text:
From the Amazon product description: Kidnapped form his safe California home. Thrown into a life-and-death struggle on the frozen Artic wilderness. Half St. Bernard, half shepard, Buck learns many hard lessons as a sled dog: the lesson of the leash, of the cold, of near-starvation and cruelty. And the greatest lesson he learns from his last owner, John Thornton: the power of love and loyalty.
Yet always, even at the side of the human he loves, Buck feels the pull in his bones, an urge to answer his wolf ancestors as they howl to him.
I listened to this on audio book while on a long car ride with Youngest and Tween. I thought it would hold their interest since it is about dogs and so much outdoor adventure. They both like survival stories like Gary Paulsen writes - the difference being this one is animals rather than a boy. But there was a problem. The problem was that the book was written in 1903 so the style of language and the vocabulary were just too different from what the boys are used to for them to understand it comfortably. Probably if we were reading it, where they could look at some illustrations, ask questions, and reread confusing passages, it would be better but this was just too tough for them on audio. So it wasn't for the boys but I liked it! I liked the different dogs having their own personalities and the whole idea of the dog community. Kind of reminded me of Watership Down in that regard (one of my old favorites that I really should reread). Call of the Wild is a classic, I'm glad I listened to it not just because I enjoyed the story but also because I feel like I expanded my cultural literacy - one more question on Jeopardy now within my reach!
This book counts toward the 2010 Audiobook Challenge hosted by the bloggers over at Royal Reviews. Click on the button to see my progress.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Call of the Wild by Jack London
Labels: 2010 Audiobook Challenge
2 comments:
- Avid Reader said...
What?!? A fellow jeopardy addict? I enjoyed this one too.
- June 4, 2010 at 2:56 PM
- bermudaonion said...
It does take a while to adjust to language in a book like that so I can imagine it would be difficult as an audio book.
- June 5, 2010 at 6:48 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Kodiak Ultimate 306BHSL
With double slides, a rear bunk house, and an outside kitchen you will enjoy camping in the 306BHSL Kodiak Ultimate travel trailer by Dutchmen.
As you enter this model, you will see dual opposing slides. The first slide has a refrigerator, microwave, extra counter space, and a three burner range. Adjacent to the slide is a nice size pantry for dry good storage. On the opposite side of the trailer the slide includes a booth dinette, and standard sofa with overhead cabinet. Adjacent to the slide is an entertainment center along one side and a wardrobe on the other side.
The front bedroom features a queen bed, two wardrobes, and overhead storage.
Head towards the rear of this model and find a set of double bunks which allows for sleeping space for four people.
The bathroom has a toilet, sink, medicine cabinet, and tub with skylight which allows natural lighting into the bath.
Fix light snacks on the outdoor kitchen which features a sink and a two burner range, and more!We have 1 306BHSL availableView Inventory
Sleeps 8 Slides 2 Length 34 ft 11 in Ext Width 8 ft Ext Height 11 ft Interior Color Medallion, Platinum, Celebrati Hitch Weight 920 lbs Dry Weight 6680 lbs Cargo Weight 1059 lbs Fresh Water Capacity 52 gals Grey Water Capacity 78 gals Black Water Capacity 28 gals Tire Size 14"
Similar Travel Trailer Floorplans
Travel Trailer
ALL IN PRICING. This price plus tax and administration ONLY !!
- Stock #: 483
- Location: Burleigh Falls, ON
- Sleeps up to 8
- You Save: $14,442
- Payments from: $210 /mo.
Disclaimer: Lovesick Lake RV Sales maintains this website as accurately as possible. All information, including but not limited to, pricing, product information, specifications and dealer promotions are subject to change without notice. Lovesick Lake RV Sales will not be held responsible for the accuracy of information contained in this or any other website. Please call us at 1.855.458.8787 for the most accurate information

subset: commoncrawl


text:
About friendship
I made friends readily when we moved into town, and I didn't feel lonely again until I was in my mid-twenties. During the years when I had a satisfying number of friends, they and I visited one another frequently and without notice. I still miss that, but even at the time, I thought that some people carried it a bit far.
My high school friends and I came from low middle-class families and were under-achieving outsiders. I loathed wealthy, high-achieving insiders because they were snobs, yet I longed for them to like me. I have never gotten over my hatred.
After college, I discovered that people often lose friends to marriage. I can think of various reasons for this: (1) Your friend's spouse will sometimes hate you—or you her; (2) Even if your friend's spouse likes you, she will have first dibs on his time; (3) Jobs and children deprive people of leisure and spontaneity; (4) Our interests—and hence our friends—change as we age.
As I progressed through my twenties, I became increasingly lonely. I still had a few male friends, but I wanted more depth than I was getting, so I often felt bored and disappointed. I began having affairs, and these relationships were characterized by excitement, intimate conversations, and boosts to my ego. I therefore lost much of my interest in my male friends. As the years passed, I came to miss them, but not the women. Unfortunately, most of them are dead.
I tried to cure my friendship deficit in various ways. One thing I did was to get a pilot's license because I didn't want to move away from my house and land in Mississippi, and I thought that my social options would expand if I could fly. The problem was that my little Cessna was slow and easily grounded by bad weather.
I then decided that I wanted more than just friendship; I wanted people to share my life with, so I decided that I would like to live in a commune. I spent most of two years visiting such places all over the country. I wanted Peggy to go with me, but she wasn't willing to give up the security of a job, so I went alone, and had her fly out whenever I found a place I thought she would like. Our desires were so different though that the place I liked most (an intensely personal international commune in NYC) was the place she hated most.
Then I found out about a new social movement called "polyfidelity," which was defined as an egalitarian group marriage. Right away, I knew it was for me. Peggy wasn't so keen on it, but she wasn't closed to the idea either. The headquarters of the movement was in Eugene, so that's the main reason we moved to Oregon. Within a week, I had more friends in Oregon than in Mississippi.
Peggy and I eventually became involved in a polyfidelitous relationship with a woman named Vicki who was a doctoral student in Minneapolis. We lived there for two years until that relationship failed. During my time in Minneapolis, I continued to have a satisfying number of friends. However, I was ecstatic to move back to Eugene where, again, both friendships and affairs flourished.
I soon founded a group called Family of Choice Network (FCN) that quickly grew to fifty members and sponsored two support groups and frequent social events. What I discovered about this group (and others since) was that I had no problem with finding enthusiastic supporters as long as they weren't expected to do any of the actual work.
In the late '90s, things on the friendship front began to fall apart due to the demise of FCN and of the polyfidelity group that had brought us to Oregon. I also had a serious falling-out with my best friend, Walt, and, worst of all, I became involved in a peer counseling organization known as Re-Evaluation Co-Counseling (RC). I threw myself into the intensity of RC whole-heartedly, and became the darling of many people in the female dominated community.
Unfortunately I committed the cardinal RC sin of becoming romantically involved with two of my co-counselors, one of whom was an RC leader. When these relationships fell apart, I experienced severe anger, which I had imagined I could work through with the help of other co-counselors. Instead, I found myself shunned, and I became thoroughly disillusioned with RC and with people in general. During the seventeen years since RC, I've only had two affairs and one close friendship—all of but one of which ended badly. Nothing remains of my former idealism regarding the possibilities for human intimacy.
By contrast with my own friendships, Peggy's friendships are characterized by an absence of drama and intensity, and whereas she never loses old friends, she sometimes gains new ones.
Aside from one male friend and three or four platonic friendships (I sometimes have trouble distinguishing a friend from a friendly acquaintance) with women, I have no face-to-face friends. I've substituted blogging friends to a large extent, but friendships with people whom I have never met and who live thousands of miles away have their limitations. Of course, face-to-face friendships have limitations too.
I would offer the following thoughts about friendship—sexual and otherwise—which are based upon my own mistakes and about which I'll write in the first person:
It is important that I listen to what people say about their past friendships, because they will almost certainly behave the same way toward me—despite their insistence that they've changed.
I have always found that it's a mistake to attempt to fix a friend even if she (so far, it has always been a she) asks me to.
I have had such bad experiences with people who are charming or charismatic that I've come to think of these traits as like fresh paint over rotten wood.
My worst mistake has been that I often mistook sex, drama, and intensity for intimacy. I have since come to realize that these things are usually destructive in the absence of commitment.
No matter how big and strong she makes me feel, I must never assume that I have the upper hand in a relationship with a woman because women have disillusioned me of that notion too many times.
I must never expect anyone to save me because they really and truly can't, no matter how together they seem or how much they want to.
It is best to assume that other people are just as fucked-up as I, no matter how they appear.
Unless I am really intimate with someone, I must never ask him or her to give me more of themselves than they freely offer because they will almost certainly pull away.
The most trust that I can give to another person is to loan him or her money (I don't mean just a few dollars for the sake of convenience), but doing so creates a lasting awkwardness in the relationship.
I can never know how someone is going to behave in a given situation until I've seen him or her in a similar situation—if then.
Most friendships are founded upon shared beliefs, interests, and geographical proximity, so I must be prepared to lose my friend when any of these change.
Even long-term friendships sometimes end, and I can't always see it coming.
Having lost friends to death, I've concluded that it's better to be more open, loving, and mature than I might sometimes feel than it is to be haunted by regret when it's too late.
All friendships have limitations.
I know of no better gift than to take what my friend says seriously.
No matter how strong or prudent I am, intimacy is risky.
50 comments:
- The Elephant's Child said...
