Marriage Proposal, Disney Style

For all the chicks. BTW, DC Mom would have killed me if I did this:

Poor Customer Service from American Airlines

We recently returned from a great trip to Napa and Sonoma, California. There is much to tell about the trip, but before I get to that, I wanted take a moment to let everyone know about a poor customer service experience we had with American Airlines. The long and short of it is that American Airlines lost one of our checked bags on the way back. Now, I know this isn't that out of the ordinary for any airline, but since we now have to pay a $15 checked bag fee and we checked the bag more than two hours before our flight took off, we thought it would be fair to ask for a refund of the baggage fee. We received an email, which I have posted below, in response to our request. I have two issues with this email: (1) the writer's failure to admit a mistake occurred, much less actually apologize for the mistake and (2) the writer's ridiculous assertion that paying for a service should bear no relationship with a service provider actually doing the service I paid for well. Here's the the email:

June 30, 2009

I know it was a disappointment not to receive your luggage in a timely manner when you returned from your trip. However, since you were "home" and ultimately had access to your necessities, we must respectfully decline to provide compensation or to cover the cost of consequential expenses. This is a standard policy and we believe it to be reasonable.

Under the circumstances, we can certainly appreciate your point about the baggage fee you paid. However, we must respectfully decline to refund the fee. The baggage fee you paid was assessed to transport your belongings as specified under our baggage allowance policy. At the same time, while we do our very best to ensure your baggage arrives when you do, we do not make this absolute guarantee. Accordingly, while we understand your perspective, the issue of the baggage fee and the delayed arrival of your baggage are two completely separate matters.

Most importantly, we will continue to find ways to prevent baggage mishandling altogether. We know how it important it is for our customers to have their belongings arrive at their destination when they do. Please give us another opportunity to serve you better.

Sincerely,

Kay Farmer
Customer Relations
American Airlines

And here is my response:

Ms. Kay Farmer:

I am in receipt of your email titled "R2009/06-35414-00300-001-00" in which you declined my request for a refund of the $15 baggage fee for my bag that arrived a day after I did in Dallas.

However disengenous I think it is too assert that the baggage fee I paid and AA's failure to timely deliver my a bag are two separate matters, I am not surprised, unfortunately, by your response. Though I haven't read your baggage allowance policy, my guess is that American Airlines is well within its rights to deny my request for a refund of the baggage fee.

Nevertheless, let me just say that your email and AA's response reflects appalling customer service. The truth of the matter is, AA made a mistake. My bag was checked more than two hours before my flight. I box my wife checked at the exact same time made it to Dallas on time. The fee itself insures that fewer bags are checked these days, a fact that was clear to me as a watched a total of 20-25 bags come off the flight at baggage claim. Instead of an apology and a refund, which I continue to believe is a fairly reasonable request, I only received your email denying the request for a refund and failing to apologize or even admit AA made a mistake.

My only recourse, then, is to tell everyone I know about my customer service experience with AA. I've posted your email and this response at my blog at http://dallascowboysdad.blogspot.com/ - cross-posted to my facebook and Twitter accounts.

Chris

Battle of the Bands

I'm a recent convert to guitar-like video game playing, mostly spurred on by our firm's upcoming Battle of Bands party for the summer recruits. I must admit, I've been spending significant amount of time at home practicing to get ready for it. I like it a lot because it feeds my long-held desire to learn how to play the guitar, but without, you know, the work. I've sort of taken over, as I tend to do, a lot of the logistics of the party, including finding (HT: DC Mom) a cool new venue where we will perform on a stage with lighting and the whole deal. I'm pumped about it, but I fear my hightened involvement has given the impression that I'm good at this. I'm not.

Above is a picture of me trying out the ax on stage when we went to preview the place. I know, I know...I missed my calling.

"Cavs Win, Cavs Win"

I'll have more substantive thoughts later, but just to tide folks over, check out this clip from a Cleveland station on the night Lebron hit that amazing three pointer. Apparently, they were winding up the show just as the game was ending:



That guy is awesome. H/T DMN Sports Media Blog.

