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Rocklahoma 2010 - My Thoughts and Opinions

2010-05-31T10:06:00.005-04:00

Before I get into this, I would like to mention that I did not attend this years Rocklahoma for obvious reasons. I happily attended Rocklahoma 2008 (The best out of all 4 IMO) and 2009. I couldn't afford to make the trip in 2007, but the lineup that I saw looked like a dream festival to me. I always wondered if we'd get a festival packed with mostly hair metal bands and other various '80s metal acts. Rocklahoma remained true to its roots for 3 years and even added an all Metal day for the first day of last year's event to attract some different fans. Perhaps it didn't work out as well in part due to that these were real metal bands who could actually play, unlike most of those wannabe crap bands out there today.

Near the end of last year's event, people were once again allowed to renew their tickets for the following year. The ticket prices mentioned were lower than those of 2009 as well as 2008 if I'm correct. This seemed to be a complaint for some people, especially in 2009. Those who were there at the booths had supposedly convinced fans that the format of the event was going to stay the same. In the following months, rumors started to develop that changes were going to be made and we were going to see a mix of modern acts as well as the "classic acts" that Rocklahoma is known for. In October or November, it was announced that Rocklahoma had announced a partnership with AEG live. This was an immediate red flag for me as AEG live runs various events such as Rock On The Range and other events filled with today's cookie cutter crap music. They have never been a part of an event like Rocklahoma before.

Over the next few months, they continued to build up hype for the lineup. In 2008, the entire lineup was announced by the end of February. In 2009, it was by the end of March. This year, either little or no bands were announced by the end of February and there may have been a couple by the end of March. The problem with that is that the event was MOVED from mid-July to Memorial Day weekend. This was in order to avoid the hot weather in July. From what I saw, the temperatures were approximately 5 to 10 degrees cooler for the duration of the event (not worth the change). There was also NO AIR CONDITIONING in the VIP tent this year! Last year, the AC was horrible compared to 2008 but at least there was something.

Finally, there was the lineup. Rocklahoma 2010 lineup

Fans of the event were originally expecting the format to remain the same, then we had rumors of a change, and finally you can see. Prior to this, it was told that the lineup would be balanced and a mix. Some had said 60% modern, 40% classic, etc. If you look at the lineup, it looks about 95% or more modern and 5% or less classic. There were fewer main stage bands than ever before (5 a day). There were fewer bands altogether than ever before. The gates opened approximately 2 and a half hours later than last year. Last year, the first main stage band went on at 1 PM, this year it was 3:30! In 2008, the first bands went on around 11:30 AM! They gave the fans 3 days this year, but the event itself was shortened by nearly 4 hours a day compared to past events. Also, there were FOUR DAYS in the past events (technically 5 in 2008). Dropping a day obviously helped them drop the ticket prices, but sadly the lineup did NOT improve at all. Out of that list of 15 main stage bands, 3 of them were of significant interest to me (Cinderella, Tesla, and ZZ Top), and maybe Buckcherry could be included on my list. In other words, the only bands on that list that have singers who can sing, guitar players who can play more than 2 chords, etc. Oh lets just say it...THE ONLY BANDS WITH A SHRED OF TALENT!

There were some bands on the Retrospect Stage that appealed to me, but that lineup was much better over the last 2 years as well. All in all, there was no chance of me traveling to Oklahoma again to see 3 or 4 bands (ZZ Top being the only one of those that I haven't seen yet) and suffer through a bunch of talentless crap filled with screaming and a guy hitting the same guitar chord over and over again. Did this years Rocklahoma have a better attendance than last year? I have no doubt that it probably did and it may have competed or surpassed past events, but AEG did not need to come along and ruin this event for die hard fans of the "classic bands" such as myself. This was our event, the one that was different from all the other crap we see in this country. It was only a week before that Rock on the Range took place. Fans of the modern garbage out there get their multiple events every year, LET US HAVE OUR EVENT!

The Incompetence of Sears...

2010-05-28T23:10:00.002-04:00

Well, where do I begin? On Mother's day after my wife Nicole made dinner, our oven decided that it would not actually turn off though the light went off after the off button was pressed. After an extended period of time, one of us noticed that there was still heat being thrown from the oven and in a temperature upwards of 500 degrees. The temperature it was set at for the duration of its use was 325.

May 10th: I call Sears and schedule a repair appointment for the next day. Next day comes around and a lady named Jen shows up, but is unable to fix the problem due to not having the part in her truck. So, moving forward 2 parts have been ordered (some kind of circuit board I believe and an overlay, which is essentially a giant sticker with all the labels for the buttons). Appointment for the following Monday was scheduled. The circuit board had arrived, but the overlay had not.

