Common Ground

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.

In the past I've crticized 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 implimented 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 furnacess 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. 

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!

"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 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.

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.

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."

Time to spruce up Grand Avenue and other roads in preparation for the motorcycles next month.

I decided to take the Gold Wing for a ride around where the motorcycle crowd will be cruising about come the big event next month. Waukesha, we have some work to do on Grand Avenue and other streets! Potholes are still horrible between Wisconsin and College Avenues. Some of the motorcycles that will be visiting have no spring suspension which means jarring impacts and even damage to some very expensive and often custom made machines.

Anyone who has cable TV and watches American Chopper knows that many motorcycles are hand made. This means if a part breaks, there isn't one waiting for them at the motorcycle shop.  Paul Teutul probably doesn't work cheaply either when a new custom part is required. No template so send the motorcycle back to New York and maybe a few thousand dollars and a year later your motorcycle will be ready to ride.

They aren't the only people making custom motorcycles. Even factory motorcycles can have fiberglass and plastic parts that can break from the jarring and be expensive to fix.

My Subaru still has the steering wheel cockeyed from an ocean sized pothole that was along side a manhole cover by the Citgo station near Frame Park.  Which brings up another hazard. These covers seem to have trouble staying flush with the road.

I bring this up not because of nothing better to write about. It is a serious issue for safety and for the city because it has been ruled that the city can be held liable for damage from road hazards that it has knowledge about. Many motorcyclists ride side by side leaving little room to swerve around potholes. This creates a collision potential. Harley riders also seldom wear helmets.

Lawsuits and subrogation anyone?

Happy 4th of July. Independence day.  We celebrate our independence from the oppressive British monarchy.  We shot their soldiers and theirs killed ours. In Brookfield there is the grave of a man who fought in the Revolutionary War. Private Nathan Hatch. Since we are now buddy buddy with the British, it seems that today should be more of a birthday celebration of becoming a country rather than the day we officially flipped the bird to the king of England.

Which brings me to the point of the blog today.  You see, we still owe England. We also owe China along with some of the oil producing countries. It's called the national debt. It something that we've all heard about but is obscure to most of us. I understand that we are actually borrowing money from these countries to pay for things that we do. How is it that we need to borrow money from other countries? I though we were the rich people in the subdivision.

My dad once said, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?". I'm sure he heard that from someone else and it won't be found in the book of famous quotes but it does say a lot. I'm not rich so I'm not ashamed to say I don't understand money well. I understand gold and silver being worth something and exchanging pieces of same for value received. We used to do that. Gold coins could change value but our silver certificates were always worth a dollar's piece of silver. No more silver, no more silver certificates.  Now we exchange numbers. We can print as many dollar bills as we want because we'll never run out of numbers. 

I've got some stocks. One had numbers of being worth $44 a share when I bought it. Before last Christmas the numbers ran up to $128. Now it's got numbers of around $46. Same company. Doing good business too. Sales are way up. Like I said, I'm not ashamed admitting to ignorance of money and speculation. Nobody in the government seems to understand speculation on oil commodities or they'd be clambering to announce opening new areas for exploration and drilling for oil. It seems when there is more supply, the prices these speculators are willing to bid for oil goes down. Politicians don't understand that. Some think more taxes on the people that do the work keeping gasoline available for our tanks will lower the price of gasoline. Further, these same politicians believe that the cost of the taxes won't be passed along to us, the consumers. So let me modify my dad's quote to; "You may be an elected official but that doesn't mean you know squat about money!".

So continue to celebrate Independence Day. After the grill is put away and the firecrackers are all fired off, remember that Uncle Sam has loans out there from some nasty countries so we can appear to be a wealthy nation. Uncle Sam needs to better explain what this really means to those making the payments on everything that Sam does. It appears that the finance charges are greater than our minimum payments. What politician is going to tell us what we need to hear rather than what it take to get on their power trip and stay on it?

Happy Dependence Day.

Did you know that City of Waukesha gas stations can't sell beer? I didn't. Since people are cutting back on their driving and buying less gasoline, the walk-in business for Slim Jims and Twinkies has dwindled. Now some are asking the city to reconsider the ordinance so they can buck up some of the shrinking profits.

This is a tough one for me as you probably know of my family's recent loss to a convicted drunk driver that should have been sitting in jail rather than behind the wheel of an Escalade. I believe that the intention of this ordinance was to reduce the possibility of popping one open after gassing up. One can argue that beer is available at many places. Grocery stores and the liquor stores for example. Although not quite as quick and easy as getting a 12 pack at the gas station, it is just as easy to pop one open driving home from there.

