Daily Dose of BS June 25

I have been in radio for most of my adult life; I have worked in many different formats meaning music genera over the past 24 years from top 40, to oldies, from active rock to talk and adult contemporary to country.  I have worked all shifts starting out overnights in Mason City Iowa, moved to Scottsbluff Nebraska and over the 2 ½ years there, worked all the shifts mornings, middays, afternoons and nights.  I have spent the last 20 years here in La Crosse Wisconsin.  Most of that time working in radio; one break I took ,the other was a layoff.  I have been with the La Crosse Radio group since about 6 months after my layoff, I have been here almost 3 years, working in news and doing the afternoon shift on Magic 105.  About 6 months ago I was asked if I wanted to help switch the format of Adult Standards 1490 WLFN to Today’s Talk 1490.  Would I?  It would be a dream come true, as working talk radio was always my favorite.  The dream is getting closer as I will be taking over the morning show calling it BS with Bob Schmidt, 6-9 Monday – Friday.  I have never been part of a format change before, and I am sure some will be upset, hopefully more will love it than hate it.  You know as a person with over half my life on the radio, I am surprisingly nervous as I type this out.  It is getting closer and closer by the day.  I am asking you to please join me when you can weekday mornings on Today’s Talk 1490 and then again weekday afternoons here on The Best Variety Magic 105.  And to all my team members at La Crosse Radio Group thank you for believing in me, I won't let you down.  Daily Dose of BS 

Daily Dose of BS June 22

I did not write this, I don’t know who did, I tried to find the original author, I couldn’t, but I liked it so am sharing it.  Me, behave/normal?  Seriously?  As a child I saw Tarzan almost naked, Cinderella arrived home after midnight, Pinocchio told lies, Aladdin was a thief, Batman drove over 200 miles an hour, Snow White lived in a house with 7 men, Popeye smoked a pipe and had tattoos, Pac Man ran around to digital music while eating pills that enhanced his performance, and Shaggy and Scooby were mystery solving hippies that always had the munchies. The fault is not mine!  Also don't forget that Elmer Fudd didn't practice gun safety.  Fred & Daphne used to head off alone together.  Captain Caveman was a throwback raging on 'roids.  There were like 99 Smurfs, but only one was female....and they lived in shrooms.  It's still unclear what George Jetson did for a living.  A dune buggy had a speech impediment.  And somehow the Harlem Globetrotters ended up in all of the cartoons mentioned.  Captain Kangaroo could see us thru the tv, there was sexual tension between Mr Skinner and Miss Krabapple , the Simpson kids always disrespected their parents, how am I to know any better. As I said I don’t know who originally wrote this, but thought I would share.  It’s just not my fault.

Daily Dose of BS June 21

Is it so bad to want to communicate when you go to the bar or to a restaurant?  It seems like bars and restaurants are trying to hide something by pumping the volume up in their establishments, is there a correlation between the volume of the jukebox, radio or tv in a place and the quality of the food, drink or service?  I haven’t found this to be the case, but  I have poor hearing and am getting older and like to sit and just BS when I go out, communications are the cornerstone of any relationship and if you don’t get a chance to talk when you are out, how do you build friendships?  No wonder the younger generation has a hard time communicating beside with short answers, the art of conversation will be lost forever if we don’t insist on quieter surroundings, I hate conversations that are interrupted with a huh, or a what because of the ambient noise.  And when you have to yell to talk to the person sitting right next to you, it probably isn’t good for the relationship.  

Daily Dose of BS June 20

My oldest turns 17 today.  In the past 17 years it has been amazing to see him grow into a responsible young man.  From his help around the house, to getting and holding a job through his junior year at Bions Service Station to lettering in golf, and getting a job this summer at Forest Hills.  Hayden has done this all while being on the Honor Roll every quarter of his High School Career.  As his dad I am so proud of this guy.  He has great friends, who all have high aspirations in life.  He is polite, caring and has a great scene of humor, he is also smart-alecky at times and people always throw at me where do you think he got that.  I don’t know, can you pick that up off a toilet seat somewhere?  I expect many great and exciting things for this young man.  I don’t mean for this to be embarrassing but I am so proud of him.  Hayden I hope you have a great birthday, and remember I always love you buddy.  

