Common Ground

Forgive my obsession. I love Waukesha County. But the past two weeks have had death and road rage, both centered around alcohol, as things that make me question if this is so great a place to live?

I pray that the ball keeps rolling to bring Wisconsin from the weakest drunk driving laws in the country to something that makes it safe for people to drive their kids to and from school and back and forth to work and shopping.  Enough has been way too much.

I share the hope of my daughter-in-laws father, Mike Farney, that given that the politicians and adults can't make the roads safe for people, maybe the kids with a lifetime ahead of them will pester and protest until our government does the right things to make us safe.

Zach Bella and his stepfather and stepbrother will be with us today for a cookout, trying to keep the family as intact as we can and make life go on. But it will never, ever be the same without Jenn, Courtney and Sophie.

Never forget!

The Bukosky and Bella families have had expressions of sympathy given via the forms of media and in person. As the head of the Bukosky family, I give my appreciation to all of you.

I'm sure all of you know the details of the tragedy. It still has not registered with me fully. There is still some disbelief present in my mind. I'm amazed by all of the coverage by the press, television and radio given this.  Even in blog-land I have found much discussion of it and picked up new bits of information and perspectives. I compliment the reporters for being sensitive yet thorough.

The mourning in the family continues, having gathered up the picture boards and flowers today. The many envelopes and cards have yet to be read. This will be done by my son in a condo empty of wife and daughters and with son and step-son at other parent's homes. The nursery recently assembled and many gifts from the baby shower less than two weeks ago are a heart wrenching reminder of what was to be but was taken from him, and us.

Major changes in life-style now have to be thought of, while the bills continue to come due.  It is a tragedy repeated many times a week to people who may not have their loss so well covered or may be from natural causes rather than something senseless. It is these times after the mourning that survivors need support, understanding and guidance.

I was told that Thursday, the day set aside for the high school and middle school to visit, there were over 3,000 visitors. I witnessed hundreds of them pay their respects. I believe that these students will be better for their mourning as they better understand that nobody is indestructible. Drug and alcohol abuse kills and destroys. Perhaps a rendezvous with fate for one of more of these young people may have been changed for the better. The Jennifer Bukosky Fund and MADD will see that the word continues to get out.

Bukosky Fund/Oconomowoc Public Education Foundation
P.O. Box 444
Oconomowoc, WI 53066

Mothers Against Drunk Driving
P.O. Box 51159
Milwaukee, WI 53203

Having donated toward the creation of the Minooka Dog Park, both the cities of Waukesha and New Berlin must insist that the county sees if there is any connection between the bacteria killing dogs at HAWS and the seasonal pond at the dog park that consists of melted snow and run off from the higher ground and has a trash receptacle immersed in the water.

Concerns from users of the area have been expressed to me and I in turn have asked the county to fence off the huge puddle to prevent dogs from splashing around in it and drinking the water. For the record, I have also asked Brookfield to put up snow fencing to block the seasonally flooded swamp area of their dog park. Kanook had been ill from what I believe was drinking the contaminated water there.

Were these cleaner water areas, it'd be great for the dogs.  Most love to splash around and retrieve sticks and such. Many are bred to do so. But puddles end up being muddy and bacteria ridden doing the dogs ill.

Jenn, you immediately became part of the family. Pat and I thank you for the joy that you gave to our son, Michael, and to his son, Joshua.

Courtney, I know it was rough becoming part of a new family. I thought that there would be time to gently bond and share the love of two families melding into one. I never expected your future and life to be ripped away and so soon.

Sophia, even though you were not ready for the world, your father at least got to see you as a person and say good-bye though we were never even able to celebrate a hello.

Zack, we hope that Joshua and you continue to be close step-brothers. You ARE family and family is there to help each other through difficult times. Things will get better though nobody will ever forget.

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Friday, Jenn was bringing the kids home from school when a person who had their driver's license revoked and was under the influence of some substance, slammed into the back of Jenn's car, killing the three of them, injuring Zack and critically injuring a fellow classmate whom due to privacy laws, we don't know. I'm sure that the child and their parents are suffering the horror of a child being injured.

The driver who caused all of this must have been suffering his own demons. I'm sure he has a family who is suffering too. I was once told that we don't live in a vacuum. What we do affects many. Never has that been so apparent as it has the last few days.

