Some people might think that I am a bit nuts, but I really do not mind living in the Sheboygan County area.  There is plenty of entertaining things about Sheboygan in the news, making the Sheboygan Press always a fun read.  They have some festivals in the city during summer months that are always good for watching the people of Sheboygan.  You always wonder if the guy you’ve been watching for the last hour, stumble around, drunk out of his mind, will end up “wheeny of the week” on 105.7.

Not Kidding

With all the kidding aside, I have been around here for 30+ years now andI still look back at how the city has changed.  From a city along the beach with summer festivals that rocked, to a city with too many round a bouts and 2 Walmarts.  The crime has gone up drastically and 20 years ago, I didn’t think I would be reading about some of the things I see in the paper today.

Nice Areas in City

I have watched nice parts of the neighborhood turn to slums and also watched as the city “revitalized” downtown about 2-3 years too late.  Removing the plaza and remodeling every single “historic” building in the area was supposed to drive tourists there and increase local spending.  Well, why did they do that when the city has already begun to move outside city limits?  Nobody wants to travel that far into the city to shop at over priced stores on either street.

Shopping Centers of Sheboygan

The mall in the city has been a topic of discussion for many years.  What to do with it?  Some years it looks like it’s about to close and other years it seems like it’s the only place to shop in the County.  The tenants are paying too much and half of the stores are gone.  But what do you do with a place that huge if it were decided to shutdown?  Chinese restaurant

And of course, ask anyone about the Walmart situation in Sheboygan and you will get a laugh or people rolling their eyes.  After a hard fought whatever you call it, Walmart was finally able to put up a 2nd store in the Sheboygan area.  Nevermind that it’s right near a school and by building the Walmart, has created a round-a-bout scene straight from a horror film.  Walmart is here to say and if Walmart thinks Sheboygan needs two, then Sheboygan needs two.

In General

With an over abundance of gas stations, bars and Chinese restaurants, the city certainly has plenty of places to fill up, one way or another.  The quality of life is only good if you DO NOT live in the actual city limits.  There are gangs, yes, gangs, crime, drunks, drugs, pedophiles and of course bad judges.  With all of those things, whose to say that Sheboygan isn’t great?

Today I thought I would head down to the South Pier District to check it out.  It has been over one year since I was down there last, so I wanted to see the changes, etc.  I was surprised to see that some of the shops are still available and the large warehouse style sports complex, seems to be a bar/resturant now.

Now big deal, businesses move and close up shop around Sheboygan all the time, right?  I actually felt like I was in another city, maybe even a larger one, while I was cruising through the South Pier District.  The road is smooth and coils around the condos and shops nicely.  With great views of Lake Michigan and, of course the huge hotel, I was really sort of impressed.

Then I saw it…

On the roof of the hotel, near the northern end, I noticed a white “glaze” all over the roof.  What could that possibly be, I thought, but it only took about 3 seconds to realize it was seagull crap!

The peak of the hotel roof was colored in a white mess and I think it looked terrible.  I wasn’t ever really a fan of the whole Blue Harbor thing anyways, but this really makes it tough to enjoy.  I would think they might have some type of cleaning process for that, but I do not know for sure.

Has all of that been there since day one?  Have they already cleaned it up at one point and this is just since then?  I don’t have any of those answers, but I think that snobby tourists that stay at Blue Harbor might just find that a little of putting.  There are plenty of people that cannot wait to hit the internet to review their crummy experience at a hotel.

Have you seen the seagull crap on the hotel?  Do they clean this up, or will it just accumulate until the red roof is white?

If you have shopped at a Kmart, or even a Best Buy, lately, you will have been offered a product replacement on some items that you purchased.  Do you know what a product replacement is?

Well, it is quite sad to say that not all stores that offer the product replacement actually have the same terms.  I can understand that, but if you are not going to replace my product 100%, then don’t sell it to me in that manner.

I was recently at Best Buy here in Sheboygan, which is a nice store, and made a purchase of about $100.  The clerk offered me the “product replacement” for $16 or so.  I took it, and let me tell you why, because I have had these types of things before from products purchased at Kmart.  THEY replace the product no matter what happened to it.  You have proof of purchase and that whatever broke, you get a new one.

It’s nice for large items like lawn mowers or even video game consoles, etc.  But, I was told by Best Buythat my products were to be replaced at no cost if something broke.  I was NOT told that it only covers everything BUT accidental breakage.  So, if you were to buy an Xbox and when you take it out of the box, it slips and smashes to the floor, I guess you couldn’t get it replaced.

Well, my product did break and it was an accident.  I call them up, “sure bring your item in with proof of purchase”.  Excellent, we do have a store around that isn’t out to screw the customer.  WRONG!

AFTER I get there, I am told the “product replacement” does not cover accidental anything.  Pissed off of course, I left the store without any satisfaction and Best Buy was $16 richer for doing NOTHING.

Now, I do not expect to get a brand new item for NOTHING, but shouldn’t I expect it when that’s how the warranty is sold to me?  I was misled by Best Buy (in my opinion) and skewed by my past purchases at a Kmartthat honored their warranties.  I know that extended warranties are junk and foolish to purchase, but I do not think of a product replacement as an extended warranty at all.

Nevertheless, I am steaming over the whole thing and after I go to the Best Buy website, this is what I find about product replacement.

Full Replacement
You get comprehensive coverage, with no deductibles or other hidden charges. If your product is found defective under normal usage, we will provide for a replacement.

Oh well, if it was sold to me this way, I wouldn’t have purchased it I guess.  Has anyone else fallen into this trap or even had a good experience with a product replacement purchase?

Pick your poison.  What would you rather have hanging in your window?  As I drove around the city today doing various random whatevers, I tried to notice how many homes have a blanket (love the Vikings blanket best) in the front window of a home or apartment.  I wasn’t surprised at all to find many, in fact, it was more than I expected by far.

What causes a person to do this?  Do you really need it to be pitch black in your home?  Are you too poor or lazy to run to WalMart or Kmart and get a cheap set of curtains?

I recently got a message from a reader that grew up in this area stating how great he thought my blog was.  He really liked to see comments on how the city has changed.  My question to you, sir, do you think it changed a lot or a little since you have left?

Curtains are cheap, buy some people.  I was really thinking about taking pictures of these eye soars, but I was fearing that people would get upset, granted they would need the internet and find the blog first, but you know what I mean.

*note* I think I will start a donation area on this blog to help those in need of new curtains or blinds.  What do you think?

I am not sure what to say about things around the city on my FIRST “Monday Rant-o-La!”.  The stories about child abuse, drugs over here, DUI’s over there and random people having to deal with crime in their lives for no reason are starting to mount just in time for the summer season.

All the crazy’s are coming out of the wood work and it’s evident even in our lovely city of Sheboygan.  With recent news stories like the 10 month old that was assaulted while at day care and the 40-some year old “man” that beat his two stepdaughters, it really gets sickening to read the news.

Guess the Price of Appliances (like Price is Right) and WIN a $250 Visa Gift Card!

BUT, we still do and I think it’s because we like to see that there are people in the city that have it worse than “us”.  The general “us” of course, not the “us” that write this blog.  I have my share of misfortune, too, it’s just not as bad as some of the recent dandies that we are able to read about.  I really look forward to the news “written” in the Sheboygan Press because there is always that chance you read about someone you might have known

Monday’s suck here and everywhere, but I noticed that this blog is read very much on Mondays.  So, this being the first, Monday Rant-o-La, will be a new feature at this blog.  If you like to read about my Monday rants, feel free to subscribe to post updates via email address, by clicking on this link, right here on this word.