Shout Out to Rapids Transmission!

Good morning, Wisconsin.

Morning, world.

It's a new day.

Thanks for kicking it off with us at WFHR.

Got your host, James behind the mic.

I am joined by Melissa and the best listeners in radio.

Thanks for joining us, everybody.

We're having a great Tuesday out there.

We're here to have some fun with you.

We're going to be tucking some entertainment in a little bit.

Melissa and I will get into another fun one.

We've got four tips that will save you money while planning a summer vacation.

That coming up.

But we're kicking off the 10 o'clock hour in a really fun way.

We have got Michelle Rogas joining us right now from Rapids Transmission.

A new heart of Wisconsin Chamber member.

I want to send a shout out to the Chamber.

When you become a new Chamber member, these are the kind of things you get to do.

You have to put up with my questions.

Melissa, Michelle does have the headphones on so she can hear you.

Michelle, how are you doing? Thanks for being here.

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Appreciate the time.

I had to say that I was very excited about talking with you today.

In part because I love history.

I love the history of this area.

If you don't mind where I'd like to start with some of the history of the business.

Sure.

It's kind of come a little bit full circle.

In the 80s, my husband's family, so his father and his uncle came up.

To the Rapids area, they actually opened the first Rapids Transmission.

It didn't do well.

They wound up closing it.

They went back down to the Adams-Frencha area.

His uncle came back up in the 90s and opened up our NR Transmission.

They actually opened up the location on 73 in Nikusa.

That's where it started.

Then about 10 years ago, they moved to the current location, which is on 8th and chestnut.

Then this past January, my uncle and my uncle-in-law decided to retire.

My husband and I are two girls decided to...

Well, we moved our girls up here to go to school at Emmanuel Lutheran.

We were looking for a business to kind of take over.

It fell in our lap that his uncle was going to retire.

We purchased the business and then we decided to change the name back to the original

and going back to Rapids Transmission.

I'll tell you right now, nostalgia is huge right now.

That's a really cool story.

I love when things fall into place.

Yes, exactly.

It's also got to feel really cool for his uncle and everything to be able to keep this in the family

and keep that tradition going.

Just like going back to the name, that is something that's keeping consistent.

All of the employees are the same and actually it really is a family.

We kind of strive on the fact that we are.

But besides my husband and I and then his cousin is actually our transmission builder.

And then our other mechanic, he is the one who's been there for 20 years.

So it is like a small, close-knit family and it's great.

It's a great atmosphere.

Whenever we get a chance to talk to a local business and hear these kind of things,

especially when they have history involved or family involved,

it's always noteworthy, especially with where we are in our community and in this area,

in such.

But one of the things that I really love about this,

and I know if I know worthy of something, my pop and my grandpa used to talk about,

and he meant this a little tongue and cheek,

but he wouldn't go to a mechanic unless it was something in sons.

He always had to go to family mechanics.

And it was in part because there's great mechanics all around.

There really are.

But there was something about that family atmosphere that he liked to support,

but that he also liked the energy, the vibe,

just the way the attitude that it was and stuff,

and the way the business was usually run for him.

Between Illinois, Wisconsin, wherever he was living, he started by that motto.

And it worked pretty good for him.

He's a truck driver and started to do what he was talking about.

I do think that there is something a little bit to that.

Again, it's not taking anything from any mechanic shop that's out there being run by just people.

But in our area, I think it just carries a little more weight.

I agree.

And everybody has a vehicle pretty much, right?

And there's so much business out there.

And everybody can have a piece of the pie.

So go with who you're comfortable with.

Yeah.

And that boy, especially mechanics and hairstyles.

Those are the ones you go to what you're comfortable with.

You find something that works for you,

and especially with a business like yours.

Because this is also a passion for you guys.

You guys enjoy this kind of work and like being a part of this industry.

And it shows in the amount of service that you guys offer.

I want to talk about that a little bit about the different things that you guys offer over at the shop.

So we pretty much can do everything.

Like we're a full service auto shop.

The one thing that we really don't do right now is tires.

It is something that we are looking into.

But our main, I guess, niche is really transmission.

We build transmissions.

We have transmissions on the shelf.

We can install them, remove them.

But really the heart of what we do is building transmission.

So if there's a problem in the vehicle, we can we do inspections.

And then we can take them apart and put them back together.

That's one of the things that I appreciate about this area, especially too,

is there are so many great mechanics, but there's also certain people that are better at certain things.

It's just the way life works.

And I think when it comes to transmission, you guys really have this down.

This is something that is really your go-to with that.

It cannot recommend enough.

You guys when it comes to that, among other things.

Because you guys also offer all the basics oil changes.

We do.

Oil changes, like, you know, flushes, break jobs.

Yeah, I mean, I think we always say we can do anything bumper to bumper.

There you go.

Yeah.

Is there anything in particular as far as the services offer that juice thinks stands out,

that you other than the transmission?

Because doing some of the module programming, some of the other things that you guys all over there.

