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The Rambling Insomniac
Tom is a 25+ year resident of Germantown and the surrounding community. He currently lives in Hubertus with his wife and two small kids on a hobby farm near Bark Lake. Tom's blog will likely not save the world, but hopefully, you'll get some enjoyment from his ramblings.
December 2007 - Posts
By Tom White
Thursday, Dec 27 2007, 04:31 PM
On Christmas Day, I spent an hour or so outside sledding with my daughter Lyndsy. We did this in our own front yard, which has no real slope to speak of. But with the hardened snow and ice combo that’s formed over the past few weeks, it made for some rather exciting sledding for a 4-year-old. Well, that is until her sled ran smack-dab into a tree. Now keep in mind, she couldn’t have been going any faster than 2–3mph when this happened, but to her, it was quite the dramatic and tragic event. This got me to thinking about how we all perceived things when we were little kids. As children, things always seemed so much more grandiose to us than they truly were.
Growing up in Colgate, my childhood friends and I named a hill by us “Killer Hill”, for it was the steepest, longest, meanest sledding hill in the entire world. It was the type of hill you never went sledding at alone, for fear that you might not make it home to Mommy for a comforting cup of hot cocoa. Even when we’d go sledding there as a group, we’d be sure to tell everyone along our way where we were going, as if to brag about the adventure we were about to undertake. Then as I began growing into my teenage years, I started realizing that almost everyone I knew had been to “Killer Hill”. Of course, this didn’t make any sense to me since none of these people grew up near me? But then I figured it out that every neighborhood and/or city in the Midwest had it’s own version of “Killer Hill”. Looking back, it strikes me as funny how each of us as teenagers would boastfully proclaim that our “Killer Hill” was the biggest and baddest sledding hill in the entire world.
In subsequent years, I’ve passed by my “Killer Hill” while snowmobiling, and I was quite surprised how small it actually was. It was nothing like the mean, child-eating menace I remembered it being as a kid. In fact, it was just a small, gently slopping hill that unceremoniously fed itself into a cow pasture. I guess this helps me understand why my daughter caused such a ruckus when her sled bumped into that tree on our front lawn. I wonder if next year, as she goes through her first year of school, she’ll describe our front yard as “Killer Hill” to all of her classmates?
G’Night G’Town!
While we try to teach our children all about life,
our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt
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By Tom White
Wednesday, Dec 19 2007, 08:26 PM
Last week, the NBC Nightly News aired a story about a Starbucks in Florida where a rather unusual thing happened. It seems one guy in the drive-through line decided to pay for the order of the person in line behind him. Then, that person paid for the person that was behind them, and this set-off a chain reaction of people buying drinks for total strangers. Apparently, this went on for several hundred customers before it stopped. Despite some blogs I’ve seen claiming that this is merely a Public Relations campaign by Starbucks to make more money, the story had a good feel to it. Especially now, during the holiday season when giving should truly be on our minds. Unfortunately, most of us get caught in a trap this time of year of whining about the daunting task of Christmas shopping. Honestly, who hasn’t proudly proclaimed to anyone that will listen, “I finally finished my Christmas shopping!” once they have it completed? I know I have. But despite my public whining, I always keep myself grounded and try to remember the purpose of gift giving in the first place.
The tradition of gifts at Christmas is often linked all the way back to the birth of Jesus Christ. As the Bible describes, when the Magi (wise men) saw Jesus, they were filled with such joy, they gave him gifts to celebrate. It’s such a simple and pure story, but it often gets lost somewhere between the pressure to find that “perfect gift”, “One-Day-Only” sales, finding a parking spot at the mall, and all the other hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Why do we so easily forget that the true gift is in the giving itself?
If you’re like me, and you’re feeling stressed about all those last minute gifts you still need to get, take a minute to remember why you are buying them in the first place. And as you venture out, maybe buy a coffee for the stranger in line behind you, or pass up that front row parking spot and let the minivan with the stressed out mother of four have it instead. Little gifts you give like these will quickly make your heart grow larger, much like the Grinch’s did, and you’ll start feeling the true meaning of Christmas.
