Daily Dose of BS November 18

Living in La Crosse we are lucky for many reasons, there is beauty all around us from the bluffs to the rivers to everything in between.  We are blessed with having many things to do here as well.  From water sports, to great trails for hiking and biking and lots of culture for us all to enjoy and I am not just talking about yogurt, since we are the dairy state after all.  The culture I am talking about is theater lots of different options for us to enjoy from the high schools to colleges to the Community theater to the Heider Center to gem on the North Side The Muse Theater.  I am a little biased since I have preformed there with my Improv Group Sum Assembly Reekwired.  I went to their latest performance last night, Jekyll and Hyde and it was awesome from the casting to the set design to the acting and especially the singing, this crew can sing.  A top notch performance, I wish I had the chance to tell you about it before today as it closes tomorrow night.  If you are ready for a few laughs, and learning the story of Jekyll and Hyde with the help of many local talented actors I encourage you to see Jekyll and Hyde at the Muse Theater.

Daily Dose of BS November 17

A week from tomorrow many of you will be waking up extra early to head to your favorite stores, and the malls for the Black Friday shopping extravaganza.  Many deals from TV’s to computers to gaming systems to clothing to pots and pans and everything in between.  A few years ago I decided to explore the phenomenon that is Black Friday, it wasn’t a stretch for me to get out of bed at 5 since I usually am up by 4 to milk the cows (not really) but truly do get up early to get to work.  I was surprised by the amount of people up at the crack of before dawn to save a few bucks.  This year is different than in past years…many of the national retailers are pushing the Black Friday event to be a true Black Friday, stores opening up at midnight on Friday November 25.  I think that this is some kind of a conspiracy that the turkeys came up with so that way they won’t get gobbled up so much…Hear me out…isn’t it a fact that you get sleepy after you eat turkey, and if you have to be wide eyed and ready to go at midnight you are going to have to eat less turkey so your not as tired..Therefore you eat less turkey, so maybe just maybe next year the turkey business will be taking a hit…just a thought.   

Daily Dose of BS November 16

The ribbon generation…I never heard that term before.  Neil who I share an office with says it’s the generation of young adults that are under 30 they got a ribbon for everything never lost never kept score, played to a tie.  The ribbon generation, makes sense to me if the kid wants to be the pitcher let him do it.  If she wants to play tackle football let her do it.  Playing soccer, running a race, hockey lets all play to a tie….yeah everybody wins.  If you don’t like who is in office lets have a recall.  I am ok with not liking who is voted in for an office, there have been many times I wasn’t happy with the results but I have never nor will I ever sign a petition to recall someone from office.  I will however sign each and every one of the petitions to get a candidate on a ballot either party.  I am not a fan of the impeach Obama or recall Walker campaigns that are out there now.  This isn’t the same as playing to a tie when you were a kid, there is real money being spent, money from the state coffers and I thought we were broke, trying to get the budget back on track.  I don’t get it….we all had the chance to vote and to vote for change last November and will have the chance next November.  The candidate you wanted in office didn’t win deal with it.  This isn’t the playground when you get a do over, your mommy isn’t there to give you a sucker cause you are sad.  If you don’t like who is running or who is in office do your duty next election cycle and vote…lets stop these stupid recalls, the only winners in all these recalls are the businesses running the commercials for the candidates…maybe we should have these recalls…any chance at a raise?

Daily Dose of BS November 15

It is amazing how fast time flies, I have mentioned here many times over the past years how fast the 24 hours of a Saturday and Sunday go by that much faster than the 24 hours of a Monday and Tuesday, but this past week I admit was a long one as my Twins turn 10 today.  For the past week all that was heard around the Schmidt house is can I get this for my birthday or that for my birthday?  When are we having our party, what are we doing for the party?  Can I invite so and so…the questions are nonstop.  This year has been a big year for all my kids as my oldest turned 16, my middle son hit the teenage years and the Twins Robert and Kenedi are now 10.  As a father I thought when the oldest was born and the love that I felt for him was so intense, I thought how can it be that way again, but guess what it was…and continues to be.   I am proud of all 4 of my kids and love them all.  Getting back to the original thought, my how the past 10 years have have flown by.  

