Undercover Boss:Close to Home (10/17/10)

DISCLAIMER: I have never watched Undercover Boss before. I watched last night for the main reason I am indeed a Frontier employee. Before I get into the show I wanted to state a few things. First of all, I was a Midwest employee for over four years before the merger that officially brought Midwest, Frontier and Republic Airlines together as one. Now as I approach my five year anniversary as a ramper, this show airs and I have to say I was a little skeptical going in. I have personally only met Brian Bedford one time, and he seemed very nice and unlike my past big boss, never gave me a reason to dislike him. Plus him bringing in our current management staff that is turning around our ramp operations in Milwaukee is definately a plus in my book. That being said, I am not going to take this oppurtunity to trash talk him. This is not because I am posting this where he or any other management people can see it and get in trouble. It's because I don't feel it's necessary to make my points. Some people I work with will not agree with everything I will have to say in this review, some will. I am not here to please everyone, I'm here to give my honest opinion and view on subject matters, and this is one of them. Thank you.

Opening-Explaination of the Company
I have to thank them for having him explain everything. I've been living this merger for over a year now and even I get confused sometimes. Hearing Brian literally say everything that I've been saying to Mandy for the last year, venting and just trying to figure things out. I also appreciated the fact that he mentioned the 10% cut in Denver when Frontier went bankrupt. The only thing I wish they brought up was the fact that Republic bought Midwest to save us from going bankrupt as well. Also there were alot of hardships here in Milwaukee that weren't mentioned, but I will let that slide to the fact that they are basing the episode in Denver.

Meeting the Bedford Family
Wow, he has a big family. Eight kids?!? More power to him and his wife. I also didn't know he was so religious. I actually have alot more respect for the man now that I know these things about him. It's good to know. I did love the reaction his young daughter had to his undercover disguise, very funny to me.

Presenting Richard Jacobs
This is the part I was most wondering about. Brian is one of the most recoginzable figures in the airline business right now, especially in Denver, Indy and Milwaukee. They really have to disguise him well for this to work. That's why when I saw the wig and glasses, I saw they got it right. As a bonus they also explained the one thing I was wondering, where the cameras are. In the fake-reality of the show, Richard Jacobs is on a reality show where he is one of two candidates for a job at Frontier. While, I admit, it does seem VERY far fetched, in 2010 anything is possible. With that being said, it's time for him to get into training on the job.

Grooming-Denver, CO
We meet Sue, who will teach him how to groom an aircraft. This is a part of the job that is new to the rampers in Milwaukee to be honest. For years we had a seperate grooming staff to do this job, until just over a year ago, especially the day people, never had to groom a plane. Grooming is just another way of saying clean the plane. Pretty much, collect garbage, clean underneath and between seats and the seatbacks, and also internal cleaning the lavs and the galleys. (also if there's time, vaccum it as well) What made this interseting is the "7 minute" grooming turn they explained. That has changed since this was taped, there is more time given to change over a plane. As for everything that Sue said during "union lunch" (that line made me laugh) about her son, it made think of alot of people I work with. There are alot people I work with that put up with alot of shit at home and come to work with a smile of their face despite it.

Ramp/Counter Agent-Oklahoma City, OK
We meet Valerie, who is a cross trained agent. This was interseting to watch for me because I have friends in Columbus that are cross agents. First of all, it was great to see that working on the ramp itself isn't as easy it looks. The agents make it look so simple, but as trainees always learn that this job is hard till you get the hang of it. As for the cross agent part, we don't have that in Milwaukee, even though alot of us can do that job, we don't have to. I do agree with him that it's gross to sweat as much as we do outside and then go up to the ticket counter and be around customers. It's not a good presentation or even that professional looking.

Flight Attendant-Denver, CO-San Diego, CA
First of all, we meet Tui, you is by far one of the best flight attendants I've ever seen. This is part of the job I don't do. The one thing I laughed at was the fact that he was TOO social that the flight went out left. Also, watching him totally mess up the annoucement made me laugh. I think this showed how hard flight attendants work on a flight. It's not as simple as it seems. Hearing him talk about how hard it is the make ends meat doing this job in general. The fact the needs this job, and two other jobs and his wife works two jobs just to make due. The thing that I will say about that is this. I would love more money on my checks, but wouldn't we all? The fact that they completely addressed this made me feel good. I agree with Tui, I don't want much else really, just money and maybe some more effort made towards us as employees. I know it's rough, we are all going through alot right now but top priority should be to make your employees happy.