Monday, the 17th rolls around and we have to re-schedule. A couple days later, I find out that the overlay is on back order and they still wanted me to schedule another appointment. There were multiple instances where they could not fulfill their obligations due to this back order, yet we were still continuing to schedule appointments. This is stupidity example #1. Why not just have me call to make the appointment after all the parts have been received?

Moving along, the overlay finally arrived earlier this week (Tuesday or Wednesday) and I called again. It took a few tries as there were 2 or 3 times where I waited for 10 minutes before hanging up. When a number is available 24/7, there is no reason to wait for unreasonable periods of time to speak to a person. The best is yet to come.

Today, May 28th was the day where it was all supposed to be over after a total of 19 days of waiting so far. Alas, it was not to be. Jen shows up around 8:15 this morning, pulls out the oven and what's this? The WRONG PART WAS SHIPPED TO US! WHAT FUCKING MORON CAN'T HANDLE READING A NUMBER AND DOUBLE CHECKING IT BEFORE STICKING IT INTO A BAG AND SENDING IT OUT? Next, while Jen was attempting to replace the part before realizing it was the wrong one, she used the current overlay that we already had with our oven! More anger and confusion. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I WAITED OVER 2 GODDAMN WEEKS LONGER THAN I SHOULD HAVE FOR A PART THAT WE DIDN'T EVEN NEED?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? THERE IS NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER FOR SUCH INCOMPETENCE! So, here we are still with an oven where you can't set the temperature. You can use it, but it's a tad difficult when we don't know what temperature it gets up to. It also requires tripping the breaker in order to turn it off. So the correct part is ordered ONCE AGAIN and the next appointment is scheduled for next Friday. That's right...another week.

If it's not done by then, I am disputing the charge on my credit card, getting my money back, and taking care of it myself which I would have done had I known what the problem and solution were in the first place.

One last thing, FUCK ALL THE GODDAMN OUTSOURCING OF JOBS. I LIVE IN AMERICA, I WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHO I CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND AND SOMEONE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING, NOT SOMEONE WHO CAN'T HANDLE SPELLING MY NAME EVEN THOUGH I'VE SPELLED IT OUT LETTER FOR LETTER MULTIPLE TIMES!

To make a long story short, if you want something done correctly and efficiently just do it yourself. If you want to wait forever because of morons who can't get a parts order right and make a big deal out of a part that wasn't even needed, call Sears. They're great for screwing things up and making you wait forever.

5/16/10 - A Very Sad Day For Rock...

2010-05-17T11:47:00.008-04:00

As many of you know, on Sunday May 16th of 2010 at 7:45 AM central time heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio tragically passed away at the age of 67. He was diagnosed with Stomach Cancer back in November of 2009. Just last month, reports had said that the cancerous tumor had shrunk considerably after multiple Chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, it was also mentioned recently that he was taking longer to recover from each passing treatment. I am assuming that while the treatments may have helped extend his life and partially destroy the cancer, it also ultimately killed him in the process.

Ronnie James Dio has been my favorite Metal singer nearly from the moment I first heard his golden voice. "Holy Diver" was the 3rd CD I had ever purchased. The first concert I ever attended was to see Dio in April of 2000. That night and all the other times I saw him with his solo band and Heaven and Hell are memories that will live on forever. The music will also live on forever.

I have never seen someone perform on stage with such passion. You could tell that he genuinely enjoyed what he was doing and it was not about the money. At the age of 67, he still had a more powerful voice and a better voice than nearly every performer I could think of out there. It was truly remarkable to think that anyone could still perform so well at his age let alone sing as if he was still in his prime.

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see him in his earlier days with Elf and Rainbow. His voice fit well with all the styles of music he took part in over the years. I'm sure those who did see him back in the day are grateful to have had those opportunities. You were the voice of heavy metal and a legend that could never be replaced. Thoughts and prayers are with Wendy and all of your closest friends and family.

Rest in Peace, Ronnie James Dio...you will never be forgotten.

What's Wrong With The U.S. Postal Service?

2010-05-08T16:21:00.010-04:00

Well, where do we begin with this? As everyone knows, the post office has been losing money on a consistent basis for around a few years. It has been said repeatedly that they're expecting to lose around $238 billion over the next 10 years. Lets look into the various problems or THE TRUTH as to why they are losing money. Is it because of Saturday delivery? Absolutely not. Will cutting a day of delivery/16% of your delivery service compensate for that much of a loss? Hardly at all and certainly not enough for it to be a viable option.

One huge problem at this time is undoubtedly the law that requires the post office to prefund retiree health benefits to the tune of $5 billion a year...what's that? Yes, 5 BILLION DOLLARS a year! Based on various things I've read posted via postalnews, it appears that the post office actually would have MADE money on multiple occasions over the past few years had it not been for this law (which if I recall correctly was passed in late 2006). They wound up making an overpayment of $78 BILLION DOLLARS! What kind of MORONS would agree to such a thing?