Daily Dose of BS November 14

Yesterday I went to the new Festival Foods in the village.  I am happy that they are finally open; I live in that neighborhood and missed the local grocery store.  The new store is huge and offers a ton of stuff from the great weekly specials to the great produce and meat departments to the biggest deli counter I have ever seen.  I like that you could get your banking done, grab a bite to eat and surf the net at the little area in the back of the store with wi-fi, and grab your favorite cocktail to go of course in the liquor department.  When checking out yesterday I got in the shortest line and was talking to the girl working the checkout and mentioned to her how odd it was that her line was so short.  She said it was because of her Minnesota Viking jersey she was wearing people avoided her lane, funny I thought but when you live on a border state your going to have this.  Gearing up for tonight’s Monday Night Football game with the Packers and the Vikings…Kinda bummed that ABC isn’t caring the game, gotta go somewhere to watch the game on ESPN, tonight is going to be a late night and tomorrow an early morning…but it is the price you pay for a Monday night football game….are you ready for some football?

Daily Dose of BS November 11

Today is Veterans Day, a day to celebrate our freedoms, and the Men and Women who have given of themselves to keep us free.  Earlier this week, I posted on the Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker calling the Holiday Tree at the capital a Christmas Tree, and the uproar around that issue.  If not for the brave men and women who have fought for our Country we would not even be able to have this discussion.  We would have someone in our government telling us what we need to believe, and then force us to wave the flag of what they think.  We are able to have our own thoughts, our own beliefs, our own interests…and guess what, they are not all going to be the same, if they were how boring would life be?  If you know a veteran thank them, because without what they did we wouldn’t have what we have, from what I see, and what I know we are living in the greatest place on earth.  America.  I got to spend last evening with my favorite veteran, my Father.  My twins school had a veterans program today and invited my Dad to it, he was touched.  Kari Knutson from the LaCrosse Tribune had in an article this morning that started…Some saw combat.  Some were behind the scenes.  Some never returned.  Their stories are all different, but for the people who lived them, unforgettable.  This Veterans Day, we honor all those who've made sacrifices many of us can only imagine…If you are serving or have served, thank you and Happy Veterans Day. 

Daily Dose of BS November 10

It took till November 9^th to get our first snowfall of the season.  It didn’t last long but the havoc it brought was kind of comical.  I grew up in the Twin Cities and have lived in the Midwest most of my life, I know when it snows you slow down a bit, don’t use your cruise, give yourself extra time and to carry a scrapper in the car.  I saw bad examples of all of the above yesterday.  Good thing that we only had a little snow, with the idiocy that I saw yesterday…help us when we have real snow.  It is funny how we forget the simple things in life, like to say please and thank you, look people in the eye when talking to them and how to drive in the snow.  Next time there are some flakes and not just the weird people in your town, I’m talking snow here, remember how to drive in the snow.  It is not a race.

Daily Does of BS November 9

I don’t know about you but I used to look forward to the phone book being delivered.  I would grab it and look through it to see what new information was being offered this year.  I was a weird kid, and sure I am a bit weird now as well, that is ok as I am ok with who I am.  Back to the phone book thing, I would read about the city, the county and the state.  The information was right at my fingertips.  Plus I always checked to see if our listing was right, I would then check on my Grandparents numbers and my friends, I even remember looking for “famous” peoples phone numbers they were never in there.  The world at least my community was right at my fingertips.  I grew up in the Twin Cities so the phone book was lots bigger than the La Crosse phone book.  I remember going to look up the family’s information and finding another person with the same name as my dad who lived on the same block name and almost the same address for example they were on 1235 east Main Street when we were on 1234 west Main Street.  I am sure I wouldn’t find that now…because no one uses the phone book anymore, infact I don’t remember the last time I grabbed one.  Do you?  The reason I bring this up is there is about 72 phone books by the front desk at work, and only 2 or 3 have even been picked up.  It is even too small to use as a booster seat.  I like now that any info you need for the world is at your fingertips…on the internet.  

Daily Dose of BS November 8

I don’t care if you like Governor Scott Walker or not.  I really like that he is taking a stand on the Christmas tree thing.  He is calling the spruce that is decorated with ornaments and the star on top in the Capital Rotunda area a Christmas Tree.  He is standing up for what he believes in and not caving into what a few believe in.  The tree was always called a Christmas Tree in the State Capital from the time it was first displayed in 1916 up through 1985 when is was changed to the more generic holiday tree.  The Christmas Tree is on display from late November through Early January.   The group Freedom from Religion is not happy with this decision saying it would offend nonreligious people and give a government endorsement of Christianity.  Now the pictures that I have seen of this tree from past years, it is a work of art, it has beauty and a calming sense about it.  I don’t see how others even those who don’t believe in Christmas would find it offensive to look at a thing of beauty.  I am not Buddhist but am not offended by a Buddha statute; I am not Jewish and am not offended by the Menorah.  To quote Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”  What happened to the saying “Coexist” is it only coexist if you see things my way?