'Intimacy is risky'. You are so right there. And I have found that it is not always worth the risks either. Nonetheless, slow learner that I am, I will mostly take that risk. And while Piaf might have regretted nothing I have quite a few regrets but they are mostly for the risks I didn't take rather than the ones I did.
Thank you for another heart felt thought provoking post.
- May 10, 2011 4:47 PM
- Snowbrush said...
Thank you, Child. I think this might well be the most self-revealing post I have ever written, although many of the ones about religion surely come close. I would also offer that I don't think people generally understand how emotionally connected I am to many of my posts that are intellectually oriented.
- May 10, 2011 4:53 PM
- Camp Fustian said...
I never feel lonely. When I am with a lot of people, I feel terribly alone (and often bored)...
Why do you feel the need to be understood? Is it not enough that you understand your Self?
By the way, not all wealthy, high-achieving insiders are snobs (within reason)! But admittedly, I am also biased when it comes to the middle class (don't like most of them).
- May 10, 2011 5:47 PM
- The Elephant's Child said...
And your emotional connection to your posts is what makes them honest and rewarding and I suspect is a large part of why you have so many fans.
- May 10, 2011 5:48 PM
- The Blog Fodder said...
Interesting observations on friendship. Thank you. Much to think about.
- May 10, 2011 7:38 PM
- Natalie said...
I find friendships very disappointing. In recent times, I have severed contact with my so called 'closest' friends because I couldn't stand it any longer. I much prefer friendships with men, and some older women because they are just more sensible.I have also come to realise that the best, most intimate friendship I can have is with me. Having said that, I have a very decent friendship with my husband, and also a male co-worker which is purely platonic.
I am his mentor, and when he learns all he needs to learn from me, he will go away. I am trying to prepare myself for that day, even though it will sadden me greatly, as he too, is a very decent human being.
- May 10, 2011 8:03 PM
- CreekHiker / HollysFolly said...
This is rather timely for me. I had something I had to drop off at a former friend's house today... we haven't spoken in months but I had promised her daughter -who I held the day she was born - a bead. I placed in the mailbox and drove away. It's so sad to lose a 23 year friendship.
Pondering it all today...I feel disappointed by most people most all the time. I like being alone for that reason....but I am lonely and regret that I never married or had kids. But then, I'd probably be disappointed in them too by now.
Great post Snow!
- May 10, 2011 9:05 PM
- kj said...
you are so honest and forthright, snow. i don't think most women could talk about affairs so freely, and i admire you for it.
i think you here and there talkingabout FOB: friends with benefits--and that made me smile. so things are as old as the hills.
your observations are quite wonderful. the one i reread is:
'Unless I am really intimate with someone, I must never ask him or her to give me more of themselves than they freely offer because they will almost certainly pull away.'
even if intimate, i've reluctantly learned that accepting the gifts of another person is a whole lot better than asking for them.
about blogging: i am forever reminding myself that my blog friends cannot substitute for my in person friends. i am lucky that several REAL friends have been born from the blogs.
i enjoyed reading this very much, snow.
- May 10, 2011 9:06 PM
- Kerry said...
You have so many ideas in this post, each of them worth its own space in a separate post.
Personally I think that commitment is the key to all relationships, but especially to one's partner/spouse. I'm not built to handle anything but a monogamous relationship there! But friends seem to involve commitment also, and sometimes that's hard to give.
I am amazed by adults who have lots of friends outside their marriage; how do they find the time to nurture those multiple commitments?
- May 10, 2011 9:52 PM
- ellen abbott said...
well, friendship has to be nurtured by both sides. a couple of times I thought I was friends with someone, thought we were friends. eventually it occurred to me that I was the active half. when I stopped calling or dropping by, I never heard from that person again.
I have few friends right now and that's OK. I could have more but it takes too much time and effort. time and effort I would rather spend on other things.
- May 11, 2011 3:27 AM
- Strayer said...
Over the years, the friends I've had and kept, are the ones who accept me as a faulty human being and that I accept as a faulty human, too. I have a bus driver friend. We don't see each other much, but we are nonetheless connected for our lives and probably would do anything for one another. I have some animal people friends I get mad at or they at me, and just as quickly, we forget and forgive each other. These friendships are years in the making, slow growing, and while not all have families and busy lives, so we're not that close, I treasure them.
I discovered over the years, although I forget sometimes and old resentments boil, that no matter what social status a person enjoys or wealth, relative to mine, everybody has issues and problems and most are messed up, whatever that means. I expect for some reason that educated and wealthy people have great lives, only to discover how unhappy many are, or how rife their lives are with drama and issues.
I had no idea you had such a history, Snow, with affairs and all that. You've lived a very interesting unusual life.
As I get older, I take more risks. Less to lose.
- May 11, 2011 10:14 AM
- dana said...
When I'm surrounded by people, I am the more forlorn and miserable person on earth.
People mistake asinine chatter as transfers of information. When a woman past her childbearing years gears up to recount her hours in labor, or younger mothers expound on the joy of Pete's first Poop, I escape.
I've been abandoned as "friendship material" because I was ill more often than not, and had no interests or abilities for tennis, swimming and shopping til I dropped.
So far, I have only found a few men of friendship material, and then it was because they were honest and I learned a great deal about how men look at life in contrast to how I looked at it.
I still remember words of advice from the MEN I've been friends with. For the most part, women were more interested in talking about their husbands and kids.
It sounds as if you mistook lust for "deeper feelings" when they are just "different" feelings and not prone to in depth bonding as some people would presume.
And through it all, Peggy was there. First, foremost and everlasting.
I've never TRIED to forge a strong friendship because, unlike marriage, at the first sign of "you think that way and I think this way", friendships start unraveling.
I've always lived by the motto: Your best friend will make your worst enemy.
- May 11, 2011 5:50 PM
- Lorraina said...
Very interesting read Snow; i feel like i've lived a very boring life in comparison.
I used to have friends; well, i thought i did but after becoming a semi invalid due to my PBC i found that most if not all really wern't good friends at all; just people interested in the same things as i was at the time otherwise nothing in common. I think i was a very good friend to them in a million ways; i was a yes person but they often hurt me with their insensitivities or disinterest in me, my life, who i was etc. while i was constantly being fed all their bs. Thats when i realized i really didn't even like those people much at all and wouldn't tolerate that stuff today. Now, i have a few good memories but mostly i kick myself for not moving on earlier.
- May 11, 2011 10:59 PM
- Zom said...
It sounds like you have learned a lot. That is a life well lived.
- May 12, 2011 12:02 AM
- Robin said...
Hello Dear Snow!'Intimacy is risky'....such true words! And this comes from a trusting soul whose heart was broken after a 17 year relationship...and last year losing a "friend" after 30 years....
But.......I would not change it - because I believe you must remain open to trust - both in lovers and friends....
You have lived quite a life....and you feel more than some because of your intelligence - and...(here it comes) - because you are a sensitive, caring man.
No matter what has happened - you have the wonderful Peggy....you have Blue and Brewsky....and....you have your Blogging Family who truly care about you and want you to be as pain-free as possible... knowing you is a good thing!
♥ Robin ♥
- May 12, 2011 12:06 PM
- Joe Todd said...
Always hated the down side to those temporary "ego boosts." Happy Friday 13th.. Here is a link for you:: http://www.ftsociety.org/
- May 13, 2011 10:50 AM
- Stafford Ray said...
Ditto Kerry. All through this I could not help thinking; 'What did Peggy think of this?'
She is still there, so whatever you do, hang on to that one!
- May 13, 2011 11:56 AM
- The Bipolar Diva said...
Very well written and much to ponder. I seem to be able to have better friendships with men than women. My husband doesn't get that, and I guess sometimes he shouldn't get it, after all you know how I am sometimes. Next time I ride through Eugene I'm going to email you ahead of time. You, my friend, are much loved.
- May 13, 2011 1:04 PM
- Chrisy said...
blogger's been having problems here...have commented a couple of times but won't let me publish...so just trying a little one to see how it goes...i wonder how different our lives would have been without 'hormones'...
- May 13, 2011 2:44 PM
- Snowbrush said...
To those who wonder how Peggy feels about all that I have written.
Peggy, unlike myself, obviously, is a private person, and so I tend to write about her only inasmuch as it is necessary to tell my own story. This is not what I want to do, but it is what I must do out of respect for her wishes.
- May 13, 2011 4:13 PM
- kj said...
but is peggy ready to hit you over the head for writing this tale?
i hope not, but if she is, i hope the frying pan is soft.
- May 13, 2011 5:24 PM
- Snowbrush said...
KJ said: " is peggy ready to hit you over the head for writing this tale?"
I have no idea if she's read it. She reads all of my posts--and most of the comments--eventually, but I rarely know when because she doesn't usually say anything. As for whether she would be mad, I doubt it, but my belief is that it's my story, and so I had the right to tell it. I couldn't write it without mention of her, of course, yet I kept her out of it as much as possible. The only thing I might have left out about her without damaging my own account was my statement about her never losing old friends, although she sometimes adds new ones, but I had no thought that she would object to that because it constitutes high praise.
Like many posts I write, I'm greatly surprised that, so far as I know, I haven't lost a single reader over it. Since a great many people--women especially--have been devastated by their spouse's affairs, I fully expected to (a) be slammed and (b) lose readers. All I can figure is that my readers have come to expect a high level of forthrightness about what many people would consider to be inflammatory topics.
- May 13, 2011 6:30 PM
- Strayer said...
