Daily Dose of BS May 4 development

For as long as I have lived in La Crosse the Johnson Oil property has always been talked about and has always been an eyesore.  I am not sure how much longer we can call it an eyesore, as the city of La Crosse, has finally chosen a master developer to what I assume to develop that land into something that will include some housing, some businesses, and some recreation areas.  The 65-acre plot is considered one of the last areas in the city for prime development.  I for one will be excited to see what goes in there.  

Daily Dose of BS May 3 BSA

The Boy Scouts of America announce a new name change that goes into effect February 2019, after next February the Boy Scouts program will be known as Scouts BSA, reflecting its new membership.  The flagship Boy Scouts of America organization and the Cub Scouts program will keep on with the current names.  The decision to allow girls to join the program is what has prompted the changes.  All the members will now be referred to as Scouts regardless of gender.  As a class of 1986 Eagle Scout I can see both the good and the bad in this.  The good is that it opens up for growth, and will help to fuel what I believe is a dying group of kids who are in Scouts.  But on the other hand, I could see it as a downfall for kids to not have the chance to grow with the help of other young men.  It was a time when we sat around with other young men talked smack and learned to be men.  

Daily Dose of BS May 2 Oktoberfest

We have just barely melted off all the snow and already Oktoberfest is making news in La Crosse.  New this year no button needed to attend the yearly drinking fest.  This year the Oktoberfest board has decided to change the game and instead of selling buttons ahead of time for the entrance to the festgrounds, this year’s admittance will be a paper ticket.  Advance four-day tickets featuring the winning design will be available for $10 and they come with a free commemorative button or you can buy single day tickets for 10 dollars with no commemorative button.  I am not going to judge this until I have had the chance to see it in action.  The problem I could see with it, at least for me is losing the pass somewhere or having it go through the wash and have it not be readable, I also think that with the scanning of the tickets it will back up entrance to the festgrounds, but I am going to hold judgment.  Tickets will go on sale in July, with the July sell date, I wonder if they will sell them at RiverFest?

Daily Dose of BS May 1 naming rights

Did you know that the Hubert H Humphry Metro dome in Minneapolis had a name?  I didn’t, it was the Mall of America Field, I wonder if that was good money spent?  I grew up in the cities and I always just called it the dome.  The La Crosse Center is looking at selling the naming rights of the soon to be newly remodeled convention hub of La Crosse.  Again, I wonder if that would-be money well spent, I have been in La Crosse for the past 26 years and I for one have always called it the center, or if on the radio talking about it the La Crosse Center.  I would have a hard time rebranding it in my mind to some different name.  The center is a community building that is owned and run by the city of La Crosse so in essence it does have a paid for name by the group that pays its bills, we as tax payers pay for the center by giving our dollars to the city which in turn pay the bills which in turn has the name of La Crosse on it.  What do you think about renaming the La Crosse Center, would it be a Kaminsky Park – US Cellular Field naming deal?  

Daily Dose of BS April 30 dogs

Do people like their dogs better than they like their kids?  I was wondering that this weekend as I saw many people with their dogs in tow, and at places where you wouldn’t normally see dogs.  I saw them on the laps of drivers, hanging outside of a few stores in cars while their owners were in the store, I saw them in a bar, I saw them outside a bar, in a store and at a ballpark where it was posted no dogs.  It seems to me that dogs were just about everywhere.  I get that there is a love for your 4 legged friend, but when did it become such commonplace to bring your dog everywhere?  I am sure I am going to take some guff for saying this but leave your dog at home, I don’t think that dogs belong in restaurants or bars or grocery stores.  There are some people who are afraid of dogs and when your dog approaches them or barks or licks them, that isn’t fair to them.  Think about it this way, when someone shows you their child doing something cute or calls their toddler over to do their new trick of the week and how you rolls your eyes and think who really cares, you should keep this to yourself, this is how some feel about your dog.  

