Daily Dose of BS April 24 vacation

Vacation is a time to go happily and rest, relax and enjoy life.  I did just that.  Ever had a vacation go exactly as planned?  I just came back from one of those, not a care in the world.  I had the chance to go to Marco Island, Florida, with some friends both old and new, I got to fly first class for the first time, I also tried clams for the first time, and I also accidently caught 6 sharks, and a catfish during the hunt for the massive tarpon.  I wasn’t able to land one but I got the brief opportunity to reel in with one of these fighting machines on my line.  I learned lots, relaxed much and had a fantastic time.  Then spent a couple days at the family land getting the garden prepared for the summer.  Life is grand.  When the alarm rang this morning at 4am I was ready to go back to work.  Ok, I could have used a few more days off.  

Daily Dose of BS April 14th vacation

The job that pays me offers me 21 paid days off a year, 3 weeks to do what I want, and I sometimes have a hard time taking all those days. I am not sure why, the years creep up quickly and with that being said, the vacation days keep accumulating.  As Americans we are on the low end of vacation when it comes to the industrial countries no wonder there is burn out.  Here are some signs that you need a vacation, that you are driving your family nuts with all your complaints, that you lost your sense of purpose at work, that you are having trouble sleeping, and that you would rather go get a root canal than go to work.  We need to use our vacation instead of loose it, take a day every once in a while to either sleep in, stay up late, go to breakfast or just sit around in your jammys.  If ya got the vacation use it don’t loose it.  I am not saying that I am at the point of needing a vacation but, I am off to make memories, I will see you on the 24^th.  

Daily Dose of BS April 13 technology

I think we the technology owns us.  My indication light for voice mail at work wasn’t lit this morning and I left myself a message yesterday afternoon.  I had messages that were a week old on my machine and didn’t even know that they were there.  I was wondering why people weren’t calling me back.  Technology you gotta love it.  I remember being one of the last of my friends families to get a microwave, and vcr.  We used to have to wait for things to warm up and had to watch tv when it was on and movies at the theater, we had to sit in one place to be on the phone since it was in the kitchen and attached to a cord.  My have things changed.  Could you imagine trying to go back?  I would go nuts, I am as guilty as the next guy wanting new and improved things and technology….hell I want my microwave to heat faster and my tivo to play at 2x speed so it won’t take as long to watch a show so I can get on and do something else…like nap because like the computers in your life sometimes I need a re-boot too.

Daily Dose of BS April 12 life

Have you ever thought about life, I mean really thought about what we do on a regular basis?  I do and I must be getting older because I think about life and the after life often.  I spent some time with my mom a couple of weeks ago and was enjoying having conversation with her when we started talking about getting older and the pains that come with getting older.  My mom and step dad mentioned that they had gone and bought burial spots and were excited that they were by a tree, I asked if that really mattered?  It is funny but once I am gone I figure I am gone it doesn’t matter where my remains end up does it.  I have told my wife that when I go I want to have a party and invite everyone, and have an open bar.  What the hell, one last toast.  Have you ever given any thought about this?  I really try to live my life to the fullest and try to enjoy each and every day.  

Daily Dose of BS April 11 sticks and stones

A couple of lessons learned as a kid would have helped out with yesterday’s shooting in La Crosse.  First of all sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.  Which I know isn’t always the case because sometimes words do hurt, but don’t you think that we have a raised a bunch of thin skinned kids?  I was picked on a lot as a kid, I really think that is what made me the man I am today.  If you are reading this and were one of the people that did some of that picking, I forgive you.  And thanks.  Secondly this still rings in my ears, no playing with guns.  I will say this again, no playing with guns.  How hard is that?  Let the crap roll off your back and don’t play with guns, two of the things my Mom would always say, would have diverted yesterday’s shooting in La Crosse.  Apparently, the shooting was over a post on Facebook.  Someone posted yesterday to watch what you say on Facebook, I guess that they weren’t kidding.  

Daily Dose of BS April 10 old school

I am kind of old school.  I don’t have cable tv and I still have a land line.  It isn’t that I never had cable, I just thought that the expense of having it wasn’t worth it especially since there is services such as Hulu and Netflix out there and if you get Amazon Prime you also get streaming with that.  There really isn’t too much that I can’t see within a short time of it being broadcast.  As for the home phone I bought Ooma a couple of years ago and it hooks right into my internet and uses that to make it work.  And really how many people do you know that have home lines anymore?  My Dad got rid of his a few years ago, my Mom and one brother still have a land line but other than a few others that I know the land line is only in their homes because they get a bargain on getting their cable and internet if they have a home line.  In fact less than 40 % of American homes have telephones and one in 5 have dumped cable.  

