Scheduling Time Off

Well, I did it yesterday.

I scheduled vacation time.

This will likely turn out to be my lightest travel year in a decade - in terms of flight segments, miles on my car, and miles on rental cars. That's what happens when gas prices go nuts, you spend many Benjamins on new kitchen cabinets, and being on the road is eliminated from your job responsibilities.

I suppose it fits my new green lifestyle. My carbon footprint is far less this year.

So without vacation planned, I didn't have time off planned either. Earlier in the year, I took a couple days here and there, but nothing longer than a long weekend...

...which is exactly what I'm planning now.

The amount of weekdays that I have driven home from work and seen tons of people on the beach in Southie made me wonder if they were there all day.

I became envious.

So, while the weather is still pleasant, I worked five days into four long weekends between now and mid-September, and have pledged to do something fun, something relatively local, and something for myself during each of those days.

Beach, movies, hiking, photos, museums - the options are endless. And it's strange, those are things that I would think I could find time doing on the weekends. But no - just doesn't seem to happen as often as I would like.

So long weekends a plenty are in my future.

Interviewed by Fox 25 About Unwanted Phone Books

I was just interviewed on camera by Alison Bologna, a reporter for Fox 25, about the unwanted Yellow Pages plaguing our neighborhoods here in Boston. The piece will air on tonight's 10 o'clock news.

Somehow she tracked down my cell phone # (reporters are a cunning bunch) and left me a voice mail at some point this afternoon. By the time I called her back, she and her cameraman were already in Southie.

We arranged to meet on my street, and I answered a few standard questions that she had prepared ("how many did you receive," "do you think it should be an opt-in process to receive phone books," "do you actually use a phone book," etc). We took a walk around the block to get shots of some phone books that were still sitting outside some residences.

I'm excited that this story has picked up momentum, having been first covered by the local blogs and crossing over to the The Boston Globe and now Fox 25. The more I think about it, this is an important environmental issue that seems to have few detractors besides the directories themselves.

Many people champion human rights.

Others support health care reform, or fight against government corruption.

Somehow, I picked phone books.

Assuming they use my sound bites on the 10 o'clock news tonight, this will be, technically, my second time on Fox TV this year, the first being a wide shot of the crowd at Super Bowl XLII (sure...blink and you miss me.....but I'm there).

Proposal to Ban the Distribution of Unsolicited Phone Books

Who knows if my little rant about unwanted phone books precipitated this, but according to boston.com, Boston City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina has proposed legislation "to ban the distribution of unsolicited commercial deliveries weighing more than a pound."

Bravo!

Mr. LaMattina, if you're reading this blog (this posting, or this one, for example), or have seen the many generous links from Universal Hub or articles the The Boston Globe, thanks for listening. If this is a separate but analogous idea, it's nice to know that I'm not alone in my frustration with the matter.

I hope this makes it through city council and the mayor's office.

If it does, this could truly gain steam as other communities around Massachusetts or even around the country begin to take notice.

So, if you're reading, I'm behind you 100%. Certainly, I would be willing to speak out against directories in a formal, public forum.

I'm not much of an activist, but when something is just wrong, I feel the need to speak up.

_________
Update:

It seems that Cambridge has also jumped onto this bandwagon and has a similar proposal in the works. This is great.

My Quote in the Boston Globe Story About Phone Books

It looks like the Boston Globe story about the distribution of local Phone Books is running today. This morning, I read the article online, but I'm assuming it's also in the print version.

Not a bad article. Thanks to staff writer Tania deLuzuriaga for bringing this issue to a larger audience. (Although she name-dropped me, it would have been nice to have received a link to Platinum Elite as well...but that's OK)

The fact that this $17 billion industry is actually growing amazes me. But the real truth behind the well-spun numbers almost feels like what happened to Bear Stearns this week - a business that spiraled upward until the bottom fell out when people realized there was no true value behind the growth.

I challenge the majority of yellow page directory advertisers to track the source of their leads.

Tracking leads can be more accurate than ever these days. I do it myself at work. Divide their advertising expenses with directories by the amount of leads they receive, and they will be shocked by their acquisition costs.