Next problem: the excessive amounts of useless, overpaid managers and supervisors. Do I have exact numbers to show this? No, but this has been reported multiple times on postalnews (mostly through comments from other postal workers in all likelihood). These managers (who have nothing to do with moving the mail) are clearly earning higher wages than those of us who are doing the real work, not to mention those bonuses that are passed out left and right. Do I believe fat ass Postmaster General John Potter when he basically proclaims that they are broke? Hardly. The money is there for his bonuses that amounted to over $500k or half a million dollars last year which brought his salary to upwards of $800k and most likely more.

Next issue: These little additions that inevitably cost money. There's no money, but there's plenty to squander on useless things.

Do the flat sequencing machines actually work?

The link above also helps to contradict their flawed logic of being broke. Where is the money coming from for these said machines whose functionality is unknown at this time.

Post office to put cameras into rural LLVs and POVs

The link above this text is another example. Putting video cameras into llvs aka mail trucks or personally owned vehicles if they are used on a mail route for negotiation purposes. Where did the money for this come from? I thought we were broke. Also, what right do they have to put a camera into a vehicle that they do not own? Unless they plan to remove it at the end of each day, that is not going to happen anytime soon. Also, our evaluations are not affected based on the time it takes us to deliver the mail. It has to do with how much mail there is to deliver. No surprise that a grievance has been filed regarding this.

There were also talks of GPS tracking devices being placed in vehicles. They would know how long our vehicles were idling for, when we were backing up, and of course where we were and when we were there. Nothing appears to have developed regarding this matter. The money continues to fall from the sky and from trees.

Any conclusions other than the fact that those in upper management along with our postmaster general are complete idiots? I'm not seeing it and I will not buy into their stories. If they have infinite funds available for bonuses and we can't even get snow tires on LLVs for the winter, something isn't right. Finally, if 5 day delivery does happen, what happens to our subs? Who will stay on when you have no guaranteed work days? After all, this was supposed to help them cut temporary positions. What are we supposed to do if we want or need a day off? The flawed logic is endless with these people. Here's to hoping for 6 day delivery to remain and for those higher ups to be put in their places and of course stop receiving bonuses that they did not actually do anything to earn.

Back For More

2010-05-08T00:42:00.011-04:00

It has been over 2 years since I last devoted any time to doing this. Moving along, this is going to be about my lovely and stressful "vacation" that took place last week which consisted of traveling to Vegas and eventually to Illinois for Melodic Rock Fest before returning home.

So, we made it to Vegas following a slight delay where we were grounded in albuquerque, new mexico due to excessive winds. When we were headed to the runway to take off, an announcement is made mentioning that air traffic control would not allow us to land in Vegas at the time. Shortly after, pilot mentions possible delay up to 2 hours. 10 minutes later, pilot makes another announcement claiming air traffic control gave them the ok and away we go.

In Vegas, I managed to play pool ONCE because that was the only tournament I was able to get into...total joke. Played in one poker tournament, didn't cash...ended the way most online tournaments end (A-9 all in runs into A-Q).

Moving along, Friday comes and we're supposed to be flying to Chicago at 5:25 Pacific time. We get to the airport and what happens when I go to check in with the 6 letter confirmation code? The itinerary is not found! After entering a different number that was printed on the itinerary, what's this? Changes have been made. We are now flying to Dallas at 6 AM on Saturday and then to Chicago from Dallas instead of a non-stop flight. I am in disbelief because clearly that is not what I booked a month ago. I look again and the same thing is staring me back in the face. I have just become severely pissed off (more so than I had been in a few years). I go to the desk and am told the same thing and there are no earlier flights available! Cancellation was due to tornado watch. That apparently did not stop a flight from CT to Chicago from taking place around the same time. I call BULLSHIT!

Saturday comes and we fly to Dallas with no problems. The flight to Chicago however is another story. We boarded a half hour before the scheduled take off time (so far so good). Next thing I know, we're 10 minutes beyond the take off time and not a word has been said about what is going on. Then, we're told there is no pilot and they had no idea about this. Again, I call bullshit and wonder what the problem with American Airlines is. Does this happen with other airlines? Sure, but American is the ONLY airline I have ever had problems with. In a grand total of 10 to 12 AA flights that I've been a part of, 2 of them have been canceled and at least 3 of them have been delayed. Not good odds of having a smooth flight. Everyone else is at a perfect 100% so far with 0 delays or cancellations.

After all that, a pilot does show up shortly after and the rest of the next couple days go smoothly. I witnessed some of the greatest performances you could imagine seeing on US soil these days. That about wraps up this story. I have learned one thing from this experience: do NOT fly with American Airlines! The other thing I would have done differently on this trip is not bother with the Vegas trip, even if it was free. Too much flying in a short period of time and too much stress.