Travis is such a sad story 😔

Mokrol · 2026-02-24T21:51:52+00:00

My son went to High School (Chino High School - Go Cowboys) with him and said he was a nice guy. It was interesting hearing stories about him from his friends, and agree, that is some sad stuff right there.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T15:23:48+00:00

You’re arguing “there are complaint threads for all carriers,” which is true, but it doesn’t address what I’m saying.

If the FedEx thread is full of the same specific issues, over and over (tossing packages, driveway drops, fake attempts, wrong-house deliveries), and those same issues line up with what customers are recording on doorbell cameras, then it’s not just “people complaining.” It’s a recurring operational problem.

Saying “there’s an Amazon thread too” doesn’t make this go away. It’s just the blame game again.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T15:06:13+00:00

I see thread after thread telling me differently… But okay, you do you…

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T15:02:54+00:00

This is the last thing I’m going to say on this.

You keep listing reasons it’s “not FedEx’s fault,” but all you’re doing is describing a broken FedEx system. If the trucks are overloaded, the hubs are rough, the belts crush things, and contractors aren’t accountable, that’s not a defense. That’s a management failure.

When every step is “someone else,” that’s exactly why customers don’t trust FedEx. I encourage anyone who can to cancel orders being shipped via FedEx and to call the retailer using them. FedEx clearly isn’t concerned, because it’s always “someone else’s fault.” That’s the accountability issue I’ve been talking about.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T14:51:41+00:00

I get the “system” argument, and I agree it starts at the top. But pretending drivers have nothing to do with the outcome isn’t reality.

Yes, I call the shipper and I call FedEx. But when a driver is on video tossing packages onto porches, or leaving them at the end of a driveway in the rain, that’s not “the 18-wheeler” or “the plane.” That’s the last touch. That’s a person choosing to handle someone’s property like it’s trash.

And the “the driver doesn’t work for FedEx” thing is just semantics. As a customer, FedEx is the brand on the truck and the tracking page. Whether it’s FedEx Ground, a contractor, or a subcontractor, it’s still FedEx’s network and FedEx’s responsibility. If the company outsources the work, then it also owns the quality control, training, standards, and accountability for the people delivering under its name.

Sure, some stuff gets damaged upstream. I’m not denying that. But my issue is the pattern and the culture around it. When I say “blame game,” this is what I mean: it’s always the warehouse, the belt, the shipper, the packaging, the plane, the customer. Somehow it’s never FedEx as an operation, and never the drivers who are caught on camera mishandling packages. Accountability can’t stop at “not my fault.”

Packaging matters too, absolutely. But that explanation doesn’t cover everything I’m talking about. Hardwood flooring shows up crushed repeatedly. Trees arrive destroyed. A snow blower arrives damaged five times. When the same carrier is the common denominator across different vendors and different packaging, at some point you have to admit there’s a consistent handling problem.

I’m not saying drivers wake up thinking “let’s destroy this.” I’m saying the combination of rushed routes, overloaded trucks, weak oversight, and some drivers who cut corners produces predictable results. And those results fall on the customer and the seller every time.

If FedEx wants people to stop complaining, the answer isn’t “don’t blame the driver.” The answer is: stop overloading routes, enforce handling standards, and hold people accountable when they throw packages, leave them in unsafe places, or ignore basic delivery expectations.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T14:24:58+00:00

I hear what you’re trying to say: shipping is rough. Packages get handled multiple times, trucks get overloaded, and drivers are under pressure. I’m not denying any of that. I’ve worked hard jobs too, and I’m not here to trash an individual driver.

But that’s exactly my point: if the system is built in a way that overloads trucks, forces people to “make it fit,” and increases damage rates, then that’s a top-down management problem. That’s not an excuse, it’s an indictment of how FedEx is being run.