That is one thing that we do.

And it is very unique.

Most of the time, if you do programming, you usually have to go to a dealer.

My husband, who also owns it with me, obviously, he's very tech savvy.

So we have brought programming in-house.

So if we do change the transmission, especially on the newer ones that are very, you know, computer centered,

most of them do need to be reprogrammed once they're, you know, you have work done.

So we are able to do that in-house instead of having to send it to the dealer to have done.

So that is a huge thing for us.

What a big feature, too.

Especially when you mentioned before about all of us having vehicles,

we're all tied to our vehicles and need them to get to work or appointments or any of these things.

Being able to get your vehicle that much quicker with being able to offer the service in town,

not having to ship it off or something like that, that's a giant.

It's a really nice service to be able to offer.

Yeah.

It's been great.

It's really helped out.

And good on you guys, too, because I know a lot of mechanics in town and everything.

And I certainly, I would say overall, all of them have gotten into the tech industry somewhat and everything,

but some have been just a little bit more hesitant than others.

And this is where that specialty thing comes in, I think, to play with older vehicles.

There's some mechanics that might be a better idea to go to, but almost anything nowadays, pretty much.

And it's been this way for at least 20, 30 years, I would say, maybe even longer.

Has some tech component.

Right.

I'm looking at vehicles right now, and I know how old I'm going to sound.

But nothing has a key anymore.

And I'm just trying to get used to this.

I've tried like, I've got, I have a nice keychain.

I like using it.

It's weird.

It's weird.

There's so much of this going on.

You guys are really right there on.

You're on the cusp of or keeping up with.

And that is so important nowadays for our mechanics.

Yes.

I agree.

And we also, you know, the other thing that we did in the shop when we took it over,

is we upgraded our systems, right?

So we now have the capability to communicate with our customers via text message.

People work and it's hard to get in touch with them on the phone sometimes.

So if you send a quick text message, hey, this is what's going on with my car,

they can respond faster, quicker, and we can kind of take care of them easier.

The other thing is, we went with an appointment system so we don't have cars or a delay.

How long is this going to take?

It's going to take days.

We try to have a concise calendar appointment system where we can get you in and out faster

because we know that your vehicle is important.

That's awesome.

Yeah, that's fantastic.

And another thing I really appreciated that you pointed out when we chatted earlier, Michelle,

was that you were a family-friendly business.

That your waiting room is welcoming to kids.

Yes.

I have twin girls who are nine and they've taken over my office sometimes.

But we have, you know, I'm a mom and family is important.

And so we have, you know, coloring books.

We have crayons.

My kids bring legos and we really want to make it, you know, family centered.

So if you do have to bring your kids and it is an hour away, your kids aren't mom, are we done yet?

Are we done yet?

So we try to incorporate things into the waiting room so that the kids can have a little bit of fun and, you know, not be so bored.

That's awesome.

Yeah, that's really cool.

Yeah, really good idea.

Also, so much of what we've talked about really shows how much you guys have paid attention to the community

and in tune with that and understanding what the community is looking for and a lot of those things.

Without the community, we wouldn't be here.

I mean, you know, and that's like, I know we were going to talk about,

but, you know, we're having a grand reopening party on the 31st.

And the one thing we really wanted to do was it's kind of a way to give back to the community

to let them know that we are, you know, are here.

We're under a new name.

But yeah, I mean, you know, so we're on the 31st.

We're doing, you know, free tacos, free ice cream.

We're having a face painter all at our cost.

So we just want to really to kind of give it out to the community to say thank you for being with us.

The business itself has been there for 30 years.

So it's a way to say thank you.

And to, you know, let you know that we are still here.

It might be a different name, but it is still the same great people and family, you know, in the community.

I am curious, too, of how many old school listeners out there

and people that have been in the area for a while are, you know, the rapid transmission.

It's nostalgic for that.

And I think that's really cool, too.

And I'm glad you brought up the reopening party.

We're very excited about this.

We always, you know, a party.

That's pretty much it.

Anytime we hear the word party, we get very excited around here.

We want to be a part of it and we're going to be.

We appreciate you guys hosting.

Yeah, we are so excited.

Let us come back.

Yes, as Michelle was saying, they have their grand reopening party coming up Saturday, May 31st.

It'll go 11 to 2.

We'll be there broadcasting from 11 to 1 over our sister station.

1055 WIRI.

We'll be promoting that and talking about it a lot as we build up to it.

But we're very excited about being a part of this with you guys.

It's going to be a really good time.

I hope so.

Where are you guys exactly located just to make sure that we hammer that home?

So the actual body shopping where the event will be is 731-8 street south.

So a corner of eighth and chestnut.

The office, if you ever need anything or you want to just come in, the office itself is 821 chestnut.

So it's that you'll see like an auto shop.

It used to be a gas station.

So it looks like a convenience store.

And then there's a big white building that used to be, I think it was a dry cleaner first and then a doctor's office.

Yeah.