Daily Dose of BS November 7

Parts of Arizona, parts of Indiana, and all of Hawaii have it right…leave the time alone.  I hate daylight savings time…I hate changing the clocks, I hate that people say you have an extra hour of sleep, and as I am getting older I hate that my body doesn’t seem to cooperate with the change as it once did.  Lets address these three issues… 1- I hate changing my clocks, well La Crosse Technologies has helped with this, however, I finally got my microwave and stove to show the same time, now with the change and they are off again, and when I changed my watch, I changed the date by mistake (I have an old school analog watch). Number 2- you don’t get an extra hour of sleep, I for one am smart enough to listen to my body when tired I sleep and when my alarm rings I get up, I didn’t get an extra hour of sleep this weekend, and I am guessing you didn’t either.  Bringing me to my 3^rd issue that my body is not as elastic as it once was, I was up an hour before my alarm this morning…why..because that is how I trained my body the past 6 months or so.  Come next spring I am going to be tired an hour after my alarm rings.  Let’s all get together and ban the time change, or have a compromise the next time and switch it by 30 minutes and call it good.   

Daily Dose of BS November 4

It all started the other day…the alternate side parking law for LaCrosse began at 1am November 1^st, warnings were handed out the first 2 days.  The cost for parking on the wrong side of the street this year is $10 the same as last year, that is if you pay it within 10 days from there it goes up to 20 bucks then after 45 days it will cost you 40 bucks.  This year is different for me as I now have a teenage driver, and I am guessing he won’t be paying attention to the sides he parks on, although so far so good.  As a Dad I will help him out with one $10 ticket, after that he will be on his own.  I hope to not have to pay it at all.  Last year the La Crosse Police Department alternate side parking enforcement wrote out 17,660 tickets and took in $92,164 in fines.  That is a lot of $10 tickets.  BTW they took in less money last year by over $6,000 from the year before.  Is it that we are finally learning what alternate side parking is….I doubt it.   

Daily Dose of BS November 2

Getting kids involved in sports helps your child in so many ways from encouraging a healthy lifestyle, to promoting self esteem, to learning goal setting and teamwork, to making life long friends, but most importantly having fun! And how cool would it be to learn a new sport? River City Youth Hockey is inviting girls and boys aged four to nine years to Green Island Ice Arena this Saturday morning for a Try Hockey for Free clinic part of a program to introduce kids to hockey. It is also a great way for kids to have some fun on the ice, learn sportsmanship, and meet some new friends. Plus the first 40 kids to register and attend receive a free jersey. To register,http://www.aPublish Postctive.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1992509.

Daily Dose of BS November 1

Today is the first day of the concealed carry law for the state of Wisconsin, my friend Mark Thole is a conceal carry trainer.  We are the 49^th state to allow this, only Illinois remains as the sole hold out.  In Wisconsin you could have carried a gun in a holster prior to today, but now you can have the side arm tucked away.  Have you been anywhere where someone was carrying a gun that wasn’t a cop?  I have seen it a few times and thought it was kind of weird and uncomfortable.  I felt like I was in the old west.  I guess the old “out of sight out of mind” argument came into play.  Do I think that the conceal carry law will have an effect on the safety of me?  Or you you?  My guess is no.  I bet that the novelty of carrying a gun will wear off about a day and a half after you are able to wear it.  I bet that many will get the license just because and then never carry.   So the big question on most peoples mind is when can I shoot someone?  Well with the new law you cannot use force or threaten to use force unless you are preventing immediate death.  You can act in order to prevent harm to yourself or a 3^rd person…you can not provoke an attack and then claim self defense.  I guess in my 43 years on earth I have never been in that situation and hope to never be.  And for the slim chance that I would be in that situation, will I carry a concealed gun…I guess the better question is are you willing to take that chance?

Daily Dose of BS October 31

Halloween goes against everything we teach our kids, don’t talk to strangers.  Don’t beg for stuff.  Don’t take candy from strangers.  We for some reason let our guard down on October 31^st.  Weird… how Halloween has gotten to be such a huge holiday.  I remember when I was a kid I was always either a bum or a ghost, and they were always homemade costumes.  My mom cut holes in an old white bed sheet for the ghost costume and I wore my grandpas hat and some of my Dads old clothes to be a bum.  What happened to the good old simple days of homemade costumes?  Nowadays there are stores dedicated to only Halloween to isles at the box stores all devoted to spooking it up.  You are even seeing more and more homes putting up lights and decorations in their yards…in fact there are many homes that go way overboard on the macabre.  One last thought on Halloween…when I was a kid and went trick or treating, my Dad always checked all the Snickers Bars, for some reason they were the only candy bar that he ever checked…I now know that Snickers were his favorite, but as a kid…I always wondered.

