You should see my desk. It's covered with papers and press kits and publications. I'd like to cut down on those piles.

I could do that if I didn't receive so many faxes and paper mail. Most faxes end up in the trash, but the few I keep I wish had come in via e-mail. Unless there's some reason a document must be sent as paper - such as a loan agreement or some other form that must be returned - I'd rather get almost everything in electronic form.

Remember this mantra - Paper, Bad; E-mail, Good.

If you must fax, please be careful not to mix up my voice and fax lines. This happens more often than you would think. If I'm not at my desk, my voice mail ends up with six or seven "messages" that turn out to be a fax machine on autodial. If I am at my desk, I can forward the call to the fax machine, but often the fax is busy. My fax number is 713.217.5105.

Whatever you do, please do not call late in the afternoon - say, after 3 p.m. Central time - because I'm likely to be working on deadline. This is true for reporters at almost all daily papers. I'm usually in the office by 9 a.m., so there's plenty of time to call before all hell breaks loose.