Recovery

Our new swim team Facebook page will be up soon, and I intend to post lots of swimming photos, workouts, and general thoughts about the life aquatic once that becomes an option. Of course, my lack of aptitude for social media (and social anything, really) could have a negative impact on those plans, but I'm hoping that my good friends will continue to encourage me to join the 21st Century by learning the necessary skills.

For now, though, here are a couple of pictures from last month's Fun Meet at Foothills.



Since I only look into mirrors from the front of my face (and in the last week, from a slight angle as I fruitlessly try to attach bandages to my recently-mutilated ear), I forget that I really don't have any hair at all on the top of my head.

This is not a new condition. I first recognized the situation about 8 years ago when I was being videotaped while presenting an online computer training class. When the Director looked through the monitor and saw the way the lights reflected off the top of my head, he had the makeup guy "mute" my scalp to minimize the glare. I was expecting "mute" to mean that they would dim the lights, or perhaps sprinkle my head with special Esteé Lauder anti-sheen powder. But no. The makeup guy reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out -- I kid you not -- a tin of black shoe polish. He covered my head with shoe polish (but didn't buff it), and despite it feeling really weird, it ended up looking great on camera. A portable cure for broadcast baldness.

Anyway, the point is that since I feel so young and virile and he-manly all the time, it's always a shock to see photographic evidence for why the rest of the world sees me as a ancient doddering geezer. Sigh.

As for why I'm lifting my head so high and have my feet so far apart, well, I'll just have to blame that on poor coaching. Anyway, the point is that these swim meets are amazingly fun, and you really ought to participate in the next one. It'll probably be in January or February, and I will let you know all about it once the date is set.

(Of course, that will probably be on the Facebook page. IF I get my social media act together.)



Anyway, I'm sure you're saying "Terry, that meet was, you know, like, ancient history...like totally back in the time of steamboats and pterodactyls n' junk. What's been happening in your life lately?" And my friends, I'm glad you asked.

The answer is "a lot".

You probably guessed that there were proposals involved. When I have proposals due, my cognitive processes become even mushier than usual—so to save brain cells, I tend to drop certain activities. Blogging, taking out the recycling, spending time color-coordinating shirts with pants and belts -- all these activities (and more) find themselves being neglected.

The good news is that I'm pretty excited about some of the projects we're working on here. I can't share details online, but I'd say the chances are good that 5 years from now, people who want efficient and attractive lighting products are going to be choosing technologies developed at ITN. Very cool.

I've also videotaped another veteran interview, which always makes me feel so humble and grateful to the heroes who risked it all in the trenches in wartime. This fellow (Brad Beeler) had some great stories about not only his combat experiences in WWII, but his participation in a group that played music for the soldiers in Europe. As with so many of the guys we've talked to, he is not only talented, brave, and a real contributor...but he's also a modest and friendly gentleman of the highest caliber. I'm so very very proud to be able to help preserve the memories of these great Americans. (See http://www.americanpatriotshistory.org if you'd like to learn how you can help.)

The bad news is that I've had another patch of skin cancer removed. Well, OK -- I guess having it removed is good...it's getting the stupid stuff at all that stinks. And having to be out of the water for a couple of weeks is immensely annoying. Yes, my skin is now in a healthier condition, but the rest of my body (and soul) have suffered. I have a big bandage on the right side of my head, and the swimmers are getting tired of having me yelling at them from the deck.

Oh, and that reminds me: We got a groovy new digital pace clock at the Ridge! I'll say more about this in a future blog.

For now, it's time for another geek quiz.

Your challenge for today is to decipher the relationship between the left and right panels on each row.

And no, the answer is NOT "One is creepy and one is sorta normal." This may be true, but it's not the relationship I'm looking for.

As always, you can click on the puzzle to bring it up in its own window, and then use CTRL-mousewheel to zoom in if necessary.

And because I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to give you a hint. If you prefer the raw challenge, and don't want to know anything that might help you, then stop reading now. There's nothing below other than the clue I'm about to give. OK? Cool.

The relationships between the right and left panels are actually exactly the same on each row. So really, there's just one answer for the entire puzzle. The extra credit challenge is to name the individuals and identify the source of their relationship.

Want another hint? Two of the rows are actually identical.

OK, with that, I'll sign off and think about how tough it is to put a bandage on an ear where there's ointment all over and you wear trifocals and don't have good mirror-reverse-image hand-eye coordination to begin with. It ain't easy -- so though you're free to laugh at me, you should do it with an appropriate amount of sympathy, too.

Have a great day!