Personally, I'd rather it be easier to get some air for the tires than it is beer from today's serviceless stations, but that is change. So, it is fine by me with two conditions. First, we also require them to sell the cheap, disposable blood alcohol breath analyzers in a prominent location by the beer. It will at least serve as a "sobering reminder" of the consequences of driving under the influence of the stuff. Second, how about lifting the ban on sales of non-alcohol beer after 9PM? What part of non-alcohol do we not understand?

Which makes me wonder, why stop the sales of alcohol after 9pm when the taverns remain open, where people are getting schnockered and then driving rather than just transporting a six pack home?

I don't know about you, but I'd be willing for a tax raise to fund a "Department of Logical Analysis and Recommendations" for the city! I suspect it'd pay for itself and maybe reduce our taxes too!

Last heard from Mama Celeste, there is an abundance of things since the rain! Around the Bukosky home it is mosquitos and maple seedlings.

I've spend a few dollars in trying to have a nice lawn and pretty much got the weeds under control and the grass lush and dark green. The maple seeds, helicopters to some, were also in abundance and practically paved the driveway. I've been amazed how many maple tree saplings are growing and how easily they sprout and root. It seems that the seeds need only be about an inch from the soil and it sprouts and takes a root hold.

I'm sure everyone is busy swatting mosquitos too. My grass was two days late in getting it's twice weekly mowing and was a bit tall. As I navigated the back lawn with the mower, the critters flew up in small clouds! I soon went to the car and got my can of Deep Woods Off and sprayed on a film of protection.  I bought this can just last week while on the way to Minooka Park with Kanook. Walmart was on the way and as I passed a couple check-out isles, there was a large display of OFF prepared for people like me. It made for one of the quickest Walmart trips that I ever had.

We also finally have some of the warm and slightly humid weather of the summer. Guys in my business have bee anxously waiting for it. Many air conditioning technicians have not been getting a full week of work in until now. So, remember to keep those air filters clean and if you haven't had your air conditioner checked over for a while, call you local heating and air conditioning company and schedule a checkover.

 It was a time we all dread. The letter in the mail said that I not only had to pay for my driver's license renewal, but I had to visit in person to have my picture taken. Mistake number one was riding my motorcycle to the  DMV on West Avenue. Whether you wear a helmet or let your hair blow in the wind, your hair will be not be it's best afterward.

Things started out well. There were only a couple people to wait behind. Once called to the next available person, I was greeted by a cheery worker. The eye exam and paperwork went well. I was told to wait to be called at the sign for photos. An ominous sign of things to come was when I heard someone call Steve. No last name.  As I work with several Steves at work, I tell guys to call me by the nickname Grandfathers give all their grandsons, Butch. Thinking that someone that works there was calling to a coworker named Steve, I thought that my last name would be used or at least called out again. What if there were two Steve's waiting for a picture? I soon realized that we all were on a first name basis and my name must have been put to the bottom of the list for being slow to respond.

Certain to not miss my next call to glory, I trotted up to the desk when I heard Steve called again. I was ungraciously ordered to stand on the footprints and look at the stop sign. A nanosecond later the light flashed and the photographer decided that the picture met their standards. If I'm ever pulled over for drunk driving, I'll look exactly like my picture on the license. It will also may my airline travels more interesting when the TSA's do a doubletake while checking my ID..

It would seem that in this digital photograph age, a succession of pictures could be taken and the best selected by the taxpayer. Till that time, the DMV continues to deserve the barbs and jokes directed it's way.

I'm a motorcyclist and own two. Motorcycles get pretty good fuel economy, but many people are intimidated by them for one reason or another.  My biggest motorcycle is a Honda Goldwing which is a handful at times. It weighs, literally, half a ton and is the largest motorcycle out there and that includes the biggest Harleys. As some Goldwing riders age, the hugeness of the machine gets intimidating and they have looked at the Honda Helix scooter in the past, as a way to keep riding with the shiny side up and the greasy side down. A comfortable and adequately powered scooter, not to be confused with the tiny scooters that ride on the side of the road or hold up traffic.

This demand has made some motorcycle makers expand their line of scooters and Suzuki has the "Gold Wing" of scooters, the Burgman. I rode my 'Wing over to Waukesha's Action Power Sports on the south side of town and rode a used 2006 Suzuki Burgman. This is not your stereotypical scooter. It is easily mistaken for a regular motorcycle yet has a step-through frame to make getting on and off easier for us aging motorcyclists. The seat is huge and plenty cushy for rider and passenger. A feature of scooters is legroom.  Unlike motorcycle foot-pegs, you have large floor boards which allow your legs to keep from stiffening up in one position.

