Daily Dose of BS March 13 self check out

More and more stores are offering the self-checkout lanes, am I the only one who doesn’t like it?  These days we are responsible for finding our own items anyway.  The other day I was at a department store picking up something and thought about an ingredient that I needed for dinner and thought I would look in the limited food area, I didn’t find it nor did I see anyone who worked for the store to help.  I finally flagged down someone who told me that they didn’t know.  I ended up making a special trip to the grocery store to buy.  Btw at neither place did I use the self-checkout register, and if offered I use the lines where bagging is offered at the grocery store.  Here’s the thing, you can’t carry on conversations with the automated cashier, well you can but people look at you weirdly.  Plus, I feel if I am going to be checking myself out I should be eligible for the employee discount, and finally think of the jobs that it is taking away.

Daily Dose of BS Mar 12 run to school

It is pretty sad that a father has to defend his decision to make his son walk or jog to school after the kids was kicked of the bus.  I am not sure if you heard the story about the dad who made his son run to school after getting kicked off the school bus for bullying other kids.  Good to see that parenting is alive and well in Virginia.  Bryan Thornhill the father of the ten year old has faced backlash for his decision to make his son run to school.  I guess I am not sure I understand why he is taking so much backlash for a punishment that is going to be a life lesson.  I am guessing that his son will think twice about bullying the next time that he is presented with the chance to do so.  For the naysayer that don’t think that he should have make his son run what would you have suggest that he do?  Spank him?  Take away his phone, have him go without something?  I personally don’t think that the punishment was to harsh.  The dad followed him to school to make sure he made it, I would guess that it was just as hard for the dad as it was for the kid. 

Daily Dose of BS March 9 standard time

It’s the semi-annual mess with your sleep weekend.  Daylight saving time ends on Sunday morning at 2 am, and Standard time begins.  Notice I called it daylight saving time and not daylight savings time, it is singular as in a singular time change that disrupts my sleep for a few days.  Why oh why can’t we be like parts of Arizona, parts of Indiana, and all of Hawaii and leave the time alone.  I hate changing the clocks.  There I said it I hate messing with the clocks because when I can never get them exact.  I was contemplating on marching to my own drummer when it came to the time, but there are too many variables such as work and kids events.  TV is covered because I TiVo everything and really never watch that live.  Another thing that I dislike is that this weekend will be jipped, as this Saturday and Sunday will only consist of 47 hours, and I will get one less hour of sleep.  Ok that is a lie I am going to take a nap or two over the weekend.  I have asked both of my US Senators and my Congressman about doing away with the time change all together, one man isn’t going to make that change who will stand with me on doing away with the time change?  

Daily Dose of BS March 8 cigarette advertising

I don’t remember cigarettes advertising on tv or on the radio, I was too young to have noticed.  I am old enough to remember seeing them on billboards, and I do remember when it was the Winston Cup and many of the cigarette slogans still pop into my head from time to time.  I am a non-smoker, it took a while but I quit that habit for the 39^th birthday about 10 ½ years ago.  I plan on being a non-smoker for the rest of my life.  I do wonder why when cigarette ads are banned on billboards and other media types why they are allowed on the lighted signs outside of convenience stores?  I usually don’t have any desire to smoke but seeing that pop up on the signs rotation while sitting at a stop light makes me think of stopping in and grabbing a pack, I won’t do it but I wonder why that is ok but running the commercials on tv, radio and billboards is not allowed?  

Daily Dose of BS March 7 library fines

I was all ready to write about something else this morning but a story in the paper caught my eye and I thought how stupid.  The city of La Crosse Library system may soon quit charging late fees for books, the fees today are 15 cents per day per item for adult items, audiobooks, cds, etc and 5 cents per day for kids materials except for lucky day items which carry a 50 cent per day charge for being late, to me those don’t seem too lucky if you misplace those.  The new way to combat the not returning of books will be not to allow you to check out books without first returning the books you already checked out.  Hmm, shouldn’t it be like that already?  Research has shown apparently, that fines don’t actually prompt people to return books and that fines make the most vulnerable population from feeling comfortable and welcome in the library.  Here is a novel idea, check out a book, return the book, repeat.  If your book is late pay 15 cents a day.  In a worst-case scenario let’s say the book was a year overdue it would have a fine of $54.75.  How about instead of doing away with fines altogether have book amnesty day, or allow people who don’t want to pay not pay, maybe the power company would take note and have days like this too.  

Daily Dose of BS March 6 money

Not sure if you know what median household income means, it means that half the people make above that amount and half the people make below that amount.  For the United States, that number is $59,039.  For the state of Wisconsin, that number is a bit less being $55,638,  or about $26.75 per hour.  And people still complain about the amount of money that they have.  If you look at our median household income and compare it to the world we are much higher than the average the average is $18,000 per year or $8.65 or just a bit above minimum wage here in the United States.  The “average” person or middle class is sitting between $42,000 to $125,000 and if you are going to be considered upper middle class you have a salary of 3x the median household income of $59,039 or $177,117 I guess my radio salary has a long way to go.  Anybody want to buy a kidney?  

Daily Dose of BS March 5th 8th grader sex with teacher

I am not sure if you heard this story or not but I did over the weekend, there is a female science teacher in Florida that was charged with having sex with an 8^th grade student.  This 14-year-old boy would sneak out of his house at night to meet up with this teacher.  The report that I saw ended up interviewing a psychologist and I am paraphrasing what they said but this gist was that this teacher is lonely and needed to feel love.  I was shocked when I heard that and had to rewind to make sure that is what I heard, and it was.  If this were a male teacher and a female student would that have been said. No.  Are there gender inconsistencies when it comes to sex?  From the sounds of it there are, as a parent of both sexes, I don’t feel that there should be inconsistencies.  What happed to fairness, and protecting our children?  

Daily Dose of BS March 2 walkouts

The high school I graduated from in Roseville, Minnesota is going to be providing a safe space for a couple of walkout protests that are coming up, I think that the school is trying to take the wind away from the sail. If you're protesting something and you're doing it on school time or on company time the protest should be about the journey rather than the event. And along with protests comes responsibility. Allowing the students to get a pass on the day doesn't really measure up as a protest now does it? It makes it more of a school social event rather than what it was meant to be a protest. I know when I was a child they wouldn't have given us a free pass to do anything and I'm OK with that the things that I protest I have the Soap Box to speak from with my job. I get that others don't have the same luxury that I do in me saying what I want for the most part and are able to keep my job for it. With the job came sacrifice, for example, money in radio is horrible, you move around to find a job, I had to work all different shifts, including overnights and weekends. I'm not complaining about the job I have because I chose this job, I chose to do what I do for a living, I chose to have a soapbox if you will. I have paid my dues and fought for what I have and taken the punches at the same time. What they are doing by allowing the students this time as a "free" time I think is wrong.

