Under Estimating the Power of Estimation

So I'm not as fat as I thought I was!
Must have been the four pounds of demin I call jeans I was wearing when I lit up the ole digital scale.
Das right! I ain't fat and you(the digital scale) was all wrong!
Wop your jaws!
Well, I'm still fat, kinda sorta.
Instead of having to lose 17.5 Double Whoppers with cheese, I only have to lose 8 Double Whoppers with cheese.
What a relief! I only have to ride around Oahu like two and half times.
Starting tomorrow.
Wait.
It's raining:

How the hell am I supposed to go on my crash weight loss program when it's raining?
Actually, I shouldn't mention the word crash and weight loss in the same sentence less Dehydration Induced Low Blood Pressure Syndrom rear it's debilitating head.
Yes, DILBPS loiters just around the corner, that corner over there, waiting for me to show the slightest sign of weakness, then: POW!
Just like in the old Batman series, a large colorful graphic will appear before my eyes and down I'll go like a sack of, well, something.
You know what I mean:

Wow. It took me like a half hour to come up with that graphic. Next time I'll remember not to make it like 3.5 GAGILLION feet long. Apparently, I don't have enough memory so save such an enormous document.
What was I talking about?
Oh yeah, fat estimation and all that.
So anyways, what I was getting to is that I actually have less weight to lose than I thought.
What's bad is that now, I'll probably slack off and not work as hard.
You know, sort of like over estimating the cost of a repair and it coming in under what you thought it would be so you are actually kind of relieved but you still gotta pay.
The reverse sort of happened to me and The Kid(student I assist) the other day when he got a vocabulary test back.
The Kid was so stoked, he was flexing his arms, making all big head cause he only got sixteen answers wrong on his paper. I was a bit puzzled and was going to say something sarcastic to him(my maple syrup like sarcasm, often used to belittle him is a source of chagrin, but I offer him sarcasm or severity, and he always opts for the former) but I figured, let him enjoy his small success. I mean sometimes you have to encourage them right?
Well, he brought up his test score again during last period, boasting about how he got an eighty four.
You know, when they throw a hanging curve ball, you gotta swing at it.
Eighty four? I asked him. Let me see, you got like sixteen answers wrong, and how many questions were there again?
Now, I don't enjoy taking candy away from babies, you know like that Big Country song, I don't like taking the smile away from peoples faces, but this was just too good to pass up.
You could almost see the wheels turning inside of his head:

Suddenly he remembered that there were only ninety questions and that meant he actually got a seventy four.
The expression on The Kid's face was priceless:


We'll be taking a math class next semester.
Poor Kid, he had me laughing about that one all the way home.
Well, The Kid's misinformed calculations had him giddy all day. Unfortunately, his over estimation cost him not only some arithmatic skills credibility points, but he will have to work harder to keep his average up.
Moi, in overestimating my overage in fatness, was pleasantly surprised when I jumped on the evil scale this afternoon.
Well, more than pleasantly. Surprised I mean.
That information made me giddy all the way home.
Yes, under estimating the power of estimation.
Happens all the time.