Will we ever learn?

Well, USA Today, published another article on Jan. 5, 2007, that shows how little we understand the competitive advantage held by Toyota. GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner notes:

"I like being No. 1, and I think our people take pride in it," he told a small group of reporters at GM's headquarters. "It's not something we're going to sit back and let somebody else [Toyota] pass us by."

If Toyota does pass GM, Wagoner said he would not be pleased.

"It won't be a happy day for me, but I've lost basketball games before in my life. You get ready and you learn and you go back the next day, and that's what we'll do," he said. "We're going to fight to keep the position, and if one day we lose it, we'll fight to get it back."

Meanwhile, the Toyota spokesperson notes:

Toyota isn't concerned about becoming No. 1 globally, said spokesman Irv Miller. The company is working to keep its quality high, focus on customers and roll out its new Tundra full-sized pickup, due next week, he said.

"A perceived sales challenge for global leadership is not something we're even thinking about," Miller said.

Once again, Toyota clearly tells everyone who cares to listen that they have a strategic, rather than a tactical focus. Don't worry about the game when you can win the season. How much further will GM profits fall, just so that they can sell more cars than Toyota in 2007.

Toyota employees are proud of the fact that they continuously improve the quality or their cars and speed in which they produce them.

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.

Speed at the Beach (Photoblog Post #3)

The longest running bicycle race in southern California is the Manhattan Beach Gran Prix. Warm sunshine and cool ocean breezes make this one of the best attended races (racers and spectators) in the United States.

This year the racers behaved themselves better as the grinding of metal, carbon fiber, and bodies on asphalt was kept to a minimum. No one was able to break away in any of the races so the lycra-clad gladiators (and gladiatresses?) jockeyed for position in the last 300 meters between turn 4 and the finish line.

The big race of the day, the professional men, came down to who could lay down the most wattage after 1-1/2 hours at 30 MPH. Toyota United ruled the day.