Daily Dose of BS March 1 guns

Looks like both Walmart and Dicks Sporting goods will be limiting some of the guns that will be sold at their brick and mortar and their online stores.  Is this what needs to be done?  Will limiting the purchase of guns and ammo to those that are 21 and older stop the flow of guns from the stores?  I see how hard it is for a 17-year-old to get beer or whatever else they want to drink.  Heck even picking up drugs is hard right, it is illegal and there are no illegal drugs flowing in the veins of the typical city.  Oh, there are, I get that these stores are trying to help with the problem of guns making it into the hands of those that are younger but do you think that this symbolic gesture is just that a gesture that really has no merit?  I am not sure what needs to be done.  The only thing that I can think that would really work is for all of us to say something if we see or hear something, at least someone will then be able to help before the preverbal Schmidt hits the fan. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 28 prices

Do you price shop?  Yesterday I needed a battery cable spice kit for replacing a battery in my car, I searched for what the product was then went to buy it.  I stopped at the auto store that was on my way home, figuring that the cost was going to be the same or about the same no matter where I went.  The cost of that part was 10 dollars higher at the place I stopped first.  I quickly got back into my car and drove to the other store to save 10 bucks.  Would I have just bought it if it was a buck or two difference, yes but would not have shopped there again, the price difference in between the two made the first place loose that sale and future sales, because I am not going to be stopping by there again.  I would think that similar stores, selling similar things would have prices that are similar, wouldn’t you?  Do you check prices?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 27 cows lives matter

Cows lives matter that was the chant in a Madison Festival Foods Store.  Protesting the sale of steaks, roasts and burger.  The protester was playing guitar chanting loudly “murder” and “cows lives matter”.  This is the second time that this group protested this Festival Food Store last time was at Thanksgiving, chanting “turkeys lives matter.” The protesters blocked the isle and wouldn’t let customers make purchases.  I am assuming that since the protest was for meat that the protesters are vegetarian?  Maybe us carnivores should protest tofu, after all it is made of a bean curd made from mashed soybeans, and soy is actually one of the most commonly genetically modified foods in the world, plus soy bean doesn’t taste good on a grill with an ice cold beer.  Seems protestable to me.  Back to the whole cows lives matter, I am not sure that was a protest rather than a celebration, think about it without cows we wouldn’t have our delicious hamburgers, steaks, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter and ice cream.  I guess cows lives do matter. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 26 21 year olds

I was talking with someone yesterday at Family Fest and we ended up talking about the school shooting incident in Florida and how there are far too many of these happening around the country, this guy went on to say that the best way around this is to make it 21 to do anything.  From voting, to drinking, to joining the military to buying guns to driving a car.  I looked at him like you have a screw loose.  I don’t disagree on some but think that he was off base on others.  Let’s look at voting, I don’t agree with that one as I think that voting age should be lowered to 16 get the kids hooked on the process.  Drinking I think should be lowered to 19 for beer, and 21 for booze.  To join the military, I think that if a young adult wants to serve their country that they should be able to once they are an adult.  As a parent of 4 kids I can tell you that driving not only gives the kids freedom but also frees up Mom and Dad, as for owning guns, I think that certain guns should be able to be bought at 18 and have no problem with having some be owned at a later age.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 23 human powered vehicle

If you want to drive a hybrid or an electric car, by all means, be my guest, if you want to ride in a bus powered by solar energy go right ahead. If wind-powered transportation is your thing great, human-powered transportation wonderful.  But don’t tell me I can’t drive my car.  Mayor Tim Kabat has called upon federal and state government to address the climate change by denouncing the EPA’s plan to reverse the clean standards developed by the Obama administration.  Calling for automakers and consumers to reduce greenhouse gasses through fuel efficiency standards.  I am already driving a fuel-efficient car and don’t feel comfortable in a super small hybrid vehicle and I can’t afford a new one. 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 22 teachers armed

According to debate.org 60% think that teachers should not be armed.  In the state of Wisconsin state attorney general and a couple of legislators think that teachers should be able to pack heat.  I saw an infographic the other day saying that we guard the president and government officials with guns, celebrities, and other dignitaries who are looking to be safe.  As a father of 4 I think that my most valuable asset is my children, shouldn’t they also be allowed the same protection that heads of state are offered?  If the old saying is true that our children are our future, shouldn’t we protect our most valuable assets?  On the other hand, I do not feel as though every teacher should be armed, I think there must be training and back ground checks and more training and psych evaluations and more training.  But I think that our children’s lives are worth it.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 21 jobs

I heard an interview yesterday morning talking about how Wisconsin is having a hard time finding people to fill all the jobs that are here.  I guess we are seeing this first hand in Western Wisconsin, there are many jobs that are going unfilled from starting jobs, for example, Taco Bell, the one on West Avenue has been on and off open over the past few weeks, I have heard because they can’t find anyone to run the place.  I know of a few big companies looking to recruit talent, the job boards have jobs listed but there is a shortage of people either willing to jump ship from a job that they like or are unqualified because of made up requirements.  I have some friends who work at each of the hospitals and I have heard conversations from them about how many times employers are missing out on great employees that are already in the system because they want to have a certain degree or higher for the job, not considering the experience of the person or the loyalty that they have already shown.  What do you suggest that we do to build the talent pool for these businesses?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 20 icy roads

Its icy in La Crosse and surrounding areas, however every road that I took in to work this morning was already salted as I live about a half a block from the main drag.  For me the drive in to work was ok but I am assuming that the side roads are skatable.   My walk in to work across the parking lot did take me about as long as my drive in to work today.  When the roads are as they are today it is so important to be extra careful, slow down, don’t rush, keep both hands on the wheel, you know all the things that you are supposed to do every day.  Also remember that your 4-wheel drive car doesn’t help when you are sliding on ice, you are still sliding on ice.  The icy roads didn’t hit La Crosse until much later that forecasted.  Would you rather hear of the possibility of bad weather or be surprised by it?  For me I appreciated what I heard yesterday, because it put me in the right frame of mind for today.  Remember slow down, and pay attention.  This isn’t the Olympics we are not in a race to get anywhere today, just make it there safely.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 19 cameras

Ever looked at old family photos, or some real old school pictures of people from the 1800’s?  I have often wondered why aren’t the smiling?  Why are most old pictures people just flat faced, no smile no cheer in the eyes and just cranky looking.  I remember my wedding day 8.3 million photos with the fake smile, I could see not smiling for many of these.  Nowadays people have more smiles on their faces, just look around and watch people have conversations, the smiles come more free, and why wouldn’t they, we have much better dental nowadays than they had the past and with the better dental comes better teeth, both whiter and straighter, plus we have access to cameras all the time, I challenge you to go a day outside of your home to not be caught on someone’s camera.  I was downtown over the weekend and I know there are a bunch of cameras placed around down there, guess what I didn’t look for them nor did I notice them, but you are damn sure I was walking around with a smile on my face.  I gotta keep them wondering what I am up to.

Daily Dose of BS Feb 16 drivers

I think that the universe is messing with me.  This morning I felt great, no headache, my back wasn’t sore, my vision was crystal clear.  Not that these things bug me often, because they don’t but I noticed them.  I felt like hey I feel great.  And I still do feel pretty good, however it started right after I backed up and pulled out of my alley, I drove through the first intersection no problem, got to the second one and when I was just about there a lady in a crappy car pulled right out in front of me, I honked and she continued to go slow so I went around here of course she turned into the alley a half a block up.  I am sick and tired of people who shouldn’t be driving, driving.  I hate the people who drive under the speed limit in the passing lane, if you are going speed limit or below move over.   That was the next idiot I encountered this morning.  How often does this happen to you? These people should be ticketed for impeding the flow of traffic.  Please for my sanity and for the sanity of others who have a life, if you are driving under the speed limit or not keeping up with the person in the right lane…… Move over!

