Global Warming Means Global Cooling, as Love Lives Shrivel Under Commutes, Stress

Woodstock, CT, May 18, 2007 - In a recent poll by popular lifestyle site RatRaceRebellion.com, a whopping 89% of respondents reported that the rat race has run over their love lives, leaving many with a mousey definition of romance — "TV dinners on the couch while watching 'Survivor.'"

"If I had a love life, I'd tell you!" 22% replied, when asked to comment on the state of Cupid's activities. Another 15% said, "We're too stressed for romance!" Nine out of ten respondents overall reported dissatisfaction with their love lives due to high-stress, overscheduled living.

"The rat race is wreaking havoc on romance, which means that even when we're covered in 'communications' gadgets, people are feeling more isolated, and families are losing the glue that holds them together," says Christine Durst, co-host of the Rat Race Rebellion website and CEO of training and development firm Staffcentrix. "We're turning everything on but each other."

A long-time advocate of home-based careers and increased local-community involvement, Durst is credited with founding the Virtual Assistant industry from her home in rural Connecticut in 1995. "Telework and community-oriented living can help turn back the tide, help us tune up our hearts instead of our cars, and actually live the values we believe in."

Durst and Michael Haaren, who as the founders of training firm Staffcentrix designed groundbreaking virtual-career programs for the US Department of State and the Armed Forces, launched RatRaceRebellion.com in February. The site has rapidly become one of the most popular home-based career destinations on the Internet.

Durst's business partner Michael Haaren, who like Durst has strong ties to rural living - he grew up in a log cabin in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, while Durst was raised on a small farm in rural Connecticut — agrees. "The harm we do our planet parallels the harm we do our hearts and our families. Emotionally, global warming means global cooling, too."

About the Rat Race Rebellion
The Rat Race Rebellion ( http://www.ratracerebellion.com ) is a lifestyle campaign and online community devoted to helping people bring "sanity, sensibility and serenity back to their lives". Hosted by Durst and Haaren, who appear often in the media as experts on virtual careers and related lifestyle issues, RatRaceRebellion.com offers comprehensive resources on home-based careers, family and community involvement, and greener, carbon neutral living.