If you've never rode a motorcycle, I think you could jump on this and ride away because of one great feature. It has an automatic transmission. There are a number of very high tech features which make it a great machine. The engine is huge for a scooter. It is a 650cc twin that is fuel injected. Rare for a motorcycle and unheard of for a scooter. The fuel injection makes starting the engine as easy as a new car. Turn the key, push a button and the engine is running. The transmission is what is called a continuously variable transmission (CVT). That means no gears. Rather the transmission is like having dozens of  gears which allows the engine to operate at the most efficient rpm for any situation. To get going just twist the throttle grip and it smoothly takes off. This transmission type is starting to be used by some SUV's by Saturn and Ford. Subaru had the first production CVT years ago in it's Justy, but huge improvements have been made in recent years.

Acceleration is great. Faster than many cars, you will not have to worry about keeping up with the traffic. I got it up to well over 70mph and it still had plenty of acceleration power. Handling was very good too. The wheels are larger than smaller scooters which gives it motorcycle-like stability.

Brakes are like a bicycle in that they are hand grips.  The front is like any motorcycle, on the throttle side and the rear brake lever is where the clutch usually is. I quickly felt comfortable with the braking system and nothing for my feet to do other than steady the scooter when stopped. For added safety, there is a Suzuki Burgman model with ABS, anti-lock braking. A feature some motorcycles have. The gas tank is accessed by flipping open a very car-like cover for the gas cap.

The "dashboard" is a modern digital set of gages. It has an unusual feature in that you can mimic a six speed transmission with a push of a button. I don't know why one would use it other than if you get bored of the fine CVT. It also has a "power" button which apparently runs the engine more in the maximum torque rpm range upon acceleration. I didn't try it as the regular setting was plenty powerful. That being said by a guy who likes to rush through the gears and get ahead of the traffic.

Why consider a scooter? 65 miles per gallon is one reason. It has fair storage and claims to be able to hold two full face helmets under the seat. This used model even had a trailer hitch and wiring harness on it. I can see it capable of pulling a very small motorcycle trailer for additional storage space for the longer touring trips it is very capable of.

I'm giving serious consideration to adding one to my two wheeled fleet.

I've long been bothered by just who "they" are who put up the stumbling blocks to withdrawing the oil reserves that are rightfully that of the people. I also wonder about how "they" wield so much power. Congress operates in fear of them such that our so called representatives do not change the laws so that exploration and drilling can take place. It would eliminating much if not all of the need to be concerned about the politics of the middle east or Venezuela.

While enjoying a wonderful morning, weather wise, on the patio and reading the Sunday newspaper, Several articles, all in the first section, began to make me feel uncomfortably warm. The heat was turned up higher when I read about "they", a so called environmental group, going to court because the government has leased land to some oil companies for exploration. There are some polar bears in the region and what amounts to wording that the human beings making up the oil companies can protect themselves from the bears without fear of legal repercussions, seems to be the call to court for "they". In this case we know the "they" are an environmental group but just who are the individuals that make up the "they" and how do they get the money to cause the people of the country such trouble and who is it that provides the money?

The oil companies are not the villain in all of this. I'm happy that the gasoline is there when I need to fill my tank. In that they are doing a superb job. The real villains are the nut groups that have hijacked the name "environmentalist" and turned it into something for their own misguided purposes and the politicians that fail to work for the benefit of the constituency.

It's been established that wildlife and the environment in the northern regions continues to thrive with oil exploration and the shipping of it. We've proven it with the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.  We witness that adaptability of wildlife locally with the herons, crane, deer, turkey and even eagles which have had their habitat diminished.

Come on Washington! Stand up to them for US!

To some, being proactive about drunk driving is knowing that there are consequences if caught. The hot topic is toughening up those consequences.  While I am generally for that, I also like to see some assistance for people who do choose to drink, not become legally drunk if they intend to drive after doing so.

Pat and I had a rather lively discussion while having breakfast this morning at Christina's. We were talking about the Wednesday committee meeting in Madison regarding drunk driving proposals. There are a whole lot of ideas that are floating around both before and after the act of driving while intoxicated.  I'd like to start somewhere soon.