Daily Dose of BS April 7 Syria

I don’t know too much about the Syrian conflict but I do know what I have heard, and those reports say between 80 and 84 people were killed, including 27 children and 19 women. Another 546 people were injured, with chemicals that bombed an apartment building.  In response, The United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria overnight, according to the Pentagon, civilians were not targeted -Syria says at least six people were killed at a military airfield, a spokesman for the Defense Department said that aircraft and infrastructure at the site were hit, including the runway and gas fuel pumps. and that the airfield was severely damaged, reducing Syria's capability to deliver chemical weapons.  Should we have taken this step, why or why not? 

Daily Dose of BS April 6 shooting

Another shooting in La Crosse.  This was another one that was all too close to my home, I guess that all are too close to our homes.  I was in class last night when I heard about the shooting?  I excused myself and called my son who was at home at the time, and found out what he knew.  One of his friends was working at the restaurant close to where it happened.  Thank goodness that no innocent bystanders were harmed when this shooting took place.  I am impressed with how quickly the La Crosse police took control of the situation and quickly 3 were in custody, I know that they were in active negotiations when I went to bed last night with a 4^th suspect.  When I interviewed one of the Sergeants last night I asked why the police were canvasing neighborhoods so far from the shooting as mine is about a mile from the crime scene he said they were following up on leads.  It is weird to look out your front door, and see armed police officers in tactical gear walking and standing guard where your kids play ball, or ice skate. 

Daily Dose of BS April 5 PRAT Tax

Did you vote yesterday?  Did you know that the PRAT Tax proposal passed its first hurdle to being passed?  La Crosse county voters voted at a rate of 55 to 45 percent in the election yesterday to support of adding .5 percent sales tax to many of the things that we buy in order to generate money to repair the county highway system.  According to the Wisconsin Revenue Department that this new tax would generate about 6.6 million dollars’ worth of money with the county planning on using about 5 million of it for road repair and the other 1.6 million being divvied up between the 18 municipalities in the county.  I don’t even understand how this got on the ballot as the PRAT Tax was designed for communities not counties and is supposed to be based on the area getting 40% of their equalized property value from “tourism related business” I thought that the La Crosse area had about a 5%.  This is only the first step but I am interested to see where it goes.  

Daily Dose of BS April 4 giveback

I think that it is important to be involved in your community, from getting out and voting on 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 a reminder that today is election day.  

Daily Dose of BS April 3 environment

My son likes watching the show Gold Rush and I have sat in on it a few times, you do get caught up in the drama on the show, even if it is manufactured by the tv production people.  I bring this show up because I really had no idea that the mining of gold was done by the stripping of the earth.  I guess I just assumed that the gold was panned as it used to be.  The big machines come in and strip away the earth and that earth gets run through a machine that washes away the rocks and the gravel leaving behind gold flecks.  A ton of work and a from what I have seen on the show not a huge payout for the long strenuous hours.  It appears there are strippers of the land in the upper Midwest as well as I heard this morning that there are people armed with chainsaws cutting down birch trees all over Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Apparently, there are many who like the look of birch trees and birch bard inside their homes.  I am not an environmentalist but after seeing shows like Gold Rush and hearing of the clear cut of the birch tree I think I am beginning to know what it feels like to be one.  

Daily Dose of BS March 30 bathrooms

I sometimes wonder if I am the only person that ever thinks about restroom doors.  I always wondered why is it you need to pull a handle toward you rather than a push or a kick motion to open.  We have all seen someone in a public place use the facility and walked right out the door without even pretending to wash their hands, last week I used a rest room that had a foot handle, it looks rather odd sitting next to the corner of the door just hanging there.  Had I not seen one in use on a video I wouldn’t have even known what it is.  But it is a saver of touching the door, that is for sure, and that more places need to get these and educate people about using them.  I also think that all the automated things in the bathroom that flush, dispense soap, turn on the water and kick out paper towels or turn on the dryer are nice, but even with all the automation and the door opens in, you still have to grab a dirty door handle and turn and pull.

Daily Dose of BS March 29 conceal carry

I am all for gun rights and for concealed carry, absolutely I am.  If you are proficient with a gun, and are safe with it.  The state of Wisconsin wants to be like 26 other states and allow you to conceal carry without a permit.  Right now, the state of Wisconsin requires anyone carrying a concealed weapon to obtain a license and take a training course.  The bill that is currently being proposed would do away with the license requirement for someone that wants to carry a hidden weapon.  Also, bundled into this bill is the allowance to bring a concealed firearm into places where they are currently barred such as a school unless a sign is posted barring them.  I don’t think I have seen a school in La Crosse without those signs.  I still think that this is not a good idea.  I think that the process that we have now is fine and no changes need to be made for allowing someone to carry without the permit.  

Daily Dose of BS March 28 drinking

I was shocked to read that in Wisconsin that a new bill would prohibit adults from permitting underage drinking parties.  I always thought that this was the case.  This new bill would address a social loophole that allows those under 21 to drink alcohol on premises that are owned or control by someone who is of legal drinking age.  Wisconsin already has more than the national average of youngsters drinking about a third of 12 to 20 years olds are drinking alcohol and about 20 percent drank 5 or more at once.  I have seen billboards and yard signs that say Parents who host lose the most, specifically targeting those that allow underage parties in their houses.  Breaking this law would cost you 500 bucks for the first offence and more and increasing fines of up to 10 k and 9 months in prison.  

