Common Ground

Weekend In Waukesha Review

Steve Bukosky — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:37:25 GMT

I am a motorcyclist. So I enjoyed the weekend. The question is, how did the people in the downtown area who are not motorcycle enthusiasts feel about it?

I rode my Gold Wing downtown several times to get a feel for things. I eyed up the bikes parked along the road, looking for non-Harley brands. I'd say it was around 1%. Some of the custom motorcycles are hard to tell. There are so many replica engines available to the custom market that to the untrained eye, what appears to be a Harley may not have so much as a single item from them.

What has changed through the years and I appreciate it, is there was not a single snide comment about my Honda among the crowd. Granted it is made in the USA in Ohio by red blooded Americans, it can stand out like someone walking the halls of the Miller Brewery while drinking a bottle of Budweiser. The only comment I did receive was from a woman sitting on the back of a non-touring model Harley. She blerted out, "That looks comfortable!", refering to the large passenger seat, backrest and armrests on my Gold Wing.

Saturday night my wife, Pat, jumped on back and we rode around downtown. Finding a parking spot, we walked around checking out the people and motorcycles. Certain businesses appeared to be doing very well. I did notice that the trash cans were overflowing, but at least garbage was deposited there rather than scattered about. Cutler Park was loaded with people. It was also very dark away from the food booths. I stumbled a few times on uneven surfaces and I didn't have a beer in me. At home on the northwest side of town, I probably heard less motorcycles than most weekends even though many flooded the parking lots around the Best Western on Grandview by I94. Our weekend activity was not impacted by it. We still got our breakfasts at Christina's.

So what do you think about it? Do it again in five years for the 110th birthday?

My Favorite Local Rides

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:03:00 GMT

Being a veteran of riding my motorcycle to out of state gatherings, getting on a computer to check things out is usually not done. However, in the spirit of the weekend activities, I'm going to discuss some of the best motorcycle roads in the area.

While the western side of the city has built up since I first moved here, west is still the direction of where to head when looking for good motorcycle roads. My first favorite was a quick ride in the dead of winter. Long enough to get the mufflers warm but short enough to satisfy the need to ride. I head out Northview from Grandview. A good ride in itself, it's been diminished by development and speed limits below the fun speed. 45 MPH. At Hwy G, turn left. If it's really a short ride you want, go straight to Hwy 18 and back home. Most of the time I turn on Bryn Road. Head to Hwy E and take it back south to Hwy 18. This is one of the nicest, curvy roads near the city. Development again has diminished it's charm but still worth taking a ride on.

In the dead of winter, I'd head home from there. In nicer weather head east back home on Hwy 18 but turn right on Hwy DT past Retzer Nature Center. At Sunset, continue west and join Hwy E. Take it down to North Prairie and then Hwy 59 into Eagle.

Once in Eagle, you have several good choices as to where to go. You are in the heart of the South Kettle Moraine State Forest. There isn't a bad motorcycle road in it! A sure bet is to head north on Hwy 67. Watch the road snakes around Hwy ZZ! Tar strips for you cagers. (automobiles) You'll probably want to turn around near Dousman and do Hwy 67 at least one more time.

To the east of Hwy 67 is Waterville Road. Another can't miss motorcycle road. Hwy ZZ between it and Hwy 67 is another road that you'll want to do a second time or more. To the west is Hwy N. A favorite of mine at night.

If you have some more time to ride, ride north to Hwy 18 again and out west toward Sullivan. Catch Hwy F (the old 135) and take it north across I94 and into Ixonia. While it's been straighted out some since my beer drinking days there back in the early 70's, it still is a great road to cut some curves. While this is in Jefferson county, it might as well still be Waukesha county.

From here it's either turn around, enjoy the road back to I94 and home or get on Hwy 16 and head into Oconomowoc and back home.

For my next ride we're heading into North Lake and going to get a little Funky.

Good Time For Police To Take Vacation?