Well, I'll tell the truth then, after your last comment, Snow. I think you should be neutered. Free you up to stop chasing tail and live your life. I'm not kidding. It does sound like you've mostly followed after your penis.
What people are saying is, I think, through all these ups and downs, pursuits of yours and affairs, there's been one constant in your life, someone who has not rejected you or left and that is Peggy. After this last post you wrote, I now believe she must be some sort of saint.
- May 14, 2011 12:39 AM
- Selina Kingston said...
This is an amazing and enlightening post. I too have a lot of issues with friendships. i have lots of people that I call friends but I resent the fact that I don't have a close "best friend". But that is my fault for refusing to let people get close because effectively I refuse to trust anyone. Sex has far too often taken over what should have been a close friendship...and I never seem to learn that !
My, you are a thought provoking writer !
- May 14, 2011 1:02 AM
- kylie said...
i wrote a post for you, snow.
not brilliant, probably barely even ok but there it is....
i've struggled with loneliness most of my life and i doubt it will change but when the opportunity is there i have no fear of intimacy. it's probably naivete that stops the fear but i have rarely regretted the intimacy i have found.
- May 15, 2011 12:51 AM
- R. J. said...
Great post and I hesitate to wade into a heavy topic like this armed with nothing but my amateur thoughts and impressions. You have inspired me to think a lot about the issue. As we all struggle with loneliness and yearn for intimate friendships, after 66 years, I feel several things I have observed bear mentioning. I like to go back to that old standard written by Dale Carnegie called How to Win Friends and Influence People. The solid values he proposes seem valid to me. I notice that people who have the most friends seem to have a lot of interests/hobbies from which friendships with like-minded people have sprung. When I try to focus too much on the friendship, it evaporates--better to focus on the hobby. Shared interests anchor the friendship. I think I have ruined some potential friendships over the years by being too judgmental. Now I am more inclined to avoid the discussions of religions and politics or any hot button issues that divide people and instead nurture the common ground we can share. I am also reminded of the movie When Harry Met Sally and he observes that men and women can never be friends because sex always gets in the way. I don't have male friends. I have my lady friends and hubby and I have our friends who are couples. We have clear boundaries in that regard. In my value system, that is the only way to preserve the friendships. The dialogues of the friendships are too important to complicate them with anything physical. Just me. I recognize I can't have everything and that is how I choose. Whatever floats my boat might not be for everyone.
- May 15, 2011 6:40 AM
- Mim said...
Snow - you write that you are surprised that you haven't lost a reader over this post. You haven't lost me - but I have so many mixed and stunned emotions about this post that I have to work them out in my head. It's certainly forthright, honest (at least I think so - there were moments when I thought it was all a tall tale) but to me - sad and upsetting. I have to also work out the fact that at the base of it all, I am rather a prude.
More another time.
- May 15, 2011 8:28 AM
- Putz said...
i am your friend because you called me a genius, even though you might not mean that, i do appreciate the thopught<><>i have accomplished exactly wwhat i wanted in my blog except to get peopkle interested in mormonism<><>>that also includes you<><>my family thinks i have sold them all down the river and wished i hadn't BLOGGED, but that is now all water over the bridge
- May 16, 2011 12:13 PM
- Just_because_today said...
very interesting and honest post as all of yours are.
Friendship is difficult, I have found. Maybe more difficult than love relationships because in a marriage and other couple relationships, there are other elements such as sex and a life together (house, children, etc) to keep the relationship going. Friendship depends on each other, nothing more to bring to the table than what each can offer.
I have also found that the friendship I long for is only in my imagination, nobody else seems to share the kind of commitment that I think friendship deserves. Oh well, I'm an odd ball.
- May 16, 2011 8:02 PM
- rhymeswithplague said...
I am your friend even though you have never called me a genius. And I do think Putz means water under the bridge, either that or water over the dam.
After re-reading your post, I had the distinct feeling I was attending a meeting of Sexaholics Anonymous (if there is such a thing): "Hi, my name is Snowbrush and I'm a sexaholic"..."Hi, Snowbrush"....
The word polyfidelitous made me laugh. We non-Oregonians have another word for it.
- May 17, 2011 3:44 AM
- Snowbrush said...
"The word polyfidelitous made me laugh. We non-Oregonians have another word for it."
Meaning that you consider it immoral, I assume. Given that your morality comes from the Bible, can you give me a verse to support your belief? The only one I can think of is in the NT and relates specifically to elders of the church. Certainly in the OT, group marriage was the norm. Of course, there was nothing equal about it, just as there was nothing equal about how god himself viewed women versus to men back in the days when women couldn't even show up for a worship service while they were on their periods or after they have given birth--at least not until they had "purified" themselves. All that's been thrown out, of course, although I've never seen a verse to support doing so.
- May 17, 2011 7:41 PM
- rhymeswithplague said...
I think my comment went off into the void, so I'll try again. If it didn't, just delete one of them.
I don't want to get into a battle of "my verse is better than your verse" ...but there is "thou shalt not commit adultery" which does not confine itself to elders of the church. "Poly" juxtaposed with "fidelitous" seems disingenuous to me from the get-go, as in "I will be completely faithful to you and I will also be completely faithful to her, and her, and her" which is being "completely faithful" to none. I know each society's cultural norms determine how many wives a man may legally have. Ours happens to allow 1. To say "I don't know what I would do without Peggy" is one thing; to say "I don't know what I would do without Peggy and Amanda and Betty Jean and Veronica and maybe even that new neighbor across the street" is another, Sister Wives on TLC notwithstanding.
These are my own opinions....
- May 18, 2011 4:38 AM
- The Depressed Reader said...
This was an interesting post, thanks for sharing so much of yourself. I doubt I will ever be anywhere near as open about myself on my blog.
- May 18, 2011 6:11 AM
- Wine in Thyme said...
Interesting. Will re-read.
- May 19, 2011 5:49 PM
- kylie said...
snow, whatever anybody thinks of your behaviours i will take my hat off because you have kept trying.
you were lonely and you got hurt and you kept looking for remedies. it's when you just give in and live miserably that there is a real problem
- May 19, 2011 9:27 PM
- Bernie said...
Snow I truly feel sorry for you. I do not think you have been truly loved or loved truly. If you had you would love, cherish and respect others as well as your wife but more importantly yourself. You keep trying to use the shock and awe effect with your post, intellect - don't think so, my dog knows more about love, loyalty and respect. Gotta love free speech eh Snow.
- May 20, 2011 11:35 AM
- dana said...
Snow...are my comments not getting through? Did I say something that made you angry?
- May 20, 2011 2:07 PM
- Snowbrush said...
R.J. said: "I have my lady friends and hubby and I have our friends who are couples. We have clear boundaries in that regard. In my value system, that is the only way to preserve the friendships."
I have no problem maintaining platonic friendships as long as they're with people who I lack physical passion for. The more I age, and the more the women I know age, the easier this becomes.
Mim said: "there were moments when I thought it was all a tall tale"
Peggy has a postcard on the refrigerator that reads: "Incredible as it seems, my life is based on a true story." A marriage counselor once suggested to Peggy that maybe she stays married to me because she knows that I will keep her life from ever becoming a bore." What with my pain and disability, I'm afraid that's no longer true, but I still do what I can.
Depressed said: "I doubt I will ever be anywhere near as open about myself on my blog."
My limits are as follows: I try to avoid anything that would be likely to get me sued or jailed, and, as I pointed out somewhere in the response section to this post, I also try to avoid violating Peggy's privacy except inasmuch as it is unavoidable in telling my own story. Other than that, I don't much care. My primary goal is to make my blog interesting to myself and to my readers. As I see it, too many bloggers do the first but not the second.
Putz said: "i have accomplished exactly what i wanted in my blog except to get peopkle interested in mormonism<><>>that also includes you"
God, Putz, are you ever a screaming optimist! Back in the 70's a couple of wonderful Mormon ladies came to see Peggy and me several times without making a dent in my skepticism regarding Mormonism, and that was back when I was still trying to believe in god, so, dude, it ain't gonna happen.
- May 21, 2011 4:41 PM
- Snowbrush said...
Strayer said: "I think you should be neutered."
I have often had that very thought, although things are getting much easier now that I'm growing older.
Selina said: "I refuse to trust anyone."
Well, it's not all or nothing, of course, but since I'm sure you know that, I think you're saying that it's easier to withhold trust than it is to limit trust, and with that, I would agree, at least in the short term. In the long term, withholding trust makes for a sad life.
- May 21, 2011 4:48 PM
- Snowbrush said...
I just deleted my response that included a pasting of a rather long response from Robin that I thought Blogger had lost (it turned out that Blogger had simply put it in the wrong order), so I'm going to put my response here without Robin's response being included.
Kylie said: "i will take my hat off because you have kept trying."
Exactly, Kylie. Down one fork in the road lies wisdom, and down the other lies bitterness; and we must decide which one to take again and again and again. Whether I've turned the first way more often than the second, I cannot say.
Bernie said: " Gotta love free speech eh Snow."
In the absence of rationality, the right of a person such as yourself to free speech is no more profitable than the right of a drunk to puke on the sidewalk.
Rhymes said: "'thou shalt not commit adultery' which does not confine itself to elders of the church.
The OT patriarchs seemed to make do well enough without any condemnation from the "prophets" of their day, so I don't see why you should have a problem with multiple relationships. You have every right to disapprove, of course, but don't imagine that your authority comes from the Bible.
Dana said: "Did I say something that made you angry?"