Daily Dose of BS March 27 clothes

A couple of girls were not allowed to board a plane yesterday morning because they were wearing leggings.  I think that this is a good time to look at the fashions that are out there and are unacceptable.  I know I am going to look like the old fuddy duddy here but I am not a fan of many of the clothes that are main stream these days.  I am going to start with the one that drives me the most crazy the pants down below the butt.  My parents always had my brothers and I wear belts, if not Dad would say something to us if we didn’t have on a belt.  Here is another one that bugs me hats that are not worn either front or back and that don’t have a bend in them.  Pants with words on the butt, shirts that show too much and pants with rips.  While I am at it what about people wearing their pajamas out in public?  I know I am not the only one who thinks this way, and maybe it makes me old in saying it but, put on some damn clothes and sit up straight, while you’re at it get off my lawn.  I guess I am getting old. 

Daily Dose of BS March 24 Cass Street

You have a week to drive down Cass Street before the construction begins on the newest roundabout in the city of La Crosse.  This roundabout should be called an oval about as it will be more oblong than the typical round about.  I for one was not a fan of the traffic circles but as I now go through one every day coming in to work, I really don’t mind it.  There is a bit of a learning curve but after maneuvering around the circle a few times you realize that they are quite easy to maneuver.  Cass Street will be closed from 4^th street to 8^th street while the at least 3 month project is being completed.  

Daily Dose of BS March 23 Facebook

Many of us use it, some don’t, I was slow to get to it, but started because of my job.  I am talking social media, maybe it should be called time sucking media. Some love it, some hate it, most of us tolerate it. Since social media became big a handful of years, it seems to be the way that kids and even adults communicate. I am guilty of it, and if you are reading this on Facebook, I am guessing you are also (especially if you respond). It has brought out the voyeur in us. How often have you clicked on someone’s profile to see what they are up to, even if you didn’t really know them?  I have a bunch of Facebook friends who are people in my life from way back in elementary school, to relatives to radio listeners, to friends of friends.  We can check up on our old friends without them even knowing. Follow our favorite celebrity, our kids, or even the local radio guy. I am not saying it is bad, because it is not, it gives many of us an outlet, in fact I don’t know if I could even watch a tv show now without checking on my Facebook.  I am just kidding about that but there are many who I bet can’t. 

Daily Dose of BS March 22 category killer

When Walmart first came to the south side of La Crosse we were all worried about the impact of the small businesses on the South Side of town, I live on the south side and I think that the area has done well with new smaller businesses.  We are now hearing about some of the big box type stores doing things to change up the way they do business because not of Walmart but because of the ultimate category killer, Amazon.  I love my small businesses and not a big fan of the big box stores especially the ones that have poor customer service, for example the Kmart in La Crosse, the last time I was there is the last time I will be there.  The store smelled and had horrible customer service, horrible.  After reading an article this morning that said that they face "substantial doubt" about its ability to stay in business unless it can borrow more.  I don’t think that this is their issue.  Also, look at the Malls losing the anchor stores as they down size, it is weird to think that the ultimate category killer is a business that started in 1994.  

Daily Dose of BS March 21 you are not alone

There is a huge problem sweeping the country and I am assuming the world, if you are affected, know that you are not the only one dealing with this problem.  I was talking with another parent about it and was told that I was not alone, pretty soon other parents were chiming in about their kids and I now realize that it is an epidemic.  Kids just don’t pick up after themselves and if they do it is half-assed.  How many times have you heard yourself telling your children to pick up that plate or toss that wrapper in the trash only to either find that wrapper on the counter next to the garbage can or even worse how about finding the wrapper on the top of the garbage can lid?  How much extra effort is it to lift the lid and toss your piece of trash into the can?  And if the can is overflowing, take the bag out, put a new one in and set the bag outside, you don’t even need to take it out to the trash, the next person out will.  Kids do your parents a favor and look to see what needs to be done and do it without being asked, and do it right.  As a parent of 4 I do know that this too much to ask.

Daily Dose of BS March 20 LAX SUX

Over the weekend we got to see some good sports and some poor sportsmanship.  From what I saw the athletes were classy but some of the student spectators were less than classy.  Students in the student section of the state high school basketball game had lots of screaming excited fans from all over cheering on their favorite teams, and I am sure that Cederberg wasn’t the only team to carry a sign that says something derogatory towards a rival team but the sign I saw both on tv and all over Facebook yesterday was “LAX SUX” #pridechs.  Ok, I am not a coach but a parent, but if I saw that as a coach of the team that was holding the banner I would address that as poor sportsmanship like.  I believe I would say something about it.   Congratulations to the boys basketball team at Central High School on your first state championship in 92 years.  And as a person who didn’t grow in La Crosse, but chose to live here I can tell you that LAX doesn’t SUX.