Summer vacation…

Remember when we wrote essays on what we did for summer vacation? This summer it was cycling, home projects, and staying close to San Diego with family. Took the summer off from any blogging after Climb to Kaiser. Tour de France took priority. Now looking forward to seeing Beijing on television. It’s been 5 years since my last trip there. Didn’t wear a mask when running the roughly 3 miles from the China World Hotel to Tiananmen Square and back along Dongchang’an Street. The experience was amazing.

Future of newspapers…

I watch the newspaper industry closely (like Pulitzers). Partly because I worked in the industry for nearly a decade, partly because it was once the delivery model for all things news. This quote from a piece on newspaper owners and their challenges can be applied to many business sectors where the Web has disrupted distribution, price models and the way people now access information and entertainment. Remember music CDs? Travel agents? The list is growing.   

“Publishing has been through some deep recessions before and has cut costs to maneuver through, but this time staffs have already been cut to the bone. The San Jose Mercury News has cut its staff by more than half since 2000. At many papers, foreign bureaus are gone, movie critics have dropped away and statehouse reporters are a thing of a past. Newspapers continue to gain on the Web in part because they have the best talent, the biggest news hole and the most comprehensive coverage. But that value, which gave many papers their near-monopoly, could be wiped out by a sustained downturn.”

Going from “near-monopoly” to alive with low double-digit growth doesn’t sound bad if you’re still in that business. Trust, relevance, and value (helping you navigate the mountain of news) must drive the future of newspapers. Tell your story. Figure out a better way to deliver news early and often to mobile devices, cellphones and desktops. Partner with a handset maker that sees an opening. iPod did it with music. Kindle is doing it with books. Once 4G or WiMAX is real, things only get wilder.

 

 

Six-word biography for Monday…

Listen. Learn. Love what you do.

Heart beats just right, legs strong…

Rode the trainer in the garage this morning. Everything works just fine. Pulse climbed to normal training rates. Sweated out a week of nightmare — from the pain medications to the drugs that put me to sleep during procedures and surgery.

During the hour-long spin I realized how lucky I am to have:

• Worn a helmet
• Only crushed my teeth and not my tongue
• Been found quickly by alert people
• Not been run over by a vehicle after hitting I hit the deck
• My right ear
• Only minor soreness in my right shoulder
• No broken any limbs
• My life and ability to be with my family

During the spin, I tried to think of possible ways someone could have seen something. It’s a high-speed rural area with large property lots and homes set back from the noisy road. Doubt anyone sitting on the couch would be able to add much. 

Then I realized: Security cameras on Daniel’s Market West. One camera points to store’s parking lot and part of Highway 67. I think there is more of them mounted on the store’s roof. Could the telephone call about a Ford Excursion be verified by still photos or live video feed? Or even the accident?  

Today I hope to meet with the corporate folks for the grocery store in town and ask about angles and frequency of fotage the cameras take. My blood stains are some 100 yards shy of the entrance to the store’s parking lot. I’ve ordered the official accident report from the California Highway Patrol so I can learn the precise time of 911 call.

Here’s map with my best estimation of impact point. Click to enlarge.