No, Babe, I just feel overwhelmed at times by the number of blogs I want to visit and the number of responses I want to answer. I've been conducting business on the computer, but other than that, I've taken a bit of a break. If I don't do this from time to time, I would become resentful.
- May 21, 2011 4:52 PM
- Natalie said...
Checking in to say hi!
I see we have survived the rapture! xx
- May 22, 2011 3:59 AM
- Marion said...
Hmmm...can't find my comment, it must have been one of those Blogger lost the other day.
This post is so honest, it almost hurts. This part struck home..."Unless I am really intimate with someone, I must never ask him or her to give me more of themselves than they freely offer because they will almost certainly pull away." I don't know how many times I asked for more from friendships or lovers until I finally figured it out.
Thank you for this truly incredible and inspiring post, Snow. And I hope, today, that pain is somewhat less than usual for you...xo
- May 22, 2011 8:36 AM
- Robert the Skeptic said...
My wife experimented with a Polyamorous before we met. She came away convinced that it is too difficult to build a multi-faceted intimate relationship with more than one individual.
The only successful similar relationships I have seen has been among Swingers who are able to engage in sexual intimacy between others because the primary relationship between their committed partner is open, secure and inviolate.
- May 22, 2011 1:06 PM
- C Woods said...
Years ago, a guy I dated asked what I thought about (using your term) polyfidelity relationships. My answer was that I didn't think I could handle them. He liked that answer because I wasn't condemning them for others, but was honest about thinking I couldn't deal with them myself.
I've never been involved with anything like that, but I know a few people who were, and not one of them stayed married. One of the couple would always become emotionally involved. Then, that person would be hurt if the relationship went nowhere, or that person wanted out of the marriage to be with the new love, or the spouse become jealous. It never turned out well in the situations I knew about. In some cases that may have been, in part, because of our social "norms" ---what most of us expect in a marriage or what we fear others will think if they find out we are doing something outside of those expectations. Guilt? It has been so ingrained in many of us who grew up in religious homes.
I don't know if this is a good analogy, but I have several friends who have switched religions 5, 6, 10, a dozen times, always looking for something outside themselves that they need to find within themselves. I wonder if the excitement of a constant stream of new sexual partners is not much the same? Just a thought.
Anyway ---you and Peggy are still together so you must have done something right.
Re: Friendship
I have lost contact with more friends than I have kept. As you said, friendships are founded on shared beliefs, interests, and geographic proximity. I will also add that in some cases an intense and/or unique experience holds friendships together. (In some cases that could also split them apart.)
Most of my friends were fellow classmates or co-workers. I have lost contact with almost all of them.
Some friends moved after retirement---to Florida or Arizona, so I see them rarely.
This week I am meeting with 2 former co-workers for lunch. The meeting came about when I contacted one with my condolences for the loss of her mother. We hadn't seen each other for about 7 years---and that would have stretched farther if her mother had not died.
The longer my husband and i have been together, the more we have taken on each other's worst characteristics. He has become "organizationally impaired" like me. I have become very much of a loner, like my husband. As a result of getting set in our own routines, even an occasional get-together with an old friend seems like a chore sometimes.
Most of my friends and I stay in touch via email, but even those messages are few and far between. One friend and I exchange links to sites we think the other will like ---rarely even write a short personal message.
Later this year, an old friend from across the country and I plan to take a trip together. We worked outside of the country for a while. Over the years, we have discussed returning to visit former students --and finally, after 40+ years, it is going to happen. Yet, in those 40 years, we have seen each other only 3 other times. I have kept in touch with only 2 of the 50 or so Americans i was close to then. But our shared (and very unique) experience have kept our friendships going.
Re: Loneliness
If one of us leaves home for a trip ---it is usually me. When I'm away, I don't miss my husband ---because I'm traveling, seeing the sites, attending a conference. But on the rare occasions when he is away, I miss him terribly.
But I rarely feel alone or lonely, even on days when my husband and I spend most of the day apart. I am comfortable with myself. I write a lot and create art work ---which transports me outside of myself. Books are often my best, albeit temporary, friends.
- May 23, 2011 1:19 AM
- The Tusk said...
Sorry I haven't written you in so long, but to spill your guts to get me to open up and write again, is beyond anything I would have done for you. I must now re- assess our relationship, it may not turn out to be the better for wear, but at least we are both moving forward, may be I too can open up and build upon what you have started here.
maybe not.
What I simply want to say is this.
I wish you had used bullet points instead of spacing your sentences as if they were paragraphs. My daughter a recent college graduate in education tells me as I write my Fairy tale, 'Dad' She says 'paragraphs generally have 3 to 4 sentences in them.'
Most recently I have been listening to a song from 9 crimes.
The words are about cheating it goes like this 'How am I supposed to hold your Gun, if you don't shoot it',.
Well Snow, you shot your Gun with this post, I'd be happy to hold it for you if you need.
I wonder if you ever heard of Genya Raven, Urban Desire, its mostly a gutsy Bluesy New York Experience from the 60's predates Rickie Lee Jones. I'm just wondering from your trappings where the similarities of the female voice might land.
- May 26, 2011 10:02 AM
- nollyposh said...
"All I can figure is that my readers have come to expect a high level of forthrightness about what many people would consider to be inflammatory topics." ...Yep! and we still loves ya X;-)
- May 26, 2011 4:21 PM
- The Tusk said...
here is a brief quote from emersons self reliance, of which I am now reading. Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
- May 27, 2011 7:59 AM
- Vagabonde said...
I enjoy reading your posts – you are genuine and honest. I have few friends and don't see any regularly – and I don't miss it. I get all my friendship needs via my blog now and enjoy it a lot.
I have been away for the last three weeks and read your past posts. One thing I heard several times in the countries I visited (Belgium, Austria and France) was that people think the people in the US are hypocrites. I was surprised really. But several times I heard that – many said the same thing – they said that people here are over religious but don't care about the homeless, the poor or people who are not like them.
I hope that your pain is getting milder – life is not so much fun when you have a lot of physical pain.
- May 28, 2011 7:19 PM
- Phoenix said...
Very thought provoking post, it's fascinating to hear some of your back story and personal history. I feel like I know even better where you are coming from.
I hope you've been well these days and are recovering quickly.
- June 09, 2011 4:14 PM
- Linda said...
I recently moved from California to a tiny town in Oklahoma and having no friends, I started a blog. I've found I am more happy with my blog friends, and know more about them, than with any of my old friends. Okay, maybe there are 2 or 3 real life people who I still talk with and consider friends.
I usually am more lonely in groups than I am alone. I saw someone say that in a comment above, but it is something I normally say regardless.
You must have a lot of virtual friends, judging from your comments.
- June 12, 2011 10:50 AM


text:
Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) Q4 2013 Earnings Call February 27, 2014 10:00 AM ET
Kelly A. Vanderboom - Vice President and Treasurer
J. Joel Quadracci - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
John C. Fowler - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
David J. Honan - Chief Accounting Officer, Vice President and Controller
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Quad/Graphics Fourth Quarter 2013 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the conference call over to Mr. Kelly Vanderboom, Vice President and Treasurer of Quad/Graphics. Kelly, please go ahead.
Kelly A. Vanderboom
Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. With me today are Joel Quadracci, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; John Fowler, incoming Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President; and Dave Honan, incoming Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer. Joel will lead off today with an overview of our financial highlights and then provide us summary of our key focus areas. John will follow with a more detailed review of our fourth quarter and full year 2013 financial results, followed by a summary of our 2014 guidance by Dave Honan.
With the exception of certain debt ratios, prior year financial results do not include the acquisition of Vertis. All actual 2013 results include Vertis from the day of acquisition on January 16, 2013.
I would like to remind everyone that this call is being webcast, and forward-looking statements are subject to Safe Harbor provisions as outlined in our quarterly news release and in today's slide presentation. Our financial results are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. However, this presentation also contains non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, recurring free cash flow, and debt leverage ratio. We have included in the slide presentation reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures. In addition, we are amending our non-GAAP financial measures to now include free cash flow as opposed to recurring free cash flow. Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities, including pension contributions less purchases of property, plant and equipment. In speaking with our investors, it is clear, there is a preference for repeating or recording free cash flow. We believe that this is an applicable measure moving forward as it provides a true picture of cash available to fund our key strategic initiatives reduced at pension liabilities and return capital to our shareholders. The slide presentation can be accessed through a link on the Investor Relations section of the Quad/Graphics' website. There are also detailed instructions on how to access the slide presentation in our fourth quarter earnings news release, issued last evening. A replay of the call will also be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website after the live call concludes today. I will now turn the call over to Joel.
J. Joel Quadracci
Thanks, Kelly, and good morning, everyone. I am pleased to report that our performance was in line with our expectations. Full year 2013 net sales were $4.8 billion, as expected. Volume, price and revenue were in line with our fourth quarter expectations and due to a focused effort to improve productivity and aggressively manage cost, we saw sequential improvement over our third quarter performance. This resulted in 2013 full year adjusted EBITDA of $577 million. Our ability to generate strong free cash flow is critical to the success of our capital deployment strategy. I'm pleased to report that our 2013 annual recurring free cash flow of $380 million met our reported guidance of in excess of $360 million, continuing our track record of solid and consistent cash flow generation.
As Kelly noted, we are amending our non-GAAP financial measures to now include free cash flow as opposed to recurring free cash flow, and John will speak to this transition later in the call. As always, we remain flexible and opportunistic in terms of our future plans for capital deployment, which include balancing our key priorities to invest in our business, pursue compelling acquisition opportunities, reduce debt and pension liabilities and return capital to our shareholders.
