MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN OCTOBER

 A GIFT FROM CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

They came a long way to give me this gift and I'm glad they did. From Cape Town, to New York it's a sixteen to seventeen hour plane ride.  The man and woman were in commercial real estate. They've traveled to the USA many times and have been in eighteen states on business.  They always spend some time seeing the sites of the state they are in and they were enjoying their visit to Charleston, South Carolina.  I loved their accents and they were a great way to end my day driving. As we got out of the car, he said they wanted a picture of me in my car.  I held up the above bill with Nelson Mandela that they gave me and I'm waiting for them to send me a copy of the picture.  The best gift they gave me was...themselves.

A GOAL SETTER EXTRAORDINAIRRE

My ride with the woman who lives in Charleston, South Carolina was terrific immediately. She was delightful and had a wonderful laugh that I heard for most of the ride.  After graduating with a journalism degree in communications, she found out pretty quickly that the money was not what she wanted to make.  She switched over to the telecommunications industry and had a very successful career in it. Her main goal her whole career was to retire early and start the career she really wanted-to be an artist.

Retiring in her early fifties, she spent three years training to be a painter and she succeeded.  She told me, "An encore career is the best career, because it's the one you really want." She's a quick painter and keeps two galleries stocked with paintings and she also travels around the country doing art exhibits. She's just a regular person with extraordinary determination, skill, and a very fun personality.

I didn't want to drop her off at the airport when she told me about one of her oldest friends. Her story is inspiration for everyone and her friend's story is just absolutely amazing. Her friend was a successful dentist for 37 years and decided she wanted to be a lawyer.  After getting her law degree, this woman who is five feet tall and maybe 95 pounds, takes clients who have been wronged by dentists. When she puts a dentist on the stand, she becomes her own expert witness and dentists can't defend themselves.  In her spare time her friend hunts alligators, skins them, and has a house full alligator-made things.  My rider showed me a picture of the two of them and another friend in front of a twelve foot alligator on her wall. My rider said of her friend, "She is not someone to play with."

I joked with her that I was disappointed she was in my car instead of her friend, and got a huge laugh out of her. In five years I've had about 60-70 truly great rides and this was one of them.

AN AMERICAN COMES HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME

I could not pass up writing this story of the young man I met in Charleston.  He's a cadet at Citadel College in his first few months of school.  I asked him where he came from and he said, "Germany, but I spent some time also in Belgium."  His dad is in the Navy and he decided to go into the Army because he feels it would give him more opportunities as a doctor.  He's an American and these few months are his first months in The United States.  When I asked him what was the biggest difference between Germany and The United States he said, "The people here are much friendlier." He's still getting adjusted to being in a military school and also finally being in this country.  He said, "I still feel like a foreigner." As he got out of the car, I gave him a little gift, (my list of comments) and I said, "Welcome home."

PAM'S WORLD

In almost every ride I give, the passenger enters my world, the world of "The Sunshine Man."  This ride was one of the rare exceptions and I was the one entering "Pam's World." Visiting form Western New Jersey, only twenty minutes from where I used to live, this woman was an absolute joy to be driving. Full of enthusiasm, energy, and positivity, I wanted to just sit back and talk to her, but driving was just getting in the way. Professionally, she is a project manager for women's cosmetics and described what she does as, "We're the beauty behind the beauty." 

She gave me a lecture on having a positive attitude. She started by saying, "I don't know why people are not joyful in the morning, the afternoon, or the night or every time. Everything isn't sunshine and rainbows, but you have to fully embrace things that happen 100% and be yourself. You have to navigate the bad and get through it by having peripheral vision."

I asked her where she got her positivity from and she said, "I was born with it; the doctor said I was a happy baby." When she was younger her friends wrote a song about what it's like being in "Pam's World." She can't remember any of the words, but after driving her, I could probably come up with some lyrics. The people who are in Pam's world today are very lucky to be there.

MY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

She walked up to my car with her three children between the ages of about 11 and 19. Looking in my car she immediately spotted my mannequin, Lilly, and said to me with a smile, "Are you a weirdo?" I said to her with a bigger smile, "Do I look like a weirdo?" Obviously a fun person to be around, the former psychology major started putting together her psychological profile on me. She has five children and working in the X-ray she enjoys meeting people. We had a lot of fun going back and forth.