Steve Bukosky — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:47:00 GMT

News item is that Municipal Judge Joseph L. Cook is asking for a reduction in tickets being written by the police due to his workload, claiming the court is understaffed. My initial reaction is, "Welcome to the private sector"! In business it means do more with less, as in overtime. There's 24 hours in a day. Six or so hours to sleep should be enough. There's also the weekend. You did campaign for the position, didn't you Your Honor?

What ordinances should the police not enforce? Are they to consider who the violator is or who the complaining party is? As in some people are more equal than others? Does this mean that there are ordinances on the books that are not really worthy to be there other than for revenue or to be used for "Gotcha" situations?

Perhaps my kneejerk reaction is not fair to a situation that needs closer analysis but you have to wonder. In the meantime, I'll be careful not to give cause for being giving a citation. I might end up in front of Judge Cook!

Welcome Riders But Enforce Ordinances

Steve Bukosky — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:54:37 GMT

Harley Davidson is unlike most any other motorcycle makers in that they market the same basic engine design that they started with 105 years ago. By today’s engineering standards it is archaic. But it is the centerpiece of the entire line of motorcycles because of one reason, the sound of the exhaust. Motorcycle magazines have tried to describe it as “potato potato potato….” However you try to describe it, it is unique. To the untrained eye, many of the look-alike Japanese cruiser are identical in looks, but an attentive ear will notice that the sound is not the same.

I like the sound. I used to have one of Harley-Davidson’s biggest competitors back in the 50’s and 60’s, a Triumph Bonneville. Incidentally, with “The Fonz” being in the news, I will point out that he rode Triumphs in the show. Otherwise the statue might have him seated on a motorcycle down by the Milwaukee River. Putting him on a Sportster would have been nice but purists would have beleaguered the fact.

Triumph twin cylinder engines sounded neat too, but not the same as a Harley. I remember both my hands and my butt being numb on longer rides so I won’t make an issue of vibration of V-twins versus vertical twins. I also rode it with next to no mufflers. It was loud and I made sure everyone around knew I was there. I was also 18 years old at the time too. Often my rides would center around the Cutler Park area. Waukesha police never stopped me. Milwaukee did once when a Ford had the audacity to challenge me at the stoplight at 51st and Hampton. My choice was either a ticket for speeding or illegal/defective mufflers. Two days later I had factory mufflers on the Bonneville. Suddenly, the neighbors on 44^th street stopped frowning when I rode by. The Cutler Park area became quieter.

More than any brand of motorcycle, the sound of the engine exhaust is a “more is better” thing with many owners. As the Harley’s leave the factory, they are well muffled but have the rumble and syncopation that they are so famous for. Unfortunately it isn’t loud enough for many owners and the mufflers come off entirely or are replaced with something resembling the “glass packs” from the 1950’s.

Milwaukee has a small movement encouraging riders to keep the roar down. It will only lead to intentional throttle blips wherever a sign if seen. I’ll re-offer the solution that I’ve made before. My own favorite motorcycle rally is at Lake George New York. All brands of motorcycles gather there and are welcomed by the town. But the unmuffled are not welcomed. The rally registration papers make this known and warn that Lake George police will ticket violators. I’ve seen riders pulled over many times for it.

The influx of motorcycles will be an economic shot in the arm for local gas stations, restaurants and taverns. This will be welcomed. But it is no reason for our police to look the other way when it comes to ordinance violations. The message must get out that you and your motorcycle are welcomed, but only if you have factory mufflers installed.

Drive Right Up and Park Your Car!

Steve Bukosky — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:46:28 GMT

I continue to be open-minded about the Frame Park baseball issue. I'd like to think that there is a way to make it work in harmony with the other park users and the neighborhood but I can't think of one. My biggest objection is about where to park the cars, as it is with many other taxpayers. I've heard that there is plenty of parking within 15 minutes of the park. That's acceptable? "The church is going to rent out parking space." How about church events that coincide with games? Are the church members going to appreciate working around the ballgames?

