John Burkholder

I rarely remember dreams. Most of the time, I don’t sleep enough to even have a dream. But last night was different. Not only did I dream, but it felt real, it felt like nothing I ever felt before, and I verbally was yelling outside my dream.   It started normal. Talking to my wife, fussing over my kid and waiting for dinner to get ready. As we sat down for dinner, I noticed someone at the back door... but not really there. She had a transparent red, shimmering light cast across her. I stood up, walked to the back door and pulled open the curtain over the window on the door.  She was startled and froze on the stairs. I spoke through the door “can i help you?” She was visibly surprised and i could see that this was not something she expected. Instead of responding, she ran to a car that also had that same shimmering light.  I saw another shimmering woman heading toward the front porch and I ran to the front of my house. As I reached the front window and loo...

I am tech savvy. But let me tell you a story about yesterday. I decided to send all of my kids a postcard out of the blue. I walked to the Art Institute of Chicago, picked out 4 fantastic postcards, took them back to my office and wrote clever sayings to each child. I remembered that postcards have a special lower stamp cost so I went to the post office, purchased said postage and carefully removed the stickers from the well bonded backings and placed them on the postcards. Very proud of myself, I dropped them into the stamped letter container and departed from the post office. That night I bragged to my lovely wife about my accomplishment. I explained the process involved and shared all of the glorifying details. She asked me "you had the kids addresses?" #forgotTheAddresses #forgotHowToUseSnailMail #youreWelcomeDeadLetter

Today, the woman I love turns forty. I have had the honor to spend 21 of those years as part of her life. If you have someone you love in your life who you trust implicitly, then you may be as fortunate as me.   She makes me smile. It may be something as simple as laughing at cat videos, or something as complex as a long story that has that twist at the end that catches me off guard. But she does it...daily. She makes me think left and comes from the right. Her sense of humor makes me wonder WHY she stuck with me all these years. Andi can cause it by laughing at situations, something stupid I did like not putting addresses on hand selected postcards with the proper postage mailed at the post office, or laughing at herself for some situation she placed herself in. I am smiling just thinking about her.  Andi make me think. Sometimes it may not be a topic I want to think about right then, but I will mull it over and mentally floss my brain until I think I have a respon...

I feel that fatherhood is one of the careers that is overlooked in business and dismissed in families.   How does fatherhood help me in my career? Well, it all started with my oldest child’s birth. As a 21 year old Air Force airman, my entire life changed when Jami was being born. It was a sudden realization that I was not only responsible for my wife, but now I am responsible for someone who could not fend for themselves. In an instant, I knew I was going to be something I wasn’t. I had to make sure we had the funds to support our burgeoning family and be there when she fell off the monkey bars, scraped her face along the pavement after riding and falling from her skateboard. I had to have the empathy to try to understand her challenges with life, and her discovery of her own identity.  I am not the best father. I learn more and more what a father should be. I have made and continue to make mistakes.  My adopted father committed suicide when I was six and left ...

Ever want to order two vodkas for that flight to Vegas? I did it. It makes the trip a whole new flight. To set the scene, i am heading to another SharePoint conference in Las Vegas. It has been a while since the last one because Microsoft decided to combine a bunch of conferences and make Ignite. Unfortunately, the SharePoint folks weren’t getting as much out of the conference than they did when it was SharePoint conference by itself.   But I digress, during this 4 hour flight to Las Vegas, I decided that a couple travel vodkas and orange juice was in order. The in-flight entertainment is boring and I wanted a drink. Tito’s is not my favorite, but the corn vodka is better than so many of the grain vodkas.  I picked the seat for my flight long ago when I booked. The seats near me were empty and I thought I was going to have a bit of room. I chose the aisle seat because I wanted the arm room. But when we boarded the plane I was pleasantly greeted with the back half of...

MIT is offering a fast track to the Master’s program. It just happens to be in NORC’s content space. Here is how the system works: You take 5 online courses:                 Principles of Microeconomics                 The Challenges of Global Poverty                 Data Analysis for Social Scientists                 Foundations of Development Policy: Advanced Development                 Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations Pass a proctored exam for each course at a testing facility around the world. Earn a MicroMaster credential from MITx (from the best I can tell, this is a certificate...

My sister and I have started testing the doughnuts around Chicago. Do-Rite Donuts & Coffee has always been my "go to" for a fantastic doughnut. Over the past few weeks, we tested Stan's Donuts , Glazed and Infused Doughnuts , and Firecakes Donuts . As we continue to go around the city, I will provide updates. Here are my rankings so far: Do-Rite: 8 / 10 Firecakes: 9 / 10 Stan's: 6 / 10 Glazed and Infused: 3 / 10 To ensure testing is even, I am using a glazed raised yeast doughnut. My sister may have different feedback. Do-Rite has amazing flavor, texture, and the glaze is not too sweet. This has been my doughnut of choice for years. The flavor has a hint of vanilla from the glazed and a light fluffy doughnut that doesn't dry out the mouth. This is not a melt in your mouth doughnut but is equally satisfying. Firecakes was the biggest most wonderful surprise I have had in a very long time. This is a flavorful doughnut that is so light that it mel...