When I brought up the 38 bills hanging in my car, she said, "We're not going to do history, are we?" I didn't go through all my bills, but she did like it when I took out a small bag of extra bills and let her son pick one out to take home. Her funniest line at that point was, "So you give a little bag to small children?"  By the end of the ride I won the New Yorker over, but in her own way. She wanted to know if she could call me for their next ride, because, "You would be less creepy than the next person and I'll let you talk some more."

POSTIVIVELY HAWAIIAN

I have always heard that Hawaiians are friendly and my passenger gave me a lot more than that.  Born in Hawaii, she is now living in South Carolina. She recently recovered for a car accident where she was hit by a police car and her car wound up in a ditch. After being out of work for a couple months she is as positive as she's ever been. She told me, "I believe you get more out of life with positivity." Each morning between 6-6:30 am she takes a picture of herself with a mug and posts it on social media.  She is now called, "Mug girl."  Most people with long names want to shorten their name, but when she gets married she's going to take her middle name, Kaleo'okalani, and switch it with her first name which is shorter.  In the future she'll be known as Kaleo, however, I think she'll always be known as positive.

2CP2128–Brno Dragon Stuffed Crocodile Hanging in Old Town Hall in Moravia, Czech Republic

10 AM (EST) THIS THURSDAY-BE THERE

On June 25th, 1967, fifty-six years ago, The Beatles introduced the song, "All You Need Is Love" and they did it by performing via satellite to 400 million people in 25 countries.  I've watched the video of that performance many times and tried to imagine what it was like hearing that song for the first time with everyone else in the world.  If you've never seen it, it is still worth watching.

Flash forward to 1994 and I remember watching the incredible Beatle Anthology television show. When the show ended they introduced the first Beatle song in twenty-four years, "Free as A Bird" with another new song "Real Love" on the flip side. It was incredible to watch and listen to how technology brought John Lennon back to life to sing again with the group.

Flash forward one more time to Thursday, November 1, 2023, this Thursday.  At 10 am. (EST), The Beatles will release their final song, "Now and Then" and the flip side will be their first single from 1963, "Love Me Do."  The song was a demo for John Lennon and it was given to Paul McCartney from Yoko Ono, John's wife. This time it is artificial intelligence bringing John Lennon and George Harrison back to life for one last song.  There will also be a twelve minute documentary on the Beatle's YouTube station on how the song was made.

I became a Beatle fan in high school around 1976/1977. During the past year or so I've listened to the Beatles station on SiriusXM radio and have fallen in love with The Beatles all over again.  Hanging in my office above me now is the below gift my oldest daughter put together in 2018 with some of the famous words of The Beatles. Next to that is a Beatle bag I believe my brother gave me and the two Beatle pins that come from those first couple years that I became a Beatle fan in the seventies.

In 1978, I wrote a very long poem about The Beatles called, "Yesterday, Today, and Always."  Below is the first eight lines and the last four lines.  It's hard to believe, but the poem is exactly 64 lines which is a pretty special number.  One of my favorite Beatle songs is "When I'm 64" and of course Beatlemania  began in 1964 when they came to America. 

You can count on it, at 10 am this Thursday, I will be listening to the radio to hear the final song of the most influential and best group of all-time-The Beatles. You don't want to miss it.

                                                    YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND ALWAYS

Back in January 1964 

Something happened that the world could not ignore.

All of a sudden, coming out of the blue,

A legend began only challenged by two.

One challenger who sang, "White Christmas" was Bing,

And the other was always known as, "The King."

Across from Liverpool, England four lads came,

Since that time, the world has not been the same.

Whether The Beatles stay apart, or if they come together,

The one thing that is sure, they will be remembered forever.

Although the Beatles great legend started fourteen years ago,

The world will never know, another John, Paul, George and Ringo.

A Positive Message Makes A Difference

Over the last ten days, I have learned about the power of social media and the power of a positive message. To introduce my book and promote it I went on several of the local Facebook groups, two in Charleston, and a couple personal ones for my wife, myself and my high school page.

I expected to get a few hundred reactions, some positive comments and some people who were interested in buying the book.  What have I received over these ten days is an estimated 8,000 plus reactions and comments and I have no clue how many people said that they just bought the book or were ordering now. It has been overwhelming, humbling and pretty exciting to experience this reaction.  

With the exception of maybe a couple dozen people who are friends, acquaintances, people I've driven, or people I went to school with, to almost all of these people I am a stranger.  How did this happen?