But yeah, yeah.

So we've taken it over and it's right now our main office.

So in the waiting room area.

So that is like if you need to schedule an appointment, you just want to stop in and say hi.

We have an office dog.

She loves people.

So yeah.

So you can come and say hi and see her.

She's usually, if she's on the floor, she's standing right in front of the door.

Yeah.

Ready for pets.

Yes.

Ready for pets in treats.

We have treats.

You can give her too.

She'll love you forever.

I'm going to warn you right now and come by just to see the dog.

I don't even have anything I need done on my car.

I'm just going to come by and see the dog.

She is the cutest.

I have to say she's mine.

But she's a chug.

So she's chihuahua and a pug.

Oh, dog.

So cute.

Yeah.

I didn't know that was a breed.

Yeah, dog.

They're adorable.

That's a great breed.

It's great.

It's great people over there at Rapids Transmission.

Michelle, thank you so much for hanging out with us this morning.

Oh, it's not any.

You did too good of a job.

You're going to have to come back sometime.

Okay.

And we're really lucky.

We're really looking forward to meeting you guys over at the shop and being a part of this

great event, the rendering opening going on at Rapids Transmission.

May 31st, 11-2.

We'll meet you there, everybody.

We'll be there broadcasting live from 11-1 at WRI1055.

Looking forward to it.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Michelle, if people have follow-up questions, they'd like to get a hold of you guys.

What is the best way to reach you?

Best way is usually by on the phone.

So 7-1-5-4-2-3-1-1-0-0.

We pretty much answer the phone anytime.

So even if we're after hours or on the weekends, we can pick up the phone.

Otherwise, go on the website, Facebook.

Like us on Facebook.

Yeah, we have monthly specials that we post on there, too.

It's a good idea to keep up on that social media channel.

Like that page, everybody.

Like the things that they're doing.

Share their posts on your page.

You never know who might see them otherwise.

And be sure to bookmark the web page RapidsTransmission.com.

RapidsTransmission.com.

I know I have, and I look forward to seeing you guys soon.

Great.

And it definitely will look forward to the event coming up.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot, Michelle.

This was fun.

We will be back with more show coming up here at Mornings at WFHR.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show at WFHR.

You do it when she was at studio!...

She's watching her leave,.

And it's just on her.

So you did before and after.

I'm just the worst.

Melissa and James here with you.

I do want to send us a shout out to Michelle

from RapidsTransmission.

That was a lot of fun.

Yeah.

I enjoyed talking with her.

It would be a great event on the 31st.

I'm really looking forward to the moment.

Next time, I want to see myself.

Really looking forward to it.

It's going to be a blast.

I will be in studio running the board,

making sure that everybody's

sound good and everything.

But I vicariously will be living

through all of the people down there.

Diving into some entertainment news now.

Sesame Street will live on.

Thanks to Netflix.

Weird.

Yeah.

Yeah, weird.

And especially like a day or two after,

Seth and I just took Netflix and just threw them

over the colds and everything.

We did that yesterday, yeah.

It was yesterday, yeah, so sorry.

Time is a flat circle.

It's okay.

So they struck a deal for new episodes.

Until recently, Sesame Workshop was in business

with Warner Brothers' discovery.

Under that deal, the episodes wouldn't air on PBS

until months after their debut on HBO and Max.

Soon to be HBO Max or whatever.

But now, new episodes of Sesame Street

will air on PBS the same day they hit Netflix.

Sesame Street will begin its 56th season

later this year.

Well good.

I'm glad they're sticking around

because that's an important show.

Yeah.

There's nothing that gets people more bent out of shape

than talking about other people's money

and what to do with it.

And especially when it comes into, you know,

PBS and public broadcasting and these kind of things.

I'm not going to spend the next 20 minutes

rambling about the importance of public television.

I shouldn't have to.

If you need convincing on it, that's you.

That's on you.

I know for a fact myself, my sister, my brother, my children.

Basically, every kid I ever went to school with

was made better and was that much better prepared

for the world because of public television.

Yeah.

We are fortunate to live in a world in a country

that has public broadcasting.

That has the ability to be able to do the things they do.

Many of you out there may have been,

and I'm happy for you.

Maybe you got to go to school and everybody looked like you.

Maybe you got to go to, you lived in a town or

living in the area.

Everybody looks like you and everybody likes the same things

that you do and all this stuff.

If you grew up in that area, well, I don't know what TV

living is like because that is not the real world.

The real world needs Sesame Street.

It needs public access.

It needs public broadcasting.

Yeah.

Because I mean, maybe your parents had time to sit down

and read with you at night or in the afternoon or evening.

But a lot of kids, their parents work a lot.

And so to be able to have educational programming

that they can have access to for free,

is only going to help them throughout their lives.

There's no, the list of negatives and positives

when it comes to PBS or public broadcasting.

It's a very simple list.

And it's overwhelmingly positive.

The negative is something that is,

ask the people why they're doing it.

