Daily Dose of BS Nov 30 business

I have a few friends who are very successful in what they do, and they are very giving of their time, and money to help out others and the community.  It made me think, what makes you successful?  Or do you even consider yourself a success?  I consider any day that I am up and out of bed a success.  Lately I have been reading business books, and a few of the common threads in the books have been sharing, thinking outside the box, work on figuring out new ways to do things, don’t expect perfection because you are not going to get it, that ideas will hit you at the weirdest times (I have found this one to be true) and often times the problem isn’t what you think it is.  What are some of the things that you have learned in business?   

Daily Dose of BS Nov 28 Giving Tueday

It started 5 years ago and already has raised millions of dollars in fact last year over 168 million dollars was given on #givingtuesday.  The idea of the day was first introduced back in October of 2012 and has quickly grown into a day of giving, there are local groups and national groups vying for your donation dollars.  Last year worldwide charitable giving was at an all-time high of $168 million dollars topping the previous year by 44% with more donations being given online.  This past year has been a tough year for many as there were the hurricanes in the Texas and Florida as well as the fires in California.  I wonder how we are going to do this year with giving?  I have always said I have more time than money and I try to give of my time.  #givingtuesday is a great way to give back to our community.  I know that there is always a need in La Crosse, look around and dig deep and help if you can.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 27 cyber monday

Black Friday has come and gone, I have been hearing over the weekend that this is not necessary the best time to buy, in fact one of the worst?  If you are looking for a specific item and it is on sale and the only extra cost to you is your time, isn’t it worth it?  Last week I was off work and enjoyed sleeping in, in fact slept till at least 630 most days and as late as 8 on a couple, that includes Black Friday.  I saw a few things that I wanted at Menards, that was it, so when I finally did get out of bed and headed to the store I wasn’t expecting to get the few things I wanted, guess what I did, and I was out of the store and home within 30 minutes.  I missed the scurrying rats with maps to their predetermined destinations.  When I made my trip, I leisurely walked to what I had on my list and bought nothing else.  Today more buying with cyber Monday, 3.45 billion expected to be spent today, up about triple in the past 7 years, is it all for Christmas gifts you think or is it for personal use?  I bet most is for personal use. 

Daily Dose of BS Nov 17 give it away

Just give it all away man. Free yourself from yourself. What better time than now? It is kind of funny that a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers had it right.  Think about it for a moment, with the song "Give it away" released back in 1991 "Give It Away" is centered on the philosophy of selflessness and altruistic behavior, and at this time of year there are lots of needs out there from the need of Bell Ringers for the Salvation Army, to non-perishable food items for the Hunger Task Force, to the La Crosse Jaycees Toys for Tots which has their toy drive going on today until 6pm at the La Crosse Center,  to the needs of your neighbors and your church.  Kind of weird that a song from the 90’s gives so much, back to more lyrics “Reeling with the feeling don't stop continue” from reaching into your pocket for change to the time shared to help a child, to holding a door for a stranger at the mall.  I think we get out of life what we give, so “send a smile and show you care. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give It Away"

Daily Dose of BS Nov 16 freedom of speech

What are your thoughts on free speech?  Are they that you have the right to say what you want?  What if what someone wanted to say or display had words that you didn’t like perhaps they said the N word or the word that rhymes with my last name.  Perhaps someone used the Lords name in vain?  How about the F word?  There is a truck in Texas with the lettering on the back of its window that says “F--- TRUMP AND F--- YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM” would you be ok with that?  And honestly I bet that this goes political so just for sake of it not, what if it said “F--- Fill in your any name of a winning candidate here AND F--- YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM” Would that change your thoughts on it?  I bet for some it would.  There used to be a truck around La Crosse with a big window sticker on it is that said my other toy has tits, (I bet he was a dairy farmer) and believe it or not I was bugged by that one, not only because it was rude but my at the time innocent kids asked me what it meant.  So we say we are for freedom of speech but are we really?  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 15 cards against humanity