G’Night G’ Town!
Come they told me (pa-rum pum pum pum)
A newborn King to see (pa-rum pum pum pum)
Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
So to honor Him (pa-rum pum pum pum)
when we come Little Baby (pa-rum pum pum pum)
I am a poor boy too (pa-rum pum pum pum)
I have no gift to bring (pa-rum pum pum pum)
that's fit to give our King
Shall I play for You? (pa-rum pum pum pum)
On my drum Mary nodded (pa-rum pum pum pum)
The ox and lamb kept time (pa-rum pum pum pum)
I played my drum for Him (pa-rum pum pum pum)
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me (pa-rum pum pum pum)
Me and my drum
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By Tom White
Thursday, Dec 13 2007, 04:45 PM
My wife Stephanie and I needed a weekend away, so we spent last weekend in New York City being typical tourists. We visited all the usual sites including Times Square, Central Park, Chinatown, Little Italy, The World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, The Statue of Liberty, etc. We also enjoyed typical New York customs such as eating hot dogs on the sidewalk, seeing a Broadway musical, ordering corned beef sandwiches at a deli, sipping coffee at Starbucks, riding the subway, etc. but, both Stephanie and I each had other goals in mind for the weekend.
As for me, my goal was to be mugged. Seriously! I purposefully kept a small wad of money in one pocket just in case it happened. Not that I was looking to get shot or anything like that, I just thought it would be cool to be mugged in New York City. Well, that never happened, which is a testament to great job they’ve done in New York in reducing crime. We traveled everywhere in that city, at all hours of the day and night, and never once did we feel unsafe.
So, if you’re thinking I’m weird for wanting to be mugged, consider my spouse. Steph’s goal for the weekend was to see a rat! Every street we would walk down, she’d look down into the alleys and down into the garbage collection areas just to see if she could find one. And so comes our last day in New York, and we’ve had no rat sightings as of yet. But then, by a mere stroke of the Rat God’s luck, on our last subway ride before we had to catch our flight home, it happened. We were coming down the stairs towards a subway platform where a bunch of other tourists were gathered. Suddenly, some gasps and shrieks came from the crowd and fingers starting pointing to the subway tracks. There, in all their New York City glory, were two huge rats running down the tracks. I rushed and tried to get a picture, but the dirty rats scurried off before I could. Just then I realized that I’m just as crazy as my wife, as I was just as thrilled as she was to see a couple of rats.
I guess our trip can be summarized like this:
Hotel Room - $495 a night
2 Tickets to a Broadway musical - $500
Roundtrip airfare for two - $630
Seeing two rats running down the subway tracks in New York – Priceless
Maybe next year, we’ll just take a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo?
G’Night G’Town
Ben, you’re always running here and there,
You feel you’re not wanted anywhere.
If you ever look behind,
and dont like what you find,
theres something you should know.
Youve got a place to go
(youve got a place to go).~ “Ben”, by Michael Jackson
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By Tom White
Thursday, Dec 6 2007, 04:18 PM
I usually don’t write a whole lot about the local scene here in Washington County, but I need to give some kudos out to two different local businesses. The first is Schaefer’s Choose and Harvest Tree Farm located in Slinger, just off of Highway 60. I took my family there this past Saturday to buy our Christmas tree for this year. We went late morning, hoping to get a jump on the “creeping white death” (well, according to the local media anyway) that was headed our way. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones that tried to get a jump, as the place was bustling! Despite the crowd, everyone at Schaefer’s made it a pleasurable experience. Someone was at the entrance helping cars get parked and tending to overall traffic control. Once parked, we made our way back to the pole barn, where several staff were quick to ask if we were there to harvest a tree. They then pointed out the sample trees on display and pointed us in the direction of the wagons used to transport eager tree shoppers out to the tree fields. They had at least four tractor-pulled wagons in operation that day, one of which was being driven by Santa himself. Our kids got a huge kick out of the ride over the river and through the woods on the wagon, which included blankets to bundle up in. Once out in the field, we were greeted by another staff member who pointed out the location of the various trees available for harvest. Saws were readily available for anyone who needed one. There were thousands of trees to choose from, all of varying size and shape. One looked better than the next, and we had a blast wandering with the kids through the maze of trees looking for the perfect one for our home. After cutting down our tree, we quickly boarded another wagon that took us back to the pole barn. Once we unloaded, it was like a production line of measuring trees, writing up receipts, collecting money and bailing trees upon request. Our perfect 7-foot plus Balsam Fir cost us only $30, which is a steal compared to what you pay on many of the local tree lots. As I loaded the tree onto our truck, my wife and kids enjoyed the bon-fire the Schaefer’s had going, along with complimentary cookies, hot chocolate and coffee. Despite the huge crowd that day, the Schaefer’s staff made the entire experience one that was fun and enjoyable for my family. What a great way to get us all into the Christmas spirit!