I've long thought that people really don't know how much they can drink and still be assured that they are within legal limits when driving after drinking. The simple solution is to not have any alcohol before driving.  That's a sure thing. But we know that people will often have one or two or more, thinking that they are fine. My point is how do they know when they cross the line into legal intoxication?

I've a whole bunch of ideas, but here is one that is simple, affordable and just might be subliminal in nature, planting a message into the mind for the future. Every drink that I've been served usually is either placed on a coaster or with a napkin.  Usually that item has some printing on it. Why not require each drink be served with a chart showing the maximum drinks a given weight of a person can consume before entering the gray zone before becoming legally drunk? That chart can be printed on the coaster, napkin or on a card that one could take along and put in their wallet or purse. A step further would be to require the same information printed on containers of alcoholic beverages. There are many more proactive steps that can be taken from there.

We need to act somehow in an effort to change our culture of drinking. Do you agree that this would be a reasonable initial step in that journey?

Next Wednesday will be a committee meeting in Madison regarding some proposed changes in the drunk driving laws.  To be discussed are proposals to require ignition interlock devices on all repeat offenders and on first time offenders with a blood alcohol content of 1.6 or higher. The Bukosky family and friends will be present to participate in the discussions.

In a related news item, Mark Benson, the person who crashed into and killed my daughter in law and two granddaughters is looking for a reduction of bail so he can be free after he serves the 72 days in jail that he was ordered to serve after his third drunk driving offense.  It is important to note that when he killed my family members, he had his license revoked and was ordered not to drive a motor vehicle. I can't imagine a judge letting him out and allowing him the opportunity to slide behind the wheel of another vehicle and thumb his nose at the law, again putting the people of Waukesha County in danger. His lawyer argues that he is innocent until proven guilty.

This man has repeatedly shown that he has no consideration for the law. Even though he has these violations and charges on his record, he still owns an apparently large collection of firearms. These were one of the few things that mattered to him when he made his phone call home from the police station right after the collision.

A man who has been repeatedly driving drunk and is apparently an abuser of drugs and driving cannot be let loose, able to access firearms and motor vehicles. Knowing that he is facing serious time in jail, who knows what he could do when free?

There is no shortage of articles about the flood. I didn't realize just how bad it was until I got out of the neighborhood, even though the intersection of Bel Ayr and Pine Street, just a few houses from me, had water that appeared as deep as four feed deep and many flooded basements in the vicinity. This is not the time to talk about it here. It'd get lost in the flow of things. Later.

Sunday I did decide to visit Mitchell Park and Minooka Park's Dog Parks. Kanook and I went to Mitchell first as I knew it would be flooded and that the flooding would be over the sod which would allow Kanook to splash around and not get muddy. It was more than I expected.

It is not unusual for River Road along side the railroad tracks to flood out just east of Mitchell Park Road. However, it was not only flooded between it and Barker road, Barker Road was also flooded with a good flow of water heading east into the park's marsh. A car could negotiate it so long as it wasn't going fifty miles per hour.

Once in the dog park, there were several dogs splashing and even swimming in the water. Kanook immediately joined them. While watching them splash in and out of the water, I noticed something splashing at various location near the new shore. Closer inspection showed them to be carp. The ones that broke water appeared to be ten to fifteen pounds to this seasoned fisherman. Once the waters recede, these fish will be trapped and die off leaving not only a smelly mess, but for whatever reason, many dogs love to roll in such stinking stuff. This is not the first time fish have wandered into the park.  Last spring someone was complaining about a dead carp near the end of the fence that their dog rolled in. Once again, I'd like to see them put up some snow fencing to block off the area.  Soon it will be a mud hole from the dogs running in and out.

Speaking of mud holes, out next visit was to Minooka. Two months of evaporation and seepage were erased and the "seasonal pond" was restored to near winter melt off conditions. Except there is a rim of mud surrounding it.  Even fewer visitors are seen at the large dog area because of it while the small dog area thrives and continues to have many users.

In closing, I do want to acknowledge the people of the city who suffered flooded basements.  I know what  it is like as I endured several floodings when In Milwaukee near the Lincoln Creek. So much destroyed and so much work to clean up. More about this when we've had time to finish the work, rest and think about what happened.

It's been a year now that I've been transfered from working in Pewaukee to West Allis. I'm in the middle of the action between State Fair Park and Miller Park. Last week it was interesting as I frequently heard the roar of the race cars qualifying for the big race. Not much different than the Harley's roaring up and down in front of my house.