A very valid concern is that ballgame people will take up parking spaces that park visitors would normally use. This point is voiced by many and needs to be addressed before proceeding with any binding vote.

It seems that no Waukesha resident has driven around State Fair Park during the State Fair. As it has been for as many years as it's been there, the neighborhood residents become entrepreneurs and have junior out by the curb with a flag, waving people to park on any piece of driveway or grass that they can fit a car on. Tolerable, at best, for the week that the Fair is held, but have that done during each of the baseball games and it will turn residential neighborhoods around Frame Park into a circus grounds.

Is it good for downtown? Any increase in business is good for the business, but are people going to leave their cars scattered around Frame Park and walk back and forth to get a snack, push the limits of intoxication, buy a book or critique fine art? Answer that for yourself.

Promises have been made by the promoters that they will be picking things up and so forth. Such promises are frequently broken by less than adequate fulfillment of them.

Already a popular writer within the city has called for people that don't like the soon to happen Harley Davidson party to leave the city for a few days if they don't like it. Is the council going to send a message to residents to give up Frame Park when there is a baseball game?

Summer Heat Isn't Over Yet!

Steve Bukosky — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:59:43 GMT

The signs of fall approaching have come. The lush green leaves have begun to show their age, green lawns have gone dormant and some cooler evenings have arrived. Make no mistake, some warm and humid weather is yet to come and there are some of us that will have air conditioner breakdowns and have to decide on buying a new air conditioner.

There have been big changes in air conditioning and huge changes yet to come. The recent federally mandate increase in air conditioning efficiency made air conditioners more expensive, but was largely invisible to the public. The next big change is coming in about one year and it is huge.

Air conditioners run on Freonâ, or so many people think. Details and facts about it are boring but lets call it refrigerant for this blog. Refrigerant comes in many types and what type is used depends on if we are cooling the air in your home, in your car, in your refrigerator or in a food store freezing things or cooling beer or making ice cubes. There is no one size fits all purposes type of “Freon”.

About ten years ago, in preparation for next year, a new refrigerant that is ozone friendly was introduced. It replaced the old favorite R22, and is called R410A. Some call it Puronâ. Call it anything you like but chemically it is R410A and air conditioners that use it are offered by all popular makers of furnaces and air conditioners.

What does this boring information mean to you? At the end of next year, air conditioners that use the old favorite refrigerant, R22, can no longer be made. R22 is also mandated to be produced less and less. This means that R22 to recharge your air conditioner will become more and more expensive! Supply and demand.

So we have a choice when we need to buy a new air conditioner now. Will it use the soon to be obsolete R22 or the refrigerant of the future, R410A? It’s like buying a car or truck and deciding if it runs on gasoline or diesel.

I work in the wholesale distribution end of heating and air conditioning. We sell several different brands of furnaces and air conditioners in many states so have a good idea of what’s going on out there. Some dealers are selling their customers only R410A air conditioners. Some still sell R22. Often this is because the price of the equipment is still a little less than R410A and because they are not comfortable with the new R410A.

So my first point is if you are going to buy a new air conditioner for your house, buy one that uses R410A. The only reason that I could see to buy R22 equipment is if you are selling your house soon or short-term cost is more important than long-term expense. But wait. There is more!

A recent blog encouraged new building codes to prepare for the increased use of electricity to heat our homes and fuel our future electric cars at home. When you buy a new air conditioner, you can go a step further into the future and buy a hybrid air conditioner that can also heat your home. This is called a heat pump.

Heat pumps have been around for many years but the notion that they are for warmer southern states have held back the popularity of them here, until recently. I won’t bore you with the technical stuff that excites guys like me. The facts are that heat pumps are air conditioners that don’t only work a few weeks in the summer but also work year around heating your house too!

Heat pumps can heat your house at times for less than the most efficient natural gas furnace. The savings can be greater if you heat with oil or propane. True, it won’t keep the house warm by itself at colder temperatures, typically below 30 to 40 degrees, but an often-overlooked fact makes them attractive even in places like Alaska.

