by Dino Corvino on April 9th, 2009
I spent last week in New York City for my job. It was an inspiring time, and an inspiring place. You see, I had been to New York before, but had not actually spent anytime in Manhattan. This week was all spent in Manhattan around a group of people who have literally spent their whole lives being inspiring. The weight of these people was overwhelming, and, coupled with New York City, I still have not recovered.
One of the threads that came up repeatedly was the concept of being worthy. What are you worthy of? What are your expectations? What do you as a citizen of America think you are worthy of?
That seemed like a massive overreaching sort of question for Citizen Wausau, but I think that the concept of worthy is something that we can explore, have a discussion about, and work on together.
The other day I saw a photo of Mayor Tipple at the new bus unveiling. This brought me to two ideas. 1. Who is Mayor Tipple? Seriously, I know the guy. Meaning I have met him, spent some time. I like the guy. But as a mayor, he has not talked to the public very often. He is not on the record in the newspaper or on the television very often. Are we not worthy of a mayor who is willing to speak in public? 2. Why do buses not run in the evening? I live in Weston, and I have to actually leave early to get the bus to get home. It takes me 90 minutes on the bus to replace a 10-minute car ride. I am committed to the bus, and I like the ride since I can listen to podcasts (like The Insophisticate), but I dislike having to leave work early.
So this brings me to this question: What sort of city government is this medium town worthy of? Do we expect too little of the government? Do we expect too much? With the scandals of the past few years, are we not paying attention after the garbage with Nagle, Morrissey, Fish, Jasurda, Van De Yacht, that guy who investigated something, the Janet Herring anti-skateboarding plan, the reshaping of downtown, the loss of business downtown?
What do you want from your City Council in the way of transparency, and are you getting it now?
What are you worthy of from your City Government?
by Cheryl Mathis on May 22nd, 2008
I’ve been a stay-at-home mom since last September, just before my daughter was born and joined my son in our wild and crazy household. For most of my life, I wanted to be a SAHM. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A mommy.”
For the first year and a half of my son’s life, I worked, and we sent Ben to daycare. We picked one that had flexible hours, decent rates and came recommended by a friend. We loved the teachers, and our son seemed comfortable there.
When I was expecting our second child, we decided that I would quit my job as a proofreader and stay home with our kids. It would cost nearly 90 percent of my income to have two children in daycare, and that didn’t make sense for our family. But five months before I was scheduled to leave, we had to break up with our daycare.
The policies were changing at the center, and our son would have been negatively affected. There also seemed to be an overlay of total chaos as they transitioned to the new policies, and we weren’t comfortable with the atmosphere. Luckily, we quickly found a home-based daycare that would take our son for the summer until I resigned. We were very happy there, thank goodness.
The crap kept hitting the fan at the old center though, as employee paychecks bounced and parents pulled their kids out left and right. What really startled me was when I heard that near the end of the owner’s tenure there, the children weren’t being fed anymore. They’d go home starving. No notice to the parents that they should bring bag lunches. Nothing.
Some wonderful people we know bought the center and totally turned it around. They insisted that all the teachers be accredited, they cleaned the facility from top to bottom, and they welcomed a new era of loving, responsible childcare.
I was horrified when I heard how bad it had gotten. I don’t understand how something like that could have happened. The majority of families were low income, so maybe they felt they didn’t have a voice or a choice in what was going on. That’s just plain wrong. Even if the state is subsidizing your childcare, you still have a voice.
If I had known what was going on there when it was happening, you can be dang sure I would have stood up for those families and filed the complaints and raised such a ruckus that the situation would have remedied somehow. I hope there are other people like me in the community who wouldn’t have just looked away.
We are also fortunate to have the Child Care Connection here in the area that compiles lists of available childcare for local families. It’s free of charge, and I hope that in the future, families who find that their daycares are falling short will take advantage of the other options.
by Andy Laub on March 28th, 2008
Coming on the heels of yesterday’s enviro-post I started to think about my bike and when it will be warm enough to ride it to work again. If I’m lucky, it will be at the end of April, and that’s because I have an aversion to cold weather.
But on that subject, did you know Wausau now has a Trek Store? It’s over by Hardees on Stewart Ave (I guess it used to be a carwash?). I’m not totally sure whether it is a Trek-sponsored venture (like a Nike Store) or if that sort of thing even exists, but they only sell Trek and it’s very streamlined and corporate-looking.
What it lacks is any personality, at least for now, that extends beyond the “how can we get you on a bike today?” rhetoric. The other bike stores all have their own, and each have some sort of following (at least the one I go to does), and I wonder if this type of place can pull those people away.
So what say you Wausau? What kind of environment do you prefer when bike shopping? Is Trek even a desirable brand? They’re kind of the Toyota of bikes, in my mind.
by Dino Corvino on February 20th, 2008
Gary Barden is a cool dude, and I have scars to prove it.
I think that I need to start off with something of a confession in the name of transparency. I have something that Gary Barden created tattooed on my body, and five friends have the same tattoo. My friend Scott Holt trusted Gary with the creative vision for his own identity, and Gary has produced the Annual Report, website and quarterly newsletter for one of the most influential foundations here in Wausau.
