Knowing the company I work for, the n3rdling thought I would be interested in this article. Yes, the Yellow Pages business is a cash cow. One of the reasons Bell Atlantic wanted to buy out GTE was that our Yellow Pages business was a major revenue generator; our last year prior to the "merger," GTE Directories accounted for 20% of all the revenue for all of GTE. I haven't heard any numbers in the past two years regarding VZ Directories' contribution to the overall revenue structure, but I'm sure it's not as high a percentage. In addition to the economic downturn, we've got the former Bell Atlantic books dragging us down...

Our workgroup maintains a central server for others in the company to access important information re: our projects, software to install, etc. As part of all of this, our sysadmin recently created a report that shows all of the current "advertisements" going out to our users, reminding them they need to upgrade Application X or what have you. Our great and wise sysadmin then puts a link to this report directly on the front page of our server, easy to find, easy to click on, easy to download. So then my boss decides that this isn't good enough, and that the report has to be emailed to our opposite numbers on the eastern seaboard. Now the opposite numbers have the exact same access to the aforementioned web page as we do. They can just as easily go fetch this report as any of us can. But now I have to email them a copy of it every week! <sigh> Anyone want to hire a Mac-head with some basic web design skills? As long as you're in Dallas and you've got killer health insurance, I'm flexible on other stuff...

1. Verizon Wireless rants, raves, and whines about how the FCC regulation for wireless local number portability--letting you keep your same phone number, even when you change providers--is going to cost billions and billions of dollars. Despite the fact that the FCC regulation has been in place for years and wireless providers have chosen to ignore it, since the FCC has failed to enforce it.
2. Take the FCC to court over the issue!
3. After the court rules against you, give in and announce that you're going to lead the industry and everyone should copy you, because by Zeus, you're doing what's best for the customer. (But only after being forced to...)

As to the truths contained in Hillary's ghost-written tome, consider this: On April 29, 1997, Hillary told CNN's Larry King that she would never run for public office. Two years later...

So my lovely bride and I have this relatively new tradition (3 years old now) of going for a 4-day weekend the week of our anniversary. This year, our trip took us to San Diego. We took in Seaworld, saw Shamu. My favorite had to be the dolphin show (with a couple of pilot whales). What can I say, I'm partial to dolphins. Kel really enjoyed the sea lion show, which was an outstanding comedy. The next day was spent at the world-famous San Diego Zoo. While we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, there were many times when we wondered, what's the big deal? There are other zoos with better exhibits/enclosures, and far better layouts (Audubon Zoo in New Orleans springs to mind). SDZ does deserve its reputation, however, because of its fantastic research programs; it outspends and outperforms any other zoo in the country; pretty much the world. Our last full day was spent driving up the 101, aka SH 21, alongside the coastline. Let me say, this was a profound disappointment. While lunch in La Jolla (say La Hoya) was nice, overlooking Scripps Park and the Cove, we only saw the ocean three or four other times, and only briefly as we drove past. Much different than the drive south from San Francisco to Carmel, where you're hugging the ocean--albeit a few dozen feet up a cliff--nearly every mile. And California road signage sucks. Sucks. I'm talking enormous, Oreck/Kirby/Hoover suckage. We ended up at the south gate of Camp Pendleton, turned back through the Oceanside Marina, then popped over to I-5 back to downtown San Diego. We roomed at Prava, a three year-old hotel and spa, converted from a time-share property. (They still maintain a relationship with time-share companies, which is how we stayed there.) Located in the heart of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, we had plenty of great places to eat within walking distance. Prava makes the Retrophisch Recommends(tm) list of places to stay.

You certainly can't blame the Israelis for decimating the Palestinian female ranks:

Each year, dozens and probably hundreds of brutal "honor killings" of Palestinian women and girls--most of whom are virtually blameless--go unreported, according to an anthropologist's recent study.

The story is scheduled for an issue of The World & I magazine.