Anyone who flys the airlines from time to time is familiar with the two pieces of reading material in the pockets of the seat backs. One is a catalog with all sorts of unusual devices and the other is a magazine written for the particular airline.  Sunday I was enjoying my twice a year flight to Colorado on one of Midwest's newer Boing 717's.  One with the nice comfy brown leather seats. As my first appointment was Monday afternoon, I asked our travel department for a later PM flight. Mine departed at 7:35 AM.

There was a fair amount of ground fog in the area and from 36,000 feet it looked like regular low level clouds.  It was when we flew over the wind turbines near Dodgeville or wherever, that I noticed the turbines were chopping up the fog! A very unusual sight. I tried to fire up my cell phone camera to capture the sight but when you are moving around 500mph, things are quickly in the distance. Besides, the cell phone might disrupt the navionics and cause the jet to do snap-rolls. (a little pilot humor)

After I became boared with the distant scenery, I pulled the Midwest magazine from the pouch and came across an article discussing how airlines and hotels are becoming more dog friendly for travelers. Some dog friendly places at several cities were mentioned.  In the Milwaukee area they mentioned the Granville dog park, which was called Milwaukee's only dog park (it is not) and also mentioned Petlicious Dog Bakery, which is located in Waukesha over on Silvernail.

While I like traveling, I dislike the business trips where I am away from my wife and my dog for any length of time. The cell phone keeps Pat and me in touch each evening. I've tried talking to Kanook but the sounds coming from the phone must not be much different from a squeeker in a chew toy for him. In my free time, I did "sniff out" some area dog parks.  Golden has a dog park that is on land donated by a former Coors employee. It's a bit hidden behind the baseball diamonds but never the less a dog park. In Fort Collins, where I held another class, they have a smaller neighborhood dog park about the size of a city lot. The entire lot is covered with wood chips so mud is never a problem.  Waukesha Dog Parks Organization has supporters who would like to see such neighborhood dog parks built here. In time, after a full season of observation at Minooka Park, I think such neighborhood dog parks might be considered.  Time and money will tell.

It's been a heck of a week.  Each spring I have my training tour of our stores around the country and I'm about to embark to Colorado after doing some night classes in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Tax time was this week also, and like many Americans, if we owe money, we wait till the last minute.  The good news is that my rebate check or "stimulus check" will cover all but a few dollars of what I have to mail in with my return.  I did smile when I drove to downtown Milwaukee to drop off my tax mail.  The traffic cones were set up and one of the persons collecting the mail was dressed as an eagle. All were cheerful, helping making the best of a painful situation.

My big cheer-up came Friday night when I found the Minooka Dog Park opened.  The county has been busy doing some improvements by fencing off muddy areas and laying trails of wood chips which will help reduce wear on the turf.  The "seasonal pond" is about the size of a small lake and looks to be possibly a couple feet deep. Last weekend Kanook joined the retrievers at Mitchell Park splashing in the marsh and ended up getting a bath in the self-serve grooming salon at Petlicious which is located over on Silver Nail. I was able to keep Kanook from running into the water on this outing.

Tonight there weren't too many people there, but those that were made for an enjoyable outing.  One couple had their recently adopted greyhound that retired from the dog tracks.  She was a little timid but appeared to be socializing well along with having some open area to keep the legs stretched out. Also there was a dad, his two small daughters and their golden-doodle. Kids like Kanook and he got along good with the "doodle dog" who had a great personality too. Once again it was proven that dog parks are as much for people as they are for dogs.

A word of appreciation for County Parks manager Duane Grimm and his parks crew is in order too.  Things are progressing nicely.

From time to time there will be a topic brought up in the council that comes from committee. If the topic is controversial sometimes there will be comments from aldermen that they have not heard from people with one side or another on the matter. I suggest that perhaps we need a change.

In this presidential election year, the promise of change seems to be catching people like honey draws insects. What troubles me is that in most cases we do not know what the change is going to be. We need specifics. Here’s one.

When it comes to aldermen or county supervisors for that matter, reaching a decision when it comes time to discuss and vote for a topic, they seem to rely on citizens searching them out to air their views. Lets face it; people have opinions but are usually too busy or unwilling to communicate their views. This should not mean that their opinion on a topic doesn’t matter because they didn’t put forth an effort to express it! This is how special interest groups get their agenda through, often contrary to the popular wishes of the taxpayers.