Daily Dose of BS April 27 poor sportsmanship on the fan side

I was at a high school baseball game yesterday and the first base umpire made a bad call.  I get that, it happens.  Accept the bad call and move on.  I heard one of the grown men watching the game say next time go for his head.  WHAT?  I sat there and stewed about it for a while.  I was going to go over and say something, but I wasn’t positive on who it was.  These types of outbursts are inconsiderate and I feel show the cut of who a person really is.  First of all these are all kids who are out for a sport that they enjoy doing, they will never make it to the pros.  Let the kids have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of being on a team.  My son is playing the game because he enjoys the game, he has said that once it stops being fun he is going to stop playing.  I enjoy going to the games because you get a chance to sit outside, do a little socializing and get a chance to see the players having fun.  Remember that it is just a game and at no time is it ever ok to go for his head next time.  Ever! 

Daily Dose of BS April 25 measles

I am pretty sure that I thought that measles were eradicated then there was the story last week about the possibility of exposure in the La Crosse area, then over the past couple of days other communities around have said something about a possible measles exposure.  Today I read a story that Winona was exposed and that Iowa was exposed.  I also read that measles was eliminated in 2000, but the disease is brought back every year by unvaccinated travelers.  Pretty crappy if you ask me.  This is a highly contagious disease considered one of the most infectious around and sometimes has deadly complications with no treatment for the illness.  If you have the symptoms such as high fever, cough, runny nose and red water eyes, and you may end up with spots on the inside of your mouth, I would suggest you contact your doctor.  Did you vaccinate for measles and other diseases?  Why or why not? 

Daily Dose of BS April 24 driving killer

What would cause a driver to jump the curb and drive down the middle of a sidewalk?  That is what happened yesterday in Toronto.  Police say that no motive has been established yet but they are looking into why a rented van ran over people on a Toronto sidewalk during the lunch hour yesterday.  At the end of the carnage, there were 10 people dead and 15 people injured.  The 25-year-old driver is in custody.  One witness said the van had mowed down everything in its path: pedestrians, mailboxes, electrical poles, benches and a fire hydrant. Another, who rushed to help the pedestrian struck while crossing the street, said, “Pieces of the van went flying everywhere.”  I think that looking at this shows that anything can be used as a killing machine when in the wrong hands and that maybe we are looking at these mass killings wrong.  We need to look at the individual and if we see something, or hear something we need to say something.  

Daily Dose of BS April 23 taxes

Interesting article in the paper the other day about the thing I didn’t think about with Herberger's closing, I didn’t think about the taxes on the store.  I look at the mall and some of the other areas around town and wonder what will fill the spots?  Who will pay the taxes on the empty storefront?  There was also an article over the weekend about the Jackson Plaza being at full capacity for the first time in a while.  Are all the slots in the other malls full?  I know that at Shelby Mall the Dollar store is expanding, but are the rest of the slots taken?  I know at Bridgeview Plaza there are some open spots, but I see around town more construction and more building.  Don’t get me wrong I love seeing the construction around the city, but I don’t think that the real world works much like the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams”.  Remember the tagline from that movie if you build it they will come.  As a taxpayer in the city of La Crosse, I hope that that is true.  

Daily Dose of BS April 20 graduating

At 5:45 last night a new chapter of my life began, as the pages of college closed with the taking of my final in Psychology so did the pages of the college chapter.  As I drove away from Western Technical College one last time as a student, I couldn’t help but feel a swelling of pride and accomplishment.  I got the opportunity to take the sales and sales management program at WTC through some grant money and because of hard work some scholarship dollars.  My college journey started after my son started with the program there, he really enjoyed it, and was asking questions about homework, he got me hooked.  This was a great experience, going back to school as an adult showed me that I could do it.  I even got to take a class with one of my sons and tomorrow I graduate with another of my sons.  I couldn’t be prouder of them.  I did learn a lot about myself with this schooling, I especially learned that I really enjoy learning and that if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything.  For a guy that was a strong C student 30 plus years ago in high school, I proved that if you do the work, read the chapters, and take the tests that you can be an A student.  Congratulations to all who are graduating this weekend and if you are thinking about going back to school, and you need the push to do it, please reach out.  It was worth it.  