Daily Dose of BS June 19

Two words “thank you” not hard to say but often forgotten, don’t be that person that gets something and doesn’t say the two little words.  How hard is it to thank someone for what they have done for you?  I make a conscience effort to say thank you for everything from the waitress bringing me a glass of water to the person holding the door to the person that is doing their job right, because we all know that, that does not always happen.  (You know who I most often forget to say thank you to, my family, we often take our families for granted, and for that I am sorry.)   Another two words we tend to forget is I’m sorry.  How hard is it to say I’m sorry, it makes a huge difference as we go thru life, it is so easy to say and the repercussions of saying it are huge.  If you made a mistake admit it and move on don’t dwell on it, it will save you heartache later.  So to wrap up this BS thank you for listening and sorry if this topic didn’t sit well with you.

Daily Dose of BS June 18

So there we were, the seven thousand people who weathered the storm at FreedomFest 2012 getting ready for the 3^rd and final band Steve Miller who called himself Stevie Guitar, when Don Weber founder of FreedomFest got up to speak, to remind us again of the reason we were all at FreedomFest, it is for our Veterans, it was a celebration of life for those who made it home after their tours and a celebration of the lives of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so that we have our freedoms.  This was the first FreedomFest that I have been a part of and am looking forward to enjoying it again next year.  From the moment that the Remainders took the stage, I knew it was going to be an electrifying night, with great music, and I was not disappointed from the cover and original songs from the Remainders to every single hit that Foreigner played to the bluesy renditions of the Steve Miller Band the music did not disappoint.  There was an hour break after Foreigner as the weather decided that the music was too hot and needed to be doused with buckets of rain, besides it being the world’s largest wet t-shirt contest I might add with no winners it was a great concert.  Back to Don Weber and his tribute to the Fallen Heroes, I listened to what he was saying and watched on the screen as Patriotic Music played and a slide show of the Brave Men and Women who lost their lives for our freedoms flashed by onscreen.  I was standing shoulder to shoulder to thousands as we watched and not a dry eye in the crowd, I guess I am not too big to cry.  

Daily Dose of BS June 15

I am lucky I had a dad to talk to when I was growing up and my dad continues to be my friend to this day.  There were times when we didn’t see eye to eye but I think that is the way it should be, you can't be a puppet of your parents or your boss or your spouse.  My parents were there for me when I needed them to be and surprisingly were absent when I needed my space.  That is the sign of a good parent I guess, it is what I try to do for my children.  What I am trying to say is that this Sunday is Father’s Day, a day for us to call or stop by and talk to our dads.  If your father is still alive, I invite you to give the old man a call and tell him what you think of him, even if you don’t see eye to eye, I would bet that he would like to hear what you have to say.  Dads are a rare breed that sometimes get overlooked especially with the dead beat dads that are out there, it is too bad that these so called donors were there for the fun but when it came time to step up and be a man, they didn’t, they took the low road, not fessing up to or helping out with and not being there for their kids.  We all have heard the stories of these people who want nothing to do with the child that they helped to create.  For you men that stepped up and take care of your children or help your loved one take care of her children, thank you for being there and being a man for your kids and step kids I wish you a happy father’s day.  And to my dad Bob Schmidt, I love you dad Happy Father’s Day, and thanks for being a man.

