Daily Dose of BS January 30

If you do any traveling you are going to see the inside of a restroom or two.  There are the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to restrooms.  In 43 years I have been in my share of all.  I get grossed out at dirty ones, I am impressed at the clean ones, laughed at the one when I saw the Blue Man Group in Chicago and think it is weird when you go in to one and there is an attendant on duty.  When I went to Jimmy Buffet a few years ago at Alpine Valley there was a guy in the restroom handing out paper towels looking for tips.  There is a joke there but will let it go.  What a job, hanging out in the can and watching people at their most vulnerable.  Not only does that job kind of have the creeper quality to it, your sense of smell has to be shot for you to do that for a job.  I remember when my kids were young and they walked into the home bathroom after use and they would make a comment, they were told it was roses.  It is amazing that telling your kids that as a joke and to have them put that together with practical knowledge for example having the family go the conservatory at Como Park and in to the rose room and have the kids say we don’t want to go in there because they were afraid of the smell of roses.    

Daily Does of BS January 27

The dumbing down of America. You have heard that phrase before haven’t you? I have many times, and started to thing about what is the cause of the dumbing down? Is it the countless hours of so called reality tv that pollutes our air waves each and every day? There are people who are stars because of these shows. Like the Kardashians, I still have no idea who these people are and why they are stars, can someone fill me in? Kate plus 8 to me that equals 9 and about the amount of people that I would think would even watch these shows. I found out the other day that Jersey Shore has been on the air since 2009 and has been the most watched show ever on MTV. Isn’t MTV music television? It was when I watched it. There are shows about Hell’s Kitchen, Hoarders, Gene Simons and his family jewels, huh? I have never seen a whole episode of American Idol, millions of people have though. Why not put yourself out there and be on Bachelor and Bachelorette, I am sure you will find true love there. On your way to finding your true love you can be 16 and pregnant, go Dancing with the Stars, then after you find true love you can go on Wife Swap, there is the new version of this show that has celebrities swapping their wives, I am guessing with some this isn’t the first time that has been suggested. Are you a Survivor?(of what, most of us are of one thing or another) I have to admit I do watch Undercover Boss, and at times I must have been chopping onions when the reveal comes in.

Daily Dose of BS January 26

When you got to sit down and write something everyday, sometimes the pickings are slim, you are scraping the bottom of the barrel. There are days when I have no idea what I am going to write about till I sit down and start typing then an idea shows up out of thin air. If I start typing something usually comes to me, today however I am at a loss, the proverbial cat has got my tongue better yet my brain. I sat down with no idea what to write and as I am just typing nothing is filling in the space the only thing I can type is about how I have nothing to write about, I may as well been a writer on the show Seinfeld, since that show was about nothing and they made a career off the show, if my blatant attempt of filling space was as successful as the 22 minutes of nothing that they had week after funny week, I could have made a living off my writing, but it is not. I wish I had something to write, however I have brain freeze and not a dang thing I can do about it but to keep typing and hope that the old monkey theorem that states if you put a monkey hitting random keys for an infinite amount of time we most certainly will type the complete works of Shakespeare, today not so much just a monkey flinging poop.

Daily Dose of BS January 25

You’ve heard the saying “Tipping is not just a city in China.”  Guess what it really isn’t.  There is no city in China called Tipping.  I grew up in Minnesota, got my first radio job in Mason City and my buddy James told me about cow tipping.  We attempted it after a few bottles of liquid encouragement, the farmer came out with a shot gun and fired in the air, it was more than air that I passed that night.  I later found that you can’t tip a cow, I tried, they are big animals, you can’t moo-ve them.  I have been called frugal at times, by more than one person.  I like to hang on to my money and there is nothing wrong with that.  I do however tip well (at least 20% for a meal, not as much for just beers), I get embarrassed when I go out with someone and I offer to pick up the check and they offer to leave the tip and they don’t tip well, leaving only 10% or so.  I guess if you are getting good service and service with a smile, drinks topped off, and the little glimpse into the life of the person serving you, its gotta be worth something, right.  I have been out with people that pull the tip card out of their wallet to figure out the tip.  How hard is it to figure out a tip?  Move the decimal point over to the left one, if you have a $23.45 bill and you wan to leave a 10% tip it is $2.35, a 20% tip is $4.70, the ten percent tip doubled, and for a 15% tip spilt the difference.  Not rocket science, its rent, a car payment, groceries, etc. 

