Hal Stern's thoughts on the economy, software, services, technology, and snowmen. Hal Stern: The Morning Snowman

Almost two years ago, I drew parallels between Kathyrn Bertine's book on coming to grips with her perception by others, and how Sun was dealing with those screaming for it stop innovating. I exchanged a few emails with Bertine, found out that (at the time) she was a skating coach at the rink in Colorado that bore our Sun logo (at the time), and ended up in her address book.

This weekend I received an email tipping me off about Bertine's new ESPN.com column that will chronicle her attempts to compete in the Beijing Olympics, representing the United States in the pentathalon. It's a hilarious read, capturing the emphasis on goofy that made All The Sundays enjoyable.

Of course, with me, there are deeper meanings in sports literature, all applied in some mildly perpendicular way to work. Message from the missive: some things are hard work. Everyone has an opinion, but they aren't the ones dragging the weight belt through the lap pool. But Bertine has a story about what Jonathan calls "line of sight" -- making sure you can see from the starting line to the finish line, and know what you need to do. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.