Daily Dose of BS June 14

I admit it I make mistakes each and every from typing this up to later reading it on the air.  I do and will make mistakes many throughout the day, I guarantee it.  The thing about the mistakes I make is you will hear them when I mess up on a word on the radio, or see them when I use the wrong word posting this on facebook, if not for the automatic spell check on my computer you would see many more mistakes than are showing now.  The reason I bring this up is when I mispronounce a name on the air, I will hear about it.  Names are for me the hardest to pronounce as sometimes, you look at a name like s-m-i-t-h and you say Smith, and nine times out of ten it will be pronounced that way, the person who got their name on the news however will pronounce s-m-i-t-h as Smyth.  And then feel the need to call you to tell you, that you said it wrong.  I want to say if you didn’t do wrong then your name wouldn’t have been pronounced wrong on the radio to begin with.  But I don’t.  Needless to say I do wrong on a regular basis, and if you have a problem with that, then I think it would be your issue as I admit I am wrong and am ok with who I am.  

Daily Dose of BS June 13

Have ya ever broken a mirror, how about, spilled salt, sneezed 3 times, opened an umbrella in the house?  I am guessing unless you have lived in a padded box you have done one or all of these supposed bringers of bad luck.  I had the ultimate BS happen last night, a bird dropped a big old load of BS on my head and shoulder.   If you are wondering what BS stands for in this case it stands for Bird Schmidt.  Right on my head and this isn’t the first time that this has happened to me.  I was riding my motorcycle on Father’s Day 1995, 3 days before my oldest was born when a bird let loose all over my head, face and glasses; thank goodness I was close to my destination.  I am in a long line of Schmidt’s that have been target practice for our winged friends, I remember when I was a kid my Dad told us of a day when he was watching his Dad take a nap on a hammock and Grandpa Schmidt slept with his mouth open, needless to say my Dad saw some awesome maneuvering from the bird and splat right into the open target, I guess Grandpa just moved his mouth a few times and didn’t wake, I asked Dad if he told him, he said no way.   Back to trying to clean up my little mess, I was at the Shelby ball diamonds last night to watch my daughters softball game and the only have the hand dryer there so I was grabbing toilet paper to help with the cleanup I might add that it only came off one sheet at a time, that’s a whole other Daily Dose.  I was able to clean up to the best of my ability, I am thankful that there is no smell.  BTW a great friend of mine told me that getting splattered on by a bird was good luck, yea good luck that cows don’t fly.   

Daily Dose of BS June 12

I have not turned on the air conditioning in my home yet, with shades drawn, and ceiling fans blowing I have avoided the closing up of the house at least for the time being.  It helps that over the 2 hottest weekends so far this year we were out of town.  I am guessing if we reach the expected high of 90 this weekend I will be breaking down and flipping on the air.   I grew up in a house where air wasn’t turned on until it was 100+ with 100 percent humidity.  I like to be comfortable so when the house gets too warm or too humid I turn it on.  Once the air is on for a couple of days for a stretch of heat, I usually leave the air on for an extra day just because, and then when I do finally turn off the air and open the windows it needs to be turned on again, I wish there was a magic home comfortable switch.  It is all about comfort I think, for all of us not just me, we all love comfort and hate it when we are uncomfortable.  We collectively prefer things to go our way and like it when we are not put out too much; I think it is just human nature.  Remember that being uncomfortable pushes you into greatness, that being uncomfortable has brought forth many of the best inventions.  

Daily Dose of BS June 11

Ever have one of those weekends that you couldn’t wait to get back to work? I have had them as well, this past weekend sure wasn’t one of them. The 11th annual Algoma Fishing weekend brought in 3 new faces, two of my boys and a hockey dad joined the usual gang from La Crosse, Milwaukee and St. Louis, Missouri. Friendships have blossomed over the years and not only is it a great time fishing but also a so called brotherhood where many jokes, and one-liners are shared over a cast and a beer. This year no different in fact a few baahd pranks have been pulled on a few of the guys. The guys from Fishin Magician Charters took great care of the gang again this year as we got a total of 24 salmon between the groups and no shortage of fish stories and camaraderie among the fisherman. It was great for me to spend time with my boys and allow them to blossom into young men, and just as great to grow and make new friends. If you are looking for a get away from your regular life and want to spend some time fishing a great lake, I would suggest a trip to Algoma Wisconsin fisherman’s paradise and a trip with family and good friends both old and new. And for the newbies, maybe remember the Dramamine. Daily Dose of BS weekday afternoons on Magic 105 and soon on 1490

