One doesn’t have to work in the newspaper business long before it becomes obvious some parts of the job aren’t much fun. Fortunately, there are plenty of compensatory “good parts,” and one of those good parts is producing the Herald’s annual Progress edition.

Earlier this week, we finished the research and pre-production work on Progress 2013 so the edition can be printed and delivered with the Sunday, Feb. 24 edition of the Herald.

Progress is our annual chronicle of how Austin and other area communities moved forward during the previous 12 months. We start planning for the edition in the fall, and fine-tune content through the last three months of the year to ensure that it focuses on the best of what makes the area special.

Some of the stories we cover were obvious choices: The Mayo hospital expansion; the expansion at St. Mark’s; a new school building; Vision 2020’s progress. We think the coverage of those and other big projects will provide our readers with a fresh look and some new information.

Other stories may not be so familiar, although they too are important to the region’s progress: Pastor Simon Dup’s work to build a school in South Sudan; the work Austin Packers football players did in the weight room to break out of their winless slump; Lyle schools’ embrace of technology such as iPads to improve students’ learning experiences; and many more.

Throughout the edition, sharp photographs add the value of a thousand words to article after article.

And also of great importance: The contribution of the businesses and industries who made Progress 2013 possible through their advertising support. More businesses than ever before decided Progress was a great place to market their products and services.

Herald subscribers will get Progress 2013 delivered with their Sunday, Feb. 24 newspaper. It will also be available in newsstand copies that day.

Not fun in the sun, if you ask me

As I write, a gigantic cruise ship is being towed through the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile, Ala., where thousands of passengers and crew will escape a desperate situation. The Carnival Triumph, with 4,200 aboard, had been drifting without power for days after a fire knocked out its engines.

Every time I read about trouble aboard a cruise ship it reinforces my decision — reached more than a dozen years ago — that my first cruise was also my last. Not that I had a bad time. The food was good, as advertised. The weather was sunny. I just didn’t like being helplessly dependent on others. This fear began when we had our first lifeboat drill and I was, apparently, the only passenger whose cabin didn’t contain enough lifejackets. Yes, the crew quickly rounded one up for me. But still.

Ever since then, I’ve looked at cruises about the same as airline travel: It’s something one does if absolutely necessary, but not for fun. And since cruises are seldom, if ever, necessary, I’ve never been on one again.

Best of luck to the Triumph and its passengers who will most likely, by the time you read this, have made port.

Not much different

The Minnesota Vikings unveiled a redesigned on Thursday. Other than slightly shorter braids, it looks like the old logo. People get paid to think about that stuff? How ‘bout we lower ticket prices and keep the logo unchanged?