The one-year Anniversary of the closing of The Clarion newspaper went by pretty much unremarked last month. I guess I’ve been too busy getting on with my new life to dwell on what used to be.
Newspapering is kind of like farming, which I finally gave up in 1993, also after 17 years of struggle. I haven’t missed that yet, although if grain prices had been anywhere near what they are today I’d probably never have quit!
It’s unlikely that newspapering will see the same sort of comeback in the future. It looks like that train has left the station for good and I have no regrets that I’m no longer on it.
I’m enjoying the blogging world and my new business, Genesee Graphics, but I’ve also been branching out in some unexpected directions. This morning I completed two firsts: I made my first purchase on eBay, and I bought my first recreational vehicle! Isn’t that what retired people do?
Well actually, I already owned the vehicle, but I bought a camper that bolts on to my Dodge Ram pick-up truck. Through the wonder of the Internet, I located a reasonably-priced 1995 Fleetwood Archer, which appears to be in decent shape -at least as far as I can tell from the pictures!
I haven’t actually seen the camper, since it is located on Cape Cod, but it will be delivered by the owner next week. It just so happened that he was planning to pass through Western New York on his way to Wisconsin, and agreed to drop off the camper for a nominal fee!
I have to say that the bidding process was somewhat confusing and terribly nerve-wracking. The price hardly moved for days and then shot up about 20 per cent in a flurry of bids in the last half hour. At first it appeared that I had lost the bid, but then I was contacted by the owner with a “second chance offer.”
He claimed that the two higher bidders were located too far off his itinerary to deliver easily. I have no way of knowing if that is true, but at least I got the camper at my price! The price of gas may limit the distance of my camping expeditions, but even so, I figure the camper will pay for itself over time.
When you factor in the price of air fare, rental cars and motels -all of which will no longer be needed, even $4 gas will look like a bargain. Not to mention the ability to stay in some pretty wild locations, which is something that you really can’t put a price on!
Of course, I know next to nothing about RV rules, regulations and etiquette. I hope someone out there in the RV Generation will give me a clue what to do next!
