Beachcombing

Baseball legend Yogi Berra is attributed to the phrase “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” The earliest evidence of this expression dates to 1913, but Berra used it in the 1980s to tell visitors that either road will lead to his house. “While seemingly simple, it encapsulates the idea of embracing life’s opportunities and decisions, rather than being paralyzed by indecision,” according to an online reference.

This July will mark the 25th year that we’ve published the Beachcomber. Previously, 25 years were devoted to performing public relations and advertising tasks for a variety of clients, many in the healthcare industry, and we’ve stayed on that parallel career path to this day.

The first upcoming fork in the road is deciding whether we should sell the Beachcomber to one of the few interested parties. That would be appealing if I could continue in some management capacity while delegating the newspaper’s production tasks to an editor. Every business owner should have a succession plan in place, so my main objective would be to prepare that editor to become the next Beachcomber publisher. It would free more time for me to take some mini vacations, watch rebellions and enjoy the grandkids without fretting over deadlines.

The pandemic has demonstrated that we really do not need to pay for commercial office space. Thanks to a great team with computing and communications systems, the Beachcomber can be produced here, there or anywhere. So that fork in the road is an easy one to take, since we seldom use the office in comparison with pre-pandemic days. Either way, we are now getting rid of office stuff that’s no longer needed, like storage cabinets, book shelves, a light table and similar office items used in the prior century.

One large, four-drawer lateral file has been sold and shrunk down to a two-terabyte portable drive the size of a cell phone. Call me if you’re looking for furnishings in good condition: (562) 985-0780.

Decisions, decisions. What will it be? We still have a handful of clients in need of marketing communications services and that too can be done – here, there or anywhere. Rest assured that whatever path I may take, my goal will be to keep the Beachcomber around for another 25 years. It takes a team to produce this publication and I am confident that my current associates are up to the challenge.

An entertainer was recently quoted as saying “My father used to tell me, the only true sign of success in life is being able to do for a living that which makes you happy.” I will not fully retire from anything that’s been so much fun for more than 50 years. I think that, professionally, the “happy” mission has been accomplished.

Donna shared the following humorous items:

When I moved to Long Beach, I needed to find a dentist. Looking in the yellow pages, I noted Jacob Abercromby, DDS. Very unusual name and I actually had a boy by that name in my high school class. “Small world,” I thought. So, I made an appointment, but when the dentist came into the room I knew he was not the boy from my class ... he was bald and very old. However, I decided to ask anyway and inquired, “Did you happen to go to Amherst Central High School in Buffalo, New York?”

He replied, “Yes I did,” I took a sad breath and replied, “Well, I guess you were in my high school class.” To which he replied, “What did you teach?”

I now am so proud that everyone tells me I don’t look my age at all. Well, the Bible says “Pride goeth before a fall.” I was visiting in Palm Springs where it was beastly hot. I went into the Thrifty Drug Store to get some ice cream and said to the young clerk “Wow, going to be 100 today.” “Happy Birthday,” she responded.

publisher@beachcomber.news