Proposal by a Frequent Mover

Three observations:

1. The U.S. Postal Service is bleeding money as mail volume declines
2. Paper mail contributes to identity theft
3. Mail forwarding service is great, but temporary; address changes consume considerable energy among recipients and senders

Proposal: A simple new USPS service that provides individual subscribers with one persistant lifetime address. Think portable mobile phone number, but for mail. This virtual address would be matched to the subscriber's current physical address within a confidential database maintained by the USPS, and updated by individual subscribers.

As a young professional I have moved frequently in the last several years: hometown to school dorm, to school apartment, to summer job, to school apartment, to summer job..., to Dupont Circle in Washington, to Van Ness in Washington, to Columbia Heights in Washington, to Seattle. Each time I've diligently updated my address with every single legitimate mailer (insurance companies, banks, former employers for W-2s, grandma...) and filed for forwarding with the USPS, yet it takes weeks for these changes to take effect, and I am confident a flurry of credit card offers, junk mail, and old wedding invitations follows in my wake. This is one major reason I have gone paperless at every opportunity (among others).

The concept of a physical mailing address as a point of contact is antiquated and needlessly obtuse convention. I would much prefer a single virtual address that is mine for life, which I may update with my current physical address as I please. The virtual address could be something as simple as a number--Jamie Campbell, 555239432930--or a novelty address with a unique zip-code for the nostalgic--Jamie Campbell, 123 Eagle Way, USA 55555. In July 2004 it could have pointed to Durham, North Carolina; in July 2007 it could have pointed to Washington, D.C.; and in July 2009 it could have pointed to Seattle, WA.

The potential market for this service is not limited to unrooted twenty-somethings, as it would markedly improve the security of mailed correspondence, and the privacy of recipients. In turn: credit card offers, among other identity theft targets, are not bound to a physical address. Applicants can provide new addresses to open accounts so long as they provide the golden ticket--the infamously insecure Social Security Number combined with a birthday (which are related, believe it or not). Under the proposed system, enterprise mailers would have a single address for recipients, that would only be changed by direct interaction with the USPS, with security protocols on par with credit report access. The only remaining weak link is the physical box on my end. Consider also: lawyers, certain business owners, public figures, and the wealthy would all value the ability to make their address available for legitimate purposes, but in doing so reveal their physical locations. Unlisted phone numbers are prolific, but what of unlisted addresses? Security concerns would drive interest in both.

The USPS could charge a premium to both subscribers and senders: a recipient is assured security and completeness in his/her mail, and a sender is assured that the recipient received the item. Moreover, the USPS would avoid the cost of delivering mail to out-of-date addresses. I concede that mail delivery in general isn't exactly a growth market, but it doesn't mean it is a marginal concern for the government or consumers, or that there is no money to be made or costs to be cut. And, so long as the USPS continues to exist, it must strive to improve upon its model.

Competition for such a service would be extremely limited as the USPS commands a legal monopoly on mail service. It is conceivable that a private business could offer lifetime mail forwarding (if not illegal under the terms of the USPS's domain), but turn-around-time and privacy concerns would severely limit its viability.

I believe the USPS has the capability to implement this service with minimal delay (other than bureaucratic). Although I am having difficulty finding a citable source at the moment, it is my understanding that Netflix has been able to establish speedy turn-around-time because a USPS service scans the barcodes on each mailer as they are received from consumers; USPS then conveys this evidence of return to Netflix which immediately ships the next DVD even before it receives the returned DVD in its regional distribution center. The facility for manipulating structured data for novel purposes at regional postal centers exists; it's time the USPS wielded it for its own purposes.

