Daily Dose of BS Dec 19 what to give

Don’t you hate when you ask what is wanted for Christmas and you get the answer nothing or surprise me. I am going to admit something that everyone that knows me already knows; I am a horrible gift giver. I try to think outside the box and usually end up on the next block, I am a man and I need help. Each and every person I asked what would you like for Christmas, I got the same kind of responses, I don’t know, give me a card, just having you in my life is present enough. Like I believe this, if I as a man do not buy a gift and the right gift, I will be in the preverbal Schmidt house, and I even though I’m a Schmidt it isn’t always pleasant in that house. So I need your help for Christmas ideas, and I need them quick as Christmas is a few days away and the stores are getting busier. And to help my fellow man if asked what would you like for Christmas have at least an idea to share.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 18 santa

A kid sitting on Santa’s lap goes against everything that we teach our kids. The other day I got to help with North Pole duties and saw first-hand how some kids are afraid to go sit on the big guys lap, yet other kids are up and ready for the challenge. We are constantly telling our kids to stay away from strangers yet here we bring our kids to sit on the lap on a big loud man wearing red proclaiming Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas. The thing about being a fly on the wall at the North Pole was that the old school toys were the ones that kids wanted the most, don’t get me wrong there were lots of asks for Xbox 1 and Ipad, but legos and barbies were the most consistently asked for presents, the weirdest ask that I heard was for a pig, cause the kid loved bacon. It is also nice to see that kids still believe and they were there with a smile and I also noticed when Santa said Merry Christmas that kids and the parents smiled and said Merry Christmas back. If you have not been through the Rotary Lights yet this year, bundle up grab some canned goods, and take a stroll through the park to enjoy the sights, the sounds and the atmosphere of the Rotary Lights at Riverside Park- and don’t forget that Santa and the reindeer are there until December 23.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 17 germs

I am not a fan of germs. I have gotten better but I still don’t like to open the door handle of a public restroom without the help of a paper towel. I am a fan of the automatic turn on sink, the hand soap squirt, the auto flush, and the wave at the towel dispenser, dispenser of towels, I do however wish that they would give you a bit more than what most are set at. I have never figured out why public restrooms don’t have swing out push doors, because there are more and more people who like me don’t like to touch the door handle. Which brings me to the antibacterial hand lotion/soap that is out on the market, the stuff that claims to kill 99.9% of all germs, how does it do it by getting the germs drunk? There is so much alcohol in some of those, I get a contact buzz from using them, and don’t get me started on the dried up hands. And now the government is saying that another chemical in the wash is harmful to us. Have you ever thought if the government never told us what was bad for us or not that maybe just maybe we would be a happier people?

Daily Dose of BS Dec 16 security

Last week, World leaders including the President of the United States, and many former Presidents came together for the funeral of Nelson Mandela. By weeks end we heard that the sign language interpreter that was on stage to sign what the speakers had to say was a phony. I have had the chance to meet President Bill Clinton when he was the sitting president and the security around that event was amazing, there were secret service all over, anywhere you looked you saw them from roof tops to in the crowd to the men who were by his side. In fact when I waiting to talk to Mr Clinton I put my hands behind my back and two secret service men moved in behind me closer, I wonder how in the heck a fake interpreter was able to share the stage with so many leaders. Thankfully everything else went off without a hitch, and that no one got hurt.

SEXIEST MEN OF 2013

A new ranking by UK Glamour magazine
5. Fifth Estate actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
4. Thor villain Tom Hiddleston.
3. Hunger Games actor and Miley Cyrus’ ex, Liam Hemsworth.
2. Former Twilight star Robert Pattinson, after a 4-year run at #1.
1. Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 13 do we read

Is social media relevant in your life? Do your posts make you who you are? I often wonder if the stuff that I write on fb is actually read to the end or just to the natural break facebook puts in there for the longer posts? I often wonder why some of the stupid cat pictures get shared so many times and the pictures and stories that have meaning often do not. Are we as a society addicted to wanting to know what is going on now and what our neighbors are up to? You may be answering yes in your head that this is the case, but if it was don’t you think that if we really wanted to know what was going on right now in our own backyard, that we would be looking to the local sources? That we wouldn’t be plopping down in front of a monitor either computer or tv but instead would be looking to local radio or local newspaper, or local tv news? I am just wondering if you read this to the end?