Wet 'n Wild

We took an "in-town vacation" yesterday to the Great Wolf Lodge (pictured on the left) in Grapevine, Texas. Basically, we're talking about a kid-friendly resort hotel with a huge indoor water park. I wasn't sure what to expect, exactly, but I have to say I was pretty impressed. They've definitely got the system worked out well, for example, when you check in, they give you a bracelet that identifies you and your children, works as a key to get you in your room, gives you access to the water park, and can be "read" at any of the restaurants or snack bars to get food Speaking of food, I expected pretty average, but was actually impressed with the quality. I had a great portabello, spinach, tomato and mozzarella "burger" for dinner.

We were there a total of about 23 hours--approximately 6 of those were spent in the waterpark (pictured right). DC Mom and I spent most of that time just trying to prevent the DC Kids from drowning (successfully, fortunately), but they were oblivious to the danger. A fantastic time was had by all.

Ellis on the Block

Talking about Greg Ellis these days is a lot like the conversations everyone had about Dave Campo while he was Coach. First, everyone has got to give an obligatory "He really seems like a decent guy," before they rip him. So consider that said here, but I'm not going to be that broken hearted if the Cowboys let him go...especially if they can get anything back in return. I'm not saying he'll be easy to replace, he won't (hello Anthony Spencer), but his act has gotten really stale.

And, truthfully, I don't think Ellis has taken as much heat as a lot of other athletes do when they act like a complete and total crybaby over their contract. Anyone else acts like him over the last few years (see TO) and they get ripped a lot harder. Add to his annual contract complaining the interviews he gave just after the TO release which just fed the fire, and I've really started to think the team might be better without him. I hate it when people hold the money athletes make against them, but in this case, I think its a good counterpoint to Ellis. This guy is a millionaire many, many times over and all I ever hear him do is complain about the money he makes. And he's very good, there's no doubt. He's a guy you can win with and I would love for him to finish his career as a Cowboy (assuming he would cool it on the complaining). But he's never been a special player in the same way, say, Ware is a special player. He's not a guy you expect opposing offenses to gameplan for. He's been to the Pro Bowl once in 12 seasons, and that year (2007) he was a replacement added just before the game. I don't have all of the salary numbers at my fingertips, but I imagine there's a better-than-decent argument that his been paid right in line with his skill level.

Most of all, after the last two frustrating seasons, I'm just sick of the drama and ready for the Cowboys to get rid of the drama and the complainers. Anybody (who can play and) wants to cut the crap, focus on football and help this team win another title, please step forward. Everyone else, including Ellis and his complaints, can take the first flight out of town for all I care.

Va-ca-tion Tiiiiiiiime

The DC Family and I are taking a few days off around the Memorial Day Weekend. Now, don't worry. That doesn't mean I'll stop blogging....just that it might occur a little more intermittantly. In the meantime...does anyone have anything to say about Kris Allen's win. I feel like my prediction got on the record. Kris definitely benefited from the Danny Gokey crossover vote. I'm glad Kris won, but, in the end, both guys seem like decent people and both are clearly going to do fine so I didn't think it mattered much who won. Still I liked being right.

As I said before, this is the first season I've ever watched Idol, so, consequently, this is the first Idol final I've ever seen. I was really impressed. I honestly thought it was two of the best hours I've ever seen on TV in a long time (not including the LOST finale--which I'm still processing and will get to next week). This was entertaining from beginning to end and I thought they did a FANTASTIC job of matching Idol contestants with star duet partners. I thought Danny was as good as he had been all season long and loved listening to him sing with Lionel. Similarly, I thought the Anoop/Jasom Mraz, Allison/Cyndi Lauper and the Adam/KISS pairings were spot on. Basically, as I said, I liked it all.

Brainwashing Your Kid Carefully

Bob Sturm, the co-host of the noon to 3 pm show on The Ticket, grew up in Wisconsion and is a huge Green Bay Packer fan much in the same way I am a Dallas Cowboy fan. But Bob has taken fandom a little further than I have on a couple of fronts and, since one of these ways relates to a theme of this blog, I thought it worthy of discussion.