In our area, if you count the number of heating hours spent above the 30 to 40 degree range, you will find that it is around one half of our heating season! That means your furnace would run around half of what it otherwise would.

True, heat pumps don’t create heat for free, but the trend is for fossil fuels to increase in price greater than that for electricity. An air conditioner that you buy now will be there on average for fifteen or twenty years. So think about fuel cost trends and a heat pump installed now makes good sense.

How much will a heat pump save you? Many dealers don’t like to sell them because many customers want a figure written down on this. Energy prices are very dynamic and there is no crystal ball to assure what your savings will be. However, experts agree that buying a heat pump now is a forward-looking choice.

Whatever you decide, make sure it uses R410A instead of R22 refrigerant!

Is this a corny situation or what?

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:49:19 GMT

News item; Cornfield raises hackles in Wales.

I'm not going to argue zoning. I'm going to get a bit religious here and say that land was intended by it's maker to grow things more than it was to build and pave over, no matter what a politician may deem.

Too often I'll see a farm field lay dormant and weedy while a sign is raised exclaimed "Utopia Estates" is coming soon. The loss of farmland is usually permanent yet the government is mandating more corn be used for fuel rather than food. So it would seem that any patch of land that a planter and picker can manuever around on should be planted with some useful crop rather than sprouting lumber and cement.

If tilling the land reduces tax income, tough! A field of corn doesn't need much in the way of police and fire protection or water and sewer. Nor does it diminish water from our deep wells.

Speak your mind about Minooka Dog Park

Steve Bukosky — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:59:00 GMT

On a lighter note than I've been blogging about lately, read on if you have a dog. If you are not already aware, and a surprising amount of people are not, Waukesha kicked in some money to create a dog park within Minooka County Park about a year ago. Read more information here. Somebody has placed a number of official park comment cards by the exit gate of the dog park, with an example of one suggesting that the "seasonal pond" be filled in. If you are the person that put these cards there, please send me an email. We have a common interest!

I noticed that another doggie bag dispenser was put at the garbage container at the far end of the old campground. It's one less excuse for not picking up after Fido.

The more people that speak up, the better our dog park can be. In the mean time the county park system does what they think best. I'm sure improvements will come along but most will count on people's suggestions, donations and stepping up helping to provide these. We need a cool water source for the dogs and for people for that matter. A bulletin board for dog related matters would be nice too. A few improvements to the restrooms that would require the addition of electricity would be welcomed. As the parking lot and entrance to the dog park are at a high point in the area, I suggest a wind turbine would be a good way to get the electricity and showcase some examples of pollution free energy to people. With the energy available, I believe I could get some infrared snow melt and warming devices for the entrance.

A single voice does not carry the weight that many do. Stop by the park and fill out a card!

Is the dust settling?

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:45:14 GMT

Since my daughter-in-law and granddaughters were killed by a convicted drunk driver, the flurry of action has diminished. Where I used to pass over news about another death from a drunk driver, I now carefully read it and empathize with the innocent person's survivors. My family's life has changed.

A committee meeting in Madison regarding stiffer penalties for drunk driving was canceled. There were not enough members to form a quorum. The excuse was they had things to do because of the flood. Really? Or was it an excuse to procrastinate and hope that the outrage would subside and they wouldn't have to deal with the matter?

It seems to me that we are like animals watching as one of the herd is taken down by a wolf or bullet or car. We don't understand what happened and continue in our life cycle of existence. As we concern ourselves with what's happening on TV and in Hollywood, sports and business, the drunks continue to kill brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. They not only take away from unknown victims, they ruin the lives of their own family and loved ones.

Hundreds of people have read my blogs about possible solutions including cheap, disposable breath analyzers. Yet nothing is discussed. Not so much as if it's a dumb idea or a good one. Train horns and the mayor's wardrobe seem to be more important to people. Never the less, my son Mike, his family and in-laws will continue to cry out. Even if it continues to fall on deaf ears.