For the past few years the card game Cards Against Humanity has had some sort of holiday prank, to get national press for free, this year is no different, this year the card game is making it difficult for the Trump administration to purchase border land by buying up some of the land that borders the United States and Mexico and vows to make it “as time-consuming and expensive” as possible.  To me that is counterproductive on a couple of different levels, first of all it is the United States, there is such a thing as eminent domain, they can sweep in and take land, and I could really see the government doing something like this, all it would take is a “just” compensation, and secondly, if they are making it “as time-consuming and expensive” as possible, doesn’t that just mean more tax dollars out of my pocket fighting for something that isn’t even going to be built anyway?   I have played the game a few times, it was fun, but I don’t think it was that irreverent, but maybe that’s just me.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 14 Parking

I hope you enjoyed where you parked last night. It was the last night of parking without alternate side parking until March 15th you have 120 days to try to get it right. I like to look at it like a game you can’t win.  And this year since we have less days the city of La Crosse will not be putting warnings on cars.  The annual free for all money grab starts at 1 tonight as the yearly alternate side parking debacle begins.  I am lucky enough to have off street parking but my son isn’t as lucky. Sometimes he can park behind the house but for the most part it is street parking for him.  From today until March 15^th we will have to follow the even, odd parking rules, this is even if we don’t have any snow or even any snow in the forecast.  I wonder where the parking money even goes?  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 13 Facebook

There are over a billion people on Facebook.   About 58% of Americans are on the social media platform, not bad for a company that didn’t even exist 14 years ago.  With the average American spending almost 40 minutes a day on Facebook, about double of the world wide average,  that is a lot of screen time for those little ads to make their way into your brain.  The voyeur in me keeps me looking and the thoughts that plague my mind give me endless topics to post on here on Facebook.  Are we better off now knowing that John had a burger for lunch with his bff?  Does it matter that Sally sold seashells by the seashore, you bet it does, the average person has 338 friends up from a few years ago in 2013 it was 130 friends.  I at one time actually knew all my Facebook friends, and many of my radio friends have two accounts the work one and the real one, I guess I wasn’t smart enough to do that when I started with Facebook, I just started a radio one.   And am slowly getting up to my 338 friends. 

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Daily Dose of BS Nov 10 sexual assault

I get that we are sexual beings.  I really do.  However, I don’t get all these men forcing themselves on others.  It had been going on since the beginning of time and there have been Presidents that were implied did wrong, there was the Bill Cosby stuff, then came Harvey Weinstein, and Kevin Spacey now there are allegations against a few politicians and the comedian Louis C K.  Plus the everyday sexual assault that goes on, each and every day, from schoolyards, to boardrooms, to bedrooms.  I don’t know about you but my parents taught me that no means no, not maybe or yes.  It angers me that these men think that their power gives them the right to be an a-hole.  The thing is that they ruin it for every nice guy out there, every guy that is respectful and loving gets the once over and assumed that he too is a sexual deviant.  Drinking or drugs shouldn’t be used as an excuse either.  We need to respect each other and respect ourselves.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 9 pot holes

Had a caller yesterday mention how horrible the conditions of the roads in La Crosse are, I will have to agree that some are bad, but not all, in fact not a lot.  According to a few national reports out there the city isn’t alone, the state of Wisconsin has 238,240 miles of road, the 13th most btw, with the 4th highest public roads in poor condition.  Not sure where they are driving.  On my daily commute from south side La Crosse to Onalaska I have great roads all the way here, when going to the mall from my house, same deal, heading downtown, there are a few pockets of crappy roads, but for the most part they are better than the roads in Minnesota where I grew up.  I recall a pothole that about swallowed my car when I was younger.  I think we have work to do to make all the roads smooth as glass but for the many miles of roads that are paved around here, they do a pretty damn good job. 

Daily Dose of BS November 8 deer

Tis the season, not the Christmas season but you wouldn’t know that if you were at any local retailers.  Tis the season for deer crashes in Wisconsin.  There were about 21,000 car vs deer accidents last year.  21,000, that is a lot of white tail being hit and not by hunters.  I think that we have all seen a few of the remains on the side of the road, and after a couple of weeks they aren’t too pretty anymore.  This week is the week were more car vs deer accidents happen on Wisconsin roads than any other.  A little advice when you see a deer slow down, watch the side of the road there may be more following.  Try to avoid taking evasive action by crossing the center line, you may cause more injury or even death.  Last year the average claim after hitting a deer was $3,464 dollars, in fact not a single day went by last year without a single reported deer crash, with an average of 56 per day, and the least being 11 last Christmas and the most being 236 on November 10^th, be safe out there, and remember that the deer crossing sign really isn’t where the deer cross, it is just a reminder to you to be safe. 

