10-31-2009 Football update

We beat the other McGregor team 20-0 to move to 3-2 for our district games.  It looks like we have a good shot at making the playoffs.  The other McGregor team was ahead of us, but it turns out they were playing with a 14-year-old (this is a league for 10- to 12-year-olds) and had to forfeit their wins.  He didn’t play today and we beat them soundly.  From what I understand, the head coach was banned for the season as well.

This really upsets me off for two reasons:

1) Safety.  It is always wrong to cheat, but to cheat like this in football is something else altogether.  When you have a 14-year-old out there hitting 10-year-olds that is a safety issue.

2) Reputation. Certain towns always have a reputation for bending the rules.  Back in my day it was always Marlin who was suspect.  I do NOT want to see McGregor get this reputation.  Once you get a reputation like that it is hard to shake.  It sounds like McGregor Youth Football needs to be cleaned up.   If certain individuals lack integrity, they have no business being involved with youth sports. I’m glad the people in charge took the right action, but next year they need to be more organized (like our youth baseball organization) and require birth certificates for everyone.  They need to double-check these things so it doesn’t happen again.

Having said that, I’m glad to be associated with our team’s coaches.  Props to Cedric McLeain and Mike Robinson.  They are great with the kids, they are teaching them a lot, and they act honorably.

Sears sucks! (part 2)

Ok.  I ordered an item this morning at 8am on the Sears website.  It was in-stock and I chose to pick it up from the store.  I went ahead and ordered it online so that I would just have to pick it up.  I had hoped it would save me some time.  Wrong.  At 3:30pm this afternoon the order was still “pending”.  I got online to chat with a Sears rep to find the status and got banned from using chat!   Awesome.  Here’s a transcript:

Welcome!

Please wait while we contact the next available agent…

This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes.

To ensure proper servicing, please do not close this window until your chat is completed. Thank you!
You are now speaking with Sue M.!
Sue M.: Welcome to Sears. My name is Sue M.. How may I assist you?
you : I placed an order (# xxxxxxxxx) this morning to pick up an in-stock item in my local sears…it is STILL pending…i need to pick it up in about 30 minutes
you : i placed the order early this morning…no reason it shold be taking this long…there were several of the items in stock
Sue M.: One minute while I check your order, please
you : fyi…i placed it at around 8am this morning…the store opens at 10am…it is now 3:20pm and still no confirmation email…5 items were in stock when i ordered it.
you : and for the record, this is one of the most poorly-run Sears I’ve been to..i should’ve known better to order something online and try to make it easy on myself…but it is always so painful to find a salesman and pay for items that I thought this might be worth the risk…apparently not
Sue M.: Your Sears agent is currently researching your question. Your chat is important to us. Thank you for your patience.
Sue M.: Your Sears agent is currently researching your question. Your chat is important to us. Thank you for your patience.
Sue M.: Your Sears agent is currently researching your question. Your chat is important to us. Thank you for your patience.
you : hello?
Sue M.: I am back
Sue M.: I am sorry for the delay, I was making a call to try to follow up. I will explain
you : great…thanks
Sue M.: For some reason you credit approval just came through sometime after noon and now the order will process, and move on to the store. You should have your pick up email in a few hours. The email goes out when they actually have the item at the pick up desk for you
you : yeah, but i’m leaving work in like 20 minutes and need to pick it up then…can i just take the order confirmation and get them to get me one?
you : this is ridiculous
you : i could’ve just gone and bought it but i was trying to save some time
you : obviously, THAT was a mistake.
you : when i chatted with someone 2 hours ago they assured me then that it was “being sent to the store”
Sue M.: I am sorry, I can cancel the order and you can go to the store to pick it ul, if you prefer
you : so now 2 hours later is still hasn’t been sent?
you : if it has already been charged to my card, why cant i just go pick it up?
Sue M.: again, I am sorry. Would you like the order cancelled?
you : yes…cancel the d*** thing…maybe i can find what i want somewhere else and avoid Sears altogether…every time i try to buy something at Sears it turns into a fiasco like this.
you : i tried to purchase 3 items a few weeks ago and had to be rung up 3 separate times on 2 different registers
you : because the people working there were so incompetent…
you : more of the same here…please cancel
Sue M.: I will cancel this order. You will get an automatic email of the cancellation. Are there any other questions I can assist you with today?
you : only this: why does sears insist on pissing me off every time i try to buy something..that is all…thanks
you : sorry for the sarcasm…just cancel the order
Sue M.: I think we are through with this chat and I will need to block y ou if you continue to chat this way
Sue M.: Good-bye, and have a great day!
you : please cancel
You have been banned from using Click to Chat.

