A brand new beginning

After my sister passed away in April my focus began to change.

The night before she went into the hospital I stayed with Donna at her apartment. She was in a lot of pain, but we had  opportunity to talk. She knew her prognosis was not good. Two things she said have stayed with me. The first was: I should have had a colonoscopy. (Mine is scheduled for a few days from now). The second was: I should have retired last year.

Ahhh regrets. We all have them. The coulda, shoulda, woulda game. It gets us nowhere.

So King and I are moving forward and making changes. Some may be good. Some may be bad. But it seems to be better than doing nothing and maintaining the status quo.

Our decision to make changes started long before Donna was diagnosed with cancer. Sometime this winter King and I decided enough was enough and I left my job.

I had been working as a page designer at a newspaper hub. (For the uninformed, a newspaper hub is a place where many newspapers are designed and laid out. For example, a newspaper in Marion, Indiana is actually put together in St. Joseph, Michigan. It saves money and makes the bottom line look good. Personally, I think it is a bad idea. But I should not say much because for three years it paid our extra bills. And it seems to be the way things are going in the newspaper industry. Today very few newspapers are actually put together by the reporters and editors who covered the meetings, attended the sporting events or took the photos of the house fire).

Although newspaper hubs are Satan's spawn, it was not a bad job. It was simply a job. I took it because after working years as a reporter and editor we needed to move to the west side of the state to be near my parents. It was very much an entry level position. I knew going in I would miss reporting. But it was a job. In the newspaper industry. The people I worked with, for the most part, were a fun group. I truly had no complaints.

But I am not a copy editor. I am a writer. The two are not necessarily related. I don't see type-os ... at least not until they are in print. I am not technologically savvy. I am not a page designer. I don't have an eye for layout. I don't know how to make fancy illustrations. I can barely Photoshop a photo. I am a writer. Period.The reality is just because one can write does not mean one can design newspapers or edit other people's copy, or turn 40 word headlines into succinct five word headlines. I was a warm body in a chair with an extensive newspaper background. That is why I was hired. Experience. Just not the right kind. The young, recent graduates I worked with could out-design me on my best day.

I am also grandmother. Because of work I missed out on countless soccer games, family picnics, choir concerts, dance recitals, t-ball games and Christmas gathering. Newspapers don't take holidays. Readers don't care if someone has to work Thanksgiving, Mother's Day and Easter. They simply want their newspapers delivered to their doorstep. (And as an old reporter, I can attest even THAT is changing).

Through no fault of the company or the people I worked with, I was miserable. It was simply a job because we thought we needed the extra income. In reality, we have been broke most of our marriage. We make do. We adjust. So when King suggested I retire in February rather than the following December I jumped at the opportunity. It was time to go. I was already counting down the days. The journalism I embraced in 1974 as a stary-eyed college Freshman is long gone. I am old(er) and change is difficult. Besides, King was tired of my whining and bitchiness.

If a part-time job were to fall into my lap, I might take it. Maybe.

So it is on to a new chapter in our lives. And this blog is taking a new turn.

In early June King and I purchased an old... very old... travel trailer. It needs a tremendous amount of work. But when one pays only slightly north of $500 for a trailer, one should expect a lot renovations.  And oh my goodness is there a lot of work to be done -- and a slightly large learning curve to go with it. With the help of Google and You Tube we will figure it out. So far we are taking the selective learning route. If there is something that seems to be inordinately difficult we pretend it does not need to be done. I am certain there will be do-overs. And I am certain any savvy renovators out there who are reading this are rolling their eyes.

For us, there is nothing like diving in without testing the water. No regrets.

Our 1978 Shasta travel trailer. Built the year our second oldest son was born. It will need new
tires. The frame is good. We will either remove the awning or replace it.
I'm thinking I'd rather have a separate screen house than an awning.

Our dining room before. You can see some of the water damage on the ceiling.

Our living room before.

Our dining room during demolition. There is quite a bit of wood that needs to be replaced.

We removed the peel and stick tiles to see how much
damage there was to the floor. A lot.
Notice the cardboard in the upper left corner? The previous owner
said he had replaced the back panel. We neglected to ask what type of material
he used. Ahhh. Live and learn.

This is the back of the trailer where the living room was. That is a water tank that was under
the bench. After we pull it out to replace the floor we will see if it can be salvaged
or if we need to replace it. As it is, the only thing keeping that
tank from falling through the floor is somebody's imagination.
Obviously more wood framing needs to be replaced.