I've been talking with another friend here in Myspace about the silliness of Live Earth. A lot of naysayers have been following the rant of "This is using a ton of carbon just to make and travel to the show!"

I have to be the one to see a different angle: the promotion of further sweatshop-based consumption during the show. Bravo had fashion designers showing their organic cotton clothes, cosmetics companies with their organic cosmetics, chemists who made thier organic cleaning products, etc. While I have to agree with choosing organic products when you need them, you know some people are going to run out and go shopping when they don't really need anything. Worse yet, some of the products are made in Asian sweatshops; Laurie David's stopglobalwarming.org was promoting an "all recycled" sandal, made in, you guessed it, China. The same goes for every compact fluorescent light bulb I've seen at Home Depot under their big "stop global warming" banner. Despite my usual objections to Chinese manufacturing, what these promoters are forgetting is that the fuel used to transport all this stuff is far more wasteful than the energy saved using recycled parts or energy efficient technology.

Websites to check out because I can't embed them: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
http://freegan.info/
http://www.reverendbilly.org/

It's even in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19toys.html). Keep your kids safe! boycott China!

This is the ad from Common Cause that MySpace rejected. Maybe we can subvert Murdoch on our own? I mean, I like MySpace for what it is, but let's remember who owns it.

So, I finished my first week at my new gig. Again, same industry, same type of department, except for what's different. It's been a situation of previously knowing what to do in a way that was almost an instinctive reaction - and now I'm having to adjust it all. Some things I can be more perfectionist with, others I don't have to think about at all (except it's so ingrained, I can't help it). In a way, I wish I could erase everything I did to avoid some of the confusion.

So far the downs are my commute (I go from NJ to NYC). I used to take a train out of Penn Station, no I'm dealing with evening rush hour at the Port Authority, and it's not fun. I stand in a looong line waiting for my bus gate, in the vain hope that when I get to the front there's still a seat. What's worse, there are still lines at the off-peak 9:30 buses. I'm just lucky that I work in a very casual office - if I need to sit on the floor, all my jeans are washable. Of course, the drivers turn off the lights and you can't even read at night if you don't get a seat (seats have small lights). I'm going to miss the trains. The other down: the only web browser on the system is Explorer, and it freezes and crashes constantly. I can't wait until December when we're due to upgrade to OSX. Not too many downs, huh?

The ups are: on my late nights I get a car service again - if I work to 10:00. Good swag - good music and books are around. NO EGOS. Even the "tough" people are only tough about the product, no one treats you like an idiot for not missing something they didn't tell you about. Also, I'm seeing some old friends from other jobs - man, my industry is incestuous.

Finally, my hunt has paid off! I gave notice yesterday and will be going to a new place in two weeks! I'll still be in the same industry, same salary, but with a slightly less insane schedule. But the company I'm going to is more sound financially, and a less sick building. Hopefully more organized, as well.

How it happened: a co-worker in a neighboring department left us to go back to her old company. I just sent a friendly email to her personal address. (She was someone I was cordial to, and she was always nice back. We may not have gotten to be close confidantes, but she was a good person to work with) Out of the blue, I got an email from one of her new co-workers who works in a corresponding department to mine - with a job offer! So, after just one departmental interview and another one with HR, my references were called and I got the job!

Now, to clean all that music off my hard drive ....

Maybe I'm inspired by Barbara Ehrenreich, but I may as well write about being in my 40s and on a job hunt. Yeah, if it was just a matter of being a boring job, I'd put up with it for the money. However, the office politics are completely insane. Even with a couple people in a rival department who were trying to stab me in the back gone, there's still a corporate director who is the cause of everything. I can't mention names or the company I work for, but this person is an insane micromanager who has to review every little detail, even down to making last minute changes of such petty garbage that no one else would notice. Of course, the late fees are getting astronomic. The bean counters are getting on this manager's case, who then blames ... my department! Worse yet, my direct manager was not told he could deny this director requested changes and has been rolling over for this person - now he'll start growing a spine, but I hope it won't be too late. I'm just sending out resumes daily, whatever is in my specialty. That's the problem when you get specialized, you're stuck in a pigeonhole. Although there's a lot I know how to do in my field, most of my salaried jobs on my resume have been in one area. Also, you get up to a level at my age, and it's hard to take a step backwards to try something different - I'm almost stuck in management now. And, of course, there's the money. You get up to a certain age, have more responsibilities and goals, and you can't take a pay cut. Of course, there's the discouragment. I had what I thought was a good interview a couple weeks ago, and I got rejected. I don't know if it's the salary, or the dreaded "O" word - overqualified. All I can do is keep trying....

Just going crazy lately with my job. Between personnel upheavals and sheer exhaustion, I'm trying to escape. So, I've got the new resume, started networking and doing market research, and I've just got to be patient. Which is especially difficult - I want to make the change NOW. Wish me luck.

Bored silly at work. At least I have dinner to occupy my time, but waiting for an Executive Editor to micromanage a bunch of articles before I can jump into action is driving me crazy. I got thorough a week's worth of email, read the New York Times and AP, and have dove into the ultimate of boredom, Shockwave games. After having most mainstream entertainment dumbed down, I think these types of workplace practices are a conspiracy to dumb down employment. I think they're expecting a whole bunch of unskilled kids to come out of the No Child Left Behind schools, so even white collar jobs will have to be nothing more than a place for warm bodies to show up. OK, finally, a project comes along. Boredom staved off for now.