That all sounds really good, but what about that makes him cool? Its hard to say what makes someone cool, but if you know Gary or meet Gary you will know instantly why I think he is cool. Is it a vibe? Well if it is, then Gary has that. If it is more than that, than Gary has that as well. For a while Gary had a questionable beard, but even his questionable choices seemed somehow cool.
So enough of the love fest. Who is this Gary Barden dude I’m spouting on about? Well, Gary is a 40-year-old graphic designer who looks like a cool 20-year-old graphic designer. He owns one of the workhorse firms in Wausau, Studio 519. Studio 519 is one of those shops that does not waste a lot of time pontificating about things that are meta; instead, Gary focuses on the work.
“It’s fine to talk about it, but it’s work. I go to work everyday, and do work,” said Gary over lunch at Noodles and Company. I think it was refreshing to hear someone talk about his or her craft as just that, a trade. Gary takes his work seriously, and his wide range of work reflects it. His visuals are not limited to any one style, in fact you could never pigeonhole his work as one thing, it really reflects a strong connection to the work that the client is looking for.
Graphic design is all well and good, but what Gary is really passionate about is Mountain Biking. A few months ago I had a chance to go into his basement, and I have to say that I was more than just a little bit shocked. I do not even know how many bikes were down there, but what I do recall was a gorgeous Santa Cruz frame, black on black, full suspension, like some sort of wonderful racehorse on a work stand.
Gary told me that he started riding a while ago, and his excitement for it has grown steadily. He said that the riding started off as fitness thing, and slowly turned into a passion, and then remarkably into a pretty successful business. You see a few years back Gary went from riding in the mud and the muck, over hill and dale to being a mountain bike entrepreneur. Or something.
Gary and his brother started a company called Fat Tire Guides. Their purpose is simple, yet amazingly cool. The ride the trails, map them, video them, and make it all available to you on the web. The amazing thing is this: they rode every mile, of every trail, in every spot, themselves. Gary and his brother were out and about every weekend, pedaling their bikes for miles and miles, with GPS…thingies (a technical term) and a camera strapped to one of their heads.
Over our lunch at the Noodles joint, it became clear that Gary is very passionate about everything on two wheels that you pedal yourself. He talked at length and rather poetically about building up a bike, making it perfect. Making a bike do and be what you’re going to need it for. It was funny, because that is how he talked about his graphic design work as well. Building it, finding a way to match the work to what the client needs it to be. I found that amazing, that he could make both things this sort of Zen koan cool like thing.
I do not know when I met Gary. I do not really remember my life with or without him. I have always known he was there, and that he was a lot cooler than me. For a while I thought I might have him because he had questionable taste in music, but suddenly that all turned around. So, again I am left feeling horribly inadequate around him. Gary Barden is a cool dude. He is a family guy, who is passionate about Jess and Zoe, and he is passionate about his art and his work, which are oddly enough the same thing, he is passionate about his bike and the company his brother founded. Gary Barden, cool dude number one.
You can find Gary at Studio 519, or at Fat Tire Guides. Check ‘em out.
by Dino Corvino on December 26th, 2007
So, I know what is expected of me is in fact a nice, community, love everyone post about how seeing old friends makes the heart warm, or some such crap, well in all honesty the founders have encouraged this particular post, and I fully intend to let it rip. So, grammar be damned, and spelling can kiss my butt.
I love the holiday. Nothing is more fun for me than to buy my brother, my mom, and his fiance presents. It is the coolest thing to sort of give that little shot of love over hte bow of consumerism. We are a close family, and in all honesty gifts are a lot like shopping together…”Oh you like that?” MENTAL NOTE, DEWALT IS BETTER. Or sometimes we just buy it right in front of the person. So it goes.
But I love buying gifts, I just do. I like to pick them out, hold them in my hand, interact with the staff at a store, and give them my money. It is a wonderful feeling to do something for someone else. It really is.
So what’s the problem, Dino? What’s gotten under your saddle blanket?
The EASTBAY RETAIL STORE has gotten under my saddle blanket.
So, if you work there, or own the joint, or own stock in the company, that’s fine. If you are the actual kid in question, I am sorry in advance, but you totally have this coming. But honestly, JUST CLOSE THE RETAIL STORE.
The fact is, the retail store is ignored by the company, and a result it has turned into a home for wayward former track standouts who now go to UWMC. It is a store that is really a place for employees to pick up their discounted wares, and the rest of us get lulled into thinking it is a real store when in fact it is not.
Here’s what happened. My younger brother wanted new Nike boots for Christmas, and I was happy to buy them for him. Thrilled, actually. So I went online, found boots on the Eastbay website, and called the store. I knew they would not be in the store, but the guy said they had lots in stock and could PICK them. So, I had the assurance that my boots would arrive in time for Christmas, and my brother would be happy. One gift off the list. I can trust Eastbay; they are a hometown shop, right?
WRONG.