I do want to praise Fox New Six and Ted Perry for not forgetting and doing a wonderful follow-up recently. Mike has spoken to many reporters, but Ted was concerned about Mike as a person rather than a news item. So much so that he called Mike during a break on the news just to see if he was doing OK after seeing the story. The lead-in to Mike's story was the report of another drunk driver that killed a pedestrian. The drunk was released on bail and ordered not to drive or drink alcohol. Yeah, like that will stop them. Insanity is performing an act over and over but expecting different results. Will judges ever learn that?

Accountability

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:01:00 GMT

All the wriggling and squirming in city hall about who is responsible for the horns blaring from the railroad crossings is almost laughable, but only because I live on the northwest side of the city, far from the railroads. However, when I have the windows open at night, I hear the horns blowing too, so I greatly sympathize with the residents near the affected sections of town. I know that to them, this is far from a laughing matter. Enough with excuses from city hall.

It is clear that the residents in the area are furious. Many calls for the person responsible to be identified and fired have been made. City administrator Lori Luther claims that even if the paperwork would have been done properly, the horns would be blaring. That, would require a temporary suspension of disbelief, I believe is the quote. Democrats make a big thing about accountability and it would seem clear that this current administration has made what is supposed to be a non-partisan government very much an arm of the Democrat party. So it only seems right that someone be held accountable and submit their resignation.

The salary savings might help pay for that survey...and a little road patch!

Survey Says...

Steve Bukosky — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:13:17 GMT

A few weeks ago there was a news item that the city was spending $50,000 to contract with a consulting firm to do a survey regarding strategic planning for the next five years. If you have had enough caffeine to keep you from dozing off for a while and you have some time on your hands, check it out here. Pardon me, but for $50,000 this outfit better have a mind-reader on staff!

I've take many surveys in the course of business and I've created them using FREE survey software such as Survey Monkey. A silly name but a fine product that large corporations use. Among the problems with the survey, I see no way of qualifying the respondents. There is one for citizens, one for the council members and one for business people. All do not appear to have any way of proving who the person is. At least the citizen survey that I took did not. I clicked on the council survey and it appeared to start the same as the citizen's and unless there is something at the end of it requiring a social security number, address or something, I suspect there could be dozens of aldermen responding! I did not go through the whole thing. After all, I have to be at work in ten hours.

Past that flaw, the survey is primarily fill in the blanks. This appears to be a one survey fits all cities. That strategy certain cuts the expense of doing a little research and zeroing in on the issues of the city. After all, you can only do so much work for $50,000 and free survey software!

I dusted off my crystal ball and saw the final report. It said, "Judging from the quantity of surveys filled out seriously, the vast majority of the people appear to be satisfied with the way the city has been managed in the recent past. As there were few suggestions for the future, the majority of the citizens must be content with baseball league financing, raucous Harley Davidson parties, road pavement fashioned after the surface of the moon, a public transportation system thats not crowded, a fire station on every corner (these replace the taverns) and radium laced water that is in short supply. (The glow in the dark feature comes in handy after midnight.)

All joking aside, if I were joking, working people have much more that they'd rather do than attend meetings in the evening. The local media does a great job of informing us about the issues and the editorial pages give some a chance to make their opinion known. Ross Perot, love him or hate him, was in the data business and visioned the people being more involved in government via the Internet. I thought that was a good thing.

The concept of this five year planning survey is a good idea too. There are just too many flaws with it as it is. It should be removed, reworked and then reimplemented. Any kid on a computer at the library could do it better. In the mean time, the old tried and true way of expressing yourself via letters, email and phone calls should be done.

Can we get our money back?

An Oil Tycoon Speaks Up

Steve Bukosky — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:09:00 GMT

T. Boone Pickens has been spending his own money on TV commercials inviting people to visit his website and read his energy proposal for America. The man makes good sense and I signed up for his email updates.

