The past two weeks till July 31

It is said no one can predict what happens tomorrow. But I think I can - for one thing only.
I'll update my blog today, or I'll lose some 33 dollars tomorrow. :-)
Right after returning from Florida, I was asked to write a short story. It's a routine story on Minnesota's export decline in the first quarter. I did it routinely.
One small tip for my training plan may be that I learned from the editor that I need to add some background information to the story. I know that, but sometimes I forget to do it, which is unforgivable.
So I added a small paragraph about Minnesota exporters' performance last year to provide a context and comparison for the readers.
After the story got published, I got a message from my China Daily editor that I should fly to Washington D.C. to cover the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue. I asked for a leave from Katie and my host newspaper editor and flew to the D.C. It's a two-day event, but I've been there earlier to attend some pre-dialogue seminars as a preparation for the coverage of the formal meeting.
During the event, I published several pieces both for the newpaper and the website (some under the name of Bao Daozu, which literally means "reporting team" - we had three reporters, including me, in D.C this time). The real challenge is to rush to write stories within a short time. And it once again reminded me of the need to get knowledge of necessary background information before you start to write any story.