Confessions of an AdSense Addict
         David Westbrook
         Approximately 860 words
         © 2005
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        Confessions of an AdSense Addict

        Because I used to work on a crisis line, I've heard a-lot stories
        of how drugs crept up on people and took over their lives.
        I once talked to a self-admitted drug dealer who had trafficked
        in pot for years. It was how this person made most of her living;
        she even had a state issued medical marijuana card so that
        she could always be in possession without getting busted.
       
        One day a friend introduced her to the profits that could be
        made from selling methamphetamine, so she started
        dealing crank; doing a little herself on the side. A month later,
        she was calling the crisis line looking for treatment. Crank was
        destroying her faster than she had ever imagined possible.

        On the way home, I called my wife and talked her ear off about
        it. On December 22, 2004, I was making my living in the normal
        way that a lot of people do, working for the man. That evening I 
        had to drop my dog off at my brother-in-law's house before
        leaving town for a hard earned Christmas vacation.
        He's "retired" from a major software manufacturer, which means
        he accepted a lay-off when they were doing a little
        reorganization.

        Tired of working for Corporate America he has been trying his
        hand at self-employment for the past couple of years. The night
        I dropped my dog off, he was excited about something called 
        AdSense, which I had never heard of.

        He is not an excitable man, but he was excited about having
        earned $6,000 off his website that month. I had built one
        rinky-dink website in my life, and the idea of doing that and
        sitting back to watch the money roll in excited me greatly.
      On the way home, I called my wife and talked her ear off about it.

        Having worked extra hours to get everything ready for my
        absence, and knowing that I would return to a backlog of work, I
        had been looking forward to spending time with family and
        friends and getting in a little skiing to boot. It took me just under
        three-hours after touching down to sneak into my father's den
        and begin looking up information on AdSense.

        Later my wife was flipping through a recent issue of Discover
        Magazine and came across a short article on Google's ad
        program. In a move that fueled the fire and which I am sure she
        is now sorry for, she excitedly showed me the article.
        Serendipity, that's what I called it.

        I spent more time on the computer during our vacation than I
        did with my family. When my wife and friends went skiing I said
        I wanted to stay home and hang out with my dad. Of course, I
        meant my dad's computer.

        On December 26, 2004, I knew how to make my fortune and
        registered two domain names. We got home on January 3,
        2005 in the morning, and that afternoon I was building web
        pages. Within a week, I had built the first few pages of my first
        site.

        Plagued by viruses, an old slow system, and a lack of
        knowledge about how to do what I was trying to do I was moving
        slower than a slug on a salt bed.

        On January 6, I bought a new computer, installed virus
        protection, and loaded on a firewall. The fact that I was hiding 
        the bills from my wife was a sure sign of addiction.

        On January 14, my wife would be leaving for a three-week
        business trip, and I relished the time I would soon have alone to
        work. A few days before her departure, we had a talk about the
        lack of time I was spending with her and I promised to do
        better, but every time she would walk into my office I would hit
        the monitor's power button and pretend like I had been reading. 

        The night before she left I stayed in my office working till
        midnight, then got up at 5:00 so I could work some more before
        having to leave for work. As I quickly hurried to shower and
        dress for work, she wanted to know if "this" was what I meant
        by spending more time together.

        I protested that I had finally been able to get my pages uploaded
        and they even had ads on them. She rolled her eyes; I kissed
        her goodbye, apologized, and promised that I would not neglect
        the house while she was gone.

        For the past three weeks, I've been functioning on 4-5 hours of
        sleep per night. I have bags under my eyes, friends say I look
        haggard and like I am losing weight. The dishes are stacked up,
        the carpet hasn't been vacuumed in weeks, I have no idea if our
        washer and dry work any longer, and I've lost track of the piece
        of paper that says when my wife is arriving at the airport.

        Lately, I've been wondering if it's all worth it, if I should seek
        help, maybe find a 12-step program for AdSense addicts
        before I loose my wife. Honestly, I was thinking of quiting for
        good, but then I checked my AdSense earnings. I've made
        $3.45. Hopefully my wife wont mind taking a taxi.
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        David Westbrook is a freelance writer and creator of 
        http://www.addictionsresources.com as well as 
        http://alcoholismresources.com If anyone has seen his wife
        please contact him, recoveryresources@gmail.com
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