BS water cooler question of the day

We all know that youtube is huge but how huge is it? 

YouTube users now upload over 60 hours of video per minute!

A really funny but offensive criagslist posting.  Lots of swearing http://imgur.com/gallery/KqIme

Daily Dose of BS January 24

We got reminded again Sunday why celebrities should not sing the National Anthem. If he would have been a contestant on American Idol, he would have been chastised and put in the same category as William Hung, I am talking about the singing if you want to call it that of the National Anthem, by Idol Judge Steven Tyler before the Patriots-Ravens NFL playoff game. Besides Tyler’s screeching, he gave us his best guess of the lyrics, singing "as bomb bursting in air" instead of "the bombs bursting in air." Areosmith front man Steven Tyler's National Anthem ear plugging event isn't the first time a celebrity has butchered the Francis Scott Key tune. I know when I am in the stands of a game it is a hard song to sing along with, but if you can’t do it, don’t. Some other notable celebrity mess ups include Christiana Aguilera’s mess up at the Super Bowl last year, the July 1990 Padres game when Rosanne Barr not only did she sound like my neighbor kids garage band but, she grabbed her crotch and spit after being boo'ed by thousands of fans. How about when Michael Bolton completely blanked out and froze, legendary jazz singer Anita Baker hit a bad note with the National Anthem during the NBA Finals. Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band completely blanked on the lyrics while singing the anthem at a Kansas City Chiefs game. Or Olympic gold medal winner Carl Lewis, not only did he forget the words and sang off-key he had the audacity to stop mid-anthem and talk for a moment stating "Uh oh, I'll make up for it now!" before delivering the final line. Since we are on the topic of the National Anthem, when you hear it, please stand up straight, take off your hat, put your hand over your heart and reflect on what this great Nation means to you.

Daily Dose of BS January 23

The more things change the more they stay the same.  We used to have big cars then small cars then big cars now small cars again.  Records went away with cds then the big format in music, then mp3’s now people are buying albums again.  People used to sit at a typewriter and type out letters to send off, now people are using computers to do the same.  But what got me thinking about how backwards we have become is that lots of us are texting.  I just started about a month ago, I know late in the game, and to me it seems like a backward progression from where we where before texting.  Didn’t people used to send carrier pigeons to send messages?  It seems to me that we are going back to those days in a conversation that used to take a few seconds on the phone is now  dragged out into a half hour of texting.  I find it to be a distraction in life as well as many are doing it when they should be working, driving, paying attention - you name it they are texting instead, in fact I saw a lady at church texting the other day.  It has also made us oblivious to spelling when does l-8-r spell later, or b-r-b mean be right back, or semi colon parentheses mean smiley face.  And the sideways v with a 3 means I love you, It has been a lot of years since I had math class, now is that less than 3 or greater than 3?

Daily Dose of BS January 20

Everyday we get bombarded with hundreds if not thousands of junk emails.  I for one am sick of it.  I have a few email accounts, my yahoo one, my business one and my radio station one.  Between the different accounts and texts and various things that we get everyday I am guessing that we are reading a book a day, and that is just the messages that don’t get kicked out of our message in box from the spam filter.  After the first round of defense, I for one look at my inbox and delete about ¾ of my emails before even opening them up.  Who is reading this email?  Who is thinking this is a really good idea, send our account numbers to some Nigerian Prince so that they can smuggle money out of their country?  Why would I want to buy counterfeit prescriptions from Canada, Mexico or Alabama?   Why is some company in India trying to sell me SEO products for my business?  This type of marketing must be working because they are still trying to get us to pony up and buy this that and the other thing, or to send our social security numbers so that we can claim our 4.6 million pound prize from Google Belgium.  I hope your smarter than to send your information to someone asking for your info via the internet with a Dear Sir or Madam, or a phone call, but  if your not please send your check or money order to Daily Dose of BS 1407 2^nd Ave N, Onalaska Wisconsin 54650. 