During the year, we reduced our pension obligations by $191 million and since the close of Worldcolor acquisition in 2010, by a total of $360 million. I am pleased to report that we have met our 2013 year-end goal of reducing our underfunded pension liabilities, including multiemployer pension plans to less than $200 million. In addition, after the acquisition of Vertis, we continue to reduce our debt and as of December 31, 2013, our debt leverage ratio decreased to 2.44x within our targeted range of 2x to 2.5x.
Slide 4 is a snapshot of our 2013 net sales by product line and geography as compared to 2009. From the comparative pie charts, you can see that as we have grown our company, we have diversified our offering. In 2009, magazine and catalogs were our largest product lines at 57% of total net sales, while retail inserts were just 8%. In 2013, magazines and catalogs decreased to 33% from total net sales while retail inserts grew to 26%. We will continue to diversify our offering and focus on clearly defining our value proposition to support the unique characteristics of our product lines. In retail inserts, for example, we now work with 18 out of the top 20 retailers in the United States. With our coast-to-coast national platform of 30 strategically located facilities in the U.S., we have the ability to version and produce distinctive retail insert formats closest to their final destination point. We could augment the insert with data-driven direct mail pieces to promote brand loyalty and engagement. In addition, through our Media Solutions offering, we can help our retail client connect their content to the web, tablet and mobile channels, develop workflow solutions to streamline content management and page assembly workflows, achieve cost savings through on site facilities management services and strategically plan and place media based on store locations and market analysis. Given the disruption taking place in the retail marketplace, we believe that our Media Solutions help position Quad/Graphics as a valued strategic partner. In addition, our in-store Marketing Solutions Group called Tempt in-store productions is another valuable resource for our retail clients. Tempt tells retailers and brand marketers of all kinds create enticing in-store marketing displays, including interactive elements. As you may have seen, Tempt just announced an enhancement to its creative and structural design capabilities with the launch of a North American Design Center North -- New Berlin, Wisconsin. The Design Center features a retail lab with a dedicated prototyping zone where clients can develop and test ideas to drive increased shopper engagement and revenue. This new design center is part of our global platform for serving national and multinational retailers' in-store marketing needs around the world from our facilities in the United States, as well as Europe and Latin America.
Slide 5 is a summary of our 4 strategic goals, which we believe, will allow us to successful despite ongoing industry challenges. Our strategy to transform the industry is tailored by product line and geography, but is also driven by a common purpose to create value in 3 distinct ways. First, we maximize the revenue our clients derive from their marketing spend through media channel integration to create measurable client value. Channel integration is something that I spend a lot of time talking about with our clients in the marketplace. What I hear from our clients on a consistent basis is a growing concern around an ever changing media landscape and their ability to connect all channels together and impact consumer behavior. As a printer and media channel integrator, we have the tools and capabilities to help our clients navigate today's multichannel world by capitalizing on print's ability to complement and connect with other media channels. We do this by leveraging the power of print with data and analytics and leading edge technology to help our clients retain their existing customers and acquire new ones through higher brand visibility and improved response rates.
The second key way we create value for our clients is based on our ability to minimize our clients' overall cost of production and distribution. This has become increasingly important because distribution and mailing costs typically represent the largest percentage of our clients' total cost of production. The U.S. Postal Service continues to face massive financial challenges, which it is attempting to overcome in large part with a sizable postage rate increase. On January 26, a 6% postage rate increase went into effect, which included the expected annual Consumer Price Index increase of nearly 1.7%, plus an additional emergency or exigent increase of 4.3%. The exigent increase was approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission as a temporary measure for the Postal Service to recoup revenue loss during the 2008 recession. The Postal Service claimed the economic downturn constituted an unforeseen condition that justified an increase above the CPI cap. The increase was to be phased out after roughly 2 years when the Postal Service recovered what it had lost. However, earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which oversees legislation affecting the Postal Service advanced a bill to make the temporary emergency rate increase permanent. If approved by the Senate and subsequently by the House, this will create a new, higher baseline for all future rate increases. We opposed both the exigent decision and disagree with the rationale for the decision. The Postal Service's action show a fundamental disconnect with mailers and the mailing marketplace. We believe that the current increase should not be used as the new baseline as it will more than likely reduce demand in the near term, further exacerbating the Postal Service's financial challenges. Further, the committee's proposed legislation would weaken the Postal Regulatory Commission's rate-setting role, giving the Postal Service power to set rates in the future. We firmly believe that as a monopoly, the Postal Service should continue to have PRC oversight to ensure the rate-making process is open and fair. We have joined with a number of mailers to challenge the exigent rate decision in court. Additionally, we have made our opposition to the Senate legislation known through direct outreach to legislators and through our participation in the coalition for 21st Century Postal Service, the Affordable Mail Alliance, the Direct Marketing Association, the Association of Magazine Media and other industry coalitions working to provide affordable postage rates. Our message is clear: Congress needs to pass meaningful reforms that will provide the Postal Service with the authority to streamline operations, drive innovation and better manage health care cost to give it long-term financial stability.
As an industry leader, we will continue to push for postal reforms while helping our clients capitalize on solutions that offset postage costs. Given the exigent increase, our co-mailing and co-mingling solutions have become even more important than ever to our clients and prospective clients. The co-mail process merges multiple magazine and catalog titles into a single mail stream to earn a sizable postal discounts. Co-mingling is similar, merging letter-size direct mail from multiple marketers into a single mail stream. The more volume we combine into a single mail stream, the greater the postage savings for our clients. One of our competitive advantages is our unique software that analyzes clients' incoming mail files from across our entire network, so we can optimize mail distribution plans by pairing the right client titles together based on delivery location and dates, among other data. Quad/Graphics is the co-mail volume leader in the industry. In 2013, we co-mailed approximately 5 billion mail pieces, including magazines, catalogs and letter-size mail. We will continue to look for innovative ways to generate co-mail savings for our clients. We have spent more than 3 decades building the technology and the platform to generate every savings opportunity possible, which is what our clients need most, right now. Our ability to select and successfully carry out industry consolidation opportunities represents the final component of our strategy to transform the industry and create value for our clients.
Given the challenges facing the industry, we believe our modern and efficient manufacturing platform and financial strength provide us with a distinctive competitive advantage. Industry challenges began to accelerate with the 2008 recession, creating a reset in demand, significant excess capacity and ultimately consolidation opportunities like Worldcolor. The key issue has been the industry pricing pressures that come with excess capacity. These industry pressures are something we discuss on each of our investor calls, along with our strategy to invest in the productivity and efficiency of our manufacturing platform, consolidate facilities and transfer work to the most efficient equipment to offset these pressures. We believe that the industry is now at a tipping point and the acquisition of Vertis was the first example of that in the industry. At the end of the day, printers across our industry are producing the same work for fewer dollars, a challenge that the industry has had and will continue to have as it goes through this tipping point. Although the exact inflection point for our industry is uncertain, we have been and will continue to take advantage of compelling opportunities during this critical time in the industry. The good news for Quad/Graphics and our shareholders is that our strong financial position continues to provide us with the ability to capitalize on further consolidation opportunities. Since 2010, we have removed approximately 7 million square feet of industry capacity. Through these opportunities, we have and will continue to expand into new markets or add complementary capabilities and create significant efficiencies in our overall production and distribution process. A perfect example of this strategy was our 2013 acquisition of Vertis. We recently passed our one-year mark on this acquisition and the integration process is going well.
I am proud of all the hard work by so many employees to advance the integration forward, and I'm pleased to report that we remain on track to achieve our integration goals. We are very satisfied with our decision to acquire Vertis, which expanded our position in retail inserts, direct marketing and in-store signage and displays thereby expanding our relationship with major retailers who are looking for help connecting print in a multichannel world. We remain confident in our integration process to drive future cost savings and improve the efficiency and productivity of our platform.
Our second strategic goal focuses on maximizing operational and technological excellence. Due to a disciplined return on capital approach to investments, we believe, we have one of the most automated, efficient, modern manufacturing platforms in the industry. In addition, our commitment to lean enterprise, which reinforces our corporate culture of continuous process improvement, remains a high priority throughout our company and supports maintaining our position as a high-quality, low-cost producer in the industry. As a company, we've remained focused on training, education and development of our workforce, maintaining a disciplined approach to maximizing capacity utilization and productivity across our platforms and identifying sustainable cost reductions in both indirect labor and direct costs through a variety of means, including automation, efficient labor management, material waste reduction, total productive maintenance and expediting plant throughput.
Our third strategic goal focuses on our ability to empower, engage and develop our employees to think and act like owners, and create solutions that advance the company's strategic goal. To help employees, we provide training and education programs throughout their careers. Much of this training is exclusively developed for our employees by our Quad/Education division along with our continuous improvement of safety groups. In addition, at a time of extreme disruption in the health care industry, we continue to invest in QuadMed to improve access to high-quality, cost-effective health care through a combination of on-site-insured clinics, telemedicine and workplace wellness and disease prevention programs for our employees and their dependents.
Our fourth strategic goal is to enhance financial strength and create shareholder value. This strategy is centered on our ability to maximize free cash flow and earnings, maintain consistent financial policies to ensure a strong balance sheet and liquidity level, and retain the financial flexibility we need to strategically allocate and deploy capital. As we have said, our priorities for capital allocation will be adjusted based on prevailing circumstances in what we believe is best for shareholder value creation at any particular point in time. These priorities include divesting in our business, deleveraging the company's balance sheet through debt and pension reductions and returning capital to our shareholders through our quarterly dividend program. We are maintaining our dividend at the current level, and we will continue to evaluate increasing it in the future, as appropriate. Our next quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share will be payable on March 21, 2014 to shareholders of record as March 12, 2014.