So how can the views of an apathetic population of taxpayers be made known to our representatives?  Ask them!

It’s time that in this age of instant communication, we utilize it rather than continue to do things as we have since two centuries ago.

The city wants to join the county in the ability to have the state transfer tax refunds to the city from people who allegedly owe money to the city.  I say allegedly because such process denies the person in question due process. It's a legal way of the city to zip in between the citizen and the bank teller and taking the money off the counter.

This manner of bullying money from citizens should be challenged in court, where the validity of the debt should have been argued before a judge in the first place.  Tell your alderman to vote against tax refund intercepts! While you are at it, tell your county supervisor that you don't like the county doing it either.  Let the citizens have their day in court!

In God We Trust.  It is printed on our money.  However, if a father and mother do so, and their daughter dies, why would we even consider persecuting them in their time of mourning and confusion? Is it just some nice sounding words that don't really mean anything?

What the heck is going on with the presidential elections this year? This isn't the first time that I've voted in a presidential primary, but it is the first time that I believe my vote was negated in some way. It doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican. Each party lost candidates that we in Wisconsin as well as most other states never even had a chance to vote for!

Is Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos working? It seems like the Democrats have created their own chaos.  What is with these "super delegates"? I keep hearing that if they don't side with their state's winner, there may well be a voter riot, election sit out, migration to McCain or perhaps to the Corvair killer, Ralph Nader. Yeah, I had a 1966 Corvair Monza in high school.  If these super delegates are not free to vote their will or be swayed, cajoled or bought, what is the purpose of them then? And do I need to comment on Florida and Michigan? Isn't the Democratic party the one that tosses the term "disenfranchise" around like salt and pepper at dinner time?

What about rumors of Al Gore stepping in to settle the foray? Or, would it be, truthfully, too inconvenient to take four or eight years away from convincing the planet that we are responsible for sun spots and other cyclical solar and climatological events?

I guess that all I can do is sit back like a typical white person, dodge the sniper fire and enjoy the fight.

No question about it. This winter has been the snowiest ever.  It also has been one of my favorite! No, I don't have a condo or apartment where I don't have to contend with the snow.  I've fought with it along with everyone else and helped out a neighbor or two with the big Craftsman snowblower.

What I liked about it is that when the work is done, Kanook and I can head over the Minooka Park and hike around the dog park without getting boots or paws muddy.

Lack of snow and thin sod cause the county to close the dog park, which I think was a wise move provided something is in the plans for remedying the situation such as tougher sod, wood bark or decomposed granite in the high traffic areas.

With the 15 inches of snow Friday, they opened the park and the parking lot was again filled by late morning Saturday. It's a heavy snow and soon packed down trails were created. A visit to Mitchell Park afterwards showed a similar situation along with the sled hill adjacent to the dog park being used by kids that still had their sleds accessible.

I don't think this snow is going to last too long however. Already some spots have melted through and the meltdown will flood out the low spots of both dog parks worse than they already are.  So keep tabs on the county's web site to see if the Minooka dog park is open or not until all the snow melts and the ground isn't squishy!

 So much to think about and write about from the news of the past several days that I thought I'd take Kanook to Minooka park.  It was past sundown and while driving up to the check-in hut, I noticed something out of the ordinary.  It was a notice that the large dog area was closed until the ground firmed up a bit more. It said further that they are checking it daily and to check out the county park website to see the status. I tried doing just that but the pages would not load.  Perhaps website maintenance is being done at this time.

The small dog area remains open.  As it was dark and nobody else was around, Kanook and I decided to check it out. It too has much mud adjacent to the cement apron, but once beyond that, it is in pretty good shape.

If you need your dog park fix in the mean time, check out www.waukeshadogparks.org for other off leash areas in Waukesha County.

I hope that if you've read my previous blog, you noticed that I tagged it as satire. Just keep in mind that satire and stereotypes have roots in truth.

I am wondering one thing though. Many of the good citizens of Waukesha have complained about noisy motorcycles.  The police response is usually that they have to hear the offender in order to do anything with it. Just to let you know that I'm not Saint Steven, I used to make my share of noise around Cutler Park in the very early 1970's on my Triumph Bonneville with non-mufflers on it. I was eighteen then. I got a citation after a time and ended up buying mufflers for it. That was the end of my "to heck with other people" days. 