Daily Dose of BS January 19

We have all done it, made a line in the sand and said I am not going to cross that line.  I promise myself I will never do..fill in the blank.  I wonder if it is a sign of the times, the society or that we are weak or maybe we make the lines that can’t possibly be kept.  There are some that are hard and fast rules that we should not do, but some do.  Every day we hear of people who have killed someone or robbed a bank or even embezzled money from you name it work, club, church, school..the list is as long as my arm.  When I was young and would get disciplined by my Dad I remember saying I will never yell at my kids.  Guess what if you have kids sometimes you yell.  Does this make a failure?  No way.  Sometimes we make the “nevers” in our lives unattainable.  If you say you will never lie, speed, kill someone, etc.  You can have each of those things happen, at the blink of an eye, with out even realizing you did it.  For example kill someone seems the harshest of the 3 I listed, lets say God forbid, someone runs veers their car into your lane to avoid hitting a deer and has a head-on collision with you, not even your fault.  The line got moved.  As the movie said, maybe we should “Never say Never again”, but instead say I don’t ever plan on doing that.

Daily Dose of BS January 17

I know looking at me I may not come across as a fan of shoes and comfort, but I am.  I am a huge fan of "clog" type shoes.  My love for them began about 15 years ago with a pair of Airwalk's that I bought, I ended up going back to the store and purchased 3 more pair that day.  I was in love, in the past 15 years I have burned through those pairs of Airwalk, when I couldn't find the same show moved on to the Keen slip on (didn't care for that one) then began wearing the the Merrell a few years ago(I wore them so much my friends started calling them my potato shoe, because of the color, they look like potato skins), this has been a good shoe, but can't find that shoe anymore, I happened across an ad on facebook for the shoe “The Todi Original” I looked over their site. (The Todi Original looked to be exactly what I like about the "slip on, comfortable shoe")  Could it be have I stumbled upon the next great shoe?  I ordered a pair, waited with anticipation, when the shoes finally arrived, I was about to burst with excitement, was I going to be in shoe heaven or shoe hell?  I wore them one day, then the next, and continued to wear these foot hugging backless wonders.  From their website “The Todi Original offers insole with the support to help the foot relax and the versatility to gradually conform and accommodate to the wearer’s unique foot shape..a roomy toe box enhance comfort, fit and style”  Could it possibly live up to the hype I built up in my head?  Well if you like the non-tie, slip on built for comfort, with great foot support and looks good as well, I would suggest picking up a pair of the Todi Original.  From www.todiusa.com I am looking forward to checking out the Todi Shane when they are rolled out mid year.  

Daily Dose of BS January 13

When I get a wild hair and want to get a few projects around the house done, it usually requires a trip to the hardware store, 9 times out of 10 one or more kid likes to go with. And when they do go I get called over to the candy shelf it started out as my kids saying hey Dad can we get this box of this or bag of that..as a Dad you say sure cause that is what you do. What started out as the kids asking, became me wandering by those shelves looking to see what caught my eye..even when they weren’t around. The kids started my addiction that I thought was put to bed long ago, the addiction of candy. I like chewy Spree, there I have said it, and admitted to it, that I think is the first step in concurring an addiction. I am not sure if you have ever tried these chewy discs of sour goodness. They come in Five bold fruity flavors: Strawberry, Grape, Orange, Lemon and my favorite the lime..weird since when it comes to candy I usually like the red ones. With a candy coated outer shell with a tasty chewy center. These are awesome, and they leave your mouth watering. That brings me to the reason for this writing. I believe that these candies tried to kill me, they are so good that they leave your mouth with excessive saliva production, so much so that it can be used as a form of water boarding. Now remind me why I like these again?

