faulker009

The following is a guest blog from Dr. Christina McCale, an author, a doctor and perhaps most of all... a person.    -- Sir Bacon There are many moments that are etched in the memories of most adults. Graduation. Birth of a child. Your wedding day. Buying your first house. But unfortunately for more than 12 million Americans , some of whom read this blog and share their stories here, another day that remains etched in our minds is the day our professional lives were upended. The day that part of our very identities were taken from us. It was the day that our jobs were taken from us. And unfortunately, for some 5.4 million  of those, one of the largest “segments” of the unemployed population are those who have been living the nightmare of unemployment for more than 6 months. My own personal descent into the living hell called unemployment started in the Spring of 2009 when I was passed over for not one but three different professorial jobs; jobs that I had spent nearly a ...

The following is a guest blog from Lillian Swift, a writer from Northern Arizona University.     -- Sir Bacon Unemployment Benefits continue to be major issue in 2012 So many different families and individuals across the United States have been stricken with the perils of unemployment over the past few years. Aside from just the bottom line of losing money that provides, families have also been stricken with the perils of losing their benefits. This is when many turn to unemployment benefits to help get them through the tough times. With people facing long stretches of unemployment, many individuals have been forced to take a fight to the courts to battle for their unemployment benefits.  Capitol Hill will soon be facing a decision regarding a proposed extension of unemployment benefits. An alteration would certainly be welcome to the many who struggle looking for a new position during these tough economic times. However, until the people in Washington can make moves on ...

I have never seen the show “In Treatment” on HBO, but I bet I would love it. HBO does an amazing job with everything they touch. Except for the show Hung. Dud. But from what I know about In Treatment, it sounds like a very cool concept. Basically you are a fly on the wall during a series of intense therapy sessions. When my parents were growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos. At least that’s what most people thought. When I was growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos and the hyperactive kids. The only thing I knew about that biz was what Dr. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H had taught me. (I wonder if the writers knew that he has the same initials as Sigmund Freud.  Wow, what a coincidence.) These days if you want to be part of the in-crowd, you’d better make an appointment with a therapist. But you better make sure you know what the doctor is ordering. Do a quick search and you'll see about a million options -- Psychologists, Psy...

It’s not everyday that you can see a musical legend in concert. In fact it’s not ANY day that you can see the Swedish hit machine ABBA perform live. They haven’t played together in nearly 25 years. But don’t tell that to the advertisement in my local newspaper. The other day I saw an ad that said in big bold letters: ABBA, The Concert Followed by the words, “Arrival from Sweden, Live in Concert.” Tickets are $27 (plus service charges). At NO place on the ad does it mention that it’s not ABBA you would be spending $27 (plus service charges) on, it would be Arrival, the ABBA tribute band. That’s where my journalistic blood-sniffing technique kicked in. I hunted down the official website for Arrival, where it said, “this is the closest to ABBA you’ll ever get” AND it’s a “stunning look-alike show they put on.” Put on is right. The tribute band, formed in 1996, has done close to 1000 shows in more than 25 countries. And I thought those little zhu-zhu pets were stealing money. False adverti...

I'm really not sure what caused Mick Jagger's 19th Nervous Breakdown, but I have a candidate for his 20th. Take away his personal computer. That little event has definitely done it to me. Around this time last week, my incredibly awesome amazing fantastically wonderful less than one-year old iMac home computer took a major turn for the worse. The biggest issue was it taking nearly ten minutes to turn on. Clearly it's not a male computer. In addition to their products, one of the great things about the Apple company is their customer service. Those people truly love life and LOVE their job.  At least when they are on the clock. If you ever feel like doing bodily harm to yourself, stop by the Apple store. One of my goals and greatest accomplishments during my 18 months of unemployment was to learn how to edit home videos. After taking several classes at the Apple store, that mission was accomplished. In the last year I have successfully edited a photo montage set to commercia...

To paraphrase former U.S. President Leslie Lynch King Jr., my long national nightmare is now over. At least for now. After more than 18 months since I was told my services were no longer needed, I have finally found someone who needs me. Actually, I have found three people -- or six if you count my kids. It was just a few weeks ago that my stepmother told me to forget what I had accomplished in the past, figure out what I do well and find a job that uses those skills. I’m very excited to announce that I will be displaying my skills in the areas of storytelling, producing and editing on three completely different jobs. That’s the great news. The less great news is that all three of these jobs are part-time gigs. But you won’t hear me complaining. Two of the three will disappear by the end of the summer, while the third will hopefully have a longer life span. Keeping with the spirit of this formerly anonymous blog, I’m gonna keep the specifics to a minimum, but I will say that only one o...

I have always enjoyed a party. Except for my first party of course, which came eight days into life. (If you don’t know what I am referring to, check Seinfeld’s episode five, season five.  Ouch.) Back to the party. I like birthday parties, engagement parties, fraternity parties. I even like the resolve of the Libertarian Party. Today I was invited to a high school graduation party. Well, actually I was not invited to the party, but our band was. In case you are new to my world, as a 43-year old unemployed guy, I was asked to sing in a band with three 40+ year old employed guys. After my very successful singing career in college, I had no choice but to accept.   Two weeks ago, we launched this new career at a block party. Fortunately at our golden age, we were able to remember most of the five songs we played two weeks ago, so today we played the same five songs. When the 20+ minute show was over, it was time to mingle backstage with the groupies. Well actually, there was no ba...