Daily Dose of BS April 30

Sleep is something that most of us do not get enough of, a study last week showed that we are getting well less than the 7-9 hours we need to be productive and useful.  I for one am one that is lacking in the sleep department.  I did sleep 8 ½ hours on Friday night.  I can’t remember the last time I did that.  It was wasted by the time that Saturday rolled around as I didn't sleep to well, and then last night don’t get me started.  I had tried to go to sleep about 9:30 tossed and turned till 12 or so got up watched tv for about an hour, closed my eyes and woke up an hour later.  Was up for about 20 minutes then back to the recliner for about 2 more hours of shut eye, and that is what it was.  I am sure that wasn’t considered sleep, because recliner sleep doesn’t let you stretch out and let you enjoy a great sleep.  So needless to say, Bob is tired today and cranky.  So if I blow-up at you or seem crabby today, that is the reason, well either that or you just rub me the wrong way, try to remember go with the grain. 

Daily Dose of BS April 25

I must be on a roll, yesterday I talked about the proper placement of tp today the history and my thoughts on softness.  If you have visited any restrooms in your time you know that tp is not built equally.  There are anywhere from one to three ply to your typical toilet paper with rumors of the wholly grail of butt wipe of a 4 ply, I have only heard of such a king worthy wipe.  When I was a kid we had a pink bathroom in my parents’ house it was the 70’s and 80’s after all, and my Mom always had pink tp in that bathroom and blue upstairs in the kids bathroom and white in the basement, I have no idea what they had in the master bath, I am pretty sure they were all scented Charmin (scented toilet paper, don’t get me started) I think I even got in trouble a few times for squeezing the rolls. For my money the Charmin Ultra Strong is the way to go, no rip, no surprises.  The first documented use of toilet paper in human history dates back to the 6th century AD, in early medieval China.  Since then it has become a 2.4 billion dollar business with 26 billion rolls sold a year, it sure beats using a catalog or corn husk.  By the way whoever thought that putting the tube that the tp comes on up to your mouth to make a make shift trumpet, don’t you know where that’s been?  

Daily Dose of BS April 24

There is a question that is plaguing humanity.  A question that makes or breaks relationships a question that gets asked anywhere from 1 to 14 times a week or even more depending on how many are involved.  The question once I pose it, you will immediately have a thought on what I asked, no ifs and or buts.  The question that plagues most people and most families is this.  Should toilet paper go over the top?  Ok there are some butts involved.  Some of you will get this wrong, yesterday I found a funny picture and posted it on facebook about this very topic and from the looks of most of those who posted many think that the toilet paper should indeed come up over the top instead of hanging from behind.  I don’t know why I have such a strong need to have the toilet paper to go over the top, could be my childhood.  When you are in your own home and someone puts the roll on wrong, do you change it?  I do, and if I am putting on a new roll at work I will make sure that it is right also.  Whoever does the changing of the rolls at work most of the time puts the roll on wrong, but at work I can deal with it, it’s not the way I like it, but there are others using it, more often than me.  Let me make this observation about the toilet paper roll then you can judge, if you have it with it going down the back you miss out on the print of the paper, the nice designs if you will that are printed on the toilet paper.  Coming up tomorrow soft and supple or sandpapery paper.  

Daily Dose of BS April 23

Last night as I was getting my clothes ready for work this morning I grabbed from the bottom of the pile, figuring that I have been jogging and working on being healthy for about the past 9 months or so that the jeans at the bottom of the pile would fit.  I was excited since my jeans have been loose the last few days that the next size smaller would be perfect.  After my shower I grabbed the jeans, this is the moment of truth, I put in one leg, then the other hitched them up, ok so far so good, sucked in my gut and came about a centimeter from making them work, back in the dresser for another few weeks I guess.  It is probably a good thing, since I do need to breathe at work and safety goggles are not worn at the radio station, you know it would take out an eye if the button popped with that much pressure.   

Daily Dose of BS April 20

Ever see the motorized scooters at the store?  I was shopping at Menards yesterday for a project we are working on around the home when an old man in a motorized cart swung around doing a 360 in front of the checkout area almost mowing down both the young lady working the front and me.  I said something sarcastic to the lady working something like I bet he got his license taken away but can drive at the store, then said never mind I better keep my mouth shut and walked out the door.  It made me think, who is at fault if some driver of a motorized cart at a store where to hit me?  If you are drunk and on one of them can you get a dwi?  Are they worth a store having, does the amount paid for the machine make it worth the extra spent by someone driving the carts, maybe it is like having the ball pit at the fast food places, if you have a cart the older generation is happy and if you have balls, never mind. 

