• Giving life.

    I found out that my wife was pregnant with our second child in a unique way. One day after my wife got a positive result on a home pregnancy test, I was called down to the mail room at my office to pick up a potted plant that had been delivered for me. The potted plant didn’t tell me much, so I opened the card attached. “Congratulations, you’re a daddy again…”, it announced. A month or so later the plant is still alive and well in my office. Sitting at work since then, I’ve resolved to do something quite extraordinary: I’ve decided to take care of the thing. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I don’t have a very good track record with office plants. Unlike any plant left in my care before, this one gets water. Stay tuned for my progress.

  • What is in a name?

    I’m toying with my options since the announcement that I’m about to be charged for the space I use for this web site. Alas, nothing lasts forever, especially when it’s free. In my research I’ve discovered an intriguing possibility, one that I may pursue regardless if I keep my site here or not: registering my own domain name. Maybe someday you’ll be ignoring these entries at www.johnkauffman.net!

  • The $64,000 question.

    “Do you miss college?” The question came out of nowhere. I was at work, and out of the blue one of my coworkers popped the question on me while I was assisting with a computer problem. Do I miss college? “Yeah, I miss college; but I don’t miss the lectures”, I answered. I’m laying in bed, the morning after, and I remember the question. Do I miss college? Yeah, I really do. My college years were a turning point in my life. It was where I discovered I had some value as a person. It was where I discovered I CAN . It was where I discovered that someone else (other than family) saw something desirable in me. It was where my wife and I found a spark, and where the ensuing fire took hold. Do I miss college? Yeah, I really do, but would I go back? No. There’s too much that I’ve discovered since that I would have to give up. So no, I wouldn’t go back.