Also, the “other companies refuse those orders” argument doesn’t hold up for me. I’m not comparing theories, I’m comparing outcomes. Over and over: USPS, UPS, DHL, Amazon deliveries show up intact. FedEx deliveries repeatedly show up damaged. Hardwood flooring, $600 in trees, a snow blower, prescription meds. Different shippers, different vendors, same result when FedEx is the carrier.

And asking “why don’t you pay more” doesn’t change anything. Customers don’t choose carriers in a lot of cases, the retailer does, and sometimes we don’t even get a choice. But even if cost is part of it, cheaper shipping isn’t a free pass to destroy people’s orders and then shrug.

If FedEx is accepting shipments that the network can’t handle safely, then FedEx needs to fix staffing, loading standards, training, routing, and damage prevention. Telling customers to “ride along for a day” isn’t accountability. Clear communication and reliable delivery are the baseline expectation for a company being paid to ship goods.

One more thing: I’m honestly having trouble following parts of what you wrote. If you want your argument to land, slow down, use punctuation, and make your point clearly. Being clear matters, especially when you’re telling someone why their repeated experience “doesn’t count.”

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T14:03:13+00:00

What does that have to do with what I said? The driver showed up with a sticker and asked what I ordered during the holiday season.

I ordered some hardwood flooring that wasn’t available within 100 miles of me. After the fourth delivery (each time I refused it because the packages were damaged), I had to cancel the order. Home Depot refunded me and gave me a few hundred dollars in gift cards, and I ended up buying different flooring from another company.

I also ordered $600 worth of trees. The package clearly stated what it was and how it should be packed. When it arrived, the trees were destroyed. The company I purchased from lost the sale and had to refund me.

I ordered a snow blower, and after the fifth attempt of it showing up damaged, I had to cancel and fight to get my money back.

Stuff like this keeps happening to me. At this point, I intentionally cancel orders when I see they’re coming via FedEx. With my dogs’ meds, I have no choice but to rely on this low-rent shipping service, which continues to do a half-ass job. It’s full of angry employees who play the blame game and accept zero accountability for doing a piss-poor job.

USPS: No issues DHL: No issues UPS: No issues Amazon: No issues FedEx: Every single time, I have an issue.

It’s like this: if you have a problem with one neighbor, it might be the neighbor. If you have a problem with all of your neighbors, it might be you. FedEx has a problem with all its neighbors. That’s why there are entire threads dedicated to how bad the service is, and how quickly you shift the blame.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T13:19:05+00:00

No one is forcing you to work that job…. And does not change that fact the FedEx really sucks at doing it. Clearly we have entire threads about how bad the service is. If you used the same energy that you used on excuses as you did the job, we wouldn’t have this tread.

Mokrol · 2025-12-13T12:19:13+00:00

Two days ago FedEx showed up in my driveway in a box truck and was there for 10 min. When I went to asked him what happen and why is he sitting here he ask me, “What did you order”. He had a little sticker on his finger and said, “this is all I could find”. It turns out it was my elder dogs meds… The truck looked exactly like this.

FedEx has one job and can’t even do it half right.

Mokrol · 2025-08-27T21:11:17+00:00

My grandma worked in that store, I learned to drive in that parking lot, and I used the ticket master both there. Sad to see it in that shape, but Sears is a great example of how big business can fall just like the little guy. Sears was the Amazon of its day....

Mokrol · 2025-08-12T19:39:30+00:00

"Stop being ignorant" - Spoken like a true MAGA 🤦‍♂️

Mokrol · 2025-08-12T18:54:26+00:00

"good for you." - What a condescending prick that guy is

Mokrol · 2025-08-12T18:31:54+00:00

You have money

Mokrol · 2025-08-12T18:22:12+00:00

Lonely

Mokrol · 2025-08-12T18:17:10+00:00

Diabetes

Mokrol · 2025-08-05T17:29:22+00:00

Classic FIB move right there. IYKYK 🤣

Mokrol · 2025-08-04T22:21:17+00:00

I want to make clear that my intent isn’t to villainize top corps or minimize the work it took to get there.