And I challenge directories to change their distribution systems, and see how many citizens "opt in" to receiving their books if given the choice - watch their circulation numbers evaporate.

Any unwanted stuff - even free things - is wasteful. Especially today, when resources are scarcer, prices are higher, and time is more valuable.

The distribution of information is entirely different today than when newspapers and phone directories first began. People are searching for info online.

And apparently, they aren't searching for it on the websites of phone directories either.

Alexa.com measures Internet traffic, and ranks websites based on their popularity.

For example, the ten most popular sites in the U.S., according to Alexa this morning, are:

1. Google
2. Yahoo!
3. MySpace
4. YouTube
5. Facebook
6. Windows Live
7. eBay
8. Wikipedia
9. MSN
10. Craigslist.org

Boston.com, an excellent website, is # 1,592, with over 25,000 inbound links.

Yellowbook.com, whose parent company assaulted me and my neighbors with their directories, is #12,638, with just 566 inbound links

People aren't even turning to them for online searches. Looks like the search engines are killing them.

So, Yellow Book, thanks for bringing this issue to the forefront - if not for good, simply for a moment.

Finally...No New Phone Books Today

I am THRILLED to report that no phone directories were delivered to my home today.

One commenter from an earlier related post (mermaidshoes) had a great observation....

"It's just hard to think of any other company that's 'allowed' to leave its product on your doorstep for you to deal with! Why is this an acceptable business model?"

Good question.

Catalogs and junk mail aside, I can't think of any.

Pizza joints don't leave pizzas...they leave menus.

Technically, isn't the reckless distribution of unwanted phone books considered illegal dumping or littering or something?

Any attorneys read this blog? Let's get a class action lawsuit going....!

Attacked Again! - Verizon Yellow Pages

You're kidding.

Seriously?

Seriously!

At first, I thought this was a joke. I figured someone read my prior post and was playing a joke on me.

Or, I thought our Yellow Books might have reproduced.

Then I looked more closely.

Today's new unwelcome books were from Verizon.

Seriously?

Seriously!

Just days after Yellow Book polluted my neighborhood with their archaic directories, Verizon joined the anti-environmental party today.

This is awful. What a waste.

Are consumers seriously going to pick which directory they prefer?

Are those who actually brought their Yellow Books into their homes on Friday now going to retrieve those books and replace them with today's Verizon directories?

Are they going to add a second option to their personal reference libraries?

Please.

It's basically the same product - yet another anachronistic distribution of local phone numbers.

I will give Verizon credit for good timing. Curbside recycling goes out on Tuesday nights.

Yellow Book - Shame on You

When I came home on Friday, I discovered that my street had been attacked by Yellow Book. This must happen a few times each year (depending on how many competing phone directories distribute books to Southie).

Each time I'm greeted by piles of bound paper at my doorstep, I think the same exact thing - what a waste. The energy to distribute and manufacture these, the raw materials used to print these, and our time to dispose of them properly.

It's almost as if I feel like some random person has thrown a 12-pack of empty cans on my doorstep. I didn't want them, but the responsible thing to do is to put them in the recycling bin on Tuesday nights.

I brought the four Yellow Books into our downstairs vestibule, where they still sit days later. Never mind we only have three units in this building. They must have figured that one of us wanted a second copy, just in case we misplaced the first one.

During our walks, Rosie and I have noticed a number of still-wrapped books sitting outside of my neighbors' front doors.

Why can't we order these books and have them shipped IF we wanted them? Why does Yellow Book automatically assume we appreciate their annual tome, because clearly, many of us do not. (I mean, having worked in the media for so long, I get why they do this - circulation numbers are inflated by number of books distributed, and ad rates reflect these figures.)

It kills me to see this waste - primarily from an environmental perspective , but now as a media advertiser, it shows how they are selling unfair numbers to their clients.

It's 2008. Anything in your book, I can get online for free. I can opt out of emails. I can opt out of junk mail and pre-approved credit card offers. But I can't stop the Yellow Books from coming.

Tomorrow, if they are still in the entryway, I will take that as a sign to put them in this week's recycling.

Please stop killing trees. Or show me your carbon offsets, and maybe I'll consider forgiving you.