As it relates to our investment strategy, our plans have not changed. We continue to focus on strengthening the core of our business, which will allow us to grow in a disciplined approach in areas that include the compelling industry consolidation opportunities that I spoke of earlier, as well as opportunities to expand growing geographic markets in print products with higher growth potential. Our core product offering, which includes retail inserts, magazines, catalogs, books and directories fuels the company's ability to execute on acquisitions.
During the fourth quarter, we welcomed Proteus Packaging into our family. Proteus is a designer and manufacturer of high-end paperboard packaging and a natural extension of our growing packaging business. Proteus offers creative packaging solutions for a wide variety of industries, including pharmaceutical, health and beauty, food and beverage, biotech, automotive, software and electronics. We also acquired Proteus' sister company Transpack, a company that specializes in industrial packaging and international logistics. Both companies are based in Wisconsin and have a combined net sales of approximately $35 million.
In addition, at the beginning of this month, we closed on the acquisition of UniGraphic, a leading commercial and specialty printing company with annual revenue of approximately $45 million. UniGraphic has facilities in Boston and New York and offers commercial and specialty printing, in-store marketing and kitting and fulfillment solutions for a variety of industries, including arts and entertainment, education, financial, food, health care, mass media, pharmaceutical and retail. The acquisition of UniGraphic supports our strategy to invest in businesses with print product lines with higher growth potential, such as commercial and specialty in in-store marketing. With this acquisition, we strengthened and expanded our presence on the East Coast, and expanded our in-store marketing footprint to include both coasts, as well as the Midwest. This, combined with our operations in Poland and Latin America, enhances our ability to service national and multinational retailers, large format and in-store marketing needs around the world. It is important to note when reviewing opportunities by Proteus and UniGraphic [indiscernible] value driven approach to ensure that certain criteria are met before the opportunity is selected. This criteria includes making certain that there's a good strategic fit that the economics makes sense and will create value that the integration plan will be executable in a timely manner, and then after the acquisition, we'll retain the financial strength and flexibility we had prior to the acquisition. And, so I'd like to welcome all employees from Proteus, Transpac and UniGraphic to our Quad/Graphics family. And with that, I will now hand the call over to John who will present a more detailed financial review of 2013 followed by Dave Honan who will provide 2014 annual guidance.
John C. Fowler
Thanks, Joel, and good morning, everyone. Slide 6 is a snapshot of our fourth quarter 2013 financial results, including Vertis as compared to our fourth quarter 2012 results. Net sales were $1.3 billion as compared to $1.1 billion, representing a 19% increase due to the Vertis acquisition. If we look at the Vertis business as if we acquired it at the beginning of 2012, our pro forma consolidated net sales declined approximately 5%, of which we estimate Vertis represented nearly 1/2 of this decrease. The remaining decline related to our core business and reflects top line challenges from ongoing industry pressures. Overall, this variance is in line with our net sales expectations for the quarter.
Cost of sales is $1 billion as compared to $872 million. SG&A expense was $103 million as compared to $87 million. Depreciation and amortization was $82 million as compared to $86 million. Restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges were $12 million in 2013, which included $1 million of noncash charges. In comparison, restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges were $31 million in 2012, which included $9 million of noncash charges. Excluding the noncash amounts, restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges for the fourth quarter decreased from $22 million in 2012 to $11 million in 2013. Interest expense was $21 million as compared to $20 million. Our adjusted EBITDA was $198 million as compared to $174 million. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 14.7% as compared to 15.3%. Our adjusted EBITDA margin reflects the hard work of many to overcome the impact of ongoing industry pricing and volume pressure and Vertis' historical lower margin profile. As Joel mentioned, we are proud of our consistent recurring free cash flow, and the work we are doing to maintain a strong and flexible balance sheet. Our recurring free cash flow was $380 million for 2013 as compared to $375 million in 2012. This variance is primarily due to approximately $90 million of additional cash generated from the restoration of normalized working capital related to the Vertis acquisition, partially offset by increased capital expenditures of $46 million and $39 million of other decreases to recurring free cash flow. We define recurring free cash flow as cash flow from operating activities, which includes pension contributions, less capital spending and excluding nonrecurring items, such as restructuring and transaction-related costs. Going forward, the company is amending its non-GAAP financial measures to report free cash flow instead of recurring free cash flow. We believe, this is an appropriate measure moving forward as it provides a true picture of the cash available to invest in our business, including funding compelling acquisition opportunities, reduce debt and pension liabilities and return capital to our shareholders. Free cash flow was defined as net cash provided by operating activities, which includes pension contributions less purchases of property, plant and equipment. Free cash flow, including restructuring payments and excluding the approximately $90 million impact of Vertis working capital restoration was $202 million for 2013.
On Slide 8, you will see our interest coverage ratio at December 31, 2013 remains unchanged at 6.7x, and our quarter-end debt leverage is 2.44x. We continue to believe that operating in the 2.0x to 2.5x leverage range is the appropriate target. However, we acknowledge that at times we may go above or below that range given economic changes, working capital seasonality, timing of investments and growth opportunities. Our strong annual free cash flow provides us with the ability to invest in our business, deleverage the company's balance sheet through debt and pension reductions, and return capital to our shareholders. Since the close of the Worldcolor acquisition on July 2, 2010, and after funding the Vertis acquisition, we have reduced debt by a total of $388 million through December 31, 2013. As it relates to our pension liability, we are proud of the progress, we continue to make in reducing the pension and postretirement liabilities that we acquired as part of the Worldcolor acquisition. From our July 2, 2010, acquisition date through December 31, 2013, we have reduced the $547 million of acquired pension and postretirement liabilities by $360 million to $187 million.
At the top of Slide 9, you will note that we have $210 million of borrowings under our $850 million revolver as of December 31, 2013. Our floating-rate debt today is at an average interest rate of 3.1%. Long-term fixed rate debt consisting of private placement bonds is at an average interest rate of 7.4% and has an average maturity of 10 years with a weighted average life of 6 years. The blended interest rate on our total debt is 4.7% and the outstanding principal balances are 63% floating and 37% fixed. We have no significant debt maturity until July 2017.
Given the flexibility on the revolver, and our strong free cash flow, we believe, we have sufficient liquidity for current business needs, returning capital to shareholders and investing in opportunities that will drive future value.
Slide 10 is a snapshot of our full year 2013 financial results, as compared to 2012. Net sales were $4.8 billion as compared to $4.1 billion, cost of sales were $3.8 billion as compared to $3.2 billion, SG&A expense was $416 million as compared to $347 million, depreciation and amortization was $341 million as compared to $339 million.
Restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges were $95 million in 2013, which included $20 million of noncash charges. In comparison, restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges were $118 million in 2012, which included $10 million of noncash charges. Excluding the noncash amounts, restructuring, impairment and transaction-related charges for the year decreased from $108 million in 2012 to $75 million in 2013. Interest expense was $86 million as compared to $84 million. As Joel mentioned, our adjusted EBITDA was $577 million versus $566 million. Our 2013 adjusted EBITDA included a number of events that benefited 2013 results by approximately $19 million. These event-driven impacts included the sale of our Recife, Brazil business to a joint venture in which we maintain an ownership interest, the resolution of certain legal, environmental and bankruptcy matters; and other favorable nonrecurring adjustments. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 12% as compared to 13.8%.
I will now hand the call to Dave Honan, our Vice President and incoming Chief Financial Officer, for an update on 2014 guidance.
David J. Honan
Thank you, John, and good morning, everyone. Slide 11 is the summary of our 2014 guidance. The assumptions impacting our earnings guidance for 2014 are as follows: First, as Joel discussed in his opening remarks, we expect industry pricing pressure to continue in 2014. Part of the price impact in 2014 resulted from our renewal of a larger-than-normal number of multiyear magazine and catalog customer contracts in 2013. The value of the contracts renewed in 2013 were twice as large as our typical renewal year, and will impact pricing throughout 2014. We will have a significant step-down in exposure on multiyear contract renewals over the next couple of years. Including the impact of the 2013 contract year renewals, we believe pricing will negatively impact our net sales by 1% to 2%, which is consistent with our prior year guidance. Had we not have the larger-than-normal renewals, pricing would have trended below the low end of our range.
Second, we believe that the exigent postal rate increase will have a negative impact on volumes, primarily in the second half of 2014 for products distributed through the mail. We have assumed a decrease in volume of approximately 2% of our mail products, which includes catalogs. However, the actual impact on volumes is unknown at this point.
Finally, as John mentioned, we had $19 million of favorable event-driven impact that occurred in 2013 that will not repeat in 2014. With that said, we anticipate our net sales to be in a range of $4.6 billion to $4.8 billion. In addition, we expect 2014 adjusted EBITDA to be between $520 million and $550 million, and 2014 free cash flow to be between $155 million and $165 million. As mentioned earlier on the call, the company is amending its non-GAAP financial measures to report free cash flow, which replaces our previous use of the recurring free cash flow metric. The remainder of our 2014 guidance includes depreciation and amortization of $330 million to $340 million; interest expense of $80 million to $85 million; cash restructuring charges of $35 million to $55 million; and capital expenditures of $150 million to $175 million, which includes a $17 million carryover from 2013 projects that have yet to be completed, and cash taxes of $40 million to $45 million. We expect the cash contributions to our single-employer pension OPEB and MEPP plans to be approximately $60 million, and this consists of $45 million of payments for single-employer and OPEB plan, and $15 million for MEPP plan. These contributions totaled $55 million in 2013.