Day 3: Pacific Time

Eastern Washington was by far the most desolate landscape I passed through. It was impossibly drier than any place I could imagine in America outside of the southwest. The yellow landscape rolled on for miles unbroken by any trees while dust devils sprouted and stalled all around--four or five within sight at any one moment. Eventually I passed into better irrigated fields. This picture was taken right at the border of yellow and green:

The Columbia River Basin is so dry because it lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range, which separates Seattle from the rest of Washington. Cutting through the high mountains is Snoqualmie Pass, which summits at over 3,000 feet above sea level. The ride down to the ocean takes only a few beautiful, steep miles of road. It was a great welcome to town to be surrounded by lifted off-road vehicles loaded down with all types of awesome outdoors gear: kayaks, float tubes for fly fishing, and mountain bikes. I'm in the right place.

Day 2: Rocky Mountain Time

It was while nearing Badlands that I did my first double-take. Driving through rolling fields of South Dakota I could see sheep grazing off to the left. My eyes left them, and shot back: several hundred yards from the highway, but only feet from these sheep, the elsewhere smooth horizon was jagged and broken. I could see at an angle that the fields gave way to ragged cliffs of eroded clay and dirt. Arriving at the national park-proper, I took some pictures:

Devil's Tower, as featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, is a curious geological feature tucked away in northwestern Wyoming about 20 miles from I-90, but well worth a slightly longer drive. SR 14 winds its way through rugged hills to the top of a high ridge, looking down from which is a gorgeous landscape of thick forests, grass fields, rolling hills, and sheer rock faces. This shot was taken from a closer vantage point:

Day 1: Eastern Standard and Central Time

Only in the final hours of the day's drive did I come across land that looked much different than Ohio when the corn fields of Iowa transitioned into the grasslands of South Dakota. It wasn't hard to imagine buffalo overrunning the landscape once upon a time. The day was highlighted by tourist traps--"The World's Biggest Truck Stop," The birthplace of Carl Sandburg, the Corn Palace--and a feeling of profound relief that my newly purchased car was still running smoothly after several hundred miles.

Three Days on the Road

Three days; 2,405 miles; one Honda Pilot.

I've finally made the move to Seattle, and though it was delayed two weeks as I hammered out the car situation, I'm really glad I didn't fly. I've made the trip by air almost a dozen times, but if I hurried myself out here I would have foregone so much peaceful time for thinking and the chance to see so many unfamiliar parts of America. My route across the northern U.S. just happened to be the shortest route between my points A and B, but it just as easily could have been tailored for the sites as I passed by Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower National Monument, and all the anonymously beautiful landscapes of eastern farmland, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.

As Ira Glass would say (I listened to a lot of This American Life along the way), today's show: a play in three acts.

Day 1: Cincinnati, OH to Mitchell, SD; 938 miles; 14 hours
Day 2: Mitchell, SD to Bozeman, MT; 788 miles; 11 hours
Day 3: Bozeman, MT to Seattle WA; 679 miles; 10 hours

Elegy for Polaroids

Polaroid film is nearing its final days. I'll miss using my SX-70 Land Camera, which was given to me less than two years ago. I'll miss the frustration of finding the proper exposure at $1.50 a pop, jerry-rigged methods of inserting Polaroid 600 into my antiquated model, the square aspect ratio that turned rectangle framing on-end, and the soft colors that the film produced. I won't miss the time I opened a piece of film to see what was inside--poisonous chemicals apparently. In any case, I'll cherish my last twenty-three shots. Here are some of my best so far:

Good Times at the Runamuck Festival 2009

The first annual Runamuck Festival 5k mud run was held last Saturday at Lake Needwood near Rockville, Maryland. It was an awesome day for the race: it was over 90 degrees and sunny, which probably was rough on the guy dressed up in a gorilla suit like DK from MarioKart. Although it was the first year of the event, the concept--running people around a 5k course interspersed with ridiculously long and deep mud pits--was pioneered by the Marines down in Quantico and has since spread around the country.

The organizers did an awesome job incorporating local vendors and musicians in the event, and were rewarded by a huge turnout. Over 2,000 people participated in the race, and were joined by all sorts of friends and family. Best of all, the organizers collected hundreds of shoes that people discarded after the race, which will be donated to African aid groups. I was glad to see such a response for a rather off-the-wall event, and glad that this won't likely be the first and last Runamuck.