End of an era

Today was my last deadline day at the Hills Gazette. I've just seen my last edition of a Community News publication hung and put to bed.
It's the end of a more than two-year long affair with this company and the end of a career in weekly newspapers that started at the turn of the millennium.
I'd like to be sad. I'm not, but I'd like to be. I'm a little too ready to go on this next big adventure.
Don't get me wrong, I love weekly papers. I actually also love CNG, of a fashion. I've certainly made amazing friends here who will continue to be my friends. I will miss being a part of the inner-circle, the CNG family and all the camaraderie that comes with it. And I in no way devalue for a second the brilliant work of weekly journalists everywhere in breaking news and keeping the community informed on the issues that matter most.
No, I'm just ready for a change and a challenge. I'm excited about it. I cannot wait for Monday when I can turn-up to my first big day at The West, all be-suited, and learn the ropes.
A good friend likened it to deserting the trenches to go have a cigar with the officers. I like to think of it as representing my battalion on the front line.
I'm not one of those who will go AWOL from Community and deny my service. I shall wear it like a badge of honour and fly the banner as the most recent CNG soldier to trudge that well-worn path to what the bosses call "Herdsman"... as if it was a branch of CNG.