Lav Agent-Denver, CO
Ah the part of the show that every ramp agent, in every city, was waiting for. Watching Brian Bedford do lavs. We meet Hector, who is going to show Richard how to probably clean the lavs. I know there was alot of people who watched this and were like "gross!", well this is part of the job. If done right, it's a VERY easy job. I laughed really hard when he got nailed with blue juice, I think alot of people did. Hector did get into working extra hours and how much people do to keep this company alive. He really sounded like alot of people I work with on a daily basis. He also mentioned the fact that every ramper is like a part of a big family in their city. It's totally true, a very dysfunctional family, but still. Once you put on the uniform, you are one of us. No one wants to see anyone get fired or to quit for bull shit reasons, it hurts all of us because it affects all of us.

Return to being CEO
Watching Brian in the meeting with management was totally encouragement. It made me feel good about the company as a whole. It's awesome to see and hear. I know alot of people probably don't look at it that way, but I look at as Brian is trying to help build the company properly, something hasn't been done in YEARS.

Revealing that he is Brian Bedford not Richard Jacobs
I read on facebook last night that people had issues with this part because he gave stuff to the people that helped him over the course of the show. I had no problem with this. The facts are, THIS IS A REALITY SHOW. At the end of shows like this there has to be something done that shows that he learned what he said he was going to. This shouldn't be looked into that deeply. I saw the fact that Brian is a good guy, he's willing to do anything for this company, these were the little things that will lead to bigger things down the road.

Final Thoughts
As an employee of Frontier Airlines, seeing this episode helped me feel good about myself. For the first time I don't feel like the lowest scum on earth or the bottom of the barrel in the eyes of the bosses. I'm happy to see that changes are happening and will continue to happen down the road.

NFL Picks-Week 6

Miami/Green Bay
San Diego/St. Louis
Baltimore/New England
Cleveland/Pittsburgh
Kansas City/Houston
Detroit/New York Giants
Atlanta/Philadelphia
Seattle/Chicago
New Orleans/Tampa Bay
New York Jets/Denver
Oakland/San Francisco
Dallas/Minnesota
Indianapolis/Washington
Tennessee/Jacksonville

Glee:Songs, Romance and Just All Out Fun (10/12/10)

Well, I have to say after last week's emotional rollercoaster this week's Glee was a breath of fresh air. As much as I loved last week's show, it was time for an old-school cheerful storyline driven episode of Glee. The theme tonight was Duets which led to very fun performances and awesome story twists. Let's get into the songs.

Rachel & Finn-Don't Go Breakin My Heart
I have ALWAYS loved this song so when I heard they were going to sing it, I was looking forward it. They didn't disappoint. They both sounded fantastic and they could sing duets every week and I wouldn't have any problem with that. I also liked the fact that after the song Rachel actually showed compassion for new Glee member Sam, by telling Finn she wants to throw the competition. More on that later. A

Mercedes & Santana-River Deep/Mountain High
Why don't these two sing together more often? Last year they blew everyone away with The Boy is Mine, now they pull this out of their hats. This was entertaining and fun. The choreography was a bit distracting at first till they really got into it. It was bitchy, it was hardcore and it was fun. A+

Kurt-Le Jazz Hot
I have two ways of looking at this song. Either it was sure brillance showing that Chris Colfer can really do anything. Or it was really freaky and a little over the top for my taste. I'm not sure. At times I felt both ways. The premise was awesome, I loved the idea that instead of singing a duet, he'll do it on him own, especially since it made sense in the story. Also I love the fact that it felt very Broadway-esce, something they haven't done on this show in a while. Overall, it hit it's points, but at the same time left everyone in the room speechless. B+

"Asian Fusion" Tina & Mike-Sing
I like the name Asian Fusion, even if it doesn't stick. This was hysterical and fun to watch. The dancing was awesome, as usual, and Mike finally gets a song! Sure it wasn't much of a song, but still. On a night where there were going to be alot of serious or romantic numbers, this was needed. Especially since there was a major argument, between him and Tina earlier, over the fact that Mike would never sing. B

Rachel & Finn-With You I'm Born Again
This was their attempt to throw the competition. They did just that. It was uncomfortable and well really bad. I know that was the point, but still, it was really bad. Please don't release this on ITunes, don't do that to the people who buy every song. It's not worth it. This is not good bad like Run Joey Run last season, this is bad bad. C-