What a proud moment.  Very mature.  I took my frustrations with Sears (see other blog posts) out on some poor customer service person.  Although she never would answer my question about just being able to pick it up from the store since I’d already paid for it.

Sears sucks!

Ok.  They have some good tools and appliances, but do you want to know why I think the store sucks?  I purchased 3 items today and had to be rung up 3 different times–at two different registers!  Let me explain.

We went to purchase a mini refrigerator and a microwave for Amy’s classroom.  While walking into the store I saw a t-shirt on clearance for $5 that I liked so I picked it up.  We went upstairs and tried to purchase everything.  First, the salesman explained that he had to ring up the refrigerator and microwave on separate tickets because they were in different departments (despite the fact that they were sitting right next to each other).  Fine.  Whatever.  He rang up the refrigerator, I gave him my card and we paid for it.  Then he rang up the microwave.  He attempted (for 5 minutes) to ring up the t-shirt but could never get it to scan.  Whether that was his fault or not I have no idea.  He finally asked if we would mind going downstairs to purchase the shirt.  So I had to go downstairs and stand in ANOTHER line.

In summary, TO PURCHASE THREE ITEMS AT SEARS I HAD TO CHECK OUT THREE SEPARATE TIMES!  No wonder Walmart is eating their lunch.  It is sad, but a store that used to be customer-focused has lost its way.

Countdown to Baylor football!

2009 NCAA Track & Field Championships

How cool is this?  We ran into Jeremy Wariner by the pool at our hotel.  We interrupted his dinner of Chick-fil-A to get a picture.  He was super nice.  I’ll post more pics of the meet later, but I just had to get this out on the website.

Here is the photo album.  I’ll be adding more after today’s races:

2009 NCAA Championships Photo Album

Update (6/14/09): I’ve posted all of the photos.  The link above will get you to them.

Merry Christmas 2008 from the Taylors!

Click HERE for our Christmas card!

David Taylor over the decades…

I just discovered yearbookyourself.com and it is so cool.  Basically, you upload a photo and then you can scroll through decaded to see how you might have looked.  Here are some of the better ones of me.  Hover your mouse over the photo to see the year, click on it to see a larger version.

McGregor and SpaceX mentioned in the New York Times

Launch of Private Rocket Fails; Three Satellites Were Onboard

It sounds negative from the title, but it actually puts a fairly positive spin on it and how difficult it is to break into the private space/rocket market.

Las Vegas 2008

Amy and I just got back from our first trip to Las Vegas and it was OUTSTANDING!  I had to go for a conference and Amy ended up going with me.  We saw Phantom of the Opera as well as one of the Cirque du Soleil shows.  Both were amazing.  We stayed at The Palazzo which is the newest part of the Venetian resort.  The suites were incredible!

We both went to Vegas not knowing what to expect and not necessarily thinking that we would enjoy it all that much, but it was GREAT and we would love to go back!

The presentation at the conference went smoothly and was well-received.

All photos can be seen here. (There is also a link under “Photo Albums”)

Trib Article on McGregor’s Growth Potential

I’m glad to see McGregor get some good press! Check it out:

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/07/11/07112008wacmcgregorwind.html