Heartbreaking News

When I first heard about this story it was sad enough. A family got caught in the terrible winter weather that had struck Oregon during the Thanksgiving holiday. Rescuers found the mother and her two young daughters alive, but the father, who had set out on foot to find help was missing. The family's last name was Kim and the father's first name was James -- fairly common names.

But last night, as I was watching the news, the sad report came telling how rescuers had found the body of James Kim. His photo flashed on the screen and that's when I recognized him -- James was one of the television personalities on the defunct and much-missed TechTV network. He was one of several Asian-American on-air personalities on that network. James continued his tech career at cnet.com and I would see his video reviews regularly on that web site.

As a father and a tech lover, my sincere condolences go out to his family.

I can stop my whining...

Well, I can complain no more. After 18 years as a semi-anonymous member, I am now the 2007 President (elect) of Lightning Velo, my beloved cycling club. To-date I have only held the semi-official position of newsletter editor and over the last few years I have published precious few newsletters. I guess at this point I will have little excuse for not having content for the newsletter.

I do believe that our club is at a crossroads. Some people say, "leave well enough alone," but I say, "unless you're moving forward, you're moving backwards." Our membership had been growing to ever-increasing, record levels. However, this year we had a fall off of members and difficulty in getting rider turnouts for our regular and special rides. Additionally, over the past two years, we have had to cancel some of our traditional non-cycling events.

So, in my ever optimistic style, I will try to help our club re-gain its heading and keep it healthy for the next few years.