Sam & Quinn-Lucky
This was fantasitc. I really enjoyed this performance. Their voices meshed really well together and the flirtation led to great chemistry. I hope they get more chances to sing more songs together. This could be the start of a heavy rivalry for the top spot on performances with Rachel/Finn. A+

Rachel & Kurt-Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy
I wasn't sure when I saw this on the songlist if I was going to like this, then they performed. (Note:I couldn't really enjoy this song during the broadcast because our HD feed started screwing up but I have listened to the song since.) Their voices work so well together and I really want them to perform more together down the road. A

Dancing With the Stars Ratings (10/11/10)

"Never has our audience been in such danger of being hit by a falling star."-Tom

Right when I get a format I like to review this show, they change the way they score the couples. This was based the fact that it was acoustic night and they changed up the set so why not change up the way they do the scores.
(Couple (Judge's Two Scores & Total Score) My Star Rating out of 5)

Kurt & Anna (15/19 34) ***1/2

Brandy & Maksim (20/26 48) *** (didn't think it was as good as they claimed)

Rick & Cheryl (19/20 39) ***1/2

Kyle & Lacey (18/22 40) **** (how these two aren't dating at this point I have no idea)

The Situation & Karina (12/16 28) **1/2 (didn't think they were terrible but still not great) (Will Go Home)

Florence & Corky (17/18 35) ***1/2 (this made me sooooo uncomfortable while watching) Line of the night:"And that was our season 11 get a room dance!"-Tom

Jennifer & Derek (27/29 56) ***** (Wow Wow Wow, first tens of the year!)

Bristol & Mark (18/14 32) **1/2 (I thought this was worse than Situation because it was boring) (Should Go Home)

Audrina & Tony (24/22 46) ****1/2

NFL Week 5

Week 5 Results:10-4
Full Season:43-32

Jacksonville/Buffalo
Denver/Baltimore
Kansas City/Indianapolis
Green Bay/Washington
St. Louis/Detroit
Chicago/Carolina
Tampa Bay/Cincinnati
Atlanta/Cleveland
New York Giants/Houston
New Orleans/Arizona
Tennessee/Dallas
San Diego/Oakland
Philadelphia/San Francisco
Minnesota/New York Jets

Bound for Glory 2010 Results

Well after last night's PPV, I'm a combination disappointed, let down and a little surprised on the Jeff Hardy hell turn. I just don't want to get into this show because I'm just speechless and not in a good way. Let me just go threw my picks.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
My Pick: Mr. Anderson (0-1)
Winner: Jeff Hardy

TNA X Division Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Douglas Williams
My Pick/Winner: Jay Lethal (1-1)

TNA Knockouts Championship
Special Guest Referee:Mickie James
Angelina Love (c) vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Tara
My Pick: Angelina Love (1-2)
Winner: Tara

TNA Tag Team Championship
Motor City Machineguns (c) vs. Generation Me
My Pick/Winner: Motor City Machineguns (2-2)

Monster's Ball Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss
My Pick/Winner: Rob Van Dam (3-2)

Lethal Lockdown Match
Fortune (A.J. Styles, Matt Morgan, Beer Money & Kazarian) vs. EV 2.0 (Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Raven, Stevie Richards & Rhino)
My Pick: Fortune (3-3)
Winner: EV 2.0

Kevin Nash, Sting & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe & Jeff Jarrett
My Pick: Samoa Joe & Jeff Jarrett
Winner: Kevin Nash, Sting & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero (3-4)

Eric Young & Orlando Jordan vs. Ink Inc.
My Pick/Winner: Ink Inc (4-4)

Bound for Glory 2010 Predictations

As confusing as TNA programming has been over the last month or so, this Sunday is their biggest show of the year. So despite a strange card and a wild hype date (10/10/10), let me make my picks for the show.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner: Mr. Anderson

TNA X Division Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs. Douglas Williams
Winner: Jay Lethal

TNA Knockouts Championship
Special Guest Referee:Mickie James
Angelina Love (c) vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Tara
Winner: Angelina Love

TNA Tag Team Championship
Motor City Machineguns (c) vs. Generation Me
Winner: Motor City Machineguns

Monster's Ball Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss
Winner: Rob Van Dam

Lethal Lockdown Match
Fortune (A.J. Styles, Matt Morgan, Beer Money & Kazarian) vs. EV 2.0 (Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Raven, Stevie Richards & Rhino)
Winner: Fortune

Kevin Nash, Sting & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe & Jeff Jarrett
Winner: Samoa Joe & Jeff Jarrett

Eric Young & Orlando Jordan vs. Ink Inc.
Winner: Ink Inc