My next kudo goes to German Glass and Gift Imports, Inc. of Germantown. The place is tucked away on Lannon Road, just south of Highway 175. I make it a tradition to go there each year to buy a couple ornaments, and to browse their unique selection of German gifts. They have everything from ornaments, to music boxes, to cuckoo clocks, to authentic German “smokers” and nutcrackers, to fine crystal, to imported candies, chocolates and gingerbreads, and the list goes on and on. If you want true authentic German gifts, this place is no joke. The owner, named Heinz, is always quick to ask if you need any assistance while you shop, and he is extremely knowledgeable about all that his store has to offer. While I’ve bought many things there in the past, I always come back for the ornaments, as the selection is incredible. I make a tradition of buying my wife a Santa ornament each year, and they literally have dozens of Santa’s to choose from. This year, I also started a tradition of buying my kids ornaments. I bought my son Buck a fire truck ornament, and bought my daughter Lyndsy a school bus ornament.
After we set up our freshly cut tree on Sunday, I snuck the newly purchased and wrapped ornaments under the tree, and told the kids that Santa must have stopped early. They were totally excited to get their beautiful and unique ornaments, and they were the first ones hung on our tree this year.
If you know of any other local businesses that deserve some recognition, let me know about them!
G’Night G’Town!
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. ~Larry Wilde
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By Tom White
Saturday, Dec 1 2007, 02:30 PM
If there is anything that cannnn make a grown man feel totally helpless, it’s when the electronic gadgets in his life start failing. Now, maybe if you’re some sort of MIT Electronics Engineer or something, this doesn’t bother you, but for a nnnnormal guy like me, I’m helpless in the new millennium of electronics. And boy, I have been on a roll lately!
A few weeks back, my electric garage door opener started acting up. It won’t close all the way, it comes up too far, and sometimes it just decides to do some very bizarre things that I can’t even explain. No matter how much I putz with it and try and adjust it, it just seems to have a mind of its ownnnn lately.
Then a few days later, the remote control for one of our DVD players started acting up. I tried some nnnew batteries, but got the same dysfunctional results. Argh!
Thennnnnn just this week, our satellite/DVR box decides to go on the fritz. At the time I realized this, the kids were ranting at me about wanting to watch onnne of their recorded movies. Since the DVR wasn’t working, I threw in one of their favorite DVD’s. Yep, you guessed it! The DVD player wasn’t working either! Then to top it off, my wife says to me, “Honey, the light switch in the shed is broken and I’d like you to fix it”. My response to her was a polite “Okay dear”, but what I really wanted to say was…well, I probably can’t publish that here.
And finally, just yesterday, I tried to print some couponns off of the Internet, and voilà, our computer printer isn’t workinnnng. Ugh!
Oh great, I’m just now realizing the “N” key on my computer keyboard is sticking. I better get off the computer before this thing blows up too.
I guess the electronics rebellion at The White House continnnnues!
G’NNNNNNNNNNNNight G’Town!
All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy
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