Daily Dose of BS Feb 15 school shootings

Who is to blame for all of these school shootings?  I heard an interesting take on it this morning while driving in to work.  I heard a security expert say that we are all to blame.  Me, you, the kids we all are.  With this latest shooting in Florida apparently the guys social media posts had things about hate and wanting to kill cops and wanting to kill a large amount of people.  Aren’t the people who saw these posts at least a little responsible for not saying something (and no I am not blaming the victims)?  We are not living in the same day and age of when we grew up that it is just “Johnny” blowing off steam, today we need to follow through with these kinds of threats, even if it is nothing, as there is a lot more access to weapons than there was before and a lot less regard to life than there ever was.  I really think that if we see something that we need to say something, it doesn’t matter if it is something small or large, if something is out of place or doesn’t seem right say something.

Daily Dose of BS Feb 14 Valentines day

Love is in the air, today is Valentine’s Day. Funny how guys think that this is the one time a year to be romantic, the one time a year to gift flowers, or something special the one time a year - to show our love.  Guys, we can be romantic and loving and still be men ya know. There is nothing wrong with going the extra mile anytime of the year to say something nice, drop off a little gift or just let your loved one know you love them - after all a year is 365 days long.  For those who are new to this way of thinking, you still have the weekend to get a special valentine treat, but remember you have 364 other days to show your love as well.  What is the most romantic gesture you have ever given or received?  This year, I am going to stimulate the local economy and take my wife out for dinner, and maybe a movie, if not its frozen pizza and Netflix.  By the way what’s good on Netflix these days?

Daily Dose of BS Feb 13 La Crosse St

The city of La Crosse wants to fix La Crosse Street, scratch that, needs to fix La Crosse Street and is willing to jump.  TO do it now.  With hopes of getting it paid back from the State of Wisconsin in the future.  The state says nope, we are not going to pay that.  The reason given is that the DOT leaders cited Wisconsin State Statutes as the reason, which says local roads that carry state highway traffic through cities can receive state aid when the road reaches the end of its life, but there is no statute letting municipalities bill the DOT for repairs made before that time.  Do you think that we should go ahead with the repair or should we wait until the state feels it is time to pay up.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 12 tipping

I don’t know if you heard that a waitress from Outback Steakhouse got fired for complaining about a customer not leaving a tip.  When I read the headline, Waitress stiffed a tip on a $735 takeout order, then fired after she complained on Facebook. I miss read it as “Waitress stiffed a tip on a $735 order, then fired after she complained on Facebook” To me those are two different items.  If she were stiffed on a $735 order that she brought to the table that would have sucked, if she got stiffed on a $735 take out order, then, does she really deserve a tip?  When does the line of doing my job because it is my job change to I am only doing my job because I am doing it for a tip.  My kids work at a full service gas station and sometimes they get tips for checking air, washing windows, or pumping gas, most the time they don’t but every once in a while someone give a tip.  Do they do their jobs any less or any more based on if they get a tip, no.  They are doing their jobs because they are doing their jobs.  What is that line for tipping or not tipping?  When is doing your job doing your job?  Is our society going to a pay as you use society?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 9 toll road

What is wrong with the pay as you go method?  The toll road conversation has poked up again.  And I am not sure how I feel about it.  When we drove to DC last summer I borrowed an I Pass from a friend of mine so we wouldn’t have to stop every 15 minutes to wait in line behind the other cars waiting to give money to the man.  The I Pass allowed me to keep on truckin, to not stop, slow down or even pay as much for my privilege to travel on that section of road.  Would a toll road be that bad?  Sure we would pay more for the privilege to drive on certain highways but if the roads were kept up and saved us time, wouldn’t that be worth it?  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 8 record store

As a kid I remember going to Great American Music in Har Mar Mall.  You see I used to live 5 houses from the mall in Roseville, Minnesota and I used to save my money and buy a lot of my music there, started as buying albums, then 8 tracks, then cassettes and finally cd’s.  As I started working I would buy more and more then when I got into radio I stopped going to the record stores, I quit buying music, I started getting my music from work.  Enter digital music services like Spotify, Pandora and Slacker as well as Apple iTunes and you have really no need for hard copies of music anymore.  I for one am sorry to see this go away.  Reports are out now that Best Buy is going to quit selling CD’s to me this is weird, as I think the last time that I bought a CD I am pretty sure I bought it at a Best Buy.  What is your favorite way to get music?  For me it is a tossup between listening to the radio and listening to Spotify.  And I never thought I would ever like a digital music service.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 7 girl scout cookies

The sugar high began last week with the knocking on doors and sales pitch in hand.  I am talking Girl Scout Cookie time.  I am like most the rest of America and am enjoying the different flavors of yesteryear with the thin mints and the carmel delights, also enjoying the new smore cookies as well, only thing that they are missing is the gooey mess, but they taste good just the same.  I saw a few posts on Facebook the last few days about some consumers are upset that the girls are selling the cookies in front of some of the marijuana dispensaries around the country and doing quite well I might add, one girl sold over 300 boxes sitting outside the shop.  Should she have been able to sell them there?  I think so, as long as its legal, what are your thoughts? 

Daily Dose of BS Feb 6 gas tax

As a passenger in my own car the other day while my daughter was practicing driving in the snow, I was sipping on some coffee out of my coffee mug, I was on heightened awareness because she is just learning how to drive, the road was clear with no cars coming it was safe to take a swig of coffee.  I forgot to look at the road itself, the potholes are atrocious.  And I mean bad, sipping on my black coffee ended up with me burning my lip and chin.  The roads in the state of Wisconsin are filled with potholes, and the Governor is now saying that a gas tax hike could be on the table.  I wish we would have had it as a sliding scale tax of a bit higher when the gas prices were so low last year and have them a bit lower now that our prices are around 260 a gallon.  I wondered what our gas taxes in Wisconsin were so I looked them up we pay a federal excise tax of 18.4 cents a gallon, a state excise tax of 30.9 cents and a Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Act fee of 2 cents.  Would you be willing to pay a bit more at the pump to make the roads better?  I would.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 4 yesterdays game

A couple of protests over the weekend in the Twin Cities, other than that, from what I’ve seen - a pretty well-behaved group of football fans.  Yesterday marked the 22^nd annual Schmidt Family Waffle Bowl, every year since our oldest was born we have had waffles on Super Bowl Sunday.  Kind of weird that we do it because it is the only time during the year that we all have waffles.  Since none of us really cared about who won the game I think that we were in the game to see the commercials, and as a commercial skipper that was a hard thing to do.  Every time that a commercial came on you could feel the tension in the room as the anticipation to skip the commercials was surely there.  So, of the handful of commercials that tried, what were your favorites?  For me, I really liked the Tide commercials and the one for Dodge that had the Vikings in it when they reached Minneapolis and found out they weren’t playing turned around and headed home.  As for the game, I didn’t care who won.  

