Don't trash your lightbulbs...

Melanie Brooks — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:57:45 -0400

I learned an important fact a couple of days ago. I can't throw my funky energy-efficient lightbulbs I recently bought at Target to help keep my electric bill down can't simply be thrown away in 12 years when they burn out. There's mercury in them! How did I not know this? Because the packaging didn't tell me.

Now I sort of feel misled. Not that I have a problem with recycling these special bulbs -- which you can do at a Home Depot I'm sure -- I just don't like to be left in the dark (no pun intended).

Comment on Node ant

Melanie Brooks — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:47:23 -0400

I'm embracing my night shift -- or trying to. I went to the beach today. Tuesday mornings at the beach are a lot less crowded than on the weekends that's for sure. I am learning new things here, so not all is lost. Thanks for the encouragement!

Laid Off

Melanie Brooks — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:17:05 -0400

In the span of 15 minutes on Tuesday I was laid off from my job managing MaineBusiness.com and given a new job as a night content producer for the Portland Press Herald. I went from working from 6am to 2pm, Monday through Friday and having a social life to working 6pm to 2am Tuesday through Saturday and having no social life. It's been a bitter pill to swallow.

Retirement by the Numbers

Melanie Brooks — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:59:53 -0400

I don’t care if you’re 25 or 55 – putting money away for your retirement years is a necessity. I have compiled some figures from a Fidelity study released yesterday that I got from an article in the Boston Globe.

A 65-year-old couple in 2008 will need, on average, $85,000 to cover insurance costs for long-term care in their retirement. Long-term care insurance refers to visits at home by a caregiver to living in a nursing home.

Fast Talk Response -

Melanie Brooks — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:56:24 -0400

No. I'll just pack smarter. I hate checking baggage and most of my trips are over long weekends. I think Americans as a whole are too stressed out over airline travel. We know it sucks, we know flights are being delayed left and right, it's time people start planning ahead for these things. If you have a wedding on a Saturday afternoon, fly out Thursday instead of Friday. Plan on being delayed and you won't miss anything.

Big Tobacco, Little Pouches

Melanie Brooks — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:43:39 -0400

Have you heard about the new tobacco pouches? I hadn’t either until I opened the latest issue of Advertising Age. The new pouches – called snus -- look like tiny tea-bag pouches and don’t require a spittoon. They just sit there, nestled in between your lip and your gums until your nicotine fix sets in. It’s Big Tobaccos way to fight the high price of cigarettes and the never-ending bans on cigarette smoking in public. But will it work?

Unemployment: 10 Year High

Melanie Brooks — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:13:49 -0400

The Boston Globe reports that the unemployment rate in Maine is the highest it has been in 10 years to 5.4 percent for May.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said last month's increase was "unusually large," adding that several more months of data will be needed to see if a trend develops. A spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci called the increase "alarming."

The Woes of a Union in Trouble

Melanie Brooks — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:18:12 -0400

I understand why unions exist. Fair wages, fair hours, fair benefits. But what happens when you are a part of a union that you don’t agree with?

I am a new hire at MaineToday and the Portland Press Herald. The job I was hired for, the content producer for MaineBusiness.com, is a guild position – meaning that the position is covered under the Portland Newspaper Guild. I am a part of the guild whether I want to be or not.

Comment on Node ant

Melanie Brooks — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:14:23 -0400

It might be a cool company, but their product is sub-par. It shrinks!

Advertising Inside Jokes

Melanie Brooks — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:36:24 -0400

Sovereign Bank has a new television ad out that stars Jerry Remy – the Red Sox analyst on NESN.

I didn’t get this ad at first, even though I know who Jerry Remy is. I read further on down the Boston.com story and found out the significance of Remy playing air guitar. Apparently before a game with Detroit Remy was playing air guitar up in the media booth, lost his balance and fell. It was captured on camera.