Hooked on Series

Posted on 28/03/2023 by Grumpa Joe

Two TV programs have sunk their hooks into me and won’t let go. The most recent one I began watching is House of Cards with Kevin Spacey. The story line intrigues me as I want to believe that our Congressmen are not as stupid and conniving as depicted. Because I love conspiracy theories this program gets my attention because it deals with behind the scene activity of our Congress. It highlights the politics of getting bills passed. More than that it highlights the amount of back stabbing and favor trading that goes on between congressmen. Spacey uses the trick of giving “asides” where he looks directly at the audience and explains what is going on in his mind during dialogues with colleagues in negotiations.

The second most watched series is New Amsterdam a story about New York City’s first hospital which treats all people. The theme is definitely pro-socialist medicine. What saves the show is the main character who is played by actor Ryan Eggold. He plays the part of Max Reynolds the hospital Director not as a stiff suited administrator but as a scrub attired doctor whose main mission is to help people.

I must admit that I have a penchant for medical drama dating back to Dr. Ben Casey in black and white television days. Maybe it is because I spent a big chunk of my life in hospitals as a patient, a parent, and a spouse.

Max is the perfect example of a positive thinking problem solver, and the writers do an exemplary job coming up with solutions to his many difficult situations. The only thing I don’t like about this series is the emphasis on socialized medicine. The stories are usually balanced between the staff wanting to help everybody against the Board of Directors who seem to only care about cost and payment.

Also, within the characters there seems to be an inordinate population of home-sexual medical staff whose personal relationships become the story. The program also highlights the difficulties encountered by hospitals during the COVID pandemic. The entire staff suffers from PTSD, and battle fatigue. Another theme that they do an excellent job with is addiction.

At third place is a program called “The Blacklist” with James Spader as notorious most wanted by the FBI character Raymond Reddington. The entire premise of this series is preposterous and unbelievable. First the most wanted criminal lives within the country yet never gets caught, second because the same criminal is partnered with the FBI in a special mission to catch criminals. Usually, the criminals on the black list are creative entrepreneurs who exist to aide other criminals. The series lacks imagination when it comes to story telling. Each episode is played off a standard outline and the entire story seems to be solved in minutes. The cast has some interesting characters such as the computer, internet expert Aram Mojtabai who can find information on anybody seemingly within seconds.

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Are These People For Real?

Posted on 31/03/2016 by Grumpa Joe

Ticket Agent — very funny!!

AirlineTicketAgent_2.png
A DC ‘airport ticket agent’ offers some examples of why the US is in so
much trouble!

1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an
aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the
window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman’s (Moore) staffer (Howard
Bauleke), who wanted to go to Cape Town. I started to explain the length
of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me
with, ”I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but
Cape Town is in Massachusetts ..”

Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ”Cape Cod is
in Massachusetts , Cape Town is in South Africa..”

His response — click..

3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about
a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in
Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain
that’s not possible, sinceOrlando is in the middle of the state.

He replied, ‘Don’t lie to me!, I looked on the map, and Florida is a
very THIN state!!” (OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ”Is it
possible to see England from Canada ?”

I said, ”No.”

She said, ”But they look so close on the map” (OMG, again!)

5. An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked
if he could rent a car in Dallas .. I pulled up the reservation and
noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas … When I asked him why he
wanted to rent a car, he said, ”I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we
will need a car to drive between gates to save time.” (Aghhhh)

6. An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She
needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at
8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.

I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she
couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the
plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ”Do
airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose
luggage belongs to whom?” I said, ‘No, why do you ask?’

He replied, ”Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on
my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I think that’s
very rude!”

After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was
dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca.
is (FAT – Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a
destination tag on his luggage..

8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a
trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she
asked, ”Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train
to Hawaii ?”

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright
from Ala. who asked, ”How do I know which plane to get on?”

I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ”I was told my
flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.”

10. Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ”I need to fly to
Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer
planes?”

I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola and fly on a commuter plane.

She said, ”Yeah, whatever, smarty!”

11. Mary Landrieu, La. Senator, called and had a question about the
documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy
discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa.

“Oh, no I don’t. I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of
those.”

I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told
her this she said, ”Look, I’ve been to China four times and
every time they have accepted my American Express!”

12. A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations,
”I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .”

I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ”Are you sure that’s the
name of the town?”

‘Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the man.

After some searching, I came back with, ”I’m sorry, sir, I’ve looked up
every airport code in the country and can’t find a rhino anywhere.”

”The man retorted, ”Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is.
Check your map!”

So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered,

”You don’t mean Buffalo , do you?”
The reply? ”Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.”

Now you know why the Government is in the shape it’s in!

Could ANYONE be this DUMB?

YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED.

I don’t write it, I just offer it for your consideration.

 

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