I get to the store, and stand there for 2 text messages on my cellphone, while waiting for ANYONE to approach me to see if I might, you know, WANT SOMETHING. I suppose people often just come in from the cold, but, in this case I wanted something. You know, shoes. I guess you could ask, why not just order them online or through the phone bank. Well, shipping is like 12 bucks, and I LIVE HERE! So why not just pop over, and pick them up? It’s a store, right? When they say they will have something for you, they have it.
Well, FINALLY, Little Jimmy of the Plugged Nose Clan approached. Asked if I wanted anything. I stopped with the Crackberry, and said yes, I ordered some shoes, and would you please see if they are here.
Can I get your name?
So I told him my name. I even spelled my last name. It’s an unusual name for Wausau, so I expected some confusion.
Little Jimmy ambles away. Only to return a few moments later wanting to know how to spell my last name.
I spell my name again for Little Jimmy of the Customers are in the Way Clan.
Little Jimmy hobbles back to the secret retail area of magical arrivals.
I stand there for a few moments, and realize that Little Jimmy of the Let’s Kill Time and See if this Guy Will Leave Clan might not be coming back, so I am forced to look at wind breakers and jackets I am not going to buy. A full 4 minutes later (I wear a watch) Little Jimmy of the Oh Crap He is Still Here Clan approaches again and asks…I am sorry, what was the name again?
Now Little Jimmy of the About to Get Yelled At by A Customer Clan has a look of real terror on his plugged face. So I hand him my card, which has my name WRITTEN ON IT IN ENGLISH. Big Block letters. My name. PROPERLY SPELLED and everything.
So off Little Jimmy of the I Can’t Believe This Old Guy’s Balls Clan rumbles.
Within 30 seconds Little Jimmy returns and says, “Sorry we dont have them.”
And then I am off like an old lady to a bingo night and I say, “Can you check the computer for me?”
Little Jimmy of the Eye Rolling as Aggression Clan rolls said eyes and says sure. We approach the counter, a manager of the Eye Rolling Clan stands there and asks, “Can I help you?” to which I respond, “I ordered some shoes to be PICKED a few days ago, and I want to see if they are still in stock.”
To which I get a dual eye rolling. Little Jimmy hops on the old terminal, and tracks down that there are several hundred of this popular item in stock. So, I inquire, just for fun more than anything at this point, “Then why weren’t they picked when I ordered them?”
To which Little Jimmy of the Exacting Use of the English Language Clan responds with a shrug of his clearly overworked shoulders and a “I don’t know.”
I thought, oh so briefly, about asking Little Jimmy of the Missing the Actual Role of Retail Clan to explain to me about what an order is, and what the function of a store is, and the general concept of supply and demand, and purchasing and selling and the like. But instead I thanked Little Jimmy of the Undeserving of My Thanks Clan for his time, and walked out.
So I have to ask, why do we even bother shopping in stores? In general, yeah, Eastbay sucks, but other stores suck as well. Why do we even bother? So few in these stores have any idea what they are talking about, and so few care. It is like a front business for the Russian Mafia or something 8 out of 10 times. I just want to walk into a store, and have someone who knows something about whatever they are selling talk to me about it.
I confess, I worked in retail once, for one day, and I was that guy. So I quit, and ran away. I knew I had nothing to offer anyone that came in that big box store, so I left. The training was terrible, and I had no idea what I was going to sell, and they handed me a shirt, and cut me loose. And it was the day after Thanksgiving. I literally left in the middle of my time there, and never returned. So I do not work retail, and as a result know little about it.
But, we talk about this internet world, and we lament it. We bemoan the Web 2.0 world and the loss of connection. Well, I wonder why I should venture into a store and buy anything ever again? What is the point if we are faced with Little Jimmy of the Killing Time between Bioshock Campaigns Clan? Little Jimmy, who does not know a training shoe from a race day shoe?
I am sorry, but I have really just sort of had it. Have you had the same thing, or maybe a good experience?
by DeeDee Meyer on November 6th, 2007
Last week, a neighbor knocked on my door to ask for my signature on a petition to save the trees marked for removal by the Wausau Downtown Airport. A bit of a tree-hugger myself, I can sympathize with those in my southeast side neighborhood who have made it their mission to preserve the beauty and shade provided by these lovely trees.
There’s just one problem, though. The trees are already dead.
(more…)
by Marcus Nelson on October 30th, 2007
You know, this is really a bit depressing.
First it was Kelly’s. Then it was Kelly’s, only this time it was the Murdochs’ venture. Then it was Kelly’s again, but back to the old owner.
Most recently it became III. My wife and I have spent many evenings there meeting with friends, listening to music or just having a quiet drink together. It’s one of the few smoke-free establishments downtown.
So you can imagine my shock today when I strolled past III on Third today. There’s paper in the window announcing a change – again. What’s happening over there?
The rumors say that two of the three co-owners were bought out by the remaining owner, but I have no way of confirming this. Hmm… interesting development though, especially since there’s a new Chinese restaurant opening next store in the former Something’s Brewing space.
Side note: do we need another Chinese food restaurant?