As Joel highlighted, we are pleased to have accomplished our goal of reducing our underfunded pension and MEPP liability to be below $200 million. Our consistent financial approach is the key to our continued ability to reduce our pension and debt obligations and further strengthen our balance sheet. As we move forward in this challenging industry environment, we continue to be disciplined in how we manage all aspects of our business, especially driving improved productivity and sustainable cost reduction initiatives to remain a low-cost producer. We will continue our focus on maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet to adjust to changing industry conditions while also investing in our business, including compelling acquisition opportunities and returning capital to our shareholders as evidenced by our quarterly dividend.
Before, I hand it back to Joel, I'd like to thank John for helping me out these past few years as we prepared for this transition. I'm excited to be [indiscernible] named the CFO and look forward to working with Joel, John and the rest of our executive leadership team on our long-term plans for continued success.
J. Joel Quadracci
Thanks, Dave, and congratulations on your expanded role. I would also like to congratulate and thank John Fowler who is transitioning to Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President after serving as our CFO for 34 years. Throughout all these years, John has been instrumental in developing, implementing and financing the company's profitable growth, both domestically and abroad. Going forward, John will be responsible for global strategic planning and business development. He will continue to be intimately involved in day-to-day operations, but with a concentrated focus on overall business strategy and investment opportunities that will drive our company's long-term success and ensure industry-leading position. This has been a long planned succession strategy that begun roughly 8 years ago, and his ongoing strategic role at the company will ensure a smooth transition on its financial responsibilities. I would now like to turn the call back to the operator who will facilitate taking your questions. Operator?
Question-and-Answer Session
[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Haran Posner.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
So a few questions for me, maybe just I'll start with your guidance. And, maybe you did give us some color, I think, you ran us through some of the numbers fairly quick. I just wanted to confirm, first with respect to EBITDA. I think, John you alluded to, correct me if I'm wrong, $19 million of sort of onetime benefits in '13 that will not occur next year. Can you just give us a little bit more color on that?
David J. Honan
Sure, Haran. This is Dave. From a nonrecurring standpoint, we had several event-driven things that happened in 2013 that won't repeat in '14. We -- as part of the restructuring activities, we've sold off a lot of vacant facilities. Assigned with those vacant facilities were some environmental issues that freed up some reserve related to environmental reserves around that we sold those, that's the largest piece of the difference we're talking about. There was also some event-driven activities with legal and bankruptcy matters related to the Worldcolor bankruptcy, in which we assumed as part of that acquisition. There was a lot of resolution on that, and that freed up some of the bankruptcy and legal reserves associated with that. I think, finally, the other major component of that was a sale of our business that we had in Recife, Brazil to the existing joint venture we have in Brazil, and that accounted for a gain that came through in 2013. Those items won't repeat in '14, but that made up the bulk of what that $19 million is all about.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
And just to clarify, David, I mean those $19 million, that's all in the EBITDA?
David J. Honan
That is all in EBITDA.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Okay, all right. And then another question on the USPS and, I think, you gave us some good color there in terms of your underlying assumptions, I guess, in your guidance. I just wanted to clarify with the postage rate increase. For you guys, obviously, there is risk to volume, but you do pass that cost through to your customers. Is that correct?
J. Joel Quadracci
Yes, that's correct. That's incurred by them.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Okay. So potentially, you could see, I guess, this been a short-term positive from a revenue standpoint and a negative for margin?
J. Joel Quadracci
No, it doesn't go through our revenue line. It's actually the customer is being billed directly from the USPS. What we do for the customers to mitigate this stuff is we perform the co-mailing and distribution function where we try and skip most of the post office to provide them with the most efficient way to hand it off the post office, but ultimately, the postage bill is billed directly to them, and not through us.
David J. Honan
Yes. Haran, our point in our guidance was that we expect, every time, the USPS would take a large increase in the postal rates, that's going to impact ultimately what our customers put through the mail, and would impact our ultimate printing volumes, but what Joel was referring to is we've got strategies to help our customers offset that increase postage cost through our co-mailing and co-mingling operation.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Got it. And, maybe just when I look down the guidance items in -- on free cash flow and most of them came in a little bit worse than I had expected and maybe that's my fault but, I guess, I'm just wondering, not sure there's another way to ask is there sort of a degree of conservatism that you feel that you built into this guidance for next year?
John C. Fowler
We think, the guidance is adequate. I don't think I'd call it conservative. I think, it's typical and consistent with how we've guided in the past. I know there's been some reaction to free cash flow, but on an apples-to-apples basis, it's important to go through this because we made that change to how we define free cash flow rather than recurring free cash flow. If you get on an apples-to-apples basis, 2013's free cash flow was $202 million, and we're guiding to the mid range of 160 if you took the middle of that range. The decreases in the free cash flow is really going to be aligned with what you see and the decrease in our adjusted EBITDA range. We will have larger CapEx expenditures. We will have larger taxes, cash taxes, but that's offset within lower cash restructuring needs as we've gotten through the bulk of our restructuring associated with the acquisition activity that's come through with the largest being that of Vertis. So as we look forward, if you look at the trends in that free cash flow, also it's important to note that there will be some decreasing cash needs related to a couple of areas, the largest of which was -- is the pension plan. We think, we're at a height now on cash contribution, so we continue to see the cash contributions associated with pension plan come down in the future along with -- we're probably at a height on CapEx. If you look at a 3-year historical average for our CapEx, we're above that. We expect to come more back to a normalized historical level on CapEx. So those are some positive factors impacting cash flows, moving forward.
J. Joel Quadracci
This is Joel. Let me also just further comment and point out because this is important for people to understand this that the guidance on the EBITDA range being lower, a very significant factor in that is the fact that with long-term contracts, every year you have a certain portion of your portfolio that gets repriced in that year for the following years. And, in 2013, we had a significantly large portion compared to what we normally experience that came up for repricing. It was more than twice what we usually experience. And, so that being said, they got repriced last year, but that impact is in '14 and beyond. So we kind of know that. If you would have taken out the noise of that, and it had a more normalized contract renewal rate, the actual pricing reduction that we would've seen would have been under the low end of our range of 1% to 2%. And, as we go forward in 2014, the amount of those long-term contracts that are facing potential repricing is 50% of what it was in 2013, and so that would sort of speak to that -- it was sort of an abnormal year for repricing, and so that's why when you look at the drop in EBITDA, a huge part of that is the repricing of that portion.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
And, that's very, very helpful, Joel. And maybe just a follow-up on that. In these contracts, can you help me understand, there are sort of inflation clauses in them, going forward, after the reprice happens?
David J. Honan
Yes, it kind of ranges all over. Typically, it's some sort of -- and it depends on the product type and the degree of difficulty going through the plant and the degree of exposure to cost and things like that, but typically, it's associated with what happens with CPI. Some other things, such as freight and even ink and materials isn't CPI. It's more based on pass-through, but in terms of the normal running of our business, it's typically some sort of linkage to CPI.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Okay, that's great. And then just maybe pursuing the CapEx issue and, I guess, also an item that was harder than I expected and you're saying a sort of at a height at this point. I'm just wondering if there is sort of you can help us with guidance, going forward, and maybe as a CapEx intensity number, a percentage of revenue that you would expect, and I guess the reason I ask is Donnelley had their Investor Day, yesterday, and I don't cover that company, but it seems like the CapEx intensity guidance that they provided, specifically in the business lines that, I think, you guys are in, seems a little bit lower, and so, I guess, I'm just wondering, if you can help us with going forward what we should expect.
J. Joel Quadracci
Absolutely. And, we've historically been higher than Donnelley in which we invest back into our platforms of being an organically grown company up through 3 years or 3 or 4 years ago. When you look at what we spend on capital expenditures, we spend about 3% of our top line on CapEx and that's what you see in the guidance for 2014. If you broke that down, 1.5% to 2% of that is maintenance CapEx. So, if we were to need to fluctuate, we could pull that down a bit and 1% approximately is for growth CapEx in our business. So, we continually balance that, we look at what the growth and productivity needs are for our platform and continue to make decisions that are right balanced approach to how we position our business, going forward, as a low-cost producer.
John C. Fowler
And, some of that CapEx, you think about the needs of our clients, they need us to be able to do more variable printing. They need us to increase the amount of co-mailing we can do, and so we continue to invest in the things that our customers need.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Okay, that's all very helpful, and one other question with respect to, I guess, Donnelley's purchase of Consolidated Graphics. I'm wondering if this consolidation creates any opportunities for you in that particular space that you can see.
J. Joel Quadracci
Well, I don't know that, I mean, sure, it's a competitive market out there, but, I think, that's an example of the tipping point the industry is going through. You had us with Worldcolor, you've had us with Vertis, Donnelley's consolidating with Consolidated Graphics, but we've been building around our commercial platform for a while now, just after we did Worldcolor, we acquired a commercial printer not as large as CGX, but over time here, we've been building that around the needs of our clients and UniGraphic is an example of that. Again, I think, it's more for us the opportunity is the stuff we hear our customers talk about, which is -- help us navigate this new media landscape, as we go forward in commercial and in-store and all the things that our platform brings to us is been the result of the acquisitions that we do, but the result of what they're asking us to do. So yes, we play in the same spaces, but, I think, that it's pretty much everyone is kind of focusing on the customer's needs.