Why are they cutting so much funding other than to give you,

to make you look at this hand, not this hand.

Look at the left hand, not the right hand.

Look at the left hand, not the right.

That's what this is.

That's a big part of this.

And the idea of trying to save American people money,

how many of you live in a better life?

How many of you got a bigger paycheck?

Because they cut public,

because they cut funding to anything,

anything.

How many of you have seen an increase in your lives?

When's that happening?

When's that going?

When's that supposed to happen?

Because for every cut they make,

they want to tell you it's supposed to be

for the betterment of you and wasteful spending.

That's their favorite phrase right now.

Wasteful for spending.

Well, tell me what the waste is

when you're putting money into our future.

Because as long as any of us have ever lived,

we've all heard the same phrase.

The greatest natural resource we have is our children.

Anything that puts into our children

can therefore not be a waste of money.

Cannot be a waste of funding.

This is logic.

This isn't me trying to use opinions,

or some cool survey I found.

This is logic coal.

You can't have one without the other.

You can't say the children are important.

There are future.

And then not invest in them.

Right.

It makes no darn sense.

The only people trying to make it sense

are people who are doubling down,

who are being caught up in a lie,

like Van Orten, or some of the other people in this state

who told you,

looked you right in the eye and told you

they weren't going to mess with Social Security.

They were not going to mess with public funding

and then they turned around and did it.

And they're not going to make cuts to the VA.

Well, guess what?

And I don't blame a rat for being a rat.

But what I do blame is the people

that let them get away with this.

When they lie to you in your face,

then two months, three months later,

they're going on and doing it.

And then their followers, their constituents,

double down and agree with them,

even though that was not the agreement

when they were voted in.

It doesn't make any logical sense.

If you can make it make logical sense,

please call up 424-2600.

Because I'm getting to the point

where I'm not burnt out,

I'm not done,

but I'm awfully frustrated.

They're a little tired.

I'm a little tired.

But that's more so I have no good,

I don't have a good sleep schedule.

That's more of me.

But this does kind of add to it a bit.

I will not blame the government

for my bad sleeping.

That is not their fault.

They can only do so much.

They try. I'm not going to blame them for that.

That's on me.

What I will blame the government for, though,

is what I feel is a misappropriation

of our taxpayer dollars.

I want my taxpayer dollars to go

to pay for things like public broadcasting,

for things like school lunches for kids,

for the things that make our society better,

not tax cuts for the rich

that don't need them.

Invest in our society.

Yeah, they're only looking out for them.

They're only looking out for themselves,

when they were hired to look out for us.

Whitney Houston's estate is

celebrating the 40th anniversary

of her debut in music with a tour this fall.

Really?

It's called The Voice of Whitney,

a symphonic celebration.

It'll include original masters

and remastered recordings of her hits

with new musical arrangements,

plus some never-before-seen footage

and interviews.

We've got two plans to take our tour internationally,

which is where Whitney did a majority

of her concert tours throughout her career.

The Voice of Whitney is unique concert experience.

The show originally premiered late

last August in Chicago,

and has a lot more dates planned for

because of the success of those shows.

Hmm, I'd be tempted to see that.

Yeah.

This is always an interesting

feeling thing to me,

because, obviously, Whitney is no longer with us,

and this is more of her estate

than making money on her name.

Yeah, but things that were released

that her fans would want to see.

Right, right. It's a mixed bag.

It's not a perfect scenario,

but what is?

It's better than,

I think it's better than just sitting on these interviews

and sitting on this music.

Right, and not doing anything with it.

Yeah.

One thing I really love about this Melissa

is the idea of younger generations

getting an idea of knowing who Whitney Houston is.

And being able to experience her talent.

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

We talked about this on the Sunrise show a little bit.

Just wanted to cover it over here,

just in case anybody had missed it.

Because I think it's kind of cool.

Did you know that Bruce Springsteen

recorded a country album?

No.

He did this 30 years ago.

Really?

And it is about to see the light of day.

While he was recording his album,

The Ghost of Tom Joed,

he did this back in 1995.

Bruce was listening to a lot of country music.

So much so that he also recorded a country album

alongside with the making of Tom Joed.

The album was originally titled

Somewhere North of Nashville.

Great title.

But it never got released.

Well, Luckily Bruce's new project

tracks two of the lost albums

will show his long lost countryside.

The album is coming out June 27th.

There's a song out right now

that if you want to check it out called Repo Man.

It's a natural fit.

I was talking about this with Seth.

My dad told me about this a long time ago.

Bruce Springsteen early on in his career

was there were pegging him

to be the next Bob Dylan.

They were thinking the next big folk artist

and everything.

It really isn't until born in the USA

that he becomes more of a pop star,

rock star, those things.

Bruce's whole kind of thing was songwriting

and letting it just focus on the guitar

and the voice.

This is kind of going back to that a lot of that

it feels like.

Interesting.

I'd be interested to hear his country album.

