faulker009

For those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning, you have seen a couple of facelifts. It started with a bunch of words on a white background. A few months later, I found a program that let me put a colorful background behind the words. That was followed by adding an advertisement from Amazon.com, which gave me some blogosphere street cred. For the last month, my website has been part of a program called AdSense, where they post some rotating ads on my site, based on the subject of my most recent blog. With all of the new blogs out there, it took more than six weeks to get approved for AdSense, which also monitors the traffic on the site. For a stat nut like me, it is pretty cool to see how many people are visiting the site. AdSense also monitors how many times people click on one of the ads. I have no idea what the formula is, but if I understand this correctly, I get paid based on how many times people click on those ads. Some days that amount is a Penny, enough to ...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you -- BLOG #50! Cue the band and dancing bears. Who woulda thunk it? 50 blogs! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on my couch eating a Klondike bar watching the Biggest Loser. Ah, the good ole days. Three months ago, I barely knew what a blog was and I certainly didn’t plan on writing one, but fortunately that all changed, thanks to Meryl Streep. I mean Julie & Julia. After my wife and I saw that movie around Christmas time, the idea of writing a blog on my journey through unemployment seemed like a natural fit. It was also a perfect way to fill out my day, instead of waiting for future employers to NOT call me back. Yada, yada, yada, I present to you, Sir Bacon -- a nickname given to me by my six-year old daughter, for no apparent reason. From my first word to number 28,494, which is where my computer tells me I am at exactly right now, I have really enjoyed discussing my life as a stay-at-home dad. This could EASIL...

Let’s face it, we all just want to be loved. Whether its a spouse, a boss, a secret admirer or 50+ French-Canadians we’ve never met before. We all just want to be loved. Well, I officially feel loved. Thanks to Nicolas’ article in La Presse Saturday, I will never have to buy my own Pomme Frites at a Trois-Rivieres Junior Hockey game again. Chicoutimi could be another story. I have been absolutely blown away by the incredible response from our friends to the north. From sweet Murielle, who sent me a beautiful note, all in French (a language unfortunately I do not speak), to my new buddy Martin, who just wanted to wish me luck and courage. The overwhelming message is very clear -- I am not alone. When Mylene tells me that her husband lost his job in 2009. Check. And he is 42. Check. And they’ve been together for 15 years. Check. I am reminded again that my story is one that connects with others. And then she says that I am now one of her favorites. I melted. Or h...

I have always considered myself somewhat of a Canadian. I definitely love being an American, but Canada has always held a special place in my heart. My wife and I had a blast river rafting in Whistler. There was nothing like the Smoked Meat at Ben's Deli in Montreal. And the Quebec Nordiques will always be dear to me. R.I.P. I have enjoyed many memorable moments in the Great White North, but this morning my relationship with Canada reached another level. Uh-boat a week ago I got an email from Nicolas, who said he enjoyed my blog and wanted to write about it in the French Newspaper, La Presse. Little did I know that it was one of the biggest papers in Canada. I hadn't heard of La Presse, although on a trip to Quebec City in the early 90's I do recall buying a French paper to read about my beloved Nordiques. Of course, the only French word I knew was fromage (cheese), so gathering info was quite the challenge. I spoke with Nicolas for about an hour on T...