Daily Dose of BS April 19th swearing

On average we utter our first swear word about 10:54 am.  They obviously don’t take into account early morning people or people who commute in for their job because I know for a fact that I do most of my swearing either in my car on the way to work or when something f’s up at work.  A study into everyday stresses and frustration of about 2,000 Americans say that most will drop a word that used to get your mouth washed out with soap by 11a while about 25% of us can’t get past 9am without some sort of vulgarity crossing our lips.  I am not sure if I swear because I am stressed or because I can.  But the survey went on to say that 56% of Americans are stressed over money, 36% over lack of sleep, 35% have health problems that they worry about and 30% are stressed by work.  9% are stressed by the environment, while 4% say that the national debt is what gets them.  One of my biggest stressors at home is when the internet is slow that will bring a few choice words, and I am not alone as that is enough to push 52% of us to let one slip.  What stresses you and causes you to swear?   

Daily Dose of BS April 18 safe flight

Every year for the past few years I have taken a vacation every 15 weeks, this year I decided not to, and I don’t know why we are halfway through week number 16 and I have nothing scheduled in the foreseeable future.  This week last year I was in Florida with some friends, that was the last time I took a flight and was the first time I got to sit in first class, a buddy of mine swapped seats with me so that I could have that experience, I have great friends.  Yesterday there was a plane that had engine problems where a piece of the engine broke apart at more than 30,000 feet, spraying metal pieces through the fuselage and forcing the jet to make an emergency landing.  Damn, this goes to show why we need to know our jobs and train and retrain until we can do it in our sleep or without thinking.  I don’t know anyone who was on that flight but I for one am thankful that that pilot knew what to do.  Speaking of vacations, have you ever made a trip off the beaten path to check out the world’s biggest fill in the blank?  

Daily Dose of BS April 17th taxes

Death and taxes the two guarantees in life.  Today is the day for one of those, taxes, you have until midnight tonight to send in your taxes.  Since 1955 tax day has been on April 15^th, with a few exceptions, if the 15^th falls on the weekend or if patriot day or emancipation day falls on the 15^th or the Monday after a weekend where the 15^th fell.  What started out as a simple thing, turned into a complicated pile of mess.  I am glad I have an awesome tax accountant and would suggest that everyone get someone that they trust to look at personal and business taxes.  If you cannot get your taxes done by today you should submit IRS Form 4868 so that you can get an automatic six-month filing extension, you can find that form and others at irs.gov.  As for the scammers and cheaters that are out there, shame on you there are lots of people depending on your money.  Happy Tax Day here’s for many happy returns.  Get it?

Daily Dose of BS April 16th snow

Obviously over the weekend snow fell, funny how soon we forget, I of course am talking about driving in the snow, I am sure I am not the only person that noticed that people do not remember how to drive in the snow, even though winter just finished a few weeks ago, prior to this latest snow. With the snow came some other events like shoveling and salting, and if you wanted to be young again snowball fights, forts and snowmen. Back to the business of snow.  If you shoveled your walk, great job! I commend everyone who got out and shoveled their walks in the past 24 hours. The road warriors who plow our streets should get medals. I think the majority of those who plow did a great job. But and I know you were waiting for the big but I saw a handful of occasions where a private person or business threw their snow into the city street. You can get ticketed for this, according to a friend of mine who is a cop one of his favorite tickets to write. So when you get your sidewalk or driveway plowed in with snow don’t toss the snow from your sidewalk or driveway back into the street because it is against the law. 

Daily Dose of BS April 13 fear of the day

The fear of something new and unknown those are the things that scare me, today’s date Friday the 13th, or 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 13th, the fear of black cats crossing the road, or any other fears or phobias.  Again, not scary.  For me it is speaking in public, which I am working on and new technology at work.  I really do try to embrace the things that scare me.  I think that they help you grow.  Those that listen to my radio show or watch some of my Facebook videos know that I am not a fan of snakes, I have had them in my studio before and the thermometer in the studio jumped by over one degree when they were in the studio but I embraced and even held a couple of them.  What are some strategies that you have used to overcome fear? 

