John Burkholder

I changed jobs and moved last month. I love the new place. The job is a challenge. For that reason, I like it. What I am not so sure about is where they are going with the SharePoint evironment. It seriously needs an upgrade but they are not too keen on throwing away all of the development work this far. I can understand that. But when you are sitting there looking at a monster site collection that only 20 people regularly use, you have to wonder how effective it is. Add to that the fact people are still using the older environments, it doesn't make sense to move them to the 2010 environment when we could move them directly to the new environment.  The commute is rather easy from the new place. Taking about 40 minutes in total, it is a 5 block walk to the station, a 12 minute train ride and another 4 block walk to this office. Most of my time is really spent waiting on the train.  I am trying to figure out my schedule so I can do some volunteer work. Heartland Alliance is a go...

Recently, my Facebook feed has been filled with posts about feminism. I guess it is the Libra in me that is just pissed off about this so here we go.  If you are male, shut up and listen. Feminism is about equality. It is not about man bashing. It is not about female superiority. It is about have equal standards for men and women. The term "feminism" does market it slightly negative, but equality is more accurate.  The suffragettes of the past made their mark just to get the right to vote. The civil rights movement pushed forward the equality of color and ancestry. The marriage rights movement pushes toward giving equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. But today, are they all equal? Women, people of color or not, sexual orientation are being threatened, bashed, and degraded because if something they have absolutely no control over. They are often treated as second class humans. So before you decide to threaten a woman because they are trying to stand up fo...

As November rapidly approaches, I prepare myself for the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I am more than ready. I have registered at NaNoWriMo.org, I have joined my local group on facebook, and I have made some writing buddies in my wife and kid.  Moreover, I have the story ready to go. It is a story that has been in my head for about 5 years and now, with my additional knowledge, I am ready. The important question has to be, will I make it to 50K words? Will it be as good on paper as it is in my head? Will I want to publish it after?  All are very good questions. Thank you for asking. I will provide the answers December 1. 

Is customer service slowed down by computers? I am starting to think it is... kinda. From a point of view of accessing data when you need it, it is much faster. Granted, now that everything is stored on computers, accessing means you may have to combed through terrabytes of data stored all over the world, but overall is it much faster. What seems to have been impacted however is customer service itself. What used to take place in a single phone call now takes a relay of chat and email to wait in email queue for the person to respond to the issue at hand. What used to be handled by walking up to the customer service desk now requires authorizations from a warranty company via an email string prior to actually replacing the phone. Kohls has it right... Best Buy has it wrong. AT&T has it right, and Comcast completely misses the boat. Even with today's social networking pressures, some companies are just missing the point of the computer... to help speed up service. Wading thro...

My Queen and I have been having hard discussions about our finances, our jobs, our home life and it seems that we are walking through a maze of few options. We like Bloomington. But the shop is not making the revenue it needs to make... and finances are stretched thin trying to compensate. Add to this MILs car issues, and the house that has a wind current on days the windmills turn, and I have to wonder what options are left. I do not want to go into debt further to keep the business going. But when she is actually making soap, she is happy. It is the business stuff that bothers her most. So...we talked. I will be taking over managing the business as a business part. We worked through a SWOT analysis last night, laid out her current business and her 5 year business plan, and finally wrote out a mission statement. The problem I think is her need to diversify as much as she has. I think she needs to focus on one things and excel at it. She wants to has the kids soaps, the spa products ...

So, unfortunately my daughter Shae has challenged me and her sisters to the ice bucket challenge. Honestly, I am fine just paying my way out. But then I thought, why not. I will still donate to ALS, but I have nothing better going and this would be a cool project. So I turned my little video into an action packed trailer! http://youtu.be/exZxk6sZbjs

Father's Day is a bit different for me. I actually have 3 fathers. There is my birth father that I am currently searching for in order to understand my health and lineage. L R Stone is still the strong lead and I think he is in California still. I tried calling phone numbers, emailing all kinds of email addesses, and messaging on Facebook but have not had much luck getting a response.  My second father is my adopted father, Lloyd John Burkholder. Everyone called him Bud. Bud was in World War II as a cook in the Navy. He met my Mom by going the the Navy facility in Battle Creek, Michigan where my Mom grew up. When the war ended he came back and married her, had Gary John, and Janeen Lou and then 13 years after Jan, adopted a 6 month old John Henry (me). Much like me, he got bored easily and felt it was time to move on from place to place setting up and selling off bakeries across the US. Clinton was the last bakery though. My Mom had found a place she liked, made friends, and wanted...