Daily Dose of BS January 12

You’ve heard of the 411 that is the info, named after the phone call to information.  411, I dialed that a bunch of times when it came out because of my poor spelling.  My parents got mad..it is not free to call 411 at least it wasn’t.. I am not even sure if it is even still an option as almost everyone had a computer or a smart phone and phonebooks really aren’t used anymore.  Today we had our first snowfall of the year..not of the season mind you but of the year.  We have had a few inches of the stuff before today but none that measured to much, in fact I think I only shoveled 2x so before this morning.  Today we will run in to and see multiple instances of idiot drivers we live in Wisconsin we should have the winter driving season ingrained in our DNA, unfortunately it is not.. we forget what that white stuff is every year and every year we think we are driving in perfect conditions with the perfect roads.  Well my friends that is not the case, we have snow and blowing snow today and we also have people that shouldn’t be driving, out there..driving.  So when you are out today make sure to give yourself plenty of time to stop, and turn, don’t tailgate and don’t ride the bumper of the person in front of you.  Also if you are going to be doing any traveling, don’t forget the 511, that is the Department of Transportations info number (and this is a free call), find the road conditions before you travel.  Remember snow means slow.

Daily Dose of BS January 11

Yesterday I combined two of the Schmidt Christmas gift for one big mess. We got one of the brew by the cup coffee pots and some travel mugs for Christmas. I really like the coffee pot, I can have a fresh cup of coffee when I get up, and when I want one later in the day…during the day I am tethered to the coffee pot at work while putting in my hours there. The one thing I don’t like about the coffee pot is that the individual coffees are kind of spendy, and they don’t quite fill up my to go mug that I have with me at all times. It takes about 1 ½ cups to fill the mug, so I run the water through the k coffee filter 1 and a half times to fill my mug and it turns out great. The travel coffee mugs we got are white and have the no slip grip, they are similar to the ones we got last year. You would think that a white cup with a white lid from the same company would have the same lid, not so much…the lid fits and I thought it was a tight fitting lid. It worked all the way to work, when I took off my coat and started drinking coffee at work, damn if I didn’t spill on my shirt, I re set the lid, and a few minutes later another spill. I am blaming it on the lid…too bad the lids don’t interchange. And I hope that coffee stains come out of my Drinks well with others t-shirt.

Daily Dose of BS January 10

Clamshell or blister packaging… the packing stuff that stuff is packed in these days.  You know the heat formed kryptonite layer of impossible to open plastic that stands between you and pretty much anything you buy these days.   I bought a part for my front door the other day and went to open the package with a scissors, I started by cutting around the edges, figuring that cutting three sides should be good, I can then pry the plastic off the brass piece that was engulfed in the wrap.  Guess what, not good enough, I then had to use the scissors to pry the pieces of magma welded plastic apart, finally a small tear in the wrap, success, I can get my finger in the slit and can now rip the rest of the plastic off the piece, well the plastic ripped all right just not off the part, somehow it managed to rip a gaping hole in my thumb and if you think a paper cut hurts, imagine a cut 3x wider and as deep, who ever heard of a plastic cut?  I never have till the other day.  Since we are on the topic of packaging, who is the lucky person who packs boxes these days, ever bought anything in a box with Styrofoam, then tried to get the same stuff back in to the box…impossible.  Or since Christmas has now come and gone, any kids toy is shackled to the cardboard box it comes in with twist ties, not one or two but 30-40 metal shackles like the manufacture was thinking that the toy would try to make a run for it, I am guessing that the toy won’t…I’ve seen Toy Story and toys live to be played with.

Daily Dose of BS January 9

Why is it once you reach a certain age that you think you can say anything to anyone you want? I think that this line of thinking is rude. I ran into a guy that used to call me on the air years ago at Menards last week. We exchanged pleasantries and talked for a bit then he felt the urge to put his hands on my belly and tap it while saying it looks like you’ve packed on the pounds. I told him that was rude and walked away. Well if you know I have lost weight, and been working on staying healthy by doing Boot Camp Classes with LaCrosse Park and Rec. This isn’t the first time that I have had people from an older generation blurt something out that was rude, and when I shared my story over the weekend with a few of my friends they too have had unfiltered comments from people their grandparents age. When did it become ok to be rude to someone? Is it once you reach 80+. Could you imagine if you said what you thought to everyone that you came into contact with? Not only would I get slapped but also kicked and punched …but I am sure I would get a few thank yous as well. Lets all try this, filter out the hurtful observations and share the positive ones…it would make a better place for us all.