Daily Dose of BS Feb 2 groundhog day

Have you ever had one of those days like in the 1993 movie Ground Hog day? When you wake up and repeat the same boring as hell tasks day after miserable day? I know when I was younger and had other people looking over me, I had days like that, gotta do what the man says. Guess what you don’t need to be stuck in the same remedial job, the same dead-end place the most boring existence, you don’t need to and I will tell you why. You and you alone are in charge of your own destiny; unless of course, you are under 18 then it’s up to your parents. You can get the ball moving in the right direction though. You can not and should not blame others for your failures. Cause guess what it is your decision to do this that or the other thing, quit blaming your spouse, boss, kids, parents, your social standings etc because you can get up and move, take off and never look back or take off and help those in need with a hand up. I have had one good quote in my life and try to live by it every day so that I do not have a groundhog day moment. As I try to live by, "Life is too short to hang out with people you don’t love, work at a job you don’t like, to eat foods you don’t want and to drink s#!ty beer."

Daily Dose of BS Feb 1 bac .05

There is talk of moving the legal limit for the level of intoxication from .08 to .05.  The National Transportation Safety Board says that with the new lower limit it would save lives, nearly 1,800 lives if every state lowered the Legal blood alcohol content for driving to .05.  The American Beverage Institute calls the report agenda driven science at its worst.  That a 180-pound man having 4 beers over 2 hours would be legally drunk with the new limits.  Utah is poised to become the first in the country to move to the .05 bac, but that won’t be until December 30 of this year, I am guessing that they did that date so that they can pick up a few on New Year’s Eve.  The reason for that they want to move it down to .05 because over 100 countries have already moved to the .05.  But to me that doesn’t make sense, because I was always told not to be a follower but to be a leader and if Jimmy jumped off the bridge it doesn’t mean that you do too.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 31 SOTU

I may be a little groggy this morning, I watched the entire State of the Union speech by President Donald Trump.  I am not sure how I feel about it, there was a lot of grandstanding as there always is.  There were a few points that I had no idea about like lowest unemployment in 45 years.  Let's just think about that for a minute, there are more people working now than ever.  I found out that together, we are building a SAFE, STRONG, and PROUD America.  I agree with this also, we are a safe, strong and proud country.  I believe that the President is trying to do the right thing for our country, in fact, I believe that most of our elected officials are trying to do what they think is right for our country but we live in a world where people are headstrong and willing to argue just for arguments sake, there is no give even the slightest give among most people especially politicians.  I think that we and by we I mean all of us need to work better to compromise and learn to see things from more than just our own eyes, to try to see what others around us are seeing and feeling and all of us work for not only a better country for all but a better life for ourselves, also on these SOTU speeches maybe they could hold the applause until the end so that it could wrap up faster.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 30 straws

A couple of years ago I was in Boston with my son and I was charged for a bag at a few different places, I thought it was odd, I found out it was a law to cut back on bag pollution or litter.  Boston isn’t the only place that charges for bags there is a growing number of cities that are charging for plastic bags including Chicago.  I wonder if that includes a fee for garbage bags?  The reason I bring up the bags this morning is that the state of California wants to ban just handing out straws at dine in restaurants, meaning you have to ask to get a straw. And if the server just gives out the straw without being asked there is a proposed 1,000 dollar fine.  This is absurd, I am not much of a straw user but when I want one I want one.  I guess if I were to say saying any thing about this law is that it sucks, well not really I guess. 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 29 foodstamps

Governor Scott Walker has said on many occasions that welfare is supposed to be more like a trampoline rather than a hammock.  Last week Walker called for a special session for lawmakers to consider a package that would impose more restrictions on food stamps and Medicaid.  The efforts to ban the purchase of junk food and pop with food stamps is ongoing.  This and the whole passing of drug testing is where the work for welfare movement in the state of Wisconsin are heading.  The state is also looking to the “idle population” back into the workforce.  The state of Wisconsin already has an unemployment of 3% how much lower could we go?  What do you think the right choice for the state should be? 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 26 felony

Headline story this morning in the Tribune “Felony cases spiked in 2017” lead by drugs and bail jumping.  The La Crosse County DA’s office filed 1,184 felony cases last year up 21% from the year before.  Most of the cases were non-violent bail jumping and extradition cases, add to that a growing number of felony drug possession cases, even the smallest amount of meth and heroin is a felony.  Then mix in the people who are released and while released are committing more crimes and we have more felonies for the year.  The numbers also show that last year the number of burglary charges jumped by 90 % last year to 110 as well as the growing number of forgery cases.  According to the La Crosse Police, the drug issue within our community are one of the primary driver of our property crimes.  What should be done? 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 25 phones

The happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction of American Teens are closely tied to their phones.  In a study that was published Monday is says that by 2016 73 % of all teens carried a cell phone of some sorts.  It goes on to say that between 1991 and 2016, teens who spent more time on electronic communication and screens — social media, texting, electronic games, the internet — were less happy, less satisfied with their lives and had lower self-esteem. TV watching, which declined over the nearly two decades they examined, was similarly linked to lower psychological well-being.  It makes me think that we are raising a bunch of kids that are losing out on the life skills that many of us treasure, like face to face communication, human contact and looking at someone while having conversation.  

Daily dose of BS Jan 24 school shootings

Over the past two days there have been reports of high school shootings.  Two days in a row and 11^th so far this young year.  Why is it that I am just hearing of these now?  11 school shootings so far in 2018?  And for what reason?  I don’t get what possesses these kids.  I am not sure if the coping mechanism is different with today’s kids then it was when I was a kid but I tell you what when I was a kid I was disappointed many times.  I never shot and killed anyone I never pulled a gun on anyone, I never wanted to kill or maim anyone.  I was brought up with the mantra of sticks and stone can break my bones but words will never hurt me.  I have said that nursery rhyme many times while growing up.  Guess what it worked, I made it through my childhood.  But the one lie in the old nursery rhyme is that sometimes words do hurt, I think that we and by we I mean us all we do need to watch what we say but we also need to have thicker skin and not take everything to heart, I do realize that is easier said than done.  Is it so hard to be nice to one another? 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 23 newspaper

Is it wrong to expect my newspaper at least on my step?  For the longest time I have had the perfect paper delivery person.  I would get my paper before 5a so I would be able to grab it and then head to work.  Right around the middle of December that changed, the person who used to deliver for my house must have quit or retired or something, now I get my paper much too late for me to read before work.  And on weekends it doesn’t come until after 9.  By 9 the day is half over, the paper should be read and coffee drank by 730 on a Saturday and Sunday.  With the rain yesterday, my paper ended up on the sidewalk in front of my house, not leading up to my house but the sidewalk that runs parallel to the home.  When I was a kid and had a paper route, things were different, you called the newspaper, you talked to someone there, and your complaint got taken care of, by the person who delivered the paper, or their mom if they were already in school.  Don't get me wrong, I love the paper but want it delivered to my house, not at my house. 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 22 shutdown

This latest governmental shutdown has had an effect me, the teacher for my Psych class sent some links to check out about substance abuse and the big government shutdown banner was across the top of the page.  Makes me think that someone thought about this prior to the shutdown and made the banner available for the government website so that when the shutdown happens that whoever goes to that government website knew for a fact that that website was part of the shutdown.  Have you ever given any thought the question, is my job essential? I’m not sure mine is. In fact, I know mine is not. I have few friends who are being affected because of the shutdown. If the government truly wants to make a difference instead of a point have the whole government shutdown. I am guessing that that will not happen cause the man never goes without. Could you imagine the people in Congress or the Senate say no to a paycheck? There may be a few out there who will as a gesture give it up but really? It isn’t affecting them anyway it is cutting to the core the backbone, the people who are in the trenches and are busting their hump for the man. Let’s put politics aside and unite as a country and put these people back to work. The gesture is there we “shut down” the government now let’s show the world that America is open for business.

