Daily Dose of BS March 15

I was chewing gum yesterday and walking and then chewing gum and driving, talented I know. These are skills that most of us have mastered, I thought I was in the majority but apparently I can not chew gum and drive. When driving yesterday evening to a meeting I was enjoying the intense flavor of 5 rain gum when it happened, I looked away from the windshield and glanced out the side window at a motorcycle when all of a sudden the pain shot up and a tear welled in my eye. I drew blood, thank goodness I am a garlic lover and no vampires were around. The average 3200 psi bite of a human will pierce your lip and hurt like a found lego at night, or a stubbed toe. And once the lip surface is breached, look out ice water, coffee and every little flavorful morsel you indulge in, it will remind you of the unskilled bite you took. You would think a guy my age and my size would know how to chew gum.

Daily Dose of BS March 14

I was saddened this morning when I heard that encyclopedia Britannica is calling it quits and focusing on digital rather than hard bound information.  It was the 4^th grade Mr Gray was my teacher and encyclopedia was on my spelling list, I can still hear my Dad teaching me how to spell encyclopedia through song it was a song that he was taught when he was a kid and a song he passed on to me and my brothers.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy2jWJtO3lE Remember it?  It’s the en cyclopedia e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a that was a song that was sang around the Schmidt household quite a few times over the years as I had it as a spelling word and so did my brothers.  I bet if you ask them if they remember the song that they remember it as well.  I also really enjoyed reading the encyclopedia especially the year book that my parents purchased every year.  It is too bad that such an icon is gone, but I guess I am partly to blame as I grew up with the World Book Encyclopedia and really enjoyed it but I do not have a set at my house.  What is the next to go the phonebook?  Never mind both the Eagles and Kelly Clarkson sang about the phonebooks fate.

Daily Dose of BS March 13

I heard on the news this morning that men who indulge in sugary pop or other sugary drinks increase their risk of heart attacks by 20%. I have also heard “If 100 drivers cause auto accidents, and they all ate carrots just prior to those accidents, that does not prove that eating carrots causes auto accidents.” I think you can slant anything, words can be twisted to say what you want, any data collected can be spun into just about anything you want it to say or prove. Do you want proof of that? Your proof is every time you turn on a news channel during an election year. How many sound bites have we heard or seen of a candidate taking the exact same info and make it say exactly what it is that they want it to say. After being in the media for so many years, I am a bit leery of absolutes, as there are very few of them unless of course you are in the liquor store then there are at least 13.

Daily Dose of BS March 12

I am lucky to have great neighbors not only in La Crosse but also at the family cabin. I have been lucky my whole life, never have I had the pain in the butt nosey neighbor nor have we had any bickering among the neighbors, if there has been a problem a phone call or conversation has fixed it, rather than a call to the cops, as they have better things to do than to be called for every dog bark or loud radio, ring the door bell, call or text your neighbor. We have no guarantee of who is going to live next door to us, my cabin neighbors probably thought oh great a city boy getting a cabin in the country, I didn’t disappoint I have had to call on my neighbors there as often as I have to call on my neighbors here. I am lucky that we are in the upper midwest and have people who are willing to put down what they are doing to help a neighbor in need. Yesterday for example, my neighbor who lives in La Crosse, went with me to the family cabin and we got my van stuck, I went to the cabin neighbor who was working on his fields to help me get my van unstuck, he did so with out complaint, and wouldn’t take any money either. It wouldn’t have been so bad but this is the 4th time he has helped this city boy out of a jam, and I can’t tell you how many times my La Crosse neighbors have helped me over the years. The more I think about it the more I may be that pain in the butt neighbor. Don’t forget Neighbors Helping Neighbors day coming up April 28th.

Daily Dose of BS March 9

Pat Robertson the televangelist said on his tv show that he believes that marijuana should be legalized. I guess that this surprises me, I have thought about this issue quite a few times in the past, and not because I am a pot smoker, because I am not. I think about the money that the government will be able to collect from the taxes on the marijuana and how the people who are in jail now because of it will be off the tax payers bill, not to mention the freed up courts and police time that is spent busting people for selling, buying and possessing the pot. Legalizing pot will help the country’s bottom line. I think if it is made legal that there should be strict laws governing the sales and consumption of the marijuana. I have heard that it is a gateway drug, but have also heard that cigarettes and alcohol are as well, yet both of these are legal. For these reasons I think that this may be something worth looking into. I however will still follow Nancy Regan’s advice and will just say NO.

Daily Dose of BS March 8

As a radio guy I have been in my share of parades. When I was first starting out in the business 20+ years ago I hated parades. I rode in many in Scottsbluff Nebraska, and when I moved to La Crosse my boss told me of this parade that was watched by 200,000 people. What? 200,000 people come to watch a parade that is crazy. I didn’t believe it, the end of September came and so did my very first Oktoberfest parade, 19 years ago I was overwhelmed and fascinated by this super long, display of endless local businesses and service organizations marching to the beat of a different drummer, literally, dozens of bands, vehicles and marchers in a seemingly endless parade. Yesterday we heard that Oktoberfest USA would cancel the Mapleleaf Parade if the city requires the group to pay $18,000 in new parade fees. These fees are part of a revenue-generating system adopted by the city to help balance its budget. I am guessing that the city will fold and allow the parade to go on with out the payment of 18 thousand dollars. How many business would be hurt if the parade went away? All the hotels would, the bars would, the restaurants in town would, don’t forget about the businesses that sell party supplies, souvenir sellers, the list goes on. If the city wants to impose some new fees why wait until the last second to throw it on the organization, it could be something proposed for the next year, but this year…leave it alone.

Daily Dose of BS March 7

I handed out a bunch of pens at the Family Fest a few weeks ago that had the LaCrosseWisconsin.com logo printed on them. At the fest I ran into a friend of mine Jamie who took one and I joked that this would be your new favorite pen, and she said no it wouldn’t and proceeded to tell me about her favorite pen. I was just joking when I said it because who would have a favorite pen? I gave her a hard time saying what does it make you write better, feel more creative, pay off your bills sooner? She answered yes, yes, no. It got me thinking, if there are favorite pens what other favorites could there be, do people have a favorite pencil, pad of paper, paperclip? There was a guy a few years ago from Canada that traded a red paperclip for a house, and documented his quest. I had the chance to talk to the guy and the concept was pretty cool, keep trading up and finally reach your dreams. Back to the favorite thing though, I could see a favorite coffee cup, or place to sit at the table even a favorite pair of jeans, or underwear but a pen? I guess if I really think about it we all have something weird that is our favorite something, what is yours?