2009 Phone Books - 25% more!

It's that time of year again.

Phone books.

My 401k might have dropped by 34% last year, but my phone directory portfolio is up by 25%!

Good thing they delivered FIVE Yellow Pages this year. Verizon must be aware that we considered adding TWO stories to our Southie triple decker. Quintuple deckers are all the rage these days.

I'm assuming that the same person dropped all of these off yesterday. I just don't get the logic. Look at the building - there's three units here. So why not leave FIVE White pages and FIVE Yellow pages, right? It doesn't make sense.

My next-door neighbors probably received an identical delivery. They too have three units. That would, then, be TEN books of each color for a maximum of SIX units. Immediately, four of them would be unnecessary. That's almost this entire pile - guaranteed to be unneeded between our two buildings.

Who said everyone was cutting back in '09? The phone directory folks forge ahead, littering the landscape with more, more, and more.

These will, naturally, remain unloved in the front alcove until recycling day next week.

Discarded Southie Street Markers

Usually come January or February, the random litter on the streets of Southie tends to pile up due to the lack of street cleaning until April 1st. This year, we are a bit early to the party.


Pizza boxes and lottery tickets are one thing....

But vacuum cleaners are another....

As are utility pails....

And playsets for children....

And camping chairs....


















And the effective mail bin / cardboard box combo...





I realize another storm is set to hit this week, but my fellow Southie neighbors, can we please bring our space markers back inside of our basements in between storms?

Welcome to Southie. Have a Phone Book.

I didn't think phone books would disappear entirely, even with my crusade earlier this year, interview in the Boston Globe, appearance on Fox 25 news, and invitation to City Hall.

Case in point - I saw this on my neighbor's front stoop yesterday.

And the day before.

And the day before that.

And over the weekend.

Yes, more unwanted phone books.

One of the condos next door sold recently, so OF COURSE the phone companies ASSUMED that the new owners wanted their directories.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but my sense is that these books, like most phone directories, were unsolicited and unwanted, as it's rare that people order items and leave them on their front steps for days.

Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. After all, there is an invoice shrink wrapped into the package.

Sigh. The battle continues.

My gasoline consumption

One of the joys of listening to NPR each morning is how they delivery the stark economic news every morning. It's not a "fair and biased" Fox News approach, nor an overly sensational in-your-face presentation of the major networks.

Each morning, they tell me that gas has reached a new record high, foreclosures are increasing, unemployment is up, and the dollar has lost value once again. Then, they follow their disappointing news with gentle acoustic music, lulling me into a sense of complacency.

But finally last night, NPR caused me to think - how much am I actually spending on gasoline for my very un-eco-friendly-yet-wholly-paid-off Jeep?

In 2007, I spent $1,749.68 at the pump. Yes, down to the penny, I am aware of my gas expenditure.

So far in 2008, with gas much more expensive, I spent $502.12 through May 14th, putting me on pace for $1,338.99 (not factoring in how gas for the remainder of the year will cost more than gas for the first part of the year). Even if gas increases another 20%, I can project my year-end bill to be $1,606.78.

Now, those projections aren't perfect, because they also assume consistent consumption throughout the year. Nonetheless, I'm not hoarding a secret stash of gas in my closet.

I'm just driving less. Fewer leisure trips outside of the city. Less business travel. Fewer tooling around to unnecessary places.

I feel better. Just a bit, but better.

While I realize that everything is connected, and that higher gas prices cause higher airline prices, higher delivery fees, higher costs of food, lower consumer confidence, etc, I am comforted to realize that my entire paycheck is not going into the hands of the Hess on Old Colony Ave.

Even if gas doubled from last year, factoring out all other cost increases and assuming my level of consumption last year, that would cost me an additional $1,749.68 per month, or about $145 extra per month.

I was beginning to wonder if it's time for a more efficient car if the payment was going to offset the fuel efficiency.

At this point, it doesn't appear that I need to trade in the Jeep. 64,000 miles, a bunch of fresh repairs to keep it rolling. And it's only the third car I have owned in my 17+ years of driving.

$145 extra per month would suck, but it's not utterly devastating to me. It is still unacceptable, and sets a dangerous precedent should this rate of increase endure for years to come, but it's not game-ending.

I'm much more fortunate than those who have longer commutes or spend their workdays in their vehicles.