One item I'm really fascinated with is some information regarding cars being fueled by natural gas. This is nothing new. Over twenty years ago we had a Ford van converted to run on propane. The gas station was by State Fair Park in West Allis and the oil in the engine never seemed to get dirty. Run out of gas before getting to a propane station? We carried a regular propane barbecue grill tank of gas that could be connected and get the truck another 30 miles or so. Even that wasn't really new technology. My uncle had a farm tractor, a Minneapolis Moline, that ran on propane.

On Boone's website is a link to natural gas fueling stations. Those prices you see are called Gas Gallon Equivalent which means "CHEAP" as compared to gasoline. The Journal recently had an article on compressed natural gas and it was pointed out that there are home fuel pumps available to hook up to your gas meter. It takes a long time to refuel, but imagine never visiting a gas station again. Notice that a CNG station is here in town at the WE Energies site on West Avenue. The bad news is limited hours, probably due to their trucks being about the only ones using it, but I'm sure longer hours would happen if the public begins using it.

So while natural gas can be used to fuel our cars and trucks, what will the additional demand for it do to the price of it? Will it drive up the cost of heating our homes? There is still the so called "Carbon Footprint" that is left behind by burning natural gas, if you buy into that idea. I still believe that the solution to energy needs will be how we create electricity and the obsolescence of the internal combustion engine.

The Morel Of The Story

Steve Bukosky — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:31:00 GMT

Lots of wildlife is becoming seen in urban areas and I assume some plant life is literally popping up too. At least it is in the front yard of the Bukosky home.

Many of us like mushrooms. A steak dinner isn't complete without mushrooms sautéed in butter. Mushrooms added to tomato sauces adds to the flavor. A can of mushroom soup can be dumped on chicken, pork and even string beans and make a meal. Once at Capital Drive Airport we painted a mushroom on the vertical stabilizer of a Cessna 180 skydiver jump plane. It was funny at the time though I don't know why now. Once I even bought a grow at home mushroom kit. All I got from it were some tiny puff balls.

So I've established that I like mushrooms. Probably all of us have them popping up in our yards, often where there is some rotting wood under the ground from a tree. I've never been able to identify if any are edible so leave my mushroom picking to the buyers at the food stores and the Campbell company. There are stories from time to time though, about a special mushroom called a morel. It is distinctive in appearance. Check out this website. In spring people go hunting for them in the woods as they like damp shaded areas. In my geocaching travels I happened across hundreds of them spoiling in an area where few people ever go.

So yesterday when I was mowing my front lawn, I stopped to examine something sprouting from it. In several spots I had what appeared to be morels. I plucked on and examined it. There are what are called false morels. You can read about them on that website. These checked out and fit the description of the black morel, the choicest of the various kinds.

Am I going to sauté' them up and enjoy them? No. As the websites say, don't make any decisions to eat something based on their information and pictures. I strongly suggest the same to you. However, if you are a successful "Shroomer", I'd like to hear from you about them and if you've found some popping up in your yard.

Police Cutting Back On Driving?

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:02:43 GMT

I applaud the police department for taking steps to keep within their gasoline budget for the year. As much as I hate tax increases, we need to see that our cruisers are on the road, making a presence. I like that we have some four wheel drive squads so some mobility is possible in snow storms. That being said, should we be rethinking what is used for the majority of the squad cars? Ford Crown Victorias are comfy, powerful and have roomy rear seats allowing partitions to quickly place people in the back seat and protect the officer from harm. But are they needed enough to warrant not considering smaller, more economical squads to keep on the road yet stay in budget?

I suspect that the power of a big engine needed for high speed chases and massive cars being able to ram runaways is not needed here. Should people need transport, a single van should be adequate or (snicker) a bus ticket.

