Yeah, I'm Still Alive...

'Tis the season for serious warpages in the fabric of space-time.

Each day appears to consist of the normal contingent of 24 consecutive hours...but I am convinced that several of those hours are getting deleted.

Either that, or I'm just senile and have no idea how to manage my schedule. Regardless, the bottom line is that the last several weeks have been a blur. I have no idea where the time has gone, and I have very little to show for it. I also suspect that my grand plans for significant holiday accomplishments will result in little more than a few loads of laundry and a larger number glaring at me from the LCD panel on the bathroom scale.

Sigh.

The good news is that my son is in town, and we'll be able to spend some time together before he heads back to Hippie Country after the first of the year. He has agreed to help me with a significant home cleanup project that I hope to document within these pages after its completion. (Hint: I'm hoping the result will give me better access to my home fitness equipment...along with more motivation to actually use it.) My focus is still on the Triathlon Nationals next August, and I need to dial up my commitment to my training.

I'm heading into 2014 with some mixed results from the end of this year. Happily, my ankle has greatly improved, and it no longer seems to be hampering my running. I expect to finish up my physical therapy before New Years, and am feeling that I should no longer be tormented by fallout from The Water World Incident of 1991. With that particular flexibility challenge out of the way, my only barrier to high performance should be my historical rack of disciprine...which I hope to overcome with the support of my more-focused athletic friends.

Of course, it would be easier if people didn't bring those huge trays of cookies in to work. I love the holidays, and I certainly appreciate its traditional accessories of fudge and peppermint. But I'd have a quicker pathway toward becoming a lean, mean, triathlon machine if nobody was waving chocolate in front of my face throughout the day.

Oh well.

In the meantime, I do have a backlog of photos, observations, and stories to share, along with the standard amount of ranting and whining. But since I still seem to be in a time warp today, I will simply leave you with a matching quiz challenge, and will return with those other elements within the next few days.

It'll be easy enough to identify the elements in column one. Your challenge is to match them to the appropriate item in column two. They do not necessarily have a direct correlation; you may have to apply a bit of Kevin Bacon reasoning to find the solution. But I am certain you can solve it if you stick with it. Good luck, and have a great day!

Grinch	Potsie Weber
Gorn	Al Bundy
Grok	Frank-N-Furter
Gozer	Emperor of Rome in 35AD
Gort	Frosted Flakes
Grunka Lunka	Tuque