First, Bob got a tattoo of the green and gold Green Bay "G" on his shoulder a couple of years ago. Bob, like me, doesn't really seem like the tattoo type and, although I heard the story at the time, I can't recall what led to the decision to do it in his early to mid-30s. This will probably come as a bit of a surprise to DC Mom, but on occasion I've thought it might be kind of cool to do something similar with the Cowboy star. Again, though, I'm not really the tattoo type.

I find the second thing he did fascinating, particularly in light of (1) recent news and (2) my stated purpose of this blog...chronicling my own obsession with the Cowboys and my efforts to brainwash my children. Have no illusions, I consider the brainwashing of children in this manner a worthy and admirable endeavor, but I did not go quite as far as Bob, who named his son Brett, in honor of his favorite player of all time, one Brett Favre.

Brett (Favre, not Bob's son) has been on the athlete retirement yo-yo for the past couple of years and last year he "retired" from the Packers and ended up (after months of drama) playing for the Jets. Now, I imagine Brett playing for the Jets did not cause much heartburn for Bob. The Jets don't play the Packers much (and didn't last year in the regular season) and there's not a rivalry of any kind between the two teams. To me, this was kind of like Emmitt going to play for the Cardinals...a cute little sideshow, but no real betrayal.

But now, Brett has "retired" (again), this time from the Jets and is trying to fanagle himself onto the Minnesota Vikings...the longtime hated rival of the Packers. Bob has openly mocked and ridiculed the Vikings on the air for years. And it appears that part of the motivation for Brett joining the Vikings is to stick to the Packers (who they play twice a year), because Brett thinks the Packers tried to push him into retirement before he was ready. Now, Bob has to explain to his son that his namesake, the very symbol of Dad's favorite team, the team he is teaching his son to love, has betrayed that team, is joining the hated rival and is openly gunning for them.

Bob's essential error here was connecting his son too much to the player, not the team. I mean, if you are young Brett, don't you consider for a moment pulling for your namesake, even though he is playing for the Vikings. And what if, as a result of rooting for big Brett, little Brett starts to kind of like the Vikings...then becomes a fan of the Vikings. What a disaster that would be. I'm sorry, Bob. These decisions have to be better thought out. Tattoo...OK. But the kid-naming thing carries too much risk.

No Boundaries...Idol Style

Well...I can't imagine that at this point those performances changed any minds. I appreciate that Adam sang my favorite of his performances...Mad World...first. And it was another really good performance of that song (which a lot of people didn't see last time because the show ran long). As for the others...meh. It was Adam. It was good. He screamed a lot. The judges were overly-effusive. OK.

I liked each of Kris' performances better, but as I've already stated, I'm naturally inclined to do so. Thought Ain't No Sunshine was better the second time around actually. As opposed to the judges' comments (mostly Simon) I thought What's Goin' On was a terrific performance...really fun to watch. Again, I enjoyed Kris' distinctive take on the song and I really liked the addition of the congo drums.

Last, I can't go on without a word about "No Boundaries"--the Kara co-written song--was (drag it out for emphasis) teeeerrrrriiibbbllleeee. Terrible. Really Terrible. So...I didn't like it. What a stupid way to end the show. Maybe...maybe...start the show with that terrible song, but don't end it that way. I thought it was far and away Adam's worst performance of the season (and, again, still good in comparison to most) and I thought Kris did an OK job trying to make it sound like a real song. Ridiculous.

What I Read Today...5/19

Will Garrett be a genius again this year?

Todd Archer runs down some of the storylines to follow as OTAs begin today. And yes, if you ever needed a gauge on my level of obsession, I think there are storylines to be followed at OTAs in May.

Speaking of...highlights (?) from todays OTAs.

With the risk of angering dog-loving readers...I think we should all just give Mike Vick a break and let him get back to his life. It's unbelievable what we forgive athletes for, but somehow Vick is irredeemamably evil. Shoot up, shoot others, beat up your wife, cheat at the game, get caught naked tied up in a motel room with a hooker and cocaine. That's no problem, just don't hurt any dogs. No doubt, he's an idiot, but I say he's paid (or is paying) his debt. Let's just move on.

CNN lists its best and worst American Idol performances. Would any of tonight's be on that list?

And, last, my alma mater got a new President today that is 8 years older than me. Yea...but does he have a blog?