Daily Dose of BS Jan19 food stamps

Governor Walker made a quick stop in La Crosse yesterday to talk about a proposal to overhaul welfare in the state making the requirements some of the toughest in the country.  The proposal would force parents on food stamps with school-aged kids to work or be on the job training, also adding the requirement of photo id for food stamp recipients.  Walker defends the package as a way to get more people off public assistance and into the workforce.  Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling.  “It’s sad and desperate that he thinks the best way to win re-election is to go after struggling families who are trying to get ahead,”  Walkers proposal also would require drug screening, testing and treatment to be eligible for public housing, and Forbid anyone living in a home worth double the median value home, about $321,000, or owning vehicles worth more than $20,000 from receiving food stamps and other Medicaid benefits. 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 18 walmart

America’s opioid epidemic kills more people per year than breast cancer, and yesterday Walmart pharmacy rolled out a product that provides a safe way to get rid of extra prescription opioid drugs.  Kudos to the big box store for coming up with what I hope is a dent in the problem with opioid addiction. The product called DisposeRx turns any form of opioid including powders, pills, tablets, capsules, liquids or patches into a gel that can’t be converted back into a usable drug.  Walmart will be handing out this new product with each new opioid prescription and existing customers can ask for one at any time.  About a third of all prescribed prescriptions go unused, I think that this is a great first step.

Daily Dose of BS Jan 17 junk email

Am I the only one who is sick of the thousands of junk emails that we get each and every day?  I have a few email accounts, my gmail 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 2nd Ave N, Onalaska Wisconsin 54650.

Daily Dose of BS Jan jan 16 viral videos

Last year on an icy La Crosse day my boys wanted to ice skate in front of our house, at first, I said no then thought what the heck.  I videoed them and it had over 2 million views, a video that I took of my kids went viral.  The kids were excited, we heard from friends from around the country after it hit Good Morning America.  There are a lot of things that go viral, and you never know what will and what won’t.  I saw a video on Facebook at the beginning of winter that had some people put their faces in fluffy snow then videoed the outcome it was cool as the face implant looked like their face, I tried that yesterday expecting it not to work, guess what it did.  There are other viral videos out there of people doing stupid things like the cinnamon challenge where you eat a tablespoon of cinnamon or the hot pepper challenge.  Dumb.  But the newest in viral stupidity is the laundry pod challenge.  Who is raising our kids?  Don’t they know that this is stupid?  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 15 hawaii

I get it we all make mistakes.  I do you do we all do.  Could you imagine if your job was to alert the people of Hawaii of an issue and you dropped the bomb figuratively not literally.  How would you have felt if you were minding your own business, looking forward to a pleasant day living in or visiting Hawaii and suddenly you get a text from the texting robots telling you ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii.  Seek immediate shelter.  This is not a drill.  I think I would go into panic mode.  The worst part of it all is that it took 38 minutes for the second alert to reach all the phones for the all clear.  The president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, called the mistake — which sent terrified tourists searching for shelter — “regrettable and completely avoidable.” and that “Hawaii continues to be the safest, cleanest and most welcoming travel destination in the world, and the alarm created today by the false alert does not change that at all.”

Daily Dose of BS Jan 12 shithole countries

The President of the United States asked, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” I was personally shocked when I first read that.  I double checked and triple checked my sources, then I called my boss and asked what to do.  Do I talk about it?  Do I bring up the word or gloss over it like many are doing?  I was told to use my judgement.  I feel like the comment made by the President of the United States is newsworthy.  According to the Oxford Dictionaries, the word is defined as “An extremely dirty, shabby, or otherwise unpleasant place.”  Is there a place and a time for vulgar language?  Personally, I think that there is, however do I think that the President of the United States should use it to describe another county no F’in way.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 11 flu

Yesterday I talked to an infection control specialist about the flu, there is an outbreak in 46 of the states.  I got my flu shot back in September and knock on wood, I have had a flu free winter so far.  Sure I have had the sniffles a few times, but for the most part been doing ok.  I have heard both sides of the story about why not to get the shot, but I work in the public and see lots of people and shake lots of hands, and I mean I do shake hands none of that fist bump BS. I also have kids and talk for a living so getting influenza is out of the question for me. Lots of people think if I get the flu shot will get the flu, or you won’t get stomachaches or headaches. Its not the case, the flu shot will help you from getting influenza which is an infection of the nose, throat, and lungs. It spreads easily and the Flu symptoms usually start quickly. The first symptom of the flu is a fever but can include: Body aches, Chills, Dry cough, Increased breathing symptoms and much more.  Also remember you are not only getting the shot for yourself but to stop the spread of the flu.  To find out more about getting your flu shot give the county health department a call at 608-785-9723 you won’t be sorry.

Daily Dose of BS Jan 10 stuff

Ever thought about the stuff that you have laying around your home, I mean the stuff that you have laying around that you really don’t need.  I look at my office at home and it is the collection spot for things to go and slowly die, the old cellphones that still work but have no use, but are kept just because they may save you from having to buy a new phone when the one you have decided not to work how about all the chargers and the cords that go with those old phones, tablets. Computers, and TVs that are just lying around.  I have been pitching these but they seem to multiply every time they are in a dark room by themselves.  I opened one of our junk drawers the other day and found two digital cameras there staring up at me and the clothes that line the closets and drawers around our homes would fill a few racks at the stores.  I do know of some people who take pride in having clothes from many years ago, an example is my dad who just visited last weekend showing off to my kids that he is still using the shoes he got when he was in the Navy 50 years ago.  They look it.  Anyway, I guess I am saying it is ok to go through and get rid of some of the stuff in your home.  It isn’t worth what you think it is.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 9 Oprah

We have a billionaire business tycoon now as President of the United States, would you vote for a billionaire talk-show-host-turned-media-mogul as the next President?  Since the Golden Globes on Sunday there has been talk of an Oprah Winfrey presidential run in 2020.  Before you discount it think about this she has the same political experience as President Trump did heading into the election and she has likeability.  I wonder though, what happened to having experience, qualifications, and judgement to be the President?  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 8 art

Art is subjective and means something different to different people.  I get that.  As a person who creates on a daily basis I get that somedays creations are better than others and that some people likes some of what I do, others don’t.  My feelings don’t get hurt over this.  La Crosse currently has a problem with a piece of loaned art, the “Hatched Baby” sculpture of a blue baby hatching from an egg.  How about bringing in the Blue Man Group to do a photo shoot with it.  I am not sure if this is an outdoor piece of art.  If it is, we could put it in one of the lessor known parks for the exposure that it would bring to that park, we could put the questionable art work in a new space perhaps we could come up with a safe space for showcasing creations, it could have a stage, a few walls, a place for larger pieces, and a giant refrigerator for kids to showcase their artwork.  Or it could go in one of the empty spaces in the mall.  Or it could be part of a parklet downtown.  See if a little time goes in to the thought process, a solution could be found.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 5 parking