I don't exaggerate when I say that fully half of the attending motorcycles will probably have shed their adequate factory mufflers and put on something louder or often no mufflers at all.  The Americade rally that I've attended several times, specifically warns that loud motorcycles will be ticketed by Lake George New York police. I witnessed it being done almost constantly during the rally. 

I fully expect that the law here will be enforced just as vigorously as it is in Lake George. Stock up on ticket pads and pens. Otherwise I want my citation money back, with interest from 1970! 

A former editor of a local newspaper has told his readers that if they don't want to contend with the big Harley party this summer, leave town for a few days. How quaint!

As I am a motorcyclist for over forty years and have taken several camping excursions into the Appalacian Mountains and attended many motorcycle rallies, Harley Davidison specific included, I believe I have a more knowledgable opinion of this than those in the city that only see $$ dollars $$ and a little rumble in the air. 

Harley Davidson riders are divided into three groups. They are the hard core riders. They look like Paul Tuetul. Tatoos are cool. Out of my way type of people. Also known as the 1%ers. Then there are the Wannabes.  Like Clark Kent, they lead boring lives in their community and help old ladies across the street during the week.  On weekends they transform into the appearance of Sonny Barger, the most famous 1%er, but stop short of riding up and down the street whacking the citizens of Hollister with chains and being served food and beverage then leaving without paying for it. They have a Walter Mitty desire to be looked at by the cowering spectators as a 1%er.  They do some good deeds and raise some money for charity from time to time so they can have the police look the other way when they push the limits of law. The third type of Harley Rider can be confused with a Honda rider. They don't necessarily wear the uniform or have the attitude.  They just like the looks and sound of the machine and enjoy the ride.

Harley events also have double lives. There is the main event. Perhaps the most well know is Dayton Florida. I've never been there but I think it is about to be held as I write this blog. It is a rite of spring and the season kick-off. The hard core riders visit the main event but look for something a little more thrilling.  These side events are usually miles away from the main event or in a neighboring city. They are not sanctioned by the main event sponsor. Camera crews from "girls gone wild" frequently show up. The smell of burning hemp is in the air and the syringes littering the area are not from diabetics. Hospitals have to call in off-duty doctors and nurses. Beer trucks are hijacked.

Waukesha's event will fall someplace between Lake George New York (Americade) and Hollister California, and I don't mean geographically. I mean mild and wild.  This is why I've gone on record that is it best held at the County Expo grounds. 

The organizers say that they will have security covered by rent-a-cops and the police will not have to lift a finger. Perhaps, and I certainly hope so. However, I've seen what naive little towns get themselves into.  We'll need the sheriff deputies near by.  Lots of them. 

Two major companies were bidding for the replacement ship to replace the aging fleet of current tankers. The bid was won by the European Airbus company. The Airbus proposal was deemed to be a superior plane versus the Boeing bid.  I can't fault the Air Force for wanting to get the most for their money.

I have to question some things about this and I think the award should be held up until it is better thought out. I have two concerns. First is that all things being equal, money spent by the government within the country is much better spent than money going out of the country.  Even if more is spent, it still is money that creates jobs, tax revenue and a more robust economy. Second, the product needs to be adequate and meet the specifications of the bid. When the bid is between competing American companies, that is one thing. But when it is a choice between money staying in the country or exiting it, every aid to see that the American product meets the specifications should be given to the American company. In this case Boeing.

There is a bit of heritage to be considered too. Europe is a free Europe largely because of Boeing's bombers manned and supported by heroic American crews and built by Americans. Boeing is family and family comes first!

Whenever there is an event that closes the streets downtown, it seems that I need to get somewhere there, such as the bank or to drive though it to get somewhere else that I need to be. 

This proposed Harley Party has all the appearances of trying to highlight a certain business that got rammed down the taxpayer's throat and a whole bunch of people are resentful of. Putting that aside, I've got no argument against hosting a Harley Party, but downtown is not the place to do it. The County Expo grounds is the place to hold such a function.  That is why it is there.

I would like to have the businesses around downtown see some income from such an event though.  There is a fun way to do it.  It is called a "Poker Run". Motorcyclists love to eat and they can be directed to the downtown area eating establishments by having them as a stopping point to have their card stamped or to draw a card. Some of the riders and passengers would like to see some of the artistic side of downtown too.  Perhaps a special bus shuttle could be operated to relieve congestion and allow people to easily get from the expo grounds to downtown.