Daily Dose of BS Nov 7 flipping off the boss

Do you have the right to express yourself outside of work?  The reason I ask is because Juli Briskman was the unidentified cyclist who flipped off the Presidential motorcade and the picture was seen around the world.  Juli worked for a government contracting firm and when she told her bosses that it was her who was in the picture seen around the world, they fired her for violating a code of conduct policy.  The first amendment will keep you from being punished by the government but it doesn’t protect your paycheck.  Before your praise or chastise her, think about if it was your candidate or a hater of your candidate.  Does it change your way of thinking?  For me I think that she should have kept her job.  Would you like your boss telling you who or who you cannot flip off while you weren’t at work.  Me either. 

Daily Dose of BS Nov 6 more shootings

Another week another shooting, this one at a church.  These shootings are coming at a more rapid pace and are becoming more difficult to understand.  Why?  What is wrong with our society?  Have our lives gone so out of control that in order to be known that you have to do something so bad that your name gets out there?  Maybe the media should vow not to say the names of the shooters more than just once.  Honestly if I thought back to all of the mass shootings that we have heard about over the past decade, I couldn’t name a single one, I may notice a name but for a million dollars I wouldn’t be able to name a name.  I heard this morning that the President called the shooting a "mental health problem," not an issue with US gun laws.  I believe that there is more of a push to recognize mental health issues now more than before, as we are seeing more mental health facilities pop up and more mental health specialists showing up in areas where people gather, especially kids, there has been a push in La Crosse at the YMCA and at the Boys and Girls Clubs.  I hope this helps with our future, and that we don’t continue to see these mass shootings.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 3 hunting

My kids have participated in the youth hunt as well as the mentored hunt with me and my friends.  A bill was introduced in the Wisconsin state assembly and passed yesterday that would eliminate the minimum hunting age.  Huh?  What are they thinking?  I get that the hunting numbers are dwindling but it isn’t because the age is to high, it is because we are busy being busy and there is no time for the group to get together as they once did.  Plus I am guessing that the scare of chronic wasting disease, and cost for going hunting has stopped many from getting out and enjoying the hunt.  I don’t think that allowing kids that are younger to get out and hunt will help the cause I believe that inviting the people that used to hunt to come back and remember the joys of the hunt, and then the memories will be there to start bringing new people in to hunt.  It is a right of passage in the Midwest, as a young teen, but not having toddlers in the woods.   Please reconsider.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 2 truck

Yesterday I saw something that nearly drove me off the road, I was driving by a dealership and I saw a window sticker on a new pickup truck in excess of 75,000 dollars.  75 thousand dollars for a pickup?  I am guessing that this is a truck that isn’t for the farmer or the person that needs a truck for work, this is a fashion statement of a truck.  A truck for someone who needs people to see them in a pickup but wants to be surrounded by luxury.  This truck costs more than I paid for my house and almost as much as my house and cabin combined.  I wonder what kind of gas mileage that this truck gets, you know that gas prices just jumped to 2.59 in La Crosse, but I guess if you are driving a 75-thousand-dollar truck that a measly 2.59 a gallon is nothing.  

Daily Dose of BS Nov 1 terrorism

It seems like more and more news is being broke on social media.  I was on Facebook yesterday afternoon and I saw someone post that there is more terrorism on American soil.  I quickly turned on the television not knowing what I was expecting to see.  When I popped it on was shocked to see a mangled-up pickup and many bikes littered on a pathway.  At first it didn’t register as terrorism to me, it looked like someone took a wrong turn down a bike path and panicked.  If the terrorists want us to be confused, then what they are doing is working, I wouldn’t have thought that driving a vehicle down a crowded street is terrorism but if you think about it, it is.  I don’t think I am a fan of every time that there is an event with causalities that the media is quick to call it terrorism, to me that shouldn’t be handed out as freely because I feel the more that the word is tossed out there the more that the people who are perpetrating it win, because it brings fear.