Daily Dose of BS April 12 gun tshirts

When it comes to free speech is it all free?  Matthew Schoenecker a high school freshman at Markesan High School about an hour and a half from Milwaukee was told to change his shirt, or spend the day in an isolated cube, not for what he said, but for what he wore.  You see Matthew names his school in a lawsuit because he is trying to exercise his right to defend his First Amendment right to support the Second Amendment.  His T-shirt spells out the word love with the letters in LOVE formed by a handgun, grenade, two knives and an assault rifle.  Is this shirt appropriate to be wearing at a High School?  

Daily Dose of BS April 11 Facebook

I am a Facebook user, I use Facebook many times throughout the day, when I first wake up I look at it, I spend time on it while I am at work, I look at it when I get home from work and while I am watching tv at night.  I am a Facebook junky.  I use much of what I read and look at on Facebook to gather opinions from others and use the news feeds for gathering some of the news going on around in my community from why are the cops screaming down Losey Boulevard to where is that smoke coming from to what happened to Joe?  I use my Facebook account to keep up to date and to keep informed.  Yesterday while perusing Facebook, I came across the story of a manager of a mall store that fed a 16-year-old girl marijuana and booze then sexually assaulted her in the back room of a store.  That made me sick, but it also opened up dialog between my kids and I last night.  I agree that we spend too much time on Facebook but some of the time we spend on it can be helpful.

Daily Dose of BS April 10 overdoses

With an average of about one every other week it is not very promising, the La Crosse County Health Department released the number of drug overdoses last year totaling at least 26 people.  There were 16 men and 10 women between the ages of 21 and 73 who died from drug overdoses.  Of those who died 17 had prescription painkillers in their systems 14 had fentanyl, 7 had heroin, 7 had methamphetamine and fifteen of them had a combination of drugs in their system.  Totaling 26 deaths in 2017 or an average of one every other week.  So sad.  La Crosse County Health Department is now working on a way to combat these overdoses with a goal of 6 policies of programs in place by end of August.   The county’s new overdose death review team will be studying these cases to see if there was missed opportunities for intervention, and work toward developing strategies to reduce drug deaths. I wonder if we are all to blame because of the glamorization of the drug culture with shows like Breaking Bad?  I watched the show and rooted for Walter White.  

Daily Dose of BS April 9 buses

I am guessing that high school students and high school athletes travel millions of miles every year with going on field trips to traveling for games with other schools.   Over the past few days there have  been a couple of accidents that have made the international news.  First the bus that was carrying a Canadian Jr’s Hockey team.   Early this morning there was an accident of a coach bus and an overpass in New York.  A bus carrying about 38 kids coming back from spring break hit an overpass.  There was a bus accident last week, thankfully with no fatalities.  Are buses safe?  Should seat belts be worn in school buses?  Would they be used if they did install them, would they cause more harm than good?  Should there be more safety persuasions when it comes to both charter buses and school buses?  

Daily Dose of BS April 6 cameras

I saw what you did.  Have you ever looked around to see if someone was watching when you did something from adjusting yourself to when you tripped over the sidewalk or on the carpet at work?  I know when I do something like that I always look around to see if someone is watching or if someone saw what I did.  Sometimes you get lucky and there was no one around, but that is not being the case in today’s society.  There are cameras everywhere, and I mean everywhere, I read that on an average day we are on someone’s camera at least 75 times a day in the US and over 300 times per day in London.  I am guessing that, that number is a bit lower in our neck of the woods, but there are still cameras watching your every move…and if the camera misses it I am guessing that someone saw, and is watching, someone knows your secret.  As a matter of fact, dude in the red car driving down Jackson Street early last night, right before the sun went down…I saw what you were doing, next time grab a Kleenex.

Daily Dose of BS April 5 hatched baby art

When I was walking the hallways before finally settling into my studio this morning I heard conversation coming from one of them talking about the ugly baby.  I am hard of hearing and don’t usually notice background talk but stopped for a moment to eavesdrop if you will for a moment, I heard the ugly baby is now in front of city hall and something about seeing it on tv last night then my hearing went to normal mode and couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation.  I am assuming that the conversation was about the “Hatched Baby” statue since yesterday it was reborn on the lawn of city hall.  The 9-foot-tall statue was placed in its temporary home yesterday and will eventually be returned to Friedberg, Germany one of our sister cities.  I for one will be going down to city hall later today to enjoy this piece of art.  