It might be visually embarrasing to be in a compact car for a squad and stopping Escalades and Explorers for traffic violations, but if not already studied, it should be to enable keeping a visible presence on the road and going to minor crime scenes. Heck, it'd even make for more manueverablity when the Frame Park area is clogged up with cars parking for the baseball games. If after all of this is considered, it is deemed not safe enough for our patrol people, so be it. Their safety is more important to me than keeping the gasoline budget low.

Building Codes Should Prepare For Future

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:24:00 GMT

In the past I've criticized new construction as putting a load on our dwindling water resource. This, even though the business that I'm in is dependent on new construction. Briefly, I don't believe that long time residents of the city or county should be put in the same boat of inconvenience to accommodate development and expansion. Those dwindling the resource should be the ones to carry the load. Water wise, this would be prohibiting watering lawns, gardens and washing cars in new developments except with water gathered from cisterns or other non-aqufier sources. On site water recycling of gray water should be included with conservation efforts.

Preparation for the diminished used of petroleum should be implemented in the the building code too. Electricity is the energy of the future. We will power anything with a petroleum engine with it and we will heat our homes with it. As an expert in the heating and cooling business, I can see gas furnaces going the way of oil furnaces in the next twenty years. Honda has shown a natural gas powered fuel cell generator to recharge electric cars and provide power for the home's electric furnace and heat pump/air conditioner. For those of you with hot water heat, there have been electric powered boilers so don't feel left out.

GM will be introducing the electric car, the Volt, which will run entirely on electricity, recharge at home if desired, but have gasoline back-up so you don't get stranded. In my needs, the electricity range is adequate for most all of my driving around. So the Volt can replace one of my cars and the other can be the guzzler used to pull the boat and so forth.

The building code should anticipate the plumbing changes and increased electrical service needs of the near future and require that it be install NOW in new construction and remodeling of existing homes and buildings.

Five Year Planning for $50,000?

Steve Bukosky — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:06:50 GMT

News item: Tuesday the common council will vote to award a consultation contract for strategic planning for the next five years.

Suggestion: Spend the $50,000 on road patch!

The Enemy Within

Steve Bukosky — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:57:54 GMT

"We have met the enemy and he is us" Pogo, Earth Day 1970

OK class, take your Sunday newspaper and turn to page 12A and read the headline; "Judge rules against oil drilling in Michigan forest". Let me start by pointing out that Congress, our body of lawmakers, presently has a national approval rating of 9%. This is one reason why. People are sick and tired and getting poorer partly due to federal judges legislating from the bench. Congress seems to not be interested in doing anything about that.

We hear the word pristine used often as a reason why we can't drill here or there. Yet I've gone geocaching in seemingly pristine places only to find out that they were restored landfill sites. The things out of place were the occasional pipe sticking out of the ground for water testing. The Discover Channel recently did a special on earth without humans. If we were to vanish from the planet, our roads and buildings would crumble as nature grew in the cracks and crevices. Pollution would be cleaned up by micro-organisms.

Use your best whiny nasal voice here; "Well the big oil companies aren't drilling where they already have leases". Could it be because it isn't cost effective to go after it there, yet? In my travels, I've seen small oil rigs inactive one year and a year or two later they are pumping up and down. Cost effectiveness is why.

We need to get the whole mess going so that we can satisfy our present need for oil while at the same time work toward eliminating our need for it. Congress's approval rating will never get higher than 9% until they begin getting things orchestrated and stop worrying about re-election funding for their cushy jobs. Slapping down judges that are creating roadblocks to this progress would be a good step!

Snapshots Are Dangerous

Steve Bukosky — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:24:01 GMT

Snapshots are usually thought of as still pictures. A capture of a brief moment in time. Sometimes they can fail to tell the whole story and lead one to incorrect conclusions. Like taking words out of their context. Politicians love to do that to each other. Sometimes opinions and even conclusions are based on snapshots of information. Wise people are flexible enough to change their opinions and conclusions when presented with the whole video rather than the snapshot or the whole text rather than the snippet. Even wiser people don't come to conclusions without seeing the whole story.