Daily Dose of BS Dec 11 snow

Overnight about a half an inch of snow fell. I shovel my walk when we get any amount of snow but I was wondering when other people shovel. There are plenty of sidewalks around that still haven’t been shoveled, and there were businesses that were having their parking lots plowed this morning. When is the right time to shovel the walk or plow the parking lot? I also wonder when the city decides to bring out the plows? There are days that I see plows running on the highways and main streets but in my neighborhood not so much.  

Daily Dose of BS Dec 12 sign here

What happened to taking someone at their word? I am not that old and I remember when a handshake was a deal, now a days it seems as though you need to sign over your first born, have a notary public and video proof that you agreed to something. I saw a national news story the other day where a mom, Roxanne Jones who is a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine and a former vice president at ESPN, told her son to get a text to have sex. Her quote was “Never have sex with a girl unless she’s sent you a text that proves that the sexual relationship is consensual beforehand.” Am I out of the loop, is this needed? Are we needing contracts for everything from hooking up to jobs to what’s next a signed contract to have dinner at a restaurant? What happened to assumed liability?

Daily Dose of BS December 10 back from vacation

You have really got to love the first day back to work after vacation. I was up on vacation but not as early as I get up for work, and traveling…don’t get me started. It is always fun being a tourist, my youngest brother Brian turned 40 last week and he lives in Livermore California which is about an hour from San Francisco, we celebrated his birthday in true Schmidt fashion, we ate and drank. I have been out to Northern California a few times in the past and had the chance to mark a few of my bucket list items for there off. I have always wanted to go to Alcatraz, and to In and Out burger. Done and done. I also wanted to hang out with my brother also done. As we were enjoying a few hours of good quality time together we decided that this past weekend was about the only time in our lives that we can remember just the two of us hanging out together without our other brother or someone else tagging along. I am glad I had the chance to really get to know my brother before it is too late.

Daily Dose of BS Dec 3 kids

I think many think that kids have it easy now. I agree that in some ways they do, but in others I am glad I grew up when I did. I don’t think we were as micromanaged as our kids are now. I am as guilty as the next guy, I get my kids involved in things, and sometimes it seems like too many things. For example we have basketball two times a week for practice then weekend games, add CCD to that and school, band and homework, that is a busy kid, and that is only one of them, I have four. When we were kids we took off on our bikes without a helmet mind you played till dark. Rode our bikes behind the mosquito spraying truck, went sledding, wait for the tv dinner to be done by watching threw the glass door, getting up at 6:45 to make sure you had breakfast in you when you set yourself up to watch good cartoons on any given Saturday morning. What memories do you miss from your childhood?

Daily Dose of BS Dec 2 lights

Friday not only brought out the shoppers it also brought out the lights. I am guessing that my house isn’t the only house that decorated for Christmas over the weekend. After watching the lighting of the Rotary Lights the Schmidt house started in the Christmas spirit with getting the tree set up and lights strung. We also got the village set up in the dining room. This year we tried something that we hadn’t done in a while, we strung lights around the back deck and hung lighted wreaths and a brought out the lighted snowman. With the expected snow the next couple days, it will be feeling like Christmas in no time.

Daily Dose of BS Nov 27 black friday

Are you up for the big fake shopping day? I admit I have been up in the past to try to get the best deals, set my alarm and headed to the store on the day after Thanksgiving. I have scored a few deals, that ended up being the same prices that those stores had a couple months later. This year, I am not too sure that I am up for getting up early for the early bird deals, also what is with the name Black Friday, wouldn’t you think that with all the deals that it would be called Green Friday or does the Black refer to getting up extra early? With all the deals being rolled out early this year maybe it should be re-named the “we are taking away your Thanksgiving dinner sale, sales event.”