Daily Dose of BS April 4 youtube shooter

Money will make you do strange things, remember the movie Indecent Proposal when a guy was offered a million dollars to sleep with his wife, he took it and then regretted it.  A woman from San Diego, California went in and began shooting up the YouTube.com headquarters yesterday afternoon after YouTube changed the way that they pay for content.  Apparently, the new algorithms changed the way that this lady got paid the ads on her YouTube channel stopped showing and she didn’t like it because here payments were stopped and she went to shoot up the headquarters.   Are content creators – podcasters, writers, photographers, video creators etc. being taken advantage of by the websites that deliver their content?  Should all content creators be paid?  

Daily Dose of BS April 3 Kiwanis Radio Day

I think that it is important to be involved in your community, from getting out and voting today as it is election day to getting involved in a civic organization or a church.  One of the things my parents instilled in my brothers and I, was to give back either monetarily or with time. I chose to work in radio so I have more time than money. There are tons great organizations out there that are in need of your time, and your money. Find one and help when you can. Today is Kiwanis radio day so as you pop around to the different radio stations in the La Crosse Market you will hear lots of different unfamiliar voices, talking about the benefits of being in the Kiwanis. The best thing about being a part of a service group is that if you are active in the group you are pretty much guaranteed to make some good lifelong friends, I am still friends with some of the guys I was in Boy Scouts with and my best friends are people that I was in the Jaycees with. My suggestion to you is be active within our community and let us all work to make our great communities an even better place to live, just another reminder that today is election day.  

Daily Dose of BS April 2 Amazon vs Trump

I read a few articles about how President Trump thinks that Amazon is bleeding the Postal Service dry by being the delivery service for much of the online shopping that is done through Amazon.  You could tell who the stories favored by the way they slant on the story.  One would say that the deal that Amazon struck with the United States Postal Service was a great deal and the other would say that it is a poor deal and can’t be sustained.  I feel as though this is a spat between Jeff Bezos from Amazon and owner of the Washington Post and President Trump.  What are your thoughts?  

Daily Dose of BS March 30 Easter

This Sunday is Easter a day for Christians to celebrate that Jesus has risen.  I believe in God and I pray every day, I try to do the right thing, and try to model the right behavior for my children to follow.  This Sunday will be no different.  We will be celebrating as a family by enjoying my second favorite holiday meal, second only to the Thanksgiving feast.  We will spend part of the day playing games and looking for the hidden eggs, as the kids have gotten older the goodies in the eggs have gotten better for sure.  One of the things that the kids will have to think about when grabbing eggs is has dad put things that aren’t supposed to be in the Easter eggs, in the Easter eggs, Sunday is also April Fool’s day.  Last time that Easter and April Fool’s day were the same was way back in 1956.  Have you ever been a part of an elaborate Aprils Fools Prank?  I never have, I have thought of some diabolical ideas, but never followed through with them.  What are some of the best April fool’s jokes that you have heard of?

Daily Dose of BS March 29 advice to yourself

The other day on Facebook a friend of mine posted what advice would you give to your 18-year-old self, I thought about it for a minute and said I would tell my 18-year-old self to quit smoking now, eat better, drink less and you don’t need to be drunk to be the life of the party.  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 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, or words of wisdom that you would share with your 18-year-old self?