There's also a lot to be said about this

with a lot of the movement

to country music by a lot of pop stars

and everything.

But the fact that he did this

what he did 30 years ago.

30 years ago.

I think that gives it an entirely different feel.

Oh yeah.

Where I'm going with it is that

there's nothing new under the sun.

Yeah.

Post Malone Beyoncé going country

is nothing new.

Artisabit Ray Charles did this back in the day.

It's nothing new.

People have been doing it for a very long time.

It's fun to sing different styles of music

as a performer.

I would think so.

I know as an actor,

I don't want to play the same part over and over again.

I get it.

There's a small screen.

Jeopardy Masters quarter finals

around at eight o'clock on ABC.

The 27th season finale of the voices

on at nine o'clock at eight o'clock on ABC.

I can't believe it.

I don't know if you heard it in my voice.

I was shocked.

There's a couple of interesting things.

Sarah Silverman's got a new stand-up special on Netflix.

But the reason I'm talking about this is

by now I think a lot of people

in the state have already heard.

There is a new Netflix documentary coming out today.

The Fall of Farve.

It's documentary about Brett Farve's NFL career

and these scandals that marred his legacy.

There's a lot of talk

about what is going to be in this documentary.

Oh, I bet.

There's a lot of die-hard fans out there

that are probably going to be happy with it.

Or maybe, who knows?

I don't have any pre-

I'm not sure would-

Pre-conceived notions.

Yeah, going into it.

I do think that from what we're hearing,

people that were interviewed for quite a while

when it comes to this documentary,

including I believe our own Mike Clemens

was interviewed for the documentary.

I don't know what they used of theirs

or how much they used of that material

or anything.

But it definitely has some local ties to it.

And again, that they're releasing this

while he's still alive.

Interesting.

Yeah, it's weird.

It's weird and interesting.

You wonder how accurate and how good the reporting can be

I do think, though, that regardless of what the documentary is,

good, bad, factual, or not,

it is another opportunity for us as a society

to do something that we have to-

We're going to have to learn to get better

and better about as we go forward.

Can you separate the artist and the work?

Can you separate the athlete

and the person and the man?

Right.

Yeah, because as an athlete,

when he was quarterback for Green Bay,

I mean, he did a lot of good things, didn't he?

I mean, that's during the time period where I was watching football.

He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

He's got records that nobody will ever break.

He brought a franchise that was hurting

to the Promised Land.

Not alone, of course, but he was a gigantic part of it.

I mean, the quarterback kind of sets the tone for the team.

He's also done some really scummy things.

Some really nasty things.

And I don't even know if some of it's going to be in the documentary

because I'm thinking about him and a hot tub.

I'm not even talking about some of the stuff

that he did in New York and some other places.

Well, I was just thinking of when he was joined the Vikings.

Right, right. There's that story.

Yeah, right.

Well done, my friend.

Come on, that was really good for me.

He's serious.

There we go.

That was good.

That is already released on Netflix.

I believe it's already on there.

Also, if you're interested, go check it out.

We'll come back after our new sports and partner break.

We're going to talk about four tips that will save you some money

while planning that summer vacation.

Coming up on the morning show at WFHR.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show here at WFHR.

Seems like we got some new bumpers.

Yeah, yeah, we do.

Caribbean Queen playing us in.

Melissa, James, take it out with you.

I thought it has a...

This song has a summer vibe to it, right?

Yeah, we got a summer feel to it.

You got the 80s saxophone playing.

You're just thinking of something.

Well, that kind of leads us into talking a little bit about summer and summer vacations

and you notice I did not say summer vacay.

I'm not saying that.

If you're planning...

I mean, teach the road out of it.

It's time to start thinking about booking your flights and hotels.

Here are four tips that should save you a little bit of cash during it.

Be flexible with your dates.

If you're looking into traveling on July 4th weekend,

it's going to be a lot more expensive than traveling on a random Tuesday or Wednesday in June.

Yeah.

Also, try to avoid flying on Sundays and Mondays.

Those days tend to be most expensive,

according to the data from FlightHopper.

Hopper.

Hopper.

That's an hopper.

Hopper.

I haven't heard of that one.

That makes...

That's pretty much the same as it's always been, I think.

As long as I've been flying over 20 some years.

Well, yeah, because if someone is going to take a three-day weekend,

or even at just the weekend,

you're going to come home on a Sunday or a Monday.

Those are more expensive.

If you can swing it a different day, it might save you a couple bucks.

It will save you a couple bucks, really.

Don't assume your vacation rentals are cheapest.

There was a time where vacation rentals like Airbnb's were usually cheaper than a regular hotel.

But is that always...

Yeah, it's not always the case anymore.

With all the fees that get tacked down,

so shop around, consider all your options.

And make sure they list hot water as one of your amenities.

That's so bad.

I'm sorry.

Conversation.

Nicely done.

Nicely done.

I love a good call back.

Stay in the outskirts of the city.

I like this one.

Yeah.