Haran Posner - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Appreciate that. John, maybe just last one for me here. With respect to the recently announced management changes that you alluded to. Obviously, all sounds like a natural transition within the company. I guess, just the one question here that I have and, I think, I know the answer, but you did create a new role for a Chief Operating Officer and, I guess, I just wanted to hear from you, Joel, that really you are in no way kind of stepping back from the business here and sort of continue to be very involved.
J. Joel Quadracci
Why would I want to leave 2 degrees in Wisconsin today? No. Look, it's a natural evolution of our business. Some of the changes I made was just a natural timing point of being able to align and provide the focus to the different business segments that we've been in. In -- the biggest part of our business, which would be retail and then publication and catalog, we've all been very involved in it, it's a matrixed organization because that's where all the integration is taking place or most of it. And, so now that we're predominantly beyond the halfway point of the Vertis integration, and we've done all the work on Worldcolor, it was a good opportunity now to sort of align and have GMs be put in place to focus on those 2 as we kind of go forward. The chief operating role is little bit boiled frog routine as well, as Tom Frankowski who is been a long-time partner of mine who has been running the manufacturing side for the business because as we had so many moving parts, but it's a natural point now for me to kind of hand over more responsibility on the core print product lines because as goes the sort of core, our ability to continue to be low-cost producer there helps us fuel the other things that we're doing in the business. And, so I really wanted to make sure that we have the right focus in the core and also make sure that I have the time and ability to look at where do we deploy that capital. And, so I've been spending a lot of time on obviously looking at the potential of consolidating acquisitions or new opportunities in things, such as packaging when we talked about Proteus and a little sleeper thing that we have, which has been a real help for our shareholders by reducing our health care cost to our employees as QuadMed, which happens to be in an area that the world is being disrupted and that's health care, and so we've actually been growing that business on the outside. And, then we're going to continue to have opportunities around the world. So, it's really -- we're almost a $5 billion company now, and it was a recognition on my side that I want to make sure I have the right focuses in the right place, and then make sure I'm focused in the right place for our shareholders' growth to really deploy that capital and continue to have a very long-term approach here. But, no, I'm definitely not going anywhere, I'm a big shareholder of this company. And, I've got 2 sisters and a brother to keep happy along with 25,000 employees. And so, no, this was all about the next evolution in our company.
Your next question comes from the line of Jamie Clement.
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
A list of random assembly somewhat related questions. On the third quarter call and press release, you called out Vertis as being not quite where you thought it might be when you started the year. Not a lot of commentary in print, not a lot of commentary about Vertis in your prepared remarks. Can I ask for an update there in terms of how that business is doing vis-à-vis expectations, let's say 12 months ago?
J. Joel Quadracci
And, just to clarify, in third quarter, what we have been talking about was not whether or not the acquisition was living up to expectations, it was production in the platform. And, what we knew as we did the Worldcolor deal that had gone through bankruptcy and came out and Vertis obviously -- this was their third bankruptcy, and so leading up to the stuff, one of the things that people really pulled back on is maintenance of the platform. And, so as you recall, we closed the deal in second week of January last year, and so right away as soon as we closed and cleared HSR all that stuff, we've really hit the ground hard to try and bring those presses -- that equipment up to speed which requires us to really kind of make up for several years of only fixing things when they break. The way we operated is about total productive maintenance, which means that you schedule in maintenance time so that when you are running and you need the equipment to run, it's not breaking. So, we could -- we got a lot of work done in the first part of the year, but as we got to the busy season, you sort of have to stop because that's -- especially in retail it's very back-half-focused, the platform gets loaded up to a high capacity utilization. And, what happened in the third quarter, as we started to see the results of not being able to be at the place we wanted to be, given if we were given more time before the busy season. So, we had a lot of equipment kind of breaking down and what that does is it causes snowball effect where you have to expedite shipping, you need to ship things around. And, so as you kind of look at the fourth quarter, we really got to a point where that stuff worked itself through the system and in third quarter, I think, we said that we're doing a lot of work to try to improve the situation and that actually happened. And, so now we feel that we're in a much better place. Actually, in fourth quarter, we were in a much better place of being able to perform without added cost, and on a go forward basis, we continued now to go with our regular systemic program of upgrading the capacity, so that come busy season next year, we don't have the same issues.
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
And, when you say upgrading the capacity, are you talking about cherry picking equipment as sort of the phrase you used a couple of years ago with respect to Worldcolor, you're not talking about substantial additional capital investments, are you?
J. Joel Quadracci
No. I think, no, I mean there's some here and there. I mean, we've created capabilities for retail and plants that previously didn't do retail because that helps our customers, but mostly as we've closed some plants and consolidated equipment to other facilities, good equipment, we're continuing on with that. When I talk about sort of bringing the platform up to speed, it's really about making sure that we catch up on all the maintenance issues and have the right equipment there. So now, it's not like an increase in capital expenditure outside what the guidelines...
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Yes, no, yes, it didn't sound like that. Okay. Joel, one of the things about -- and, I think, you all report a little bit on the late side as far as earnings seasons goes and, I think, one of the things, one of the big stories of this earnings season has been how lousy commentary from major retailers have been. And, from a modeling perspective or just from an expectation perspective, we all know that your first half is obviously tremendously seasonally weaker than your second half. But, I know you came from the sales channels within Quad and obviously, you talk to large customers all the time, you served many different industries, but in commercial printing, in general, retail is very important. Have you seen evidence of a knee-jerk pullback in ad spending whether this is weather-related, whether it's an overrated consumer economy, we'll find out in a couple of months, but the fact is that numbers have been bad generally speaking out of retail, what are your thoughts as a printer for some of those companies?
J. Joel Quadracci
Well, we don't get too concerned about quarter-by-quarter because we really run this business for the longer-term but...
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Sometimes, I think they do, though. That's my question.
J. Joel Quadracci
They do, but they still have to drive store traffic and print continues to be one of the main ways that they do drive store traffic. I do come from sales, I spent a lot of time in the marketplace in fact, I was down in Florida with 2 major retailers yesterday and their commentary is anecdotally them and others that I've heard is there's just a lot of pressure on the consumer with additional costs, I mean, the weather, I mean, it's so cold here. I actually grew a beard to stay warm, but, they've got increased energy cost, they've got increased food costs these days. In the reality is this your average consumer out there hasn't been afforded huge wage increases over the last several years because of the slow growth economy, and so we do hear that the consumer is a bit finicky even into the grocery store side where they're not buying the nice to have as much anymore either, but again the way we view retail and why we like what we've done here is it's an area that's being disrupted, they're trying to figure it out, it's an area that continues to use print as being one of its most effective ways to drive store traffic, and it's an area where our customers clearly have told us that they need help connecting all the dots in all the different mechanisms that they do. A lot of people when you talk to them about video these days they're like, yes, we just don't have a strategy, and its like we point out to them that, that's one of the fastest-growing marketing mediums with YouTube, which is why we've invested in that. And so, I think, when you got customers under pressure and you've got a platform that can really improve their traditional print, but then a concept that helps them navigate these other things, it's really about helping them get greater response for the dollar of marketing spent. So when people are in need, that's where this opportunity and, we feel, we are very well situated to help retailers through this. That being said, where do they find the cost? A lot of times, they will try and pull back where they can, but you still have to drive store traffic, and so we'll see where it goes.
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
Yes, okay. I think, the final question and I might like to, if possible, hear the man's opinion with the most seniority in the room, John. When you see -- John, when you seen in the past, exigent whatever the word you want to use, you could say stupid, whatever, increases out of the USPS. How sensitive -- when you look at the ROIC, if you will, of your customers, and I know it must vary dramatically by product line, but in general terms, what kind of impact -- just how scared or spooked would a mailer be when they see a number like this?
John C. Fowler
Well, number one, what we've seen in the past is generally a lag because they have existing plans to market and sell product that they've already purchased. So we tend to have see it doesn't have an immediate effect, and that's why, I think, Dave talked about...
James Clement - Sidoti & Company, LLC
The second half.
John C. Fowler
In Seen in the second half. Secondly, it's not going to be to their core customers that our regular buyers, it's going to have a bigger impact on who they're prospecting to because they run very sophisticated models that allow them to see what are they getting a return on based upon the product being sold and the mailing list to whom it's gone to. There's not a great statistics in the past because we've had such a bumpiness. Last time was 2007, and we saw a large increase that probably ranged from 15% to 25% or 30%. So what huge is compared to the 6%. It was done in May of 2007, so we didn't see anything until 2008 and then we're frankly headed into a recession. So, I mean, I think, this is lower than what it's been in the past, but it is going to impact our volumes and so our best estimate is we looked at our mailable product that Dave shared was the 2% based upon our history, but we had these dramatic swings from being very high at this 15% to 25%, 30% or down sort of that the 2%, which makes it difficult to estimate though we took our best shot at what we think is going to impact us this year.
There are no further questions at this time.
J. Joel Quadracci
Okay. Well, thank you all, and we will see you next quarter.
This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at this time.
Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. (Until now investors have had to pay thousands of dollars in subscription fees for transcripts.) So our reproduction policy is as follows: You may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to Seeking Alpha and either link to the original transcript or to www.SeekingAlpha.com. All other use is prohibited.
If you have any additional questions about our online transcripts, please contact us at: email@example.com. Thank you!