John Burkholder

For all of those readers who did not catch the clue, I am Native American. As I have travelled across the United States and Canada, I have found that a LOT of people actually have ties to some tribe through their grandma, grandpa or step-second-cousin-in-law-on-their-mother's-side. But even those people with more than enough ancestry to be considered Native, have some grave misconceptions about the Native culture. Let me provide you an example. About blah-blah-blah years ago, I started working for a company and after finding out I am Native, asked about my heritage. Really smart white guy with native heritage in his bloodline as explained above: "What tribe?" Me: "Well, I am half Lakota, you know it as Sioux, and I am half Cherokee." Really smart white guy: "Really? I am not sure exactly what I am. I think I am Navajo or Apache." Me: "That's great." Smart white guy: "So, where are the Lakota from?" Me: "My group is from the

Happy Birthday Shae! Today, Shae has turned 17. She is another amazing story. She has managed to continue on through school well enough to graduate early this coming January. Shae is also attending her second year in an early learners program at a local college earning college credits. When she does graduate, she, her 24 ACT, and her good college GPA have managed to provide her a full ride to the same college. She has dreams of criminal forensics and executive bakery chef. To be honest, she can do anything. She will probably be a partical physicist if she puts her mind to it. This brings me to my point (which is really only for Shae). You can do anything as long as you maintain focus. You WILL be the best in your craft whatever craft you choose. You are the one person who can either hold you back or help you prosper. I am so proud of how far you have progressed in such a short time. Did you know... Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen turn 21 years if age June 13, 2007. Their net worth is one bi

There are certain things in life a man should never be asked to do: Go to the Gyno with your wife for a yearly check-up; volunteer to be the supervising parent of a Chuck E Cheese birthday party for your 8 year old daughter and 50 of her closest friends; shop for tampons. There have been times in my life that I have been unfortunate enough to do just that. The first time I was directed to "grab a box" was for my first wife. What's the big deal? I am strong enough in my own sexual being to know they aren't for me. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Off I go. Trooper to the core. I need to pick up eggs, milk, bread, toilet paper and tampons. All of the other items have been collected as begin the quest down the feminine supplies isle. Massengill, panty liners, maxi-pads, ahhh...tampons. Is it me, or is the tampon section of the store large enough to rival toilet paper and paper towels? How many different types of tampons do women really need? Maybe it is psychological..

This blog entry is not in my normal style and will more than likely be very long as it is an account of this day, five years ago. The purpose of this entry is for my own emotional and mental healing but is available for everyone to read. Please keep this in mind when or if you read. The Queen has also written an emotional entry. The day started as any other. I was living in Springfield, Virginia and working at the District of Columbia. My normal commute to work starts with a ride on the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) from Lorton. Lorton is actually closer and the commuter train is much nicer and often faster than the Metro (DC’s subway). Once arriving in DC, I walk to the office about a mile from Union Station. The day is sunny and not too warm. After arriving at the office and getting seated, we check all of the email systems to make sure there have been no hiccups. There is nothing out of the ordinary so Tim and I start Metro searching to find the subway/bus route to the data

Tonight, I joined Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a group of individuals dedicated to the creation of perfect toast. Making perfect toast is actually a complicated art. The group meets to discuss breads, toasters, toasting technology and even regular ovens for those times when you have to make a whole lot of toast. You may think that making toast is as simple as placing white bread into a toaster and depressing the lever. What do you do when it is a heavy white bread or pumpkin raisin loaf? Do you turn the knob to the heavier setting or do you feel oregano cheese bread should be made with a lighter toast setting? The bread can make allthe difference in perfect toast. The toasting mechanism is equally as important. Those days when the toaster has one of the coils not quite right, what do you do? What if you use a toaster oven instead of the pop-up toaster? What if you are toasting for 30 people? Do you toast in the oven, or do you stack the toast? How do you keep the toast from getting so

I have four phones. My work phone, my home phone, my personal cell phone and my work cell phone. All of them have voicemail. When voicemail was first invented, it was far from a miracle of technology. Basically, it is an answering machine for LOTS of people. The object of the "mail" part of voicemail was for computer telephony integration of which yours truly was one of the pioneers. I know, a Native being a Pioneer...funny. Ummm...yeah. So, the "mail" part of voicemail was intended for voice message delivery through the email system. If you received a voice message, it would package it as a .wav file and send it through email for you to listen. Some voicemail systems would just send you a link to the system computer so it can call you up to deliver the messages. Either way, the intent was to send the message to the user, not make the user dial in to retreive the message. The system I see today are glorified answering machines. All of my phones work in the same way:

First of all, what is a work spice? The origin of the word work comes from (for all of those Big Fat Greek Wedding fans) the Greek word ergon meaning to labor or be employed. Spice is the plural form of the word spouse ...work with me here...mouse: mice, house: hice, spouse: spice. Where does this come from? I have a work spice and the Queen knows about it. Fact is, she encourages it. There is a considerable amount of background on the work spice. I was married to my co-worker for about 12 years. My first wife, Teri, and I met because she was transferred to the Air Force base as my subordinate. After a few weeks of knowing each other, we married (there is a totally different blog entry for this topic). After many years of marriage to my co-worker, when it came to working alone in the another location without my wife, I was at a total loss. It was like life was spinning out of control and I could not detox about work with a person who has an clue of what I am talking about. The Queen

In this day and time where organic and foods without preservatives has become the mainstay of society, I often wonder WHY we moved away from the natural products? Was all for money? Did it really save people money by pumping hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils into their food? Of course it did! Well, that whole increasing the chance of a heart attack or adding a new risk of heart attack and stroke in women is just minor collateral damage when you can keep food fresher longer. That's what trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated products) do for you. Think I am blowing sunshine? The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) advises the United States and Canadian governments on nutritional science for use in public policy and product labelling programs. Their 2002 Dietary reference intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids contains their findings and recommendations regarding consumption of Trans fat. Their recommenda