I also suffer the effects of a clogged up freeway when the Brewers have a game where the traffic coincides with the evening rush hour. This is one of the concerns that I have about the proposal for Frame Park. The traffic patterns in the area are not designed well to handle traffic. I suspect that the roads are typical of older cities in that they started out as horse trails and didn't change much when Mr. Ford facilitated us from horse apples to carbon footprinting. 

It seems clear that most people don't think that it would be an attraction to Frame Park. Indeed it could spoil it. I do think that it would be good for the area. I might even consider attending a few games with family. But I don't want to get into a traffic snarl either. Nor do people living or passing through the area.  So it would seem to best be located close to the Hwy 59 bypass. Perhaps the old Nike missle site by 59 and Broadway. It's free from the Federal Government and is just sitting there gathering mulch. I think that there is plenty of room for both the stadium and parking. Has it been checked out and considered?

With the record snowfall this winter, the spring thaw made a huge pond of water on the south side of the Minooka dog park. At first it was clean water and it drew lots of people watching their dogs splash around.  The water was around two feet deep or more and covered better than an acre.  As the sod wore down and the water and shore became muddy, people began to avoid it and a steady decline in attendance of the large dog area was noticed.

While I could not interview those that were not there, those that continued to come did mention their disgust with it.  The fact that the small dog area was continuing to be used in good numbers showed that the large dog area had a problem. Another problem is that the large dog area is very hilly, with the flattest area at the entrance. Consequently it rapidly became muddy.  The county fenced off much of the area and laid down bark trails to either ends of the area. However, the flat area has long dried up. There is no sign of it having been reseeded so I don't understand why it isn't reopened.  I believe that many people prefer the flatter and level area to hiking up and down the hills.  Several users are disabled or have trouble walking distances. This is not good for them.

I will often drive directly to Brookfield's Mitchell Park dog park after our visit to Minooka and I find that it continues to be well used.  I see people that I've seen at Minooka and being that the marsh has dried up enough to not be much of an issue for attracting dogs, it reinforces my observation that Minooka needs to do something with what is called the Seasonal Pond, but has turned out to be a muddy nuisance. I suggested fencing it off, at least temporarily so dog owners don't have to fear a muddy mess to shampoo later on. I'd like to see some landscaping and drainage to contain the water to a smaller area. However, because it is stagnant and will dry up, I think a sewer should be installed and pumped out as needed to keep the area usable and attractive.

All is not bad though. There is some beauty to be found. That's for the next blog perhaps.  See you at the dog parks!

I've read heaps of news items and editorials about how drunken driving laws should be toughened.  Excuse me, but while that is needed, we need to also consider a proactive measure that closes the gate before the cows get out of the pasture, so to speak.

We have created the precedent for it, so nobody should be shocked when it is proposed. We have begun changing things in our culture. It is now time to make a bold step forward in continuing these changes.

Movies reflect culture. It is arguable that they may create it. Movies from earlier years glamorized smoking and drinking.  Offices had dry bars and an offer of a drink to a visitor was a polite and friendly gesture. Homes also promoted drinking.  Many new "executive" homes feature a full blown wet bar right in the living room.  Great for entertaining guests before they head home playing "Russian Roulette" with our lives. Once while having fixed a heating problem in a big house on the north shore area of Milwaukee county, the owner asked me "what do you drink?", assuming that I drank hard liquor. He generously wanted to give me a bottle from his vast selection of distilled beverages. When Pat and I got married, one of the things that showed we were now adults was assembling an assortment of liquor and the items for mixing various drinks.

When I grew up in Milwaukee, it seemed there was a tavern on every corner.  Perhaps a good thing. They were walking distance from home.  As I played with my friends on 44th street, a neighbor would walk by nearly every night babbling some kind of wisdom to us.  He walked the half a mile back and forth to the taverns around Hampton and Hopkins and never was a threat to anyone but himself.

We have banned smoking in many places. We've come close to banning it in all business and even in outdoor places. Usually the reason is the dangers of second hand smoke and other less lethal reasons. 

It is time to modify our culture of drinking alcohol. I'm no tea totaler.  I've home-brewed beer in the past and enjoy a beer or glass of wine with a meal. I think we all know the legal limits of evidence of intoxication is .08. But how many drinks is that?

A little bit of Google searching on the Internet show various devices for determining blood alcohol level. Disposable breath analyzers are available for around $3.00 per test.  Less than the price of a drink in most cases.

Issuance of a liquor license should be contingent on always having an adequate supply of these for use by customers.  Any store selling liquor should be required to market these too.  The time has come to stop guessing and not tolerate both the drunks and those that facilitate it. This would be one way of beginning the culture change.