Daily Dose of BS April 19

The upside down triangle posted on some corners, are called yield signs.  I am pretty sure I know what they mean and how they are used, so I did a search on google of what the yield sign means and had a hard time finding the definition of a yield sign.  There is no good definition to what a yield sign means it is no wonder people don’t know what to do when they come to one.  On my way home yesterday I approached a yield sign and did as I was supposed to do I slowed down looked to the left then the right then the left again, I noticed a car approaching to my right so I stopped and waited for them to proceed through the intersection, they stopped and waved me through the sign and then turned to the left.  I don’t get it, this is not the first time that this has happened to me, when I brought it up this morning at work it has happened to others around the office as well.  According to page 15 of the Wisconsin Divers Book a yield sign means “Slow down.  Other cars on the road that you want to cross or enter have the right-of-way.  You must let them go first.  The yield sign is a triangle pointing down” HUH that is not a clear definition.  Ok here it is as I understand it when you get to a yield sign slow down look both ways if there is someone coming stop if not proceed with caution any questions ask, don’t look it up on google it will just confuse you more.  

Daily Dose of BS April 18

Shoes are something we all wear, we also have our favorites.  Some friends of mine posted this the other day on their facebook “Do you think it's rude for somebody to ask you to remove your shoes before you walk into their house?”  I responded “No, I think it is rude when people don't ask if they should remove their shoes.”  Half the people who posted on their comment “liked” what I said.  It made me think, when I was growing up I never had to take off my shoes at my parents’ house, now when I visit I have to at my Mom’s and don’t have to at my Dad’s, but do since that is what I do.  When my Mom comes for a visit she always takes off her shoes but my Dad never does, weird.  When did we become so obsessed with taking off our shoes?  I wear as my friends like to call them “potato shoes” they are really just slip on shoes for easy on and off.  I seldom wear socks, but I don’t feel weird walking bare footed around someone’s house, maybe it is a bit weird.  A couple of things at play here, are you a take your shoe off at the door person, if so why, and is it acceptable to go bare foot around someone else’s house?  I was able to walk around my folks house with shoes on as a kid but couldn’t sit on the nice furniture in the front room and had to use a coaster for my water glass, now the only coaster around my house is the kid who doesn’t pedal down the alley.  

Daily Dose of BS April 17

Procrastination.  We all do it, some better than others.  I for one am great at it, I have a list of things to do this long and it is growing by leaps and bounds daily.  I don’t know why everyone feeds into it from Moms, and Dads to bosses to the US Government.  The Government you ask, yes and here is why, I understand setting a date for filing our taxes, I get it that people will wait until the final possible minute to do their taxes, but if tax day were say on the 2^nd Tuesday or Wednesday of the month of April it would make more since that way there is no weekend or holiday in the way and no Tuesday or Wednesday holiday that I can think of since most of the date exclusive holidays are mostly religious holidays that we get in trouble for saying Happy this or Merry that to anyway.  I hope I don’t end up being bullied into not saying Happy or Merry holiday in the future, I don’t think I will.  You know I have to write these Daily Dose of BS’s every day, what was the point of this one?  I will have to let you know some other day.  Happy Tax Day.   

Daily Dose of BS April 16

Imagine yourself driving on a road no one in front of you and no one behind you cruzing at the speed limit, not a care in the world.  Up ahead you see a car gliding up to the stop sign, you are about a ¼ mile from that person, thinking in your head they won’t pull out in front of me, they will stop fully and wait the 3.2 seconds that it takes me to drive past them, and then they can pull out and be on their merry way.  Wouldn’t that be nice. It seems as if I encounter every-me-first-idiot on the road.  It usually happens to me on the highway to the cabin, where there is no passing for miles on end and the car that pulls out usually doesn’t have the power to go up to the speed limit or if they do they pull out like a bat out of hell and speed to the very next turn either right or left, causing me to slow down, tap the cruise if you will.  I just don’t understand why it is that people feel the need to do this, these kind of drivers cause accidents and road rage.  This type of encounter happened to me this morning on my way into work, a truck with Kansas license plates pulled out in front of me from the street just south of the McDonalds lot on the Northside and then proceeded to pull in to the McDonalds lot.  I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt since all the tornados that happened over the weekend in Kansas, and maybe just maybe his mind was there, if you are driving use your head for something more than just holding your hat. 

Daily Dose of BS April 13

My daily morning routine is down to a science, give or take a couple of minutes.  On my drive in to work I know by this time I should be here and by that time I need to be there on my way in.  Today I was running 3 minutes behind, I know this because I had a hiccup at home putting me back that much further, I was on West Avenue / Lang Drive through the marsh by Menards and was boxed in, the guy in the left lane was going under speed the guy in right lane was at speed and I was stuck behind it all.  The guy in the right lane finally passed the guy in left when the guy in left lane sped up to match the speed of the guy on the right in turn keeping me boxed in, as I mentioned a moment ago I was 3 minutes behind schedule, I had to do something, and had to do it quick, I saw my chance the guy in left slowed a moment, I hit it, riding the guy on the right, quick left turn signal then gas and go, I made it over and out of the box, at that exact moment, I saw the cherries, the dreaded red lights on top of the vehicle in my rear view mirror, my heart skipped a beat the bead of sweat on my brow dripped into my eye, I checked my speed only 5 over no worries, another check in the rear view mirror, it was an ambulance and not a cop, it was a whew moment for me, I hope for the same luck to the person that was transported in the ambulance.  Don’t get me started on the first day cluster on Hwy 35 heading north through Onalaska. 

Daily Dose of BS April 12

I remember my Mom telling me stories about when she was a kid that around Christmas mail was often delivered 2 x a day.  I also remember the old tag line of “We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.”  For many years I thought that, that saying was the Postal Service’s motto, did you know that the post office does not have a motto.  I am impressed that if I mail something in La Crosse that it will get to the Twin Cities in a day, two days at the most.  The letter carriers have a job that I would not want.  They know going in that they have Sundays and holidays off, but from there a rotating schedule of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. off so really very rarely do they get two days off in a row.  The senate is talking about doing away with mail on Saturdays and offering mail delivery Monday – Friday, essentially cutting a day of mail delivery and all that goes with it.  I for one think I can do without the weekend mail delivery, and think about the money it would save us as taxpayers.  Also I think it would help the letter carriers have more of a normal schedule.  I don’t look at it as downsizing, but as budget cutting move.  Your thoughts? 

Daily Dose of BS April 11

So when you open your refrigerators is it nice and neat, are things where they need to be?  Fruit in the fruit crispers and the vegies in the climate controlled veggie drawer?   Ketchup is stored in the door next to the mustard and bbq sauce?  Milk also stored in the door leaving the bulk of the fridge for food, from what is for dinner later tonight to the luncheon meats for lunches and you can’t forget about the leftovers or in my case the planed overs for my lunches.  In a perfect world all would fit in to the refrigerator like a game of well played Tetris, with left over space for what is new.   I opened my fridge this morning to what looked like a poorly played game of Tetris, with this box here and that container there, a few Styrofoam boxes shoved into the top shelf with vengeance and a bottle of ketchup placed on the edge of the shelf so the air movement of opening up the fridge will knock it off to a fiery death below.   Ok maybe a bit exaggerated but pretty close to the truth.  Getting my lunch ready for the day often involves a bit of hunting around the fridge for the best mix of leftovers to fill the belly of the beast.  Today as I pulled one of the Styrofoam boxes out it caught the top of the ketchup bottle and splat the unbreakable plastic bottle didn’t break but the lid smashed into 20 pieces on the floor, the ketchup was oozing its red contents out all over the floor the only thing missing was the chalk line.   

Daily Dose of BS April 10

12 minutes, 12 long minutes.  In 12 minutes you could drive 12 miles; you could put together a meal, cook a burger on the grill, change the oil, do the dishes, or get a load of laundry done.  There are so many things you can do in 12 minutes.  For 12 minutes yesterday evening, I pushed myself.  I enrolled in the La Crosse Park and Rec 5k class and yesterday I ran a total of 12 minutes over a 2 ½ mile stretch.  Now I say run with a grain of salt, it is more like a brisk walking speed with arms moving but this is the most I have ever run in my life.  I had one stretch of running where I did 3 minutes in a row.  I know for you runners out there that this is not a big feat but for a 43 year old who never and I repeat never ever ran, this is a huge feat for me, a personal goal.  I am pushing toward the goal of a 5k in the beginning of May with the La Crosse Fitness Festival, I have been training 3x a week and have come a long way (and have a long way to go), as I mentioned here 3 weeks ago when this started that I ran a total of 90 seconds, last week I made it to 11 minutes.  I guess I look at it this way, if you set your mind on a goal and work toward that goal, nothing can stop you, nothing that is except for you.   

Daily Dose of BS April 9

I think I am wearing Magnetic shirts to work every day.  Not that they attract metal but they sure do attract coffee stains, and it seems the nicer the shirt the bigger and bolder the stain is.  I love a cup of coffee on the way to work in the morning, and then throughout the day.  I either warm up the leftover coffee from the day before or use the Kerig for a fresh brewed dark roast.  I use a travel mug for my daily caffeine intake, supposedly with a spill proof lid.  Amazing the amount of spillage that the so called spill proof lid allows by almost daily, the best way to not spill for me is to take the lid off and drink it without the lid, I would but when driving, that is just inviting a bigger problem, a stain can be taken off the shirt with a Tide pen once I get to work, a hot coffee burn, this is a string of swear words waiting to happen.  I suppose I could quit drinking coffee, but what would I mix my Baileys with when I am watching a hockey game?  

Daily Dose of BS April 5

Bananas, apples and oranges good food for thought, and a great way to start the day.  I try to start my mornings with a piece of fruit and a granola bar, nice to tide me over on my way into work every morning.  I eat my fruit and always toss my fruit wrapper, core, peel out the car window.  My kids asked me about this before since I am adamant about not littering, why is it ok for me to toss the food out the window, I say because it will break down and animals can eat it.  What is your thoughts on this, is this littering or is it ok to toss a fruit cast off out the window of a car?

Daily Dose of BS April 4

I have a flowering crab apple tree in my back yard; yesterday it was in full bloom, the smell was fantastic.  I love spring as the grass starts to green the trees start budding and the windows can be opened to let in fresh air.  This year we had a weird beginning of spring with the heat and record breaking temps of a few weeks ago.  The grass in my yard is already in need of cutting, and the weed whacking needs to be done also.   Spring also brings Easter and family. This year we are doing an Easter get together with most of my family at my brother’s house, and we are not having ham but lasagna and we are not doing Easter on Easter but on another day.  I am looking forward to the family get together, as they don’t happen nearly enough.  I watch my kids when they bicker and fight and say mean things to each other and think to how I would like to do that with my brothers in person and not just on the phone.  One lives in the Cities and the other in California, and we are all busy with life.  To be young again and realize the gift of family, sometimes it is not appreciated until later in life.  Another gift this time of the year is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, why is it that they taste so much better than a plain Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?  

Daily Dose of BS April 3

I talked about it the other day about how it is good to hire someone to do the jobs you don’t know how to or want to do.  This past weekend I put it to the test.  I needed some work done at the family cabin and hired Harter Trucking Inc. to move some earth.  Two of my boys came with for the trip and to watch the work being done.  I was amazed at the hard work and the skills of John, the guy who did the work.  As a man who likes to try new things I thought I can do that, and asked about driving the skid steer.  Reluctantly he allowed me to drive it after teaching the kids how to move the skid steer forward and backward.  I timed John and from load drop to going and grabbing the next load to drop, time of 1 minute 4 seconds.  When I did it total time 6 minutes and 59 seconds and my bucket wasn’t even full.  For the amount of earth moved if it was me doing the work, I would still be driving the machine and it wouldn’t be flat.  So again when it comes to getting work done by a professional, when it is a skill you are not too sure of or if it is something that you want to look good at the end, it is often cheaper and less stressful to hire a professional than to hire your buddies for beer.    

Daily Dose of BS April 2

I made it through the April Fool’s day debauchery again this year.  Not a single joke was played at the Schmidt household, and I didn’t even hear of any good jokes until I got to work this morning and saw that Mitt Romney’s campaign tricked him into thinking that no one showed up to his campaign stump speech in Milwaukee yesterday.   I remember when I was going to school for radio and they had a segment on April fools jokes and they talked about this crazy guy from La Crosse that talked people into putting bags over their phones so that the phone company could blow out the phone lines.  I never got the chance to work with Brucie Bumchuckles but have become friends with him over the years of being in the same business, and his prank on the people of La Crosse and area to this day is funny.  I am always happy when April 1^st comes around as it is the end of the joke perpetuated on the tax payers of the city of La Crosse, April 1^st means no more alternate side parking, well at least until November 1^st.  We had fewer than 10 snowfalls this past season and only 2 or 3 would have been affected by the parking.  I am guessing that the parking money helps to subsidies something, I am not sure what, as my taxes are still through the roof.   I wrote about the alternate side parking at the beginning of the season and wondered just how many parking tickets my 16 year old would get.  I am here to say the he got none, zero, zip, nada, that makes a dad proud.  

Daily Dose of BS March 30

Dream.  Two years ago the lottery was huge, not as huge as it is for the drawing tonight but at the time a record.  I was at a bar down by my cabin the night before the drawing and started talking to one of the locals about life and pretty soon conversation got to the lottery.  I told Glen that I am not a lottery player very often, that I only have bought when someone at work collected.  He pulled a stack of lottery tickets out of his pocket and set them on the bar.  He had ten tickets and he offered me one, I was hesitant, I asked him what if I win I suppose I gotta share it with ya then.  He answered no and continued on to tell me that he buys these tickets and hands them out as tips, and that one of them that he gave was worth a couple of thousand dollars.  I put the ticket in my pocket; our conversation shifted to something else and soon after I was on the road and back to the cabin.  That night when I went to bed I started thinking about that ticket and what if it is a winner, what if I woke up as a multimillionaire what would I do with all that money, my mind was racing, my heart was thumping what if I was a millionaire?  When I got home from the cabin I checked my ticket, not a single number matched, but for the 24 hours of dreams, it was worth it.  If you are going out to get a ticket remember that you have a better chance of hitting two holes in one during the same golf game than winning the lottery, but for a buck you have the same chance of winning as the next guy.  And also for the dollar the dream may be worth it.