Daily Dose of BS Nov 26 couple things

I heard this morning on way to work that family sizes are smaller now than before. The average size is now 2.5 my little Schmidt family is more than double that with six of us. There was also a story about superstitions and how most people have them, from not walking under a ladder to tossing salt over the shoulder to not driving forward if a cat crosses the path, to a lucky piece of clothing. I am not sure if I have any but I do know this, most of the trouble I have got in to in my life I have been awake. I figure this will give me a good excuse to nap later. There is no special tie in with my two thoughts today, but if you want to try go ahead.

Daily Dose of BS Nov 22 lots

Great news from my Dad, heard yesterday that the Doctor got all the cancer, he has to go in every few months for checkups but thanks so much for all the prayers. On November 1st, I started on my quest to grow my mustache and only my mustache, I have been letting it do what it does, I am not a hairy person and I think my teenagers have a fuller stash than I. Please consider donating to the Movember.com campaign for men’s health. This morning was the first snow of the season for La Crosse, it is weird to watch people trying to drive again for the first time, like the old Paul Simon song Slip Sliding Away. Drive safe and give yourself the time needed to arrive alive. Also today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of our 35th president JFK, many have said that is the one date that always sticks with them, was that date 50 years ago a bigger event than September 11th?

Really he forgot???

The mayor of a town in Utah will keep his job for another two years after "forgetting" to inform residents that it was time to hold municipal elections. Wallsburg, Utah's four city council members will also be reappointed by default after the screw-up that is being blamed on a city employee in charge of election oversight.

Daily Dose of BS Nov 21 football players

There are certain risks with every job right? When you work as a professional football player you would think that you would know that you are getting beat up every week by a brick wall. The men of the NFL are huge muscle bound guys whose job it is, is to stop you, by using their bodies. When you run at another man at great speeds and they are running at you at great speed, you are going to crash. As an NFL player you get paid a great wage, a wage that most of us only dream of. As a practice squad player the minimum is 6k a week and as a one year NFL player the salary is over 400 thousand dollars. With men the size of trucks running at you, you are going to get hurt. I have an issue with the players who are going after the teams and the NFL because they suffered this that or the other. They knew the risks and got paid handsomely. I have tinnitus which is ringing of my ears, I’m guessing from headphones too high early in radio career. Does this give me a right to go back and sue former employers? Is the paper cut that you got at work last week going to get you paid? With a job there are risks.

Daily Dose of BS Nov 20 advice

Best advice ever? Try hard, don’t look back, look to the future, but don’t wish your life away, DREAM. I have been having lots of heart to heart talks with my 18 year old son. You know as a Dad you can learn a lot by just listening, but sometimes I have a hard time turning off my interview mode from work, where I have to keep conversations going, I sometimes get accused of grilling him and the other kids. My response is if you answered in more than just one word answers or grunts conversations would be just that a conversation. What are some of the gems you got from your parents when they thought you weren’t listening? I always remember don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty cause you can always wash them.

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Daily Dose of BS Nov 19 deer camp

I don’t care if you hunt or not, you should have on your bucket list to go to deer camp. You should also allow your children to attend if they have never been. I love venison and like a lot of other wild game. I however do not like to hunt. But I have gone to deer camp at least the past 15 years and I have brought my kids up with it. My buddies are all hunters, they live and breathe this time of the year. My two older boys love the hunt, and this year will mark the first year that my youngest son is going to be in the woods armed, and one of my friends will be mentoring him on the safety and finesse of the hunt. The reason everyone needs to go to deer camp is the camaraderie that goes with a camp. I have been bringing my kids for many years so that they can see how friends react around each other, see that it is about working together, it’s about telling tall tales, and it’s about the love of outdoors. What is your deer camp story?

Thieves take note:

Your days of stealing baby Jesus from your town's nativity scene are coming to an end. Makers of nativity scene characters say they're getting more requests each year for GPS-equipped baby Jesuses, Marys, Josephs, Three Wise Men and nativity animals.