A fun and profitable time can be had by all. Just don't shut the streets down for the people that have paid to use them!

Tonight someone is going to be appointed to finish out Joe LaPorte's term as Alderman. Having gone through the process myself, I'm uncomfortable with the process as it presently is. Holding an election would be the best way to do it. The people of the aldermanic precinct should vote for their representative.  Oh, I know that this democracy thing requiring voting is such a hassle. After all, American Idol or Dancing With the Stars might be on that Tuesday!

As it is, having the council voting to add one to their group can be looked at two ways.  One way is that they can recognize political genius that will benefit all of Waukesha. The other way is that some may vote for the person least likely to make a fuss for a while and get in the way of progress. It probably is something between those extremes, but I wonder....

Think about it. The people getting their alderman appointed have absolutely no say in who is about to represent them!

If for some good reason, other than expense, there cannot be a regular election of replacement aldermen, then I would suggest that a citizen committee be created from the taxpayer list in that aldermanic district.  These people can then interview the candidates, basing their selection on what is important for THEIR district.

Having someone other than the people appoint their representatives was halted 232 years ago in the colonies. Let's not forget our history.

I've stated in the past that many elections are more of a beauty contest than an election of a person with the best resume'. I was dwelling on that one day when a friend emailed me a link to a "rate the candidate" website.  You mark off the importance of various issues to you and then the candidates are given a ranking based on your thoughts without being swayed by partisanship or rhetoric.  I was surprised when my candidate of choice ranked below one that I'd thought did not fit my views as well. It has forced me to re-evaluate my thinking.

Too often we hear "man (person) on the street interviews" where when asked why they support someone, little or no good reason can be thought of.  Want to see how your favorite candidate does when a blind, emotionless appraisal is done of how they match up to your ideals? Visit http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460 and see how your's does.

I believe there is a wave of paranoia sweeping the country. Zero tolerance this, can't say that and so forth. I don't think it is any big secret that Mayor Nelson, if not a registered democrat, certainly has leanings that way.

I understand that upon advice of our city attorney, the mayor removed a post from his blog on the city's website. What I know of the post, it seems ok to me.  I don't like censorship. I'd rather know as much as possible about our elected people's thought processes. This is also why I don't like anonymity. If there's no name associated with statements, take them with a grain of sand. We're about out of salt.

I also see that our new city administrator was seated along side the mayor at a Barack Obama rally.  The administrator was just doing her job, so a memo from her says. If so, fine. But, I'd like an explanation of why she wasn't doing her job at any republican rally? After all, she was on the clock.

There is one explanation that I'd buy as to the attendance at the Obama rally. Asking Obama to promise more money for the city for road salt and pot hole patch.

It is probably too late because the science experts called congressmen have already destined tungsten incandescent light bulbs to extinction in a few years.

To set the record straight, I have compact flourescent bulbs in my house.  I counted eleven. I also have several tube type flourescent fixtures.  All long before it became the "green" thing to do.  I did it because I like to save money and Wisconsin Focus on Energy had a big sale on them some years ago. That's market forces at work rather than dictation.

If you have been following the news, you'll know that compact flourescent bulbs have mercury in them. You may also know that there is a movement for dentists to collect the mercury in amalgams (tooth fillings) before they get into the sewage system and then the water systems. I never did understand how these fillings could be healthy.

I know a bit about mercury. Being in the heating business, we have used blobs of mercury in thermostats for decades. They are now obsolete but we collect old thermostats so the mercury can be salvaged. It probably ends up in our light bulbs now!

I also dabble in gold prospecting. Much of the mercury found in streams was from it being used to attach to gold dust and make it easier to "pan out".  This mercury coated gold would then be heated, the mercury turned to a vapor and the gas would go through a condenser coil and out would come clean fresh blobs of mercury. It was the vapor that was the real killer, but the liquid isn't much better.

So you can see, while we have made efforts to contain mercury from thermostats and tooth fillings, we've created a new way to reintroduce it into our landfills and work it's way into our groundwater. While these bulbs last a long time, I've had a couple fail way short of their touted five year life expectancy. We need to come up with a recycling plan for these bulbs now. Something voluntary would be nice, but I believe the best way is to charge a deposit, perhaps $1.00 each, so incentive to recycle them is made rather than disposing into the garbage.

Is this a bright idea or what?