A New Issue And A New Blog

Well, it’s done. I finished the new issue of the Gypsy Journal yesterday, and by the time you read this it will be sitting on our printer’s web server back in Allegan, Michigan, waiting for them to do their thing with it. This is issue 73 of our little RV travel newspaper, and we’re pretty proud of that accomplishment. After all these years, we still love what we’re doing, and can’t see ourselves ever stopping, or hanging up the keys. There is an old saying that goes “Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” I’ve been fortunate enough to do just that, and it’s darned good thing too, because I really don’t like working at all. 🙂

The rain we had all day Sunday tapered off early yesterday morning, except for the occasional sprinkle, but it was still chilly, and we had the electric space heater going all evening. Okay, we’re done with the paper, and it’s time to play. Let’s see some blue sky!

While I was working on the paper, Miss Terry was busy proofing on the fly. She proofreads everything three times, when I write the original story, when I lay out the pages of the paper, and again when I finish the entire thing. Even then, every so often a typo will slip through. It just happens, and as frustrating as it is for us, we know that it’s just a fact of life in the publishing business. We’re comforted when we occasionally see typos in much bigger and better known publications than our little rag. Not because we’re gloating, but we just like to know we’re in such illustrious company.

A typo from the weekly newspaper I published in Arizona actually made the Headlines segment of the Jay Leno show years ago. In Arizona, the Highway Patrol is known as the Department of Public Safety (DPS), and I had a good working relationship with most of the local law enforcement agencies, including the DPS. One year, over the Independence Day holiday, the DPS was bringing in extra officers to our resort town, to crack down on traffic violations in the wake of some serious accidents. The local DPS chief asked me if I could print a story about their zero tolerance policy for speeding, no seatbelt use, DUI, etc. I agreed, and got a young DPS officer friend of mine to pose for a picture, standing next to his patrol car, pointing his radar gun down the highway.

It was a great front page picture, but it was the large, bold, color headline across the top of the page that really got people’s attention – “Department of Pubic Safety Out In Force This Weekend.”  Since pubic is a word, our spell checking program didn’t catch it, the proof reader didn’t notice it, the layout person missed it, and the printers failed to notice as the new issue came off the press. Then, everybody in town saw it!  We got calls, we got letters, we got a visit from the local uptight Bible thumper lady, who saw sin and debauchery in every activity in town, including trick or treating at Halloween, softball games in the city park, or the high school prom. As for that handsome young DPS officer in the photo? He got several proposals, some of marriage, and some just indecent.

Miss Terry took some time away from her proofing duties yesterday to put together a delicious clam chowder for dinner. It was better than anything you’ll find in the local seafood restaurants, in my opinion.

And I’ve got good news for those of you who have been asking when Terry was going to make a new post to her Miss Terry’s Kitchen blog. She’s a perfectionist, and she has spent a lot of time resolving some formatting issues in her blog that she was not happy with. I think she finally has those problems whipped, and yesterday she posted the recipe for her wonderful Anchovy Garlic Aioli. If you would have ever told me I’d eat anything with anchovies in it, I’d have called you a liar, but this dish proved me wrong. Check it out, it’s delicious!  

Thought For The Day – If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

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