The closer you stay to all the action in the city center,

the more expensive the hotel is going to be.

So consider staying in areas outside of the city center,

especially if there's good public transportation.

Yeah.

But that also depending on what city you're staying in,

make sure that it's a safe area.

Everybody, yes.

Please make sure of that.

Do your homework.

One of the, I think, advantages of social media nowadays

is being able to literally look at what the locals are saying

and thinking and stuff.

Yeah.

And you can always check ratings on hotels.

And there's, I think, websites where you can even

look to see, like, crime rates in areas.

And I think one of the helping factors with this too

is, I don't know, for me, especially if you're going outside of the country,

anybody that I know that has gone to the United Kingdom,

they tend to stay outside of England, outside of London.

Outside of a major city, they don't necessarily stay in the major city.

And they seem to enjoy themselves more because they're getting the real

English experience, if you will, or something.

Yeah.

Experiencing the culture without all the touristy stuff.

I really, we were talking about it earlier today.

I really want to go to Louisiana one day.

And I absolutely, of course, I want to see New Orleans.

I want to see everything about it.

But I don't really want to stay in New Orleans necessarily.

I'd like to say right outside of it or something like that.

Yeah, just being able to experience the countryside is really cool.

I've only been to London.

And I never got to get outside of the city.

And so that was, that's still a goal of mine.

I was thwarted a few a long time ago.

But I will rise again.

Yes you will.

I have a new passport now.

Yes you will.

Yes you do.

And I love the word thwarted.

Anytime you can put that into a conversation, it's great.

But yeah, I always wanted to see the countryside.

And I can tell you from my trip down to Louisiana when I was like,

I think it was 17 or 18.

The countryside is so pretty.

But I also like swamps.

So I mean, you kind of got to like that.

Me too.

I do too.

I've never really been around in that much.

So I want to experience that.

And that's the, I think the main thing that gets me to want to travel is not,

oh, you can go to Louisiana Experience Martigraw.

You know, and yeah, I want to do that.

I want to experience it.

But I want to see the, I want to see things that all of it.

Yeah, I want to see the swamps.

I want to see the local.

The beaten trap.

Yeah.

The local agriculture.

And what it's like.

I like seeing those things.

When I, the first month I was in California, I don't think I looked up.

I, I, whether I was looking at the, you know, the mountains and everything,

maybe a little bit in the ocean.

But mainly it was just the plant life out there in the trees and the differences in that.

And our country is so huge.

And we have such a variety of, of plant life and things like that too.

Experience like the, the moss in the trees.

Yes.

In Louisiana is just, it's fantastic.

I want to know.

And it's, it's like that out in Washington too, which you went necessarily, you know,

with a very, very far apart, but they both have really cool trees.

Yeah, the only reason I know that is my, my youngest spent time in DC.

And she told me.

Oh, I met Washington State.

Oh, okay.

Well, they got stuff like that in DC too.

Oh, cool.

Why does everybody have mossy trees but us?

Yeah, yeah, wait a minute.

It may be a mix of it up.

Maybe I, yeah.

But I know what you're saying.

Yeah.

Got there.

And the final one on this list is pay with credit card points.

Oh, yeah.

This one's tough if you don't have many points saved up already.

But if you are sitting on a bunch of points, now's the time to use them.

And you also have to have a credit card with points.

Yeah.

And the only certain ones do that.

Mine doesn't.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's, that, that last one, I don't know how much that is very helpful.

I think it's more of American express kind of thing, isn't it?

I think so.

Or you get some travel points with them.

There are a few subjects I know less about than credit cards.

I'm just going to nod my head with whatever is being said.

I'm just going to.

But I, these tips I was looking for more tips that are similar, you know,

and other things going on.

And I'm basically seeing all the, the, the same stuff.

And especially one thing that I don't know, they, they kind of touched on with this one a little bit,

but not a hundred percent is, is making a budget and set, setting a budget and sticking to it.

Yeah.

Because it's really easy to overspend.

And, and the deals are out there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you, if you plan well and you plan ahead and you have an itinerary and you follow it,

um, you, you can usually stay within budget.

Yeah.

I don't.

If you've done your research.

I think you could, uh, look at this as a, that ain't right story.

And I think you can take a number of different things from it.

But I, I wanted to just wrap up with a new report that asked people why they have side gigs.

And 29% said that they needed extra income to convert, cover basic expenses.

11% said to pay off debt.

11% said that it was for financial freedom.

And 10% said saving us for a specific goal.

Number 9% are pursuing a passion or testing a new career path.

The interesting thing is, uh, among those things, I think that's interesting.

But there's also the percentages didn't fluctuate much, whether you're making 20,000 or 200,000.

Whoa.

Among people making over 100,000 are more or more 25% said that they have a side hustle for extra money for basic expenses.

8% said that they're trying to save for a specific goal and 7% paying off debt.

10% more financial flexibility.

So even in those price rates, that gigantic price difference or yearly income difference,

people have side hustles.