I shudder when world leaders (G8) decide to put economic stress on their countries, such as carbon dioxide emissions, based on a snapshot of the history of the world. I don't think that even a crazy Iranian leader would deny that there was an ice age. Evidence of warm weather plants have been found at the north pole regions, so it is logical that there have been times of unusual warmth. Global Warming, in other words. Man was not there to cause it. While the snapshot shows it appears to follow man's industrialization, the video shows otherwise.

The planets Mars and Jupiter have been detected as warming up slightly. Jokes have been made about that but doesn't that mean that some serious evidence to the pop culture beliefs about global warming are being dismissed? Could it be that the sun might be to blame here?

I'm a ham radio operator. We are very familiar with how the sun affects radio signals and every eleven years the sun has a cycle that hugely affects radio. What other cycles might the sun have that we don't understand or are aware of that could be responsible for climate changes?

Now I hear that clean air may be partly responsible for global warming! Makes sense. What happens to the temperature when a cloud goes overhead on a sunny day? Is man a factor in the particulates clouding the air or might it be volcanoes spewing ash at irregular times?

So long as political science and theories make extreme conclusions based on snapshots, real progress will falter. We need to see the whole video.

Making Ends Meet

Steve Bukosky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:00:45 GMT

I'm not a huge movie goer. I like to wait for most to show up on HBO and recently saw Evan Almighty, several times. I like Morgan Freeman as an actor. Seems like he's equaled George Burns in the number of times playing God. Something that stuck with me was his telling Evan, a newly elected congressman who wanted to change the world, that the best way to do it was by ARK, Acts of Random Kindness. I doubt that the acronym works in other languages but it is a warm, fuzzy thought.

Pat was recalling how our family had tough times in our early years and how hard it was to make the food budget stretch out. Seeing some sandwich meat on sale for $1.00 and other items made her think that some family will hopefully see the sale and benefit from it. When I was out of work for many months after a nasty crash, the church collected some much needed food to help our family get through it. My dad would have bursts of generosity from time to time and one day bought bags and bags of groceries for a distant relative whose family was going through tough times. He did other generous acts for people, most I never knew about.

We recently found out about some family needing help so the ARK floated from our house to theirs. If all of your family and friends are in good shape, financially, please help make sure that the food pantrys are able to help those that don't have friends or family that can help. After all, we are all riding in God's big round ARK together, and we can improve it by doing Acts of Random Kindness.

Rebates

Steve Bukosky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:34:50 GMT

I got my tax rebate check the other day. Excuse me, Economic Stimulus check. I wrote a blog some time ago about how to spend it to actually help the economy. I also mentioned that I had to pay the IRS just over $1,200 dollars. So much for me kicking my assistance beyond trying to cover minimum payments, finance charges and a occasional tank of gas now and then.

This isn't the kind of rebate that I'm speaking of though. I'm talking about the day to day rebates that you see in advertising. Often a low price is advertised with a little asterisk by it stating the price is after mail in rebate. May I be blunt? Of course I can. I'm good at that. These companies are just trying to play "Gotcha" by hoping that you forget to pick up the rebate form and mail it in on time.

Sears got me big time by advertising a sale price on the internet for a clothes drier. I made the purchase entirely on the internet. Along with the printer receipt was a rebate form which was like most, requiring me to balance on one foot on the peak of my roof and tap my head and rub my tummy while singing Yankee Doodle Dandy. The problem is that I tabled the form, literally, for too long and now see that I'm out $50. So much for a sale price.

Not to unfairly single out Sears, I believe most merchandisers hope to draw you in and make a sale hoping that you forget to do the dance. I ask you, is there any good reason that rebates are not given right at the point of sale? For the consumer, no. For the retailer, of course! For the politician?

I recently wrote the senators and congressman about a consumer issue not related to rebates. Each replied but one gave an unacceptable answer about letting the free market play. Let's just say, Tom Dodd, a fictional Robin Williams movie character was correct when he said, "Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed frequently and for the same reason."