t walk from one of these game shows on television with a mere $20k without being boo’ed. And to me, it’s scary that many people don’t realize that a sum as small as $20k can be life altering. (I know, I know, this coming from the guy who just said that $10k is essentially nothing.)

For us, right around the $20k mark (after taxes) is “our” number. For someone else, it just might be the $10k I consider useless. Everyone is different, obviously.

With that in mind, it’s frightening to see some of folks on these game shows with admittedly modest incomes having ten times that amount coming to them, guaranteed, but they feel the need to risk going home with nothing just for the chance of making it 20 times larger.

If I were fortunate enough to be on one of these game shows, I’d likely push the stop button, or pull the magic lever, or hang up on the banker once I hit “my” number… but that’s probably why I’m not likely to be invited to be on one of the gameshows… I wouldn’t make for entertaining television.

“Jimmy, I’m going to take the money and run.”

“But Brainy, you’ve only answered one question?!”

Just something to think about — what’s your magic number?