I don't like being unlisted, blacklisted or d-listed

There'll be shoutin' from the mountains on out to sea, No two ways about it, people have to be free; Ask me my opinion, my opinion will be it's a natural situation for a man to be free

JUNE 29, 2009: Every week I get at least one e-mailed press release about an event happening in Wisconsin.

I dutifully reply and suggest the sender really ought to send the e-mail to the editor of the Watertown Daily Times, located in the city of Watertown, in the county of Jefferson and the state of Wisconsin.

E-mail makes the world small and our mistakes big, I suppose.

But as easy as I am to find — even mistakenly — on the Internet, I can’t figure out how to get my name and address in a phone book that serves Jefferson County, N.Y.

Yes, many people would prefer having my alleged dilemma. It’s just that we here at the Times sort of pride ourselves on being easy to find.

I used to be in the phone book: 140 Bowers Ave, 785-5413. I've had that number for 15 years. And I used to get calls at home that were newspaper related from people I didn't know but who found my number in the phone book.

But several years ago I decided to move my service from Verizon to Time Warner (I still have my cell phone, 276-8450, with Verizon so everyone is still getting some money here.)

And that’s when it happened. Verizon dropped me from the phone book. The Yellow Book doesn’t have me listed either.

I have tried to find someone within the bowels of the telecommunications industry to add me back to the family of man. But no such luck. Which makes me wonder how many other people who switched to Time Warner service suddenly became unlisted.

Well, I only wonder so much. I don’t need to hear from everyone right this minute. But if somebody can call and tell me how to get my phone number back in the phone book, I would appreciate it.