It's White Out There.

As I write this, our local Channel 12 "Weather Center" has wall to wall coverage of snow falling in Wisconsin in March.

Not exactly an unusual event.

Now I'm certain that some small segment of their viewership are really appreciative of Channel 12 telling them that driving will be more difficut than normal, or that there may be some delays on major highways and at the airport or that we should all bundle up because of the weather.

I have a name for this segment of their viewership.

Idiots.

Note to Channel 12: Just scroll event closing information at the bottom of the screen and show us the expected snowfall amounts. And broadcast regular programming.

You're embarrasing yourselves.

We don't need to see the classic TV image of the junior reporter standing in a field, with a ruler, measuring the snowfall. These people went to college for this? It strikes me that meteorologists don't specilize in Weather forecasting. Their true skill is taking the maximum amount of time to tell you the least amount of information. And getting as much "face time" on local TV as possible.

There is far more important television that they could be broadcasting.

Like Regis and Kelly.

Brilliant Simplicity

Today's post on Seth Godin's blog is a great example of why he's so popular. He's a master of suggesting "obvious" solutions to everyday marketing problems.

His true skill of course is in cutting to the chase - by looking to turn a problem into an advantage, or eliminating the problem altogether.

The rest of us take our business environment for granted. We look for ways to "tweak" solutions - to work around or control known "deficiencies", rather than eliminate them. We work in a world where "you can't do that" and "every restaurant has a few bad tables".

His brain works on an entirely different plane.

The answer of how to solve the problem of a bad table at a restaurant, is brilliant in its simplicity. (To discover the answer, follow the link).

The NEW U.S. Metric System

I don't know how many of you remember when America was considering switching to the metric system. It was decades ago.

As a Canuck, we were immersed in learning all about centimeters, millimeters and celcius. Frankly, the change was difficult for me because I was at the age where I already was familiar with miles and farenheit.

You all know the ending of the story. Canada switched and the U.S. decided not to.

And the result are expensive speeding tickets for Americans driving through Canada, driving in miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour. (Aside: When the switch from mph to kmph was made, they kept the fines the same - so driving at 10 kph (about 6 mph) over the speed limit cost you the same as if you hade been driving at 10 mph over the limit on the day before conversion! An overnight 40% increase in all speeding fines!)

But I digress.

I wanted to talk about a brand new measurement system invading the U.S. - the 100 Calorie Pack. This brilliant marketing scheme has completely invaded the grocery store shelves, in the same way that bottled water did years ago.

Those clever marketers at all the major food brands are cleverly repackaging their products in increments of 100 Calories and selling them as snacks. They take all the guesswork out of figuring out "serving sizes" based upon the required calorie labelling on the back of all products.

Yup - just dive in. You'll only consume 100 calories.

These companies prey upon those of us (including me) who constantly battle their waistlines - at about twice the price (per portion) of the regular family sized packaging.

Brilliant.

Election Math

Seems like there are two major discussion threads helping decide who will run for President in the Fall.

The first thread is the rush to outrage and judgement about campaign surrogates who in their zealous support of their preferred candidate, firmly insert their feet into their respective mouths (Geraldine Ferraro from Hillary's camp, and several different religious leaders supporting McCain and Obama.)

The second major discussion, on the Democratic side, is all about math. Mostly delegate count, super-delegate counts and popular vote. To the media's glee, the numbers change daily, presenting yet another news cycle of speculation, parsing candidate comments, body language analysis and a review of what the Late Night Talk Shows are saying about each candidate.

Of course, there's very little discussion of the actual issues. Frankly I'd be surprised if most Democrats could cite the differences between Clinton's and Obama's policy plans. We are all guilty of letting the candidates get away without enough policy specificity.

And we completely let them off the hook when it comes to "election math".

Like how are you planning to pay for all of this?

Last I heard, Social Security was in trouble. Medicare and Medicaid will run out of funding. National Guard troops located at the Mexican border, will begin to be withdrawn as a result of dwindling budgets. There's that war in Afghanistan and Iraq (and soon coming to Iran?) that is draining the life out of future generations of Americans (both literally and figuratively). There's the required infrastructure investments in America's roads, bridges, energy infrastructure and the required investment to address Global Climate change. We're going to require substantial investment in our military simply to rebuild and re-equip our soldiers, sailors, air force and marines.

