FedEx

Recently, we received a package of merchandise that we did not order — the cold-calling salesman on the telephone placed the order, even though we said, "No."

A week or so later, the package was delivered by FedEx Ground. They dropped it off at our main gate and left.

We called the sender and they told us to return the unwanted merchandise. Easier said than done.

Today, I took the unopened package to a FedEx-licensed retail location. When I asked them to send the merchandise back, they told me that I would have to pay to return it! If I wanted FedEx to bill the shipper, I would have to go to a different office. They were veryhappy to give me the address.

I drove across Waco, Texas, to get to this "official" FedEx office. After waiting on a short line, the clerk told me that I would have to take the package to another office. Her excuse was that this was a FedEx Express office and the package was delivered by FedEx Ground. She gave me the address of another office — in another city!

I drove to the address in Hewett, Texas, and was greeted by a customer-hostile security fence. I walked up to the gate, pressed the "call" button and wait for a clerk to answer. First, I had to explain myself. Then, I had to be buzzed through the security gate and cross a busy internal driveway to get to the office. This office was the front of their warehouse with little provision for people as customers. The clerk simply took the package and said, "Thank you."

If you listen to their advertisements, FedEx is the premier package shipping company. Maybe for companies, it is. But for ordinary people, their customer service is the worst I have ever dealt with. Not only did I have to drive all over Waco, but into another city just to return unwanted and unordered merchandise. Who is going to pay me for the time taken off from work, the gasoline and the aggravation caused by their unwillingness or bureaucratic ineptness that prevented me from dropping off the package at the nearest location?

The United States Post Service and UPS both do a much better job!

I Watched the Presidential Debate

I watched the debate last night. My experience was summed up in the pre-debate remark: "Are we going to watch Barf-nado 3 tonight?"

As of right now, I do not know which Presidential contender I will vote for.

I do not like Hillary Clinton's plans. She wants to increase taxes on the rich to pay for a plethora of new social programs. That sounds great, until you do the numbers. Say there are 300 million people in this country. If we assume that the average family is approximately three people, that leaves only 100 million tax-paying families. The rich "one percenters" therefore account for 1 million. If you increase their taxes by $10,000 each, you will raise $10 billion dollars. Compared the the government deficit, that is peanuts. There simply are not enough rich to cover Mrs. Clinton's plans. To make matters worse, many of the rich tax-payers will pay tax accountants and lawyers to find ways to reduce that $10,000 burden.

If we use Wikipedia's poverty numbers for 2011, there are 46.2 million Americans living in poverty. Let us use the following formula for the middle class:

300 million - 3 million "rich" - 46 million poor = 251 million people

Again assuming a family of three, that amounts to 83.6 million tax-paying families. If you raise their taxes by a mere $100, you will raise $8.3 billion. Raise their taxes by $500, and you get $42 billion. Now, just where do you think Mrs. Clinton can get the money to pay for her programs?

Mr. Trump's tax cutting program makes even less sense. The Laufer Curve has been derided as the "Laughter Curve" since the end of the Reagen Presidency. Our Federal budget is too bloated for a tax cut. We need to rethink and reprioritize spending and revenue sources. We need to spend smarter and waste less. Tax dollars are a precious resource and must be carefully husbanded and used wisely.

I could write about each of their major plans. Each sounds good, but I do not think the political will exists to implement any of them after Inauguration Day.

Neither of these candidates is worth voting for.

What do I want to see in November??

BETTER CHOICES!

Oh! By the way, early voting begins on Monday, October 24, here in Texas.

Holly Tucker and Ol' Whats-His-Name Performing at the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo

Holly Tucker

I recently found this batch of photographs of country singer Holly Tucker performing at the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo in Waco, Texas. I could listen to her sing all day...

Ol' Whats-His-Name

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo - the Rodeo

Tonight, we returned for the rodeo. We had box seats right near the bucking shoots. This made my daughter very happy.

Unfortunately for me, my camera is locked in my car, which is sitting at the dealership awaiting repairs. I have had to rely on my cell phone for all my recent shots. Don't get me wrong, it does a great job. It does not have a fast shutter, however, leaving me with excessive blurring of action shots.

You can see what I mean in this saddle-bronc shot....

Let's move on to some barrel riding...

On to the bull riding. This is my favorite. I rode a mechanical bull once — Believe me, holding on is a real challange. How these cowboys manage to do it with grace and style is beyond me...

The bulls won most of the contests, dumping their riders in less than eight seconds. To score at all, the rider must stay on the bull for at lease eight seconds. After eight seconds, the rider can score a maximum of fifty points for the ride and the bull can score a maximum of fifty points for trying to toss the rider. The two are added together for the final score.

Most of the bulls this year were Brahmans. They know that the faster they toss the rider, the sooner they can head for the gate and to the feed bin.

Here we go....

Going....

Gone... Another cowboy eats dust.

The calves used in the bulldogging and roping events have experience, perhaps too much experience. They know where the gate is and that to get there quick they have to avoid the cowboy or the ropes. They are pretty crafty about stopping short, turning fast, jumping through the lasso and so forth.