I think that the cops have a crappy job a job I wouldn’t want to do, I respect them and think highly of them, I do however question the need for a 1 million dollar secure parking structure for the police department at city hall.  A million dollars to park?  No, no, no, can I say no enough?  The claim is the need for new parking because of the redevelopment of the county administrative center now the Hub on Sixth housing for Western Tech.  They say the reason for needing the new secure parking is because “Right now basically anyone and everyone drives through the back parking lots” here is an idea, put up a gate or how about ticketing people when they drive back there if they shouldn’t be there.  It would save us as taxpayers some money, and may, in fact, make the city some money if they start collecting on the tickets.  The claim is also that it would clear up parking for the rest of city hall.  I have been to city hall a bunch of times and there hasn’t been a time that I haven’t been able to park, and if there was you could park in one of the cities other parking lots.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 4 pbj

In the week between Christmas and New Years I went back to the basics, I enjoyed a staycation for the most part.  I did take a side trip up to the Twin Cities and went to the Como Park Conservatory.  Always one of my favorite stops when headed up to the cities.  I also went basic with food, I had for the first time in probably a couple of decades a plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread.  I have to say it was super enjoyable.  Sure in the past couple of decades I have had peanut butter and jelly but it was on wheat bread or it was toasted or it was crunchy peanut butter or had on strawberry jelly, it wasn’t the good old plain old creamy peanut butter and grape jelly on plain old white bread.  Which brings me to todays topic, what is your favorite type of sandwich?  Is it old school like the pbj or remember the slice of Kraft American Cheese on white bread with either mayo or mustard?  What about the old liverwurst sandwich?  Sandwiches have come a long way haven’t they? 

Daily Dose of BS Jan 2 pot

The above the fold, front page of today’s La Crosse Tribune headline says “Complaint: 500 pounds of pot” it goes on to tell the story of a West Salem man and how an arrest warrant was issued for his arrest for conspiracy to commit delivery of THC greater than 10,000 grams.  Yesterday’s paper had a story of Californians hailing the first day of legal pot.  Isn’t it time that we open up those doors and allow marijuana to be legalized?  I have heard that people call it the gateway drug, but is it really?  I honestly believe that cigarettes and beer are.  I think of the illegal drug trade going on and the lives that are changed because of it, the jail time, the addiction, the failure to pay taxes on it.  I would think for the taxes alone we would legalize it.  Here is the thing, I don’t smoke pot, but I do pay taxes, to many taxes, and many of my tax dollars are going to pay for people who are addicted to various drugs, wouldn’t it make sense for the problem to pay for the solution?  Plus, is would open up our court systems, it would free up some of the time that the cops are dedicating to busting those smoking a little weed.  

Daily Dose of BS Jan 1 2018 Happy New Year

The start of the New Year is an exciting time, a new calendar, a new month, the start of a new week, it is a new day, it is a brand new year, a chance to start over.  The New Year is like a new clean slate, a do-over, a chance to start over, to reset if you will.  I hope that the New Year find you and your family with all the adventures, the love, the enjoyment, the travel,  basically everything that you wish for in your do-over.  I know it's something that everybody just says- but I truly hope that 2018 is the year for you.  Through hard work and desire, I hope that your reset button gives you the chance to achieve all of your dreams.  My hopes for this year are to finish college, get my business up off the ground, continue to communicate daily with my listeners and friends, and to become a success in the things that I try to do.  I hope the same for you that you're able to find the things that you need in order for you have a happy, successful, enjoyable and great 2018.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 22 board games

I read a quick story yesterday that suggested that women could improve their chances of winning board games this Christmas by playing rock music in the background.  Apparently, men became more distracted, and make far more errors if we are forced to listen to AC/DC compared with classical music.  I wonder which men were tested on this theory?  I would be willing to bet that I would do better when listening to rock music rather than classical music.  Either way music to me is soothing, and helps me to focus. I hope that whatever family events that you have planned for this holiday weekend that you are able to enjoy the time either with or without family.  Just enjoy the time.  I know I have had the argument with people in the past about is it Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, Hanukkah or Seasons Greetings.  Honestly whatever you say, and however you celebrate it I hope that this season brings you the best feelings, and the best Memories.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 21 top ten toys

It’s funny that the list of the 10 bestselling toys of all time are the toys that we grew up with.

10. Hot Wheels

9. Slinky

8. Lincoln Logs

7. Frisbee

6. Erector Set

5. Play-Doh

4. Lionel Trains

3. Barbie

2. Crayons

1. Yo-Yo

Nowhere on that list is there a hatchimal or fingerling or lol surprise I don’t see any electronics or drones, no games or tablets.  I see good old-fashioned toys that are meant to be played with and played with hard, with no worry of breaking.  I see ingenuity and creativity, I also see future careers built from these toys.  The one that I am surprised that isn’t on that list would be Lego and my favorite toy from when I was a kid, the GI Joe with real hair not the ones that came later with the molded plastic hair.  What was your favorite toy as a child? 

Daily Dose of BS Dec 20 Star Wars

Over the past few days we have been bombarded with people saying how wonderful the new Star Wars movie is, and how so many of our friends and peers have enjoyed the series.  I for one don’t get it.  I posted yesterday on my Facebook that I won’t be seeing Star Wars, not now not ever.  I expected to get a backlash of people calling me names and giving me guff.  Instead it was like a holiday miracle, I had a few questions why, one said “You're missing out. Stop living in 77 and remember that was 40 years ago.”  I get that it isn’t 1977, but I never got the hype then and I certainly don’t get the hype now.  Plus, I am more a TV person than a movie person.  I have the chance to watch any movie on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon and I always find myself going back to the good old TV shows.  Are you a movie buff?  If so what type of movies, and if you watch the Star Wars movies, can you please explain to me what I am missing?  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 19 pigeons

Well, La Crosse is at it again, working to get rid of unwanted nuisance life, the life I am talking about is the flying poop machine, otherwise known as pigeons.  Pigeons are filthy birds, causing disease and damage. Their droppings are known for triggering human slips and falls, as well as accelerating the aging of structures and statues, and we are seeing this in La Crosse. Making it important to get rid of the pigeons plus pigeons may carry diseases.  The city council approved paying the USDA $23,201 to do away with them.  May I also suggest that we allow the feral cats do away with them.  In my southside La Crosse neighborhood not only do we have feral pigeons, but we have outdoor cats, tons on rabbits, one neighbor caught a possum, a few times over the summer raccoons were spotted, and there were reports last year about a black bear roaming a few blocks away.  Don’t forget about the mice and other animals that within the border of the city.  I feel that lots of the reason that these birds are taking over the airspace over the city is that people keep feeding them so stop, also we give them so many moving targets, which is why my Dad always said don’t look up with your mouth open.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 18 Atlanta