Well, it just tells you how much people living in those, uh, I just boggles my mind

because either they have a heck of a lot of debt, which means they either have a lot of toys,

really expensive home, really expensive vehicles, you know, something that they're paying a lot of money towards

that's eating up all of their income or they live in a really expensive place like, I don't know, California.

And all of those are factors.

And, and, and I, things that I, I appreciate you mentioning.

Now, you can go to civic science.com if you want to see the complete article and it'll show you

that this is those people that Melissa is referencing, along with us,

just every day people make it trying to get by and trying to make a living.

So that right there, if you needed any more evidence or another reminder or anything of the above,

as far as what we were talking about earlier about the importance of minimum wage and the importance of,

you know, a yearly and good yearly income and how difficult it is,

even people making, taking all the factors Melissa was saying,

even taking in all those factors, there is going to be a percentage of people that are just trying to survive.

It's not because they got a bunch of ATVs or because they have some expensive hobby or something like that.

I'm not saying that isn't a factor in the percentages, but it's a very small factor in the percentages

when it comes to just everyday people who are making, even people that are making 40 to 50,000 a year

are, are still needing a side hustle.

That's not the way this is supposed to work.

We keep talking about, we need to focus on our mental health.

You can't take it with you and you don't want to work your whole life.

Work shouldn't be your number one thing.

You shouldn't put your identity to your work.

Well, then let's even that out a little bit here so people don't have to do that.

Then the number one stressor in people's day to day lives shouldn't have to be, can I pay my rent?

Can I pay my mortgage? Can I put food on the table?

That shouldn't be your number one concern.

And for a lot of us, that is.

Yeah, I don't know how they expect anybody to have any kind of income to be able to do anything fun.

Like we talk about vacations all the time.

Who's going on vacations?

I'd like to know.

Seth and I were talking about on the Sunday I show some of the concerts that are coming up.

And Chris Stapleton's going to be in Louisiana and I'm sitting there thinking, oh my god, this is a meaning of the world.

I want to see Chris Stapleton.

I want to go to, yeah.

And then I realize, oh yeah.

And it'll never happen.

It's never going to happen.

Not even in my dreams will that happen.

Even in my dreams, my dream stops the dream and says, look man, you ain't got the money for this.

Oh, I hate that.

Why can't our dreams not?

But it's just like, don't get reality involved in my dreams, dude.

I am the world's worst dreamer.

This has happened to be in a dream.

My dream just went to black and white.

It just went to be like an old Mickey Mouse cartoon, like Steamboat Willie.

It just went to that.

We're just going to run this, man, because you cannot afford the dreams you're having.

Well, I'm going to do that, but it's just, yeah.

No, this isn't reality.

This wouldn't happen to you.

And that ain't right.

That ain't right.

We deserve it.

We deserve a vacation.

We deserve to be able to enjoy it.

Or at least to be able to dream about it.

Yeah, at least.

I hope that you're asking about this there.

We will take a time out.

We'll come back.

We've got some good stories at the day, some local events in our schedule to get into

and plenty more fun on the morning show at WFHR.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.

We hope you're having a good one.

We're going to take it to the top of the hour, wrap up the show.

I want to say a big thank you to Michelle Rogus for joining us from Rapids Transmission.

That was a lot of fun.

Yeah, and mark your calendars for the 31st.

11 to 2, you want to get down there and check out the business.

Yeah.

On our sister station 10555WRI, we'll be broadcasting that day 11 to 1.

Encourage you to join us.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

I don't think she mentioned it.

But I think the plan is to have tacos and ice cream there, dude.

Yeah, they're going to have some food.

They're going to have a lot of fun.

And face painting.

Yeah.

It's going to be a blast, everybody.

We'll be talking about it as we get closer to it.

I do want to remind everybody that we've got some great local concerts going on in our area.

We have one happening tonight.

Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools Rams Spring Concert at their Rams Auditorium.

I'm going to be going on tonight at 6 o'clock.

6th grade band concert followed by at 7th and 8th grade band concert.

Nice.

Get out there and support the kiddos.

I think this might be their last one of the seeds and two.

Probably.

So get on over there, everybody.

Check that out.

Have some fun and joy.

Let me see.

Yes.

Wednesday.

Over in Nekusa.

They have at 6 o'clock the Alexander Middle School in Nekusa High School band concerts happening.

Awesome.

Check those out.

Get to both of them if you can, everybody.

Support these kids and enjoy a really good show.

Yeah.

I saw that it was very, it went well yesterday and it's a lot of success with it.

We have another community blood drive happening today from 10 to 3.

All right.

Don't get to see these back-to-back very often.

No, but it's because of the Memorial Day.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Everybody getting together to make this happen.

We appreciate it.

This blood drive is happening again.

It's been going off for the past hour.

It's located at former Eastern High School cafeteria area.

Go ahead and head on over there if you can to get in and save some lives.

We appreciate you.

Yes.

And it doesn't take long.