Daily Dose of BS October 27

I own a small business with a few dozen clients, I really love doing my business I also love doing radio as well.  I am disgusted however with the amount of clients, business people who expect to be paid by their clients who are bad at paying their own bills.  I have talked to other small business owners and they have the same problems with some of their clients also.  I would think if money is important to said clients that paying a bill would be important to them...apparently it isn’t true.  I have billed some of these clients of mine 3 or 4 times for services rendered (I have already done the work).  I wonder what the excuse for non payment is (these people avoid talking to you)?  I see people going in to these businesses, spending money…but still no payment to my business.  I can say I have been late by a few days a couple of times in my umpteen years of being an adult and paying bills, but have never not paid a bill.  If you owe someone some money please take this as a gentle push to pay whomever it is that you owe so that way they can sleep a little better tonight knowing that they will have the money on hand after you pay them so that they can pay their bills and maybe you can sleep better too.

Daily Dose of BS October 26

I hate to paint, do dishes, and wash windows.  I have hired out painting in the past, got kids for the dishes, but windows, that is another story the last time that they needed cleaning, I replaced them with more energy efficient windows… well it has been many years.  I have just let the windows go…until the other day…I finally broke down and got my windows cleaned.    Jim Browning and his crew from Spotless Window Cleaning showed up in their truck with ladders in tow, they strapped on service belts and got to work…they scrapped and scrubbed the windows, the frames and the screens.  I didn’t realize that my windows were so dirty.  The house felt warmer cause the sun was able to peek in the windows now, if there had been any moonlight the last few nights, I could have gone without lights…what a big difference some soap water and elbow grease can do.  I suggest if you want a brighter day at your house, wash your windows.

Daily Dose of BS October 24

I remember hearing when I was a kid that early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.  I have been living the early to bed and early to rise part of the saying for most of my adult life....I am just waiting for the rest of the saying to come to fruition...Otherwise I have been going to bed early for no good reason, and getting up at 4am is for the birds...really, it is...you know the saying the early bird gets the worm.  The thing is I am not a fish so I am not too keen on worms.

Daily Dose of BS October 20

Yesterday I posted on fb about the fistbump and had someone ask about manners. That is a good question, what has happened to manners? When I was growing up I was taught to look people in the eye when talking to them, to hold a door for a stranger, to say good morning, to say please and thank you, to ask someone if they needed help and then actually help them. I watch too many people walking or skating through life not caring about anyone from their neighbor to their family. It has become too much of a me first society. When did that become the norm? I mean even at many stores, you walk in buy your stuff and check out without someone even saying something to you. In fact there have been times that the only words that someone has said to me in a store is 24.99 or what ever the total bill was…nothing else. Not did you find everything or thank you for shopping here…We need to step back and re-evaluate.

Daily Dose of BS October 19

I am old school when it comes to many things, including the good old fashioned handshake. I was taught by my father to have a firm handshake and that you should look people in the eye when you talk to them. I will occasionally give a high five or fist bump to a really good buddy or to one of my kids. I would never give a fist bump to a business person, or so I thought…yesterday when I stopped for lunch I ran into a prominent business man from LaCrosse and said Hello, and offered my hand…and was surprised when was greeted with a fist. I thought about this for a while, and it bugged me, so I did a little research on the good old fist bump. Lots of people credit germaphobic Howie Mandel as the originator of it; others say it was from the 70’s on the basketball court, still others say it was from the “Wonder Twins” cartoon from the 70’s. No matter where it came from, it is used by the masses, but to me still uncomfortable with it with someone not in the inner circle. Could you imagine giving the fist bump at church during the sign of peace? To me …give me the good old handshake.

Daily Dose of BS October 18

I am holding out, I have not turned on the heat yet for the fall. This morning I was contemplating it…but took a hot shower to warm up instead. When is the right time to turn the heat on? In the Trib this morning they had a couple of stories about tuning up your furnace, they also wrote about the importance of changing your filters and also the cost savings of using a programmable thermostat. I have been using one of these for a few years now and I do see the difference. We reinsulated our house when we did a remodel about 10 years ago. We added about 50% size to our house, added a new furnace, insulated a lot and our bills were less than they were prior to the remodel. I also keep my heat low only 64 most of the time, I figure if you want to be warm, wear your slippers and a blanket.