As we gear up for the busy holiday travel schedule I am shocked to hear that the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta was paralyzed after a power substation explosion.  Kind of weird to think that a power failure was responsible for crippling the super busy airport.  There were thousands of flights that were canceled in the 11 plus hour shutdown in Atlanta, not to mention all the adjoining flights from all over the country and the world.  I am guessing that the power outage showed the vulnerability of airports and that the terrorists will now use that knowledge against us and against all travelers.  I couldn’t imagine being stuck on a plane for any amount of time, it did happen to me about 20 years ago, when flying back to La Crosse from California, and it was only about 2 hours, if I had to sit on the plane for up to 11 like some did yesterday, I am guessing I would be like most and would probably not be the most pleasant person out there.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 15 Kendhammer

12 peers made up of 10 women and 2 men found Todd Kendhammer guilty of the September 2016 murder of his wife Barbra.  Kendhammer faces a life sentence with sentencing set for March 9, 2018.  I am not sure how much you watched of how much you followed along, I didn’t catch too much of the trial, but enough to form an opinion.  From what I saw and heard there seemed like there were a lot of inconsistencies in the story, story changing and things not adding up.  Plus hearing that they never fought, never is a long time.  I have been married to my wife for 27 years and we get along great, however I would never say that we don’t fight.  It happens you can’t always agree with everything.  I have sat in on a few conversations about this death a few times before and during the trial and people feel strongly on both sides.  Was justice served? 

Daily Dose of BS Dec 14 Rodgers back

Brett Hundley did a fair job guiding the Packers, the 2 time MVP Arron Rodgers however is back.  We will see number 12 dress and ready to go on Sunday as the Pack attach the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers are at 9-4 while the Green and Gold are at 7-6.   Both teams are coming off wins from last week the Panthers beat the Vikings while the Packers beat the bottom of the barrel Cleveland Browns.  Is the return of Arron Rodgers going to be the piece of the puzzle that the Pack need?  I think that there is more wrong with the Pack than just the changing of the quarterback.  This is a team that has for far too long relied on that position.  In the modern era we have been blessed with great quarterbacks and a few other good players, why haven’t the Packers worked on bolstering the rest of the team.  It is after all a team sport not a sport of one.  Is it fair for the quarterback?  Rodgers says that he is not coming back to save the team he is coming back to play the way he knows how to play.  This fan hopes that the rest of the team shows up to help.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 13 don't expect

You never know what is going to happen in a day.  You wake up, you get ready for work and the day goes flawless.  How many times in your life has that happened?  My guess not too often.  This morning a good example, things seemed great, I got to work, I had to replace the water in the water machine, I put the 5-gallon jug in the machine got some water and started back to my studio, all of a sudden, I hear Joanie saying that water is all over the floor and the water machine is glug, glug glugging out water at a good pace, we unplug it, and take the water jug off, problem solved for now.  I guess what I am trying to say is that life happens when you are not expecting it to happen.  How many times in your life did you expect one thing to happen and a totally different outcome happened?  Many times, I bet, come to think of it not too many times has things gone how I have planned, I guess that is the secret of life, be flexible and be ready for anything.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 12 La Crosse and New York

Did you hear about the shooting on the south side of La Crosse on Saturday night?  I didn’t either until today when I read it, apparently, there isn’t a suspect.  What about the group of 6 nine to twelve-year-old’s who ransacked a house and stole some jewelry, a credit card, and a guinea pig, when caught they claimed they thought the house was abandoned.   Um was the guinea pig alive when you took it, were there lights on in the house, and food in the fridge?  Sorry kids but I don’t buy that, if it isn’t yours don’t take it.  What happened to La Crosse being a safe place to live?  Better yet what happened to us feeling safe at home.  Do you feel safe?  I mean yesterday’s news was all about the bomber in New York strapping a pipe bomb to himself and in a failed attempt to blow up some of the subways managed to burn himself and injure a few around him.  I guess we must go back to the whole if you see something say something.  We all need to be involved to live in a safe place.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 11 Santa

So far this season I have played helper for man in the red suit a couple of times, tonight, at The Rotary Lights at Riverside Park, I will be helping again.  Last time I was at the Rotary lights it was 50 degrees and this elf felt the heat, today it will be a bit cooler, but still going to be in a heated shelter.  Once you put on the suit and become the legend if just for a few moments in life, your mind starts to wander, at least mine does, and the slight panic sets in, what if I get too hot, and what if while I am sitting here I have to go to the bathroom, what if a kid uses me as a bathroom, what happens if someone pulls my beard or worse yet my finger?  What should I do?  What if the people show up and call me a phony…. what if this or that or the other thing?  The best thing is to take a couple of deep breaths through the beard, exhale thru your mouth and let out a hardy HO, HO, HO.   So far this year all the kids that came by were on the nice list, and their parents confirmed it.  If you haven’t been down to the Rotary Lights yet, I would suggest you do…bring a food donation to help to stock the food shelves, and Have a Merry Christmas.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 8 cost of life

We had our first measurable snowfall earlier this week, pretty soon It will be that time of year again when kids will be out shoveling show.  When my kids were little and I helped them with their snow shoveling jobs, I expected them to spilt the money with me, I drove them there and they used my shovels.  I took some guff for that from some of my friends, they said your kids should get all that money.  I disagree, they should not.  I took the money that I made from them and used it for us to go somewhere special, we used it to go to Brewer Games, the fair and Wisconsin Dells.  Besides helping a bit with the cost, it showed the kids that things aren’t free and that you should save your money.  I have carried on this trait when the kids got cell phones, they pay for their own cells, and we spilt a family Spotify account.  I just got notice from Netflix that they are raising the prices of membership next year, I wonder if I should pass that cost on to the kids?  Your thoughts? 

Daily Dose of BS Dec 7 Big Indian statue

The big Indian at Riverside park is stirring up controversy.  I remember the first day that I came to La Crosse and got the big tour of what there is here I got brought up to Granddad Bluff, was shown what a Chicken Q was, we visited the zoo at Myrick Park, I was schooled on that it is a bubbler here in Wisconsin and shown the Mississippi River, the La Crosse River and the Black River and where they cross the “Big Indian”.  I for a long time thought that the name of the Hiawatha state at Riverside was just called the “Big Indian”.  There have been calls in the past for the removal of the Hiawatha statue but I think at the time the city just fixed it up, spending about 35 thousand dollars to fix it up.  I do think of the “Big Indian” statue as a point of interest when people come for a visit, but at the same time, have been asked why it is there.  I think that it is time to ask that question, why is it here?  I also have the question, is there anything that can be done to the current statue to make it not offensive to the Native American People?  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 5 food share

Three years ago I was thinking that drug testing for food share was a good idea, today, not so much.  I think what changed for me is that food and shelter are the most basic of needs, if you don’t have food, you die, if you don’t have shelter, up here in the Midwest you could die.  I don’t want drug addicts to die, I would like them to get help.  In Wisconsin drug testing is moving ahead, Governor Scott Walker has approved the rule change to screen food stamp users.  Not sure if this is the best of ideas.  I do think that the basics should be provided for all.  Under this plan, childless food share recipients who fail a drug test would be eligible for state funded rehab if they don’t have any other way of paying for it.  I do think that the program needs an over haul. 