Daily Dose of BS March 28 free range parenting

Kids should be able to walk outside, walk to school, and stay home alone right?  A new law in Utah now allows for free range parenting.  What?  Isn’t this the goal of every parent everywhere?  The bill redefines "neglect" in Utah law so that kids can participate in some unsupervised activities without their parents being charged.  The official definition of neglect is failing to care for properly, the state or fact of being uncared for.  My goal as a parent is to nurture my kids, help them to grow and help them to become productive members of society.  I feel as though I have done those goal by allowing my kids to first of all be kids and feel safe at home, secondly by giving them the chance to go out and explore, sometimes on their own and sometimes by being tethered to either my wife or me.  I most certainly wouldn’t let my 3 or 4-year-old play at the park alone but may have let my 5-year-old have a little freedom to walk ahead of me on way to park, depending on the child.  My twins walked half way home from school to meet me by about 2^nd grade and could go to the park to play at about the same time.  They were 9 ½ to 10 when they felt comfortable with being home alone when there was a quick run to the store.  Letting go is part of the parenting process and now in Utah letting your kids be kids is on the books.  Maryland kids under 14 may not be out unsupervised.  

Daily Dose of BS March 27 traditional media

Ever thought of the question Is traditional media dead?  I am talking about the good old forms of broadcast media?  I am talking radio and tv, AM and FM radio and good old broadcast TV.  I spend hours a day with good old school media, from the time I wake up to my clock radio, tuned in to Today’s Talk 1490 so I get my news right off the bat, to my time at work on the radio to my drives home listening to music and talk.  From the radio to the television while sitting on my comfortable oversized overstuffed chair getting my screen time catching my favorite tv shows.  I think that the delivery system of both radio and tv have changed but the premise has not.  I now stream more of tv than ever before and my radio station both streams and podcasts our shows.  Heck, we even have an app (get it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wlfnam.player ) We are changing and evolving but I don’t believe that we are dead, however, my station is the only “true” AM left in the market, the other two have gone to simulcast on FM.  I think we either need to keep up, reinvent or get out of the way.  How do you listen to the radio or watch tv?

Daily Dose of BS March 26 overdoing it

We are better than average again when it comes to drinking.  New study out shows that 1 in 4 Wisconsin residents are exceeding the national average of binge drinking by about 20 drinks per year, the average binge drinker in Wisconsin is having 490 drinks per year compared to the average binge drinker of 470.  The average number of drinks per week for the typical Wisconsin binge drinker is 9.43 drinks per week.  Or basically a lot of drinking.  Last year we had about 50 thousand drug overdoses right?  The average annual deaths caused by excessive alcohol use is about 88,000.  That is a lot more than the drug overdoses, yet we turn a blind eye to it since it is legal.  I think that we have an overconsumption problem in this country.  Food, Booze and Drugs.  

Daily Dose of BS March 23 sex

I am paraphrasing here but a buddy of mine posted on Facebook the other day who cares who the President slept with.  I would have to agree with that post.  I didn’t care or talk about it when it was Clinton and I am not going to speculate now that it is Trump.  If television tells me anything these days it is that sex is just that, sex.  According to a study the average amount of sexual partners that are acceptable in a survey of 2,000 adults are 7.6 different partners, any more you get the tag of promiscuous.  If you ask me, people are having sex are going to have sex and it isn’t anyone’s business except for the people involved.  I am not involved with the President on a personal level, and I really believe that neither are you, so why should it matter what he is doing?  I guess what I am asking, if you are not involved, in any way, does it really matter who is sleeping with who, President or not?  

Daily Dose of BS March 22 grateful

Ever just taken the time to think what you are grateful for in life?  I don’t think that I have ever really just stopped and thought about it, I mean really think about it.  I have to do a presentation on how being grateful helps to relieve stress, and was really thinking about the different way that it does, then it hit me the things that I am grateful for in life help me to not think of the extra things that are weighing me down on a regular basis.  Think about it, the things in your life that make you think, hey I have it pretty good are the stress relievers in your life.  For me when I am filled to the limit with the daily crap that gets me down I grab my phone and open the photo album, and scroll through the things that make me happy, the things that I am grateful for.  What are some ways that you have found to relieve stress in your life?  For me, it was talking through things, but now I think I am going to focus on the beauty around me and the things that I am grateful for.  

