A fascinating time, even living without an automobile

Of all the years of my adult life, maybe the most interesting -- because it was so different -- was the last two months of 1986 and the first two of 1987.

I was living somewhere I had never lived before, enjoying a brand-new job at the very best place I ever worked, living in a new apartment -- and doing it all without owning a car or even having access to one.

I never worked in this building.

It all came out of the blue. I had made contact with a former girlfriend who was working in Minnesota in September and we wound up spending a week together in Denver in mid October. I was pretty fed up with my employer at the time. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat had gone out of business once already while I was there and was heading for another fall.

I had come to Denver for fun. I had brought my resume and some clips along, but I really wasn't planning to apply for any jobs. I didn't bring anything to wear for an interview. But I was looking at an issue of Editor and Publisher and I noticed that the Greeley Tribune was looking for a sports editor. I phoned up there and talked to Ron Stewart, the paper's editor, and asked if the job was still open.

He said they were fairly far into the process, but he would be glad to talk to me. I told him I would come up the next day, but that I would have to interview in blue jeans. My friend Nancy Anderson drove me to Greeley, about an hour from Denver, and I met the very best boss I would ever have in the newspaper business.

Downtown Greeley.

The Tribune was an excellent local paper, less than 25,000 circulation, and it would be the second smallest paper for which I ever worked. I didn't get the job till I had been back in St. Louis for nearly a week. I gave two weeks notice, but within a week, the Globe went out of business. I left for Colorado two days later.

My plan all along was to take my stuff in a U-Haul and tow my eight-year-old Subaru behind it. But the engine blew on my car and I left it behind. I drove to Greeley, found an apartment, unloaded the truck and then turned in the vehicle. For the first time in my adult life, I didn't have transportation.

For four months, I took the bus to and from work. What would be about a seven-minute commute once I bought a car was a 30-minute bus ride. I was able to take the bus to the mall, to the movies and to the grocery and occasionally one of my colleagues would give me a ride.

I was sports editor, in charge of the section and supervising three full-time and three part-time employees, so I didn't need to go to a lot of assignments. I rode along with one of my reporters to Denver Broncos games and wrote columns, and I completely fell in love with Colorado.

I even had my own little private payday treat. We got paid every other Thursday. I deposited my check, got some cash and went to one of the downtown bar/restaurants. I got a table by myself, ordered their wonderful nachos -- best I had before or since -- and sat there by myself eating, reading and drinking two Pina Coladas. Then I went home.

I bought a new car in March 2007 and a lot of things changed. But I loved living in Colorado -- in Greeley -- so much. I stayed two years, and when I left it was only because I had set a goal for myself years ago. I wanted to live in California and cover pro sports. I did, but I wound up working for the worst paper -- and eventually the worst bosses -- in my entire career.

I would have loved to have had the best of both worlds, and winding up in California gave me my wonderful family. But oh, it sure would have been nice to have lived in Colorado and raised our kids there.

We really can't have it all.

If we could, we probably wouldn't appreciate it.