Hey Gord, interesting post. But just to clarify one point, you weren't wrong, it's just that it could be read incorrectly. (due to our accents
)
The statement "Distance away from the Equator" is in relation to latitude. So you are heavier at the poles than you are at the equator. Standing on a mountain top at the equator makes you lighter because you are effectively spinning faster and are farther away from the cntre of the Earth. Centrifugal force is counteracting the force of gravity, Hence why the Earth is bulged at the Equator and the gravitational pull is strongest as you get closer to the Earths centre.
Also interesting side fact, in the very early years of the Earth, when it was still very hot and spinning much faster than today, the area of the
Pacific ocean bulged outward so far, that eventually the "blob" broke free and was spun into space. That blob now orbits the earth as our moon. This fact is one reason why the Moon only ever show's one side to us. The "dark side" of the moon isn't actually dark. It is called, because we on Earth never get to see it.