Daily Dose of BS Dec 4 texting

It was 25 years ago yesterday that a big change came to your style of communications, I bet that you didn’t even know.  Twenty-five years ago yesterday was the invention of one of the biggest distractors out there, the reason for many car accidents and broken relationships, 25 years ago yesterday was the first text message.  I know that I was kicking and screaming and refused to use the technology for many years, my kids were using it and I was the typical radio guy and wanted to have conversation rather than text someone.  I will tell you what if the past 8 years or so that I have been texting I have sent thousands of texts and I will bet upwards of a hundred thousand texts.  It honestly is my preferred way of communicating when not face to face, it saves the hassle of picking up the phone for a quick answer, I know what time my kids are going to be home and I can verify an appointment and get a digital coupon for my favorite restaurant.  I like the time-saving element of it, and that if I am thinking about something I can do it now, in fact, sent a birthday text to my brother at 5 this morning, I will follow up with a call later but at least he knows I am thinking about him.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 1 deer hunt

The official numbers for the gun deer hunt are in and so are the Wisconsin’s new no age limit hunting rule saw a few infants in the woods, actually 10 went to kids under the age of one.  I think that this rule is one of the most asinine rules out there.  There were 52 licenses that went to kids 5 and under and the youngest to register a kill was 4 years old.  4.  Seven deer were registered by five year olds.  I wonder if many hunters got licenses for their kids in hopes of only registering the deer under their names.  Of the 7 hunters that were injured 5 of them shot themselves.  The harvest included 98,364 bucks about .4 % less than last year. And a grand total of 195,738 deer in the 9-day hunt.  I am still trying to process how 10 infants were supposed to hunt. 

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. 

484-535-4601

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. 

Daily Dose of BS October 31, Halloween

Let the donning of the masks begin.  Today is Halloween and a day that maybe we show the world who we really are.  Have you ever given that any thought?  Instead of putting on the masks the are meant to entertain, or scare and just be you.  Take off the mask that you put on every morning and be the person you are, it isn’t easy but after a while you will get used to it, and others around you will as well.  I truly try to be me, the same me whether it is around my family, my friends, my coworkers or myself, the Bob you see is the Bob you get.  Be proud of the person you have become, and if you aren’t then change, become the person you want to be.  A quick thought about Halloween, and I am guilty of it also, ever thought that with Halloween we go against everything we teach our kids, don’t beg, don’t talk to strangers and don’t take candy from strangers.  Hmmm.  Happy Halloween. 

Daily Dose of BS Oct 30 opioid

There was an interesting story in the La Crosse Tribune yesterday about the opioid crisis not being the first drug crisis in our history.  I remember the crack problems we had in the 80’s and the Nancy Reagan just say no campaign, followed by this is your brain and this is your brain on drugs egg commercial.  I wonder how many people had the craving for a good omelet after those commercials.  I really wonder what it is going to take to get our kids and our coworkers off drugs.  More than 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, and I bet we are going to be close to those numbers again this year.  And these numbers don’t include the numbers of people who were given Narcan to bring them back from an overdose.  This truly is an epidemic and I really don’t see an end to it.  We are also still fighting the battle of tobacco and alcohol.  However, I have noticed less people smoking cigarettes there are still a lot of people smoking and drinking, well I live in La Crosse and I like to have a few beers, as do most of my friends.  I guess moderation in the key.  Thoughts? 

Daily Dose of BS Oct 27 sleep

While scrolling through Facebook this morning I ran across a video of water beds and how in the late 80’s and early 90’s waterbeds were king.  The first bed that my wife and I had was a waterbed that we used for about a year, after that we to had given up on the sloshing around at night and went to a traditional mattress.  We had our first purchased new bed for about 20 years, then we got a single sided mattress that lasted about 5 years, my wife visited her sister a couple of years ago and she had just got a sleep number bed, and bragged about it, my wife tried it, we now have a mattress that should last for 25 years, we’ll see if it does.  So far so good.  I am constantly futzing with mine changing the sleep number usually getting the best nights sleep with a number between 60 and 85, depending on the day.  With the sleep number bed, and the my pillow, I sleep on two unconventional things, throw in my cpap machine and I rock a great sleep look.  How much sleep do you get a night?  My sleep tracker says I get about 6:27 on average per night.  Close to the 7-8 hours that are needed.  

Daily Dose of BS Oct 26 heat

There is snow in the forecast in the next couple of days.  I haven’t even turned on my heat yet.  Have you?  I always try to push the limits of my house by counting on it to give me shelter, and by shelter I mean from the high costs of heating and cooling.  About 16 years ago we did a huge remodel on our home we added on about half and then reinsulated the rest of the house, that and the addition of a new high efficient furnace and an efficient central air conditioner and my house has been great at giving me shelter.  My thing is that I am cheap and I don’t mind sitting around the house in sweats and a blanket, my kids and wife on the other hand, they would like the heat on.  I still am holding out until November 1^st but if snow does come, I suppose I will break down and turn on the heat.  Are you a date person or when do you turn on your heat?  

Daily Dose of BS Oct 25 IRS Scam

IRS lawsuit.  Bahahahaha.  I got a call on Monday afternoon from the number 206-866-5761 with a cheesy recorded electronic voice telling me that the IRS was going to sue me.  The recorded voice was in broken English and had some grammatically incorrect speech in it.  I wonder how many people fall for these phone calls?  There must be enough of them for them to keep up with the scam.  I feel sorry for people who do fall for these types of scams especially since they do sound so fake.  I know for a fact that the IRS won’t be making any calls to you, they first reach out via the phone.  I also know that if they were calling you that they wouldn’t use a recorded voice inviting you to call them back.  Come on scammers if you really want to do this, use someone with a half way decent voice and have them call and talk with possible mark.  Actually keep doing what you are doing and I like the rest of the population will just quit answering our phones.  

Daily Dose of BS Oct 24 nuclear war

Some top brass are saying that a nuclear war with North Korea is not likely, but the US is putting nuclear bombers on 24 hour alert for the first time since the cold war.  The threat of nuclear war posed by North Korea has grown to an unprecedented level according to a Japanese official, saying that North Korea’s behavior is getting worse and worse.  Kim Jong Un called our president a Lunatic for taking the United States and its poor puppet forces straight into ruin.   Around 22 thousand nuclear weapons can be found around the world today according to the United Nations and their reports so a nuclear attack is not a complete impossibility.  I am guessing if one pulls the trigger, the rest will as well, and if that happens will that be the end of civilization? 

Daily Dose of BS October 23 conferences

I heard a news story this morning about how at schools around the country they are trying something new, having the child lead the school conference.  I hate to say this but in La Crosse they have been doing that for years.  I remember the first time that one of our children was tasked with telling us his progress how scared he was and unsure of how to do it, but by the end of the process he was doing fine, this process lasted through all four of the kids, and now that they are in High School we no longer go to conferences.  One of the people in the story said that when the child is present that the “whole story” doesn’t get out.  Here’s an idea if you have something to say about the child, send them away or you and the teacher step out into the hall.  I think the confidence that it teaches the child as well as the instant accountability that is present because they must tell Mom and Dad what went right and what went wrong is a good thing.