Daily Dose of BS June 7

Pick up after yourself.  Don’t throw your cigarette butts on the ground.  Use the trash receptacles, separate your recyclables.  The world is not your garbage can.  I feel like the Dad here, but pick up your crap.  I am sick and tired of going to the park and seeing some rude inconsiderate person leave their garbage on the picnic tables, and by the swing sets and on the walking trails, how about the person that almost made the garbage can, and splattered their mess all over the side of the can, come on how hard is it to make it in the reciprocal it seems like it was more effort to miss the can.  Also the world is not your ashtray.  Do not flick your butts on the ground.  And you who leave your kids dirty diapers in the parking lot, I hope that someone accidently fills your car with crap, but then you probably won't notice it.  

Daily Dose of BS June 6

Voters turned out in droves, I made it to the polling place yesterday at about noon and it took me a whole 7 minutes to get a parking spot, walk in to the polling place, get directed to my ward number from the check in person, stand in my ward line to sign and get my ballot, cast my vote, talk to a couple of neighbors and go home, 7 minutes out of my day, I waste more time everyday during my work day than that.  If your excuse for not voting was you don’t have the time, it is not a big time issue, and your boss has to let you have time off to vote, so in the next election, please vote.  So now that the recall is done and over with, time to start campaigning for the next election, you didn’t think that it was over did you?  If the results were not what you wanted are you prepared for a recall of the recall?  I am not sure I get the whole recall idea anyway.  I thought if you vote for a candidate and you are not happy with their performance that you try harder next election to get your candidate in.  I am also not extremely happy with all the negative ads.  I am sure we all have things in our past that we would not like to come up, why re-hash these candidates past with things that they did 40 years ago, let’s focus on what have they done lately, what ever happened to live and let live and forgive and forget?  For those of you that got out and voted yesterday, pat yourself on the back for doing your duty.  For those that didn’t, and are not happy with the outcome, you could be the reason that the election turned out the way it did.   

Daily Dose of BS June 5

If you are in Wisconsin and are not a convicted felon today you need to vote. Polls are open until 8 tonight and they are expecting a huge turnout. Well 60-70% the other 30-40% can't be bothered. I was trying to think of what reasons you would not go out and vote, if someone you love has passed away in the past few days, if you were in an accident on the way to the polling place, if your kid, parent, loved one got hurt, you died. I really cannot think of any other good reason for you not getting to the polling place. If you are on vacation and didn’t vote, you could have voted with an absentee ballot. Get it, this is important, you need to vote. Make a difference be heard, please vote.

Daily Dose of BS June 1

They are talking about making it illegal to sell sugared drinks larger than 16 ounces in New York City.  Isn’t a 16 ounce pop a super small?  I remember when I was a kid that the largest pop you could buy was a 32 ounce big gulp at the local gas station, I would head there after school and get 32 ounces of icey cold goodness and it would last the rest of the night.  Fast forward many years and 32 ounce pops are the small sized, at most the medium pop, in fact at Kwik Trip I think they have a 22, 32, 44, and 52 ounce pop.  Heck for coffee I believe that the sizes are 24, 20, 16, and 12 ounce, and if New York follows through on the sugary drink ban, most of what people drink will be effected, how often do you see someone only getting black coffee, many add sugar and cream and are drinking instant cappuccino.  I don’t see New York following through on this.  If they do it will it force everyone to go smaller, to force people to drink out of smaller bottles, maybe taller bottles so that way they look like they are drinking more, either that or people from New Jersey will coming over the bridge with illegal bottles of pop in 20 ounce and 24 ounce bottles, I could see it now black market Mt Dew and Pepsi, I would say Coke but that is already sold on the black market.