Daily Dose of BS January 6

Your going on a trip overnight somewhere….doesn’t matter where next door or across country.  Picture what you have to bring.  Why is it as Americans we feel the need to bring everything we could ever think of for the trip?  You have to pack your toiletry bag, a book, a swim suit, a change of clothes, a laptop,  some snacks, my cpap machine, an extra pair of shoes….what else did I forget?  Oh yea camera, charger for my cell phone, the gps, coffee mug, winter hat, gloves, oh my goodness.   Why do we need to bring so much crap then if there is more than just you, you need to multiply all that by however many are traveling with you, and if kids are along you need toys, videos, games more snacks etc.  We have too much stuff.  I feel bad for the people with those little cars, how do you get all your stuff for your overnight in the vehicle?  I think this is why airlines started charging by the pound either downsize or buy lighter stuff.  Downsize, now there is a novel concept, would you NOT like fries with that? 

Daily Dose of BS January 5

In my 43 years of being on this earth we have seen a lot of changes from our cars, and houses to the things we buy and eat…heck about 10 years ago I would have never bought bottled water, now water is one of my favorite drinks.  I would have never thought I would be able to have a phone with me at all times let alone a computer attached to my belt, heck when myspace came around I jumped on it as a chance to promote my radio show to the  “new crowd” and thought what could ever be bigger and cooler than myspace.  When facebook came into existence I avoided it like the plaque now I post on facebook everyday, It is kind of weird when I don’t.  The reason I bring this up is because I was thinking I don’t know any kid named Bob, when I was growing up there where about 15 of us in my class from Rob, to Robby, and Bob to Bobby and don’t forget about Robert.  I was born in 1968 and then the top names were Michael, David, John, James and Robert….for the boys and Lisa, Michelle, Kimberly, Jennifer and Melissa for the girls.  Number one for 2010 was Jacob for boys and Isabella for girls and Robert was no where in the top 50.  Michael is still in the top 5 for boys and none of the girls names from 1968 made it to this generation.  To see where your name ranks check out the Social Security Administrations website http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

1968

Rank	Male name	Female name
1	Michael	Lisa
2	David	Michelle
3	John	Kimberly
4	James	Jennifer
5	Robert	Melissa

2010

Rank	Male name	Female name
1	Jacob	Isabella
2	Ethan	Sophia
3	Michael	Emma
4	Jayden	Olivia
5	William	Ava

Daily Dose of BS January 4

Losing is not an option.  2nd place is the first loser, if you don't win it, then whats the point.  That is what the conversation was this morning with a guy at work.  We were talking about the Badgers and how the Badger lost the Rose Bowl...I was saying they did well even though they lost, after all they made it to the Rose Bowl.  Some people not so much a loss is a loss as I mentioned in the first sentence, the first loser.  You are playing to win and if you don't then you failed.  I guess I like to win but to me winning isn't everything, for some it is the only thing.  With the outcomes of so many things win or lose, I guess that I have come to the conclusion that we will lose some and  we will win some, I prefer to have more wins than losses but it is not the end of the world for me.  I guess that why I don't let things bug me when my team loses...when their opponent makes a great catch, has a great hit, a super block an awesome pass, I will say great play.  I play to win but if I don't it isn't the end of the world.  Right or wrong, upbringing or competitiveness...I wonder if when you need to win all the time if you are playing darts, pool or tic tac toe with your kids if you walk around pissed the rest of the day.  I guess be a good loser and even better winner.  

Daily Dose of BS January 3

I remember my first job and not being able to get business cards unless I bought them myself, I declined buying them cause I was just starting off in radio and didn’t have any money and I am glad I didn’t cause I moved up and on from that job within a half year.  I didn’t get them when I worked in Nebraska because they weren’t offered and when I finally got into a management position and my own cards I had thought I made it.  Since that time I have had many different cards from different radio stations and for my own businesses.  I don’t remember ever handing out all the cards before something changed.  I remember being warned not to buy too many cards especially for my own business because something will change, and it did from email addresses to cell phones to addresses, to the name of my business.  I think the cards I have now are the longest running cards I have had, and they will need to be changed again as I LLC’ed my business recently.  I just read a story of how business cards are now a thing of the past that people will look for you online, but I am all for the handshake and the passing of the business card.  After all how is someone going to remember your url?  In my opinion the business card is not dead maybe just the boring ones are.  Here is a link of 100 really cool cards.  http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards/