Daily Dose of BS Feb 27 drinking

Being smart begins with choices.  We have all heard the news stories about how a couple drinks can be good for you and may help your heart but only a couple.  More reports are coming out that say low-to-moderate alcohol consumption is linked to a reduced risk of heart attack. It’s not clear if it is all types of alcoholic beverages, cause I my favorite is an ice cold beer or perhaps a good whiskey it also says that there is an increased risk of harm when drinking goes from moderate to heavy saying that having 6 or more drinks in the past 24 hours is associated with a 40% increased risk of heart attack, isn’t that how most people drink?  They binge and average out the couple a day over a weekend?  Whatever the case for you and your group of friends, be careful this weekend, and be safe, also remember that buzzed driving is drunk driving.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 26 right to work

When I moved to La Crosse back in 1992 it was to work at a radio station.  When I was hired they had me sign a three month no compete, and said that even if I didn’t sign it that Wisconsin was or wasn’t a right to work state I don’t remember but I remember that they said that my non-compete it would hold up in court.  I had no idea what Right to Work meant then, and I still have no idea what a Right to Work State means to me now.  I have never been in a union, nor do I ever see myself being in one since I am a middle aged radio personality and don’t see myself moving from this market anytime soon.  From what I understand the proposal in Wisconsin would make it a crime to require private sector workers who aren’t in a union to pay dues.  If it truly is that simple, I don’t get the problem, but I am assuming that since the government is involved that it is much more than just that.  Supporters say it’s about workers freedoms, while detractors say it will hurt businesses and lower wages.  Since I really don’t know, how can wages be lowered or how can it hurt business by making this a right to work state?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 24 cans

I admit it I was wrong.  I was upset and complaining about the garbage cans and recycling that was forced down our throats about a year ago.  I complained too soon.  When the big 96 gallon garbage can was dropped off and the equally sized recycling bin was also dropped off I was like right my family of six will fill that up and nothing will go in that huge recycling bin.  Ha I was wrong and glad I was, I love the system, it cleaned up my alley, the 96 gallons for trash is plenty in fact I asked my single neighbor if she could get the bigger cans just so I would have room for excess trash, we have only added to her recycling bin, we went from just a few recycling items to 96 gallons of recycled stuff every other week.  It takes a big man to admit it but as I started out, I was wrong.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 23 safety

Does the 1982 Men Without Hats song Safety Dance come to mind after Al Shabaab calls for an attack on the Mall of America?  I am not making light of the fact that the Mall of America is being called out by name, but I really did start hearing the beat of that song when I first read about the called for act in Minnesota.  I wonder how many people take these threats seriously.  Did the call for violence or terrorism stop you from going to a mall over the weekend?  I was out by the mall yesterday and it didn’t seem as though in La Crosse that any less people worked their way to the mall.  Do we let threats dictate our lives?  I think if we are all vigilant and if we see something that seems off or odd that we say something and look out for each other that we will have that much more of a chance of being safe.  I hope that we don’t live our lives in fear over the ranting of one person or another or that we let someone words put a damper on our lives.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 20 words to live by

We all have words to live by, things that we want to pass on to our kids.  My Dad always used to say that a moment of laxity can cause an eternity of regret, when I was younger I didn’t know what that meant, I do now.  We all have those bits of advice that we have heard from mentors, what are some that you have heard?  Some of my favorites include - Give at least one genuine compliment every day.  Take responsibility for what you did.  Promise to do better next time … and actually mean it.  Help people without expecting things in return. And finally try to see the good in people … including yourself.  What are some of the words that you live by? 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 19 customer service

Customer service is on top of my mind this morning as I had conversation about it yesterday and heard a national story about how Walmart is at the bottom of the food chain and has become America’s Most Hated Store.  I am taking a class on customer service and time and time again the store gets called out by students.  I don’t think I agree with having the pleasure of being the worst, but they still have a long way to go to crack the top ten.  I like when I shop at a place and there are staff members around to answer questions about whatever I am looking for, and I feel as though not only are the big guys lacking on this but often times some of the smaller chains have these same issues.  We as Americans are always pushing for low cost items, having customer service, and I mean good customer service costs money.  I think that paying a fair price for something and getting great customer service is better than paying the rock bottom price and no customer service.  What are some extremes of service you have received?  

Daily Dose of BS feb 18 stickers

When my kids were young I always loved seeing the bumper stickers that said inappropriate things.  The questions that followed were always welcome.  There was a truck that used to be on the South Side of La Crosse that had he vinyl lettering that said my other toy has (begins with t ends with t and has an I in the middle) I remember that conversation with my kids like it was yesterday.  On the internet we see lots of people post what they think is funny or those who want to make a political statement, in fact the other day I say someone post the bumper sticker on their facebook page that said “I work hard because millions on welfare depend on me”.  What brought this up as a topic is yesterday when driving home from work I saw a car ahead of me with pink on the trunk, I drove up on it to see what the pink tape was for and the owners of the vehicle had written in bright pink duct tape across the trunk of the car “Walker Sucks”.  I also recall seeing a few bigger stickers with the frequently asked questions monogram lettered on the back of a few vehicles which is fine until you phonetically say the letters together.   

Daily Dose of BS Feb 17 ash trees

I just read that neighborhoods are going to be a changing April 11, 2015 the landscape along Losey Boulevard will be a bit sparse.  The city of La Crosse will be eradicating the Ash Tree from the fabric of the city.  I am guessing that when we drive down Losey on April 12^th we will notice the clear cutting of the Ash trees from the boulevard.  Besides the loss of the trees we will be viewing the exposed stumps of 117 Ash trees that have been cut down in hopes of eradicating the Emerald Ash Borer.  It saddens me to think that all these trees will soon be gone from our beautiful city, and that our lovely canopy of leaves will for a long time be missing from the city streets.

Daily Dose of BS Feb 16 basketball

I was at a basketball tournament at Central over the weekend.  There are a lot of bad sport parents in the stands, in fact one of the parents sitting over to the side of me was screaming and yelling and questioning the refs at every call.  I am glad I wasn’t sitting right in front of him.   I wasn’t the only one who was upset by this guy’s behavior; I also think that his “from the stands” coaching caused the kids to loose.  Which brings me to my next thought on this, I have mentioned in the past that my kids are never going to be professional sports stars but they try, and they have fun playing the game, so when the kids are there at every practice and work hard at practice and show up to play the game, play the kids.  I don’t care if you play the kids for 2 minutes a game, play each of the kids, not just your favorite, how do you expect these children to get better.  It is a game you know, especially when the kids playing this game are 13 years old, and it isn’t an A team not by far.  All I can say is I am glad that this season is over and I am guessing that others on the team are also happy.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 13 triskaidekaphobia

The ever popular Friday the 13^th, weird that some have a fear of it, there is even a word that describes that fear triskaidekaphobia.  Try saying that word 5 x fast.  Heck try saying it once, it is a mouthful.  I am not sure what causes the fear of the 13^th, the fear of black cats crossing the road, or any other fears or phobias.  I think for me this year the biggest fear is tomorrow, Valentine’s day.  What do you get someone you have been married to for almost 25 years?  Flowers, a card, chocolates or other candies, I know candy conversation heart, actually to me Valentine’s Day to me it is a made up holiday in order to sell cards and candy.  I know, call me Mr Romantic, 50 shades of blah, I am going to stimulate the local economy and take my wife out for dinner, and maybe a movie, if not it’s hot pockets and Netflix.  By the way what’s good on Netflix these days? 

Daily Dose of BS feb 12 little league

One of the feel good stories of this past summer has a bad ending.  The Chicago-based Jackie Robinson West little league team was stripped of their little league world series, for pushing the boundaries.  I heard lots of grumbling that it’s too bad for the kids, that it doesn’t seem fair, blah, blah, blah.  What the team did was recruit kids from different neighborhoods, neighborhoods that were outside the boundaries set up to make the teams fair.  Much of the grumbling I have heard is that it was a great thing for these kids to win, why take it away, it wasn’t their fault.  Really, what about the other great teams that played by the rules that didn’t make it, how fair was it to them?  If this would have been something that would have been let go and allowed to go on without being what would that have showed these young athletes, they may be sad and mad now that the title got stripped from them, but the right thing was done.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 11 trains

The DNR has given their blessing for another rail line through LaCrosse.  7.2 acres of wetland will be filled in for the extra rail track.  With the millions of gallons of gas and other highly flammable and toxic liquids, and other potentially hazardous materials that will be brought though our fair city, I think it’s safe to assume that with the added line comes the added pressure of more trains through LaCrosse.  Are you ok with this?  Are the trains going to be whistle silent when chugging through town, or are we going to be hearing the whistle blow each and every time that a train passes an intersection?  Is the addition of the new line going to mean more trains running this line, or will it mean more efficient use of the tracks and faster trains?  I also wonder if the owners of the rail have trains running close enough to their own homes to hear the thud, thud, thud, thud each time a train passes?

Daily Dose of BS Feb 10 beer drinking

In Wisconsin we can take our kids to the bar and buy them a drink.  Now the land of 10,000 lakes want to offer the same service to their 18-20 year olds.  I always thought that the law that allowed a parent or guardian to take their kids to the bar to enjoy a cocktail was odd, that is until I had a beer with my son at my favorite watering hole.  Being able to drink a beer with your late teen child is like a rite of passage for them.  My Mom and Dad never allowed me to have a beer with them until I turned 21, I still remember that day, the day of my 21^st birthday over 25 years ago having that first legal beer, I was at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and my folks took me and my future wife out for dinner and a show, I don’t remember what show it was, or what I had for dinner but I do remember ordering my first beer with my parents.  I think that all adults aged 19 and older should be allowed to buy what they want.  They can fight in a war, live on their own, be treated as an adult, be married, do just about anything someone 21 and older can do, but they can’t go into a bar or legally buy alcohol. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 9 Brian Williams

I know I am going to take some crap for this but if you can’t trust the media, who can you trust?  Now, hear me out, I chose a profession where integrity and honesty are key, I chose to work in the media.  I have been given crap from everyone from my Dad who loves me to my friends to people I don’t even know about the integrity of the media, calling us a bunch of liars and news fabricators.  When someone who is an anchor of one of the networks gets called out as a liar, it gives all the media a black eye.  If you are going to tell stories and fabricate things, please get into writing novels or tv shows not tell them as fact on the news.  I like Brian Williams, however as a media person, I feel as though he should step down as the anchor of NBC.  Don’t be a liar, take personal responsibility for your actions.   

Daily Dose of BS Feb 6 vaccinations

Should I or shouldn’t I, that is the question.  The debate has been around I am guessing for many more years than how long I have been a parent, but I never paid attention to it until I was.  Should or should I not vaccinate my children.   We are seeing more and more opting out of the shots for many different reasons.  And I am not sure what those reasons are.  If something is going to protect my little bundle of joy wouldn’t I as a parent do that?  Proponents say it is safe and one of the greatest health developents of the time, opponents say that a child’s immune system deals with infections on its own.  What is the right thing to do?  I personally think if I can give my kids an advantage for a healthier life, I am going to do it. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 5 worries

There are lots of factors when it comes to stress, from home to work and everything in between.  In a survey released earlier this weeks is shows that 72% of adults report feeling stressed about money at least some of the time.  72% really?  I would like to meet the other 28%.  I remember the last presidential election, it was said that there were the 99% of us and then the 1%’ers out there, now we are hearing about the 28%’ers that don’t worry about finances.  I wonder what the 28%’ers worry about?  There are so many things out there that can worry a person, am I doing a good job at work, am I a good parent, have a done this well or that well.  Did I get that homework done correctly, will they like me.  Can I afford it?  There is stress everywhere.  One of the things I noticed is when I have worried about some big life changing decision and the worry that comes with it, most of the time that what I have worried about never materialized. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 3 budgets

Its budget time, across the county, nationally and budgets are being turned in for states as well, from what I heard this morning about new programs makes me think, how is this going to be paid?  Ever thought about all these programs that are in the government need to be paid for by someone or something, guess who that is, it is us.  I have a hard time keeping to my budget at certain times of the year, and I always want more things as do most of us, but here is the difference between me and the government , I save then buy, not buy, then tax, then buy some more and borrow.  We need to get these state and federal budgets taken care of.  The burden for every man, woman and child right now is nearly $56,000.  WOW and we are paying interest on that money.  We need to have a balanced budget and need to have it done soon, we can’t afford to continue this spending.   What happens when the bills come due?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 2 super game

I think that the Seahawks now know how the Packers felt a couple weeks ago.  I am sure that the feeling among fans of Seattle was we got this, only a few seconds left in the game we are up and had the ball.  Time running down and intercepted all I can say is wow.  That was about the most exciting thing in the game was the final seconds.  I wasn’t impressed with the commercials this year.  The excitement of watching the game for the commercials may have run its course with me.  I can honestly say the only one that I really liked is one that won’t be able to play again, it was the one right before the big game when the tv signal went away and it ending up being a Chevy commercial.  I am guessing the there was a collective yell across America with the word that rhymes with my last name when that happened.  No wings at the Schmidt house during or before the game, just nachos and the family tradition of Waffles for Waffle Sunday.  Btw the waffle machine gets put away now till the next big game, the 50^th.