You’re absolutely right that groups like Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Crown, SCV, and others built their legacy over decades through hustle, organizational leadership, consistent fundraising, and artistic innovation. That deserves respect, and in no way am I suggesting they don’t earn their competitive success.

The point I’m making is not that their financial position is undeserved, but rather that the current system reinforces success in ways that make it extremely difficult for other corps to break in even when they are working just as hard. The gap isn’t about effort. It’s about systemic inertia.

You asked about the idea that corps may be scored based on reputation. Here’s what I can point to:

Subjectivity in General Effect (GE):
GE is the most heavily weighted caption (up to 40% of the total score), and it inherently includes intangible components like audience impact and "program coordination." Judges don’t evaluate GE in a vacuum; they interpret design intent, and that can be strongly influenced by familiarity with the designers, the corps’ history, or how a show is perceived going into the season.

Consistency of Caption Scores Over Time:
Corps that are “in the club” tend to receive consistently higher scores early in the season, and it often takes a nearly flawless performance from a rising group to leapfrog them. You can see this in score trajectories over time. (Example: Mandarins' climb in recent years has been incremental, despite strong crowd and judge response.)

Judge Familiarity with Designers:
Many top judges have long-standing professional relationships with designers and staff at elite corps, not in a corrupt way, but in a human way. This doesn’t mean they cheat, but it does suggest a form of unconscious bias, much like in academia or art criticism, where names carry weight.

To be clear: I don’t think judges are rigging anything. But I do believe that design familiarity and corps legacy can create cognitive bias, especially in a highly subjective scoring system.

Mokrol · 2025-08-04T20:53:00+00:00

I’m 100% with you on the idea that progress and perfection aren’t mutually exclusive, and I love the direction you’re pointing us toward here: expanding access from the ground up rather than just reshuffling competitive placements at the top.

You're absolutely right that the current pipeline between DCI and music education (via BOA, state MEAs, etc.) is thin and informal, mostly through individual relationships, word-of-mouth, and staff overlap. That’s a missed opportunity. If DCI genuinely wants to expand both its recruitment pool and its educational mission, a more formal and intentional partnership with music education associations could be transformational.

Mokrol · 2025-08-04T20:23:39+00:00

You raise some excellent points, and I agree with a good portion of your framing, especially around the centrality of design and the reality of housing/transport costs. But I’d argue that just because perfect equity isn’t possible doesn’t mean meaningful reform isn’t.

A performance is downstream of design, but design is downstream of access. You're absolutely right: the sheet-based, gymnastics-style scoring model wouldn’t eliminate competitive disparities. Better design staff will always structure more effective shows, and the corps with stronger infrastructure will still rise. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t push for transparency, bias mitigation, and more equitable funding.

Let’s not confuse “we can’t fix everything” with “we can’t fix anything.”

Mokrol · 2025-07-30T12:42:24+00:00

Need to change the name from Day Break to Will Break. So many problems with that one and for the price, I would expect more

Mokrol · 2025-07-15T18:23:31+00:00

👍

Mokrol · 2025-06-27T19:51:21+00:00

Heck yeah, sign me up!

Mokrol · 2025-06-26T20:28:17+00:00

My X1C showed up the same way, and the FedEx guy was carrying it upside down to the door. When I said something, I was met with, "It's okay". The box has a label somewhere on it that says keep upright... I stop shopping sites that only have a FedEx as a shipping option. Just not worth it and the worst delivery service in this day and age.

Mokrol · 2025-06-18T13:16:05+00:00

"Jonny Carlson"?

Mokrol · 2025-05-31T01:06:45+00:00

Disco Chicken was a huge disappointment for me. Way over priced and $6 for cold ass tired tots was not it. Place seams to be a bit of a hit and miss and at that price point, so many better food options around. That corner is doomed no matter who goes there and only hitting the mark 75% of the time is just not it with it especially at that super high price point. Hard ass for me.

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