There is a story from the NY Times talking about a growing segment of the American population doing exactly that. Of note:

"People use the unemployment rate as some kind of gauge of the health of the economy," said Robert H. Topel, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. But because of the number of people now outside of the labor force, he said, "the unemployment rate does not give you the same kind of information it did in the 1970's or 1960's."

(A little disappointed in the Times--you do not put an apostrophe-s after a year to state a decade; just put the s after the year, as in, 1970s.) The real gem, though, has to be this:

"I've been trying to find a conventional job for two years," Ms. Leftridge said. "Finally, I'm thinking about doing a home-based business. I don't see it as giving up. I see it as expanding my search. I ought to be able to make some money this way, and start building back my savings, in a situation where I'm not hostage to any company's budget, to any budget."

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking if I get laid off. Better to be the hostage-taker than the hostage. Or something like that.

So I just found out that the attorney in the office next to my wife's is worth, combined with his mother, nearly US $4 billion. The Schaefflers are in a 5-way tie for the 83rd spot on Forbes' World's Richest People 2003 list. We're both stumped as to why he would waste time pretending to work at a law firm in Dallas. Me? I'd be planted on a beach on Kaua'i.

Now I know why I like "I Drove All Night" by Celine Dion so much--it's a Roy Orbison song. It was driving me batty; I knew this wasn't an original song by Celine, that I had heard it before. I remembered liking it from those past listening sessions. I knew it was a male voice kicking around in my head. Then it just suddenly clicked. I'm digging out my Orbison cassettes and CDs when I get home...

Damn you, Daimler-Chrysler. Thanks to your commercials, I cannot get Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night" out of my head. Now the MP3 is in rotation in iTunes. She has a set of pipes on her, I'll say that much. (from her latest album)

A barber shop. That's what I want. Not a salon. Not another Supercuts, Great Clips, Sports Clips, or any other generic salon-style chain that have all but killed the Great American Barber Shop. I'm tired of salons. I'm tired of Great Clips, Sports Clips, Supercuts, et al. Salons are for the ladies. Men don't see stylists; we see barbers. I want real barber chairs, hot shaving foam, straight razors. The operation overseen by a cast of crusty old SOBs who know how to talk sports, politics, hunting, fishing, power tools, cars; you know, guy stuff. Call the chamber of commerce, suggests my spouse. Ask them if they know of any in the town. Well, what do you know? :) Just opened this past October, the Back N Time Antique Barber Shop is what I've been looking for. The staff isn't old, or crusty, and I've only been there once, so I can't speak much as to if they are SOBs. But we talked March Madness and hockey. Complimentary sodas. Complimentary snacks & candy. Antique furniture, especially of the barber-shop variety. They have an old cash register that would take at least two guys to carry out the door, more likely three--if it wasn't bolted to an antique cabinet. An old shoeshine stand stands guard by the front door, which is flanked by barber poles. Oh, right--the haircut. Aces. I got a great haircut in the kind of atmosphere I grew up with. I will definitely be seeing Steve, Fred, Ace, and Jimmie Z again.

Jerry Jerk, er, Jones, has released the NFL's all-time leading rusher from the Dallas Cowboys. Players take note: this is how Jerry rewards your (well-paid) service to his organization. After 13 years, 3 Super Bowl wins, and the rushing title, Emmitt is now out in the cold. The only reason Jones kept Smith around for the 2002 season was so Number 22 would break the league rushing record in a Cowboys uniform; again, glorification for Jones' ego. In case you haven't guessed, I'm not a Cowboys fan, and have not been since we moved to Dallas. I remain, however, an Emmitt Smith fan, and I hope he gets what he wants: a shot at another Super Bowl as a team's number-one back. Everyone in Dallas will be in tears that Jerry let Emmitt go, but they'll spin it as simply a financial matter, that Smith is costing the team too much money. Jerry has long hinted that he doesn't think Emmitt has what it takes any more to be a number-one running back. Gee, Jerry, maybe if Emmitt had an offensive line that could block elderly grandmothers, much less Pro Bowl linebackers, that would've helped the past three seasons. And a quarterback that could throw accurately and consistently wouldn't hurt either.

Burger King has joined McDonald's on my places of never to eat again.