We're going to be talking with our good friend, Terry John, CEO of Your United Way.

And just a little bit.

She's going to join us for the Rapids Report today.

Be sure to catch that interview at 2 o'clock on streaming exclusively of WFHR.com.

And spread the word about the show, everybody.

Make sure that we get everybody listening, checking it out.

One of the things Terry and I will be touching on is the Mother's Day through Father's Day

diaper drive that the United Way of Southwood and Ems County is hosting.

Drop off any new or unopened diapers for all sizes, wipes, unscented or preferred,

diaper rash paste and creams.

Any parents out there, you know what we need.

And for the bigger size diapers are one of those particular needs they have.

And if you can drop them off anytime during their open hours at the United Way office,

they're open from, I believe, 8.32.

4.

4.

There we go, Monday through Friday.

They're located at 351 Oak Street right here in Rapids.

Stop on over there.

Say hi.

And thank you so much to everybody who has already donated some of these items.

We really appreciate it.

And the parents really appreciate it.

So do the kids, to be honest.

Yep.

That's a good debate.

Which one appreciates it more?

That's it.

We certainly appreciate our United Way.

Again, be listening for that interview today.

Rapids report.

The United Way's CEO, Terry Johns, is going to be joining us.

You can catch that at 2 o'clock streaming at WFHR.com.

A quick reminder that tomorrow, bingo, bingo.

Bingo.

It's Wednesday.

That means bingo.

Bingo at the Wisconsin Rapids.

Elks Lodge going on.

Tomorrow, doors open at 5.

Bingo kicks off at 6.30.

Head on over there.

Enjoy some bingo.

Have some fun.

Get there early, if you can, because it is always loaded.

They got tons of hard people over there.

Yeah, they get packed.

And you got to find the perfect spot to set up all your trolls.

Yes, yes.

And if you have trolls, will you please send a picture?

Please do.

Post it to our social medics.

I would love to see some bingo trolls.

100%.

Yes.

Oh, God, I love that.

Thank you for thinking that.

And have some fun.

Have some fun tomorrow, everybody.

Yeah.

They're going to have a lot of fun at the buck.

We balled when VFW post 2534 steak feed.

I do this every year.

This is a good job with this one.

It's coming up next Tuesday, May 27th from 4.30 to 7.

It's open to the public over at Donald J. Knuth Memorial Hall,

at 27.11 Red and Road, right here in Rapids.

I got some time.

What time is it?

It will be going on for 4.30 to 7.

Proceeds.

30 to 7.

They're going to have a cash bar with sodas, beer and wine.

It'll be available.

They're going to have some really good food in New York.

12-ounce New York strips, steak.

Some mushrooms and onions.

All the fixings.

All for 30 bucks.

And all that included.

And all the proceeds go to support VFW post 2534.

And it's ongoing mission to support veterans

and their families here in Central Wisconsin.

Okay.

I've got it on my calendar.

So I'll meet you there.

Yep.

May 27th.

Going to be some good steak.

Going to be in a good time.

That's going to be a lot of fun.

And I want to remind everybody that Wood County's Agricultural

and Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Clean Sweep is coming up Saturday, May 31st.

8 to noon.

And then also on Saturday, September 13th, 8 to 12th.

This event makes it easy for Wood County residents

and producers to safely get rid of their unwanted household

and agricultural hazardous waste.

Appreciate all the volunteers and all the people that do this.

Next week, we're going to talk more and more about this event.

But you can find out more by going to Wood County Health Department's website

and finding out more right now.

Yeah.

The May 31st one is in Marshield.

The September 13th one is at Saratoga Hall here in Wisconsin Rapids.

Make your plans to get rid of those items the right way, everybody.

We appreciate you doing that too.

Taking a look at some world good stories here.

A cat in Lake Lind, Florida named George recently got neutered

and didn't want to stick around to see what else might happen.

So he popped his cage open, scaled a fence, and escaped.

Oh my.

Oh, George.

Honest anesthesia, by the way.

Oh wow.

Thankfully, he's okay.

He somehow knew which way to go.

Walk three miles and show it up back home a few days later.

Dude, I'm blowing this pop stand.

They're not nice here.

I'm going home.

Kind of don't blame them.

Kind of don't blame them.

I don't blame George on this one.

I mean, you know, they say how anesthesia affects everybody differently.

It's true for cats too.

Yes.

It's like a shot of a adrenaline there.

I'm king of the world.

Well, I wouldn't give for the video of this.

I just.

Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh.

Yes, definitely the mission of Puppet.

Yes.

The mission of Puppet is going during the whole thing.

And Panda Watch Zookeepers at the National Zoo in D.C.

say that their two giant pandas have been pretty flirty lately.

And of course, but you know, most of all of us know.

You may not know anything about animals other than pandas.

It's hard for them to appropriate.

It feels like our whole lifetime's that's been a topic of conversation.

And it looks like we may have some baby pandas coming soon.

Who knows?

They got to be playing.