For our National security sake, we're also going to have to find a way to become energy independent (no oil imports) and that will require significant investment.

And, if we are considering universal healthcare, we will need fat wallets.

So Barack, Hillary, John.... how are you going to pay for all this? Let's have you put on a class in "Election Math".

And may I remind you that the cost of oil is now around $110 a barrel and the number of employed Americans is going DOWN each day.

Let me remind you of the current economic realities, shown at this site, In the past 8 years, our National Debt has grown from $5.7 Trillion dollars to a whopping $9.4 Trillion dollars. Every year we purchase more than we export, currently at a rate in excess of $700 Billion dollars per year!

If you had a family member in these financial straits, you'd recommend credit counselling.

But no one is talking about it.

Because for the Democrats, getting elected is about keeping people focused on change, on hope and dreams and a wish list of social initiatives. For the Republicans it's about trying to scare people into believing you're the only people who can protect America from the bad guys.

In case the past eight years haven't taught you the lesson, let me spell it out for you. Getting elected and governing are two very different skill sets. It's one thing to make it to the Oval Office.

It's quite another to be "Ready on Day 1" with a maxed-out credit card.

Hillary? Barack? John? Your responses?

The New Five

As a Canadian living in the U.S. friends tease us mercilessly about Canadian "10 month Winters", our passion for hockey (which we actually don't watch in our household) and our "funny" colored money.

As of this morning, the mighty U.S. dollar is now worth 99 cents Canadian and as as I write this, another change is happening..... the introduction of a more colorful U.S. five dollar bill.

I understand that the new format has more to do with forgery security than it does with fashion, but i wonder...

Can U.S. looneys and twoneys be far behind?

Thanks, Brett

My first recollection of Brett Favre, was in mid October 1995, when I first moved to Milwaukee from Toronto. Until then, I had no idea what all the "Packer fuss" was about.

While in Toronto, I was a Buffalo Bills fan (and endured the four Jim Kelly Super Bowl defeats!).

As anyone can tell you there's something about Wisconsin that makes it almost impossible NOT to become a Packers fan. Monday morning water cooler discussions make it manditory that you watch Sunday's game. Packer fan devotion is contageous.

And so, it was on Sunday October 15th 1995, that I began to become a Brett Favre fan. The first game I watched, Brett led a win over the dreaded Detroit Lions.

And I've been watching (and cheering) for the Green and Gold ever since.

Like virtually everyone in Wisconsin, I was shocked at yesterday's news of Brett's retirement. Last year was very successful - we were an overtime loss away from going to the Super Bowl. And no one could argue that Brett still had the talent to compete at the highest levels.

But to be successful in the NFL, it requires a tremendous amount of mental toughness to endure, to prepare, to win week after week.

And after 17 seasons, Brett simply got tired.

And to his credit, he realized that without a 100% mental commitment to the effort of one more campaign, it simply wasn't worth the personal sacrifice. He would run the risk of letting down his team and his fans.

What a great way to leave the game - as a folk hero, as a living legend, a genuinely down to earth, humble, nice guy.

And with virtually every record in the record book.

And with the fans wanting more.

Congratulations on a fantastic career and thanks for a great ride!

My Pet Peeve

Recently I've found myself extremely frustrated at the local video store. The woman that runs the place is great and the selection is outstanding. No complaints there.

But I have one HUGE problem.

I can't read the friggin 2pt type on the back of the DVD cases. C'mon really - is someone actually supposed to be able to read this stuff without magnification?

I realize that reading glasses are the scourge of the middle aged, but I truly believe that Hollywood and all the major film studios have it out for me.

Perhaps the store should offer plastic magnifying glasses with every ten rentals. Or maybe they could install one of those bar code readers (like some of the retail stores have for price checking) except that in this case, they could provide a plot synopsis for those of us who can't see microscopic print.

In fact, the only narrative I CAN read on these cases are the headlines and they're usually lies!

Hilarious! Riveting! Non-stop action!

In hindsight, perhaps closing my eyes and picking randomly would work just as well.