For you PETA types, no animals were injured during the rodeo. Cowboys, on the other hand, found the floor of the arena to be very hard - no broken bones or other major injuries, but lots of bruises and such.

The Dr. Pepper Museum

Today, we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum. It is located in the original Dr. Pepper bottling plant on Fifth Street in Waco, Texas. When you come to central Texas, the Dr. Pepper Museum and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame are two must-see stops.

Most of the museum is dedicated to Dr. Pepper, its history and how soda is made and bottled. But Dr. Pepper is not the only soda that started in Waco — Big Red also started here. One of the displays centers around an anamatronic figure, dressed as an early 1900s doctor, telling a little about life of that time and the beginnings of Dr. Pepper.

Other displays included machinery for washing bottles, filling and capping them, trucks which transported them and vending machines that served them. Of course, advertising materials were displayed, including photographs of billboards, magazine ads, wall signs, thermometers, clocks, glasses, paintings, movie and television show "product placements," star and famous personalities endorsements and, of course, television commercials. The emphasis, of course, was on Dr. Pepper, but materials for Coke, Pepsi, 7UP, Big Red, Big Blue, Royal Crown Cola, Moxie, Canada Dry, and a hundred other, lesser known brands were on display.

Across the plaza from the museum, there is another building with a soda shop, gift shop and even more displays. One that caught my attention for a while was a G-scale model train display.

Note the advertisements for Dr. Pepper on the "Aldertons Grocery and Gas" sign and the 7UP signs.

The load on the flatcar are two regular and two diet Dr. Pepper cans. The livery on the car on the other flatcar matches the Dr. Pepper racing team car.

The backdrop to the whole display is a big Dr. Pepper bottling plant. Note also the 7UP logo on the water tower and the bottle caps on the Dr. Pepper office building in front of the bottling plant. The slope-back switch engine has the 7UP logo, along with each car of its consist. The siding contains a gondola car with two "ice"-covered soda cans and another filled with bottle caps for a number of brands. Notice also, the waiter with soda cans on the platform of the work caboose with the barrel.

One of the best models in the display is this little engine house. Strangely enough, it does not have any advertisements on it.

This building also contains an art gallery with a number of paintings with "product placement" type advertising. I especially liked this well-executed painting of a young woman in a canoe drinking a Royal Crown Cola.

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo - Mark Chesnutt Concert

The Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo opened yesterday. It has the usual assortment of livestock, booths selling food, "skill" contests, rides, farm equipment and, did I mention? food. In addition, there is the rodeo and three — count 'em — three concert stages: the Shooter FM stage, the Hometown Stage and the big one — the Bud Light Stage.

To buy anything, you first need to buy tokens. They are used for beer, soda, food and the rides. This year, you get one token for a dollar. The food and drink is overpriced – with a small soda selling for three tokens.

On the Bud Light Stage, there are a number of well-known artists appearing, including Tracey Lawrence, Holly Tucker and Mark Chesnutt. Tonight, it was Mark Chesnutt's turn to light up the stage. This being Texas, the show started with the presentation of the American flag and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. KWTX's Madison Addams sang to an audience of doffed hats and off-key participants.

Shortly after that, Mark Chesnutt took the stage.

Mark Chesnutt on stage

Mark Chesnutt's female drummer

Mark Chesnutt has a female drummer who is simply fantastic! Unfortunately, he did not introduce his band, so I could not catch her name. If she has a fan club, sign me up!

You can tell this is Texas. Just look at the cowboy hats in the front rows!

It was a great concert! He mixed lots of his old favorites along with several songs from his new CD.

We had a great time!!

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo - Mark Chesnutt Concert

The Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo opened yesterday. It has the usual assortment of livestock, booths selling food, "skill" contests, rides, farm equipment and, did I mention? food. In addition, there is the rodeo and three — count 'em — three concert stages: the Shooter FM stage, the Hometown Stage and the big one — the Bud Light Stage.

To buy anything, you first need to buy tokens. They are used for beer, soda, food and the rides. This year, you get one token for a dollar. The food and drink is overpriced – with a small soda selling for three tokens.

On the Bud Light Stage, there are a number of well-known artists appearing, including Tracey Lawrence, Holly Tucker and Mark Chesnutt. Tonight, it was Mark Chesnutt's turn to light up the stage. This being Texas, the show started with the presentation of the American flag and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. KWTX's Madison Addams sang to an audience of doffed hats and off-key participants.

Shortly after that, Mark Chesnutt took the stage.

Mark Chesnutt on stage

Mark Chesnutt's female drummer

Mark Chesnutt has a female drummer who is simply fantastic! Unfortunately, he did not introduce his band, so I could not catch her name. If she has a fan club, sign me up!

You can tell this is Texas. Just look at the cowboy hats in the front rows!

It was a great concert! He mixed lots of his old favorites along with several songs from his new CD.

We had a great time!!