And just say no.

You want to please and impress your new employers, but you can't do everything. It's clear that you've bitten off more than you can chew since you're drowning in email and fielding complaints about what you're not getting done. Instead of impressing your boss with your industriousness, you're shooting yourself in the foot because you can't finish everything you promised to get done. When evaluation time rolls around, he's going to remember this. Also, they haven't hired someone to help you because you have been voluntarily killing yourself trying to do two people's jobs. There's no way they're going to help you out until you stop doing this. Only then will they realize that they should either hire another person or spin some of your duties off onto another employee.

So tell your co-workers that you can't do everything for them. It's easy once you get the hang of it. Ease off on the work hours. Go biking during the week occasionally. Take actual lunch breaks and walk around outside in the fresh air. Leave work at a more reasonable hour or start coming in later. Talk to your boss and see if you can get your creative assignments back and give some of your other work to someone else. Set boundaries. You need to get things back in balance so that you can have a normal life and a normal job.

Above all, be a little cynical. Look out for number one. That's you, not your job. There is no loyalty to employees any more, so you don't owe any to your employer. You certainly do not owe them your non-work life, your mental and physical health, and your relationship with your spouse. The corporation you work for so devotedly will crumple you up and toss you in the garbage like a piece of used kleenex if the bean counters say you're disposable or that some dude in India can do your job more cheaply. Always think of your job as a temporary one. Do it cheerfully and well, but don't over-invest yourself in it. It is part of your life, but it is not your life.

I feel bad for Bristol and the little guy, but honestly, who is surprised? Better that they break up now, before divorce attorneys are involved. Hopefully, Levi will make the commitment to be part of his child's life.

As for Bristol herself, I repeat my plea: Free Bristol Palin! I'm growing to like her and think she deserves better than what she's getting from her domineering, self-centered mom. The person who commented that she has "oldest daughter" syndrome is spot on. I hope she finds a way to carve out a life for herself and her son.

... would be delighted to lead anxious lives that had something to do with software, instead of leading anxious lives of unemployment and financial disaster.

As for the Republicans, they've never liked FDR and they're beating up on him as a proxy for Obama. If they can discredit his solutions, they'll pre-empt Obama from trying something similar. Unfortunately, enough folks who lived through the Depression and benefitted from FDR's programs have died off that these events are passing out of common memory. The Republicans can then distort them at will, particularly given our woeful state of knowledge of history.

It's great that Rachel Ray stood up to the Cult of Mom. Sometimes it seems like every woman in America is required to genuflect before Her altar and publicly justify their decision about having children. My opinion of Ray has gone up quite a bit for honestly admitting that she wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to parent a child properly.

Nobody should be forced to apologize for deciding not to have kids. I'm not a "childfree" anti-breeder by any means -- I love my two kids immensely and wouldn't give up my life with them. But parenthood is not for everyone. Far better to decide ahead of time that you can't commit to the task, as Rachel Ray has done, than to realize this after your children are on the scene.

Manufacturing outrage is their bread and butter.

Methinks that Malkin et al would greatly benefit from volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

The "North Shore Connector" tunnel under the Allegheny River connects Heinz Field, PNC Park, the science center, and ultimately the new casino with the subway in downtown Pittsburgh. It saves sports fans a 5-minute walk over a bridge -- although to be fair, there's a bunch of new development in that area that will be served by the new line. For an expensive project that's touted as a major benefit to commuters, though, the North Shore connector doesn't serve places where people actually live (the North Side neighborhood) or go to school (Allegheny County Community College).

And yes, people have been telling the Port Authority for years that it's a dumb project. But once that money's in the pipeline, it takes on a life of its own. It's also getting stimulus money as a shovel-ready project (i.e., it's in progress).

And yes, the money would be better spent on things like new busses, improvements to existing transit infrastructure, or extending the subway to places where large numbers of people actually live, work and go to school (such as Oakland and Pittsburgh's eastern and northern neighborhoods and suburbs). People have been telling that to the Port Authority for years, too.