Daily Dose of BS March 21 stuff

I have a few things on my mind this morning.  First of all, I was thinking about how crazy things are here in the United States, we are not united at all.  We are tearing this country apart day by day.  What makes a kid bring a gun to school?  Why are we seeing so many of these types of crimes happening?  What pushes that kid to the edge?  Another shooting yesterday the third since the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.  The awareness is at an all-time high yet kids are still being pushed to the brink by bringing firearms to school.  The second thing I was thinking about was the bombings in Texas what causes someone to become a serial bomber?  And why would someone want to harm innocent people?  Why?  I was also randomly thinking about a new technology that allows homes to be printed for under $4,000 and this home will take less than 24 hours to print, and when finished the homes would be between 6 and 800 square feet.  I thought if I ever could afford one of those machines that I would donate one to help end homelessness.  

Daily Dose of BS March 20 parking

Much ado about nothing.  The city of La Crosse leaders were worried about the effect of the shorter alternate side parking and what kind of effect that it would have on the bottom line.  Guess what the shortened alternate side parking season brought in even more tickets, that’s right more people got tickets in the shortened alternate side parking in the city.  In 2018 we had 31 days less of the pain in the ass trying to remember what side we were supposed to be on.  This past season consisted of the 120 days of November 15^th and March 15^th.  In those 120 days 14,719 citations were written or about 123 per night.  Not bad city of La Crosse at a minimum of $147,190 for people parking on the area in front of their homes that they already pay taxes on.  I say minimum because the tickets start out at 10 bucks each and go up from there.  For those of us that remembered to park on the right side of the road kudos to you, for those of you that didn’t, better luck with the parking lottery next year.  

Daily Dose of BS March 19 competition

I read a scenario about how a guy was golfing with his boss and the boss was losing, and getting mad that he was being beat by his subordinate.  The question was do you let up on play to let your boss win?  If I was a competitive person I wouldn’t let me boss win in that situation.  And not being a competitive person I would play to the best of my ability and try to win but not win at any cost.  I have never been a person who cared if I won or lost unless I am playing cards, and if you have played with me you would say that I don’t care if I win playing cards either.  I end up winning about 60% of the time, so in my mind I am winning, right.  Back to the not playing as hard in order to let your boss win, I believe is a mistake as you were probably hired for your drive or your creativity, and taking a knee isn’t what any good leader would want.  

Daily Dose of BS March 16 parking garage

There are a lot of things that make it on to social media as new some call it fake news I call a lot of them human interest stories.  I watched a video yesterday that had a young lady get out of a car and run through a parking lot only to save a spot in the lot.  A person driving a car and trying to get into that parking spot was insistent that the person without the car move so that they can have the parking spot the person who was in the slot refused to move it started escalating and then the video ended without resolution.  My question is who should get that slot?  The person who ran to get it or the person in the car, why did you pick what you picked?  

Daily Dose of BS March 15 toys r us

When I was a kid we had a toy store in town called Storkville and on special occasions such as after your birthday with your birthday money or before Christmas to beg Mom for the latest and greatest of toys.  There were also a few days throughout the year like when Grandma and Grandpa came into town or if we were good.  Those memories fade as you get older, you grow up, you have your own kids you move, you forget about the toy store.  Well today the toy store that was at one time the big dog in the toy store business announced that they will be closing all their stores in the United State, Toys R Us are closing the doors, and with that over 30 thousand people will lose their jobs.  I am not sure what the demise of the toy store, was it introduction of tablets, and other video devices or the prominence of online retailers such as Amazon.  Or could it be that toys have been being made cheaper and cheaper and that the now a day toys aren’t as fun as playing with tinker toys or Lincoln logs?  

Daily Dose of BS Mar 14 hs basketball star

Milwaukee Washington’s basketball standout Deontay Long is being allowed to play against La Crosse Central on Friday.  Long had been charged being party to an armed robber, a class C felony that carries up to a $100,000 fine and or 25 years in prison.  Long has admitted to being a there and taking part in the robberies.  The Milwaukee Public Schools athletic code states that “being charged in court of any act in violation of, or subject to, penalty under Wisconsin State Statutes, will result in suspension from athletes for 25% of the season."  They say as of now his college prospects are on hold.  During the plea hearing in January, the court gave Long permission to play at the state tournament the team made it that far.  The WIAA code of conduct reportedly has no restrictions on athletes who have been charged with crimes.  What are your thoughts on this?

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.