1. The idea of an Uber driver writing a positive book about his passengers is very unique or "cool" or "awesome" as many of them have said.

2. The title, "Driving On The Sunny Side With 10,000 Strangers", is a terrific title and half the credit goes to my youngest daughter who I'll call Melian, since I'm not "supposed" to use real names.

3. The front cover was beautifully done by Palmetto Publishers in North Charleston and it will get anyone's attention who sees it.

4. I wrote in my post that the book was dedicated to my passengers and that is a very unique and positive message.

5. Over the past five years I have frequently had passengers who loved the ride because of my positivity and the museum in my car.  Towards the end of my book, I purposely printed the generous comments and enthusiasm that my passengers have had.  The reaction online has been very, very similar.

I went through the hundreds of comments that were made online and I'm going to give those people credit for their comment. I already thanked them online, but I'm going to go back to their comment and attach this blog for them to see.  A positive message from me or you or anyone can make a world of difference and make people feel special.  Not in any order, here are my favorite comments from online these past ten days:

GLENDA

"I'm proud of you and I don't even know you."

NANCY

"Love your book idea. Congrats. A fun and entertaining read is very welcome in this day and age. Thanks for helping us keep our sunny side up."

DENISE

"I LOVE True Stories"

PEGGY

"What a beautiful way to share your love of strangers who become friends."

LISA

"Just ordered. Need some "hope and levity" with all that is going on in the world."

MARILYN

"Jeff Hoenig hypodermic attitude."

CARRIE

"May book a ride to nowhere for nostalgia"

KENDALL

"I just know this would be the best ride of my life."

SARAH

"Congratulations on enjoying a passionate career of giving people your very best each day."

MICHALENE

"Awesome. Congrats. Love this post and your great energy. I'm looking forward to grabbing myself a copy and sharing your post for others. Just what my soul needed today."

LAVONNE

"Wow! Have fun continuing your incredible journeys. It's interesting to note that "people" tend to get along with no conflict, but the more we are told there are problems between "groups" of people, the more conflict we have."

And last but not least, one rider's who enthusiasm and sincerity has to be included:

JESSICA

"This is a full circle moment for me.  I rode with you in July in Charleston. I was having  such an awful morning and you turned my entire day around!  After telling me your best comments for 2022, I got out of the car absolutely cackling! I am currently digging in my glove box to find the print out you gave me with the quotes because I kept it. This is so cool. Thank you for all you do."

I Tried To Get A Yearly Physical and I Was Turned Down!

 

I promised my wife that I would get a physical in the fall and I made my appointment.  I only take cholesterol medication and other than some occasional knee or back pain, and being overweight, I'm doing pretty well. I have great vision too! I got my blood work done and my sugar was higher than before which I knew would not go well with the doctor.

When he came in he told me that we could do the physical or we can discuss the blood work, but the insurance company would not let us do both.  Apparently, if we did both, I would get billed for one instead of the insurance company paying for both of them.

We both decided to talk about my numbers and the conclusion was that I am now a diabetic with a second medicine to take.  He explained that my pancreas has semi-retired and is no longer making insulin as it was, so I need the medication.  He also said I was, "In good spirits," a phrase my wife can't stand. With the week I was having, how could I not be, "In good spirits." 

The medicine I think is called, "Metaphor", or something like that.  So far I have no side effects and it should help me lose 5-6 pounds this year.  I've already lost 8-10 pounds in the last two month. I have another appointment for a yearly physical in December and my sugar numbers need to be checked every three months.  

On the sunny side, I was out of there in thirty minutes. The physical would have taken longer.  I told the doctor about my trip to the optometrist and told him that I was going to blog about this visit.  I don't think he would like the title.  

All Over Facebook, On YouTube Again, Three Television Interviews and Recognized in Iowa

Almost sixty years ago in 1964, the legendary comedian and host of "The Tonight Show," Johnny Carson, created a bit called, "Carnac the Magnificent." He performed it on the show for the next twenty-eight years.  Below is a picture of him during his bit.

He would hold a sealed envelope to his very large magician's hat and he would give an answer to a question that is written on a card inside the envelope. So, paying homage to the legend, the answer to the question is "all over Facebook, on You Tube again, three television interviews and recognized in Iowa." The answer is: "This week in the life of Jeff Hoenig."

I will make this as short as possible, but it has been an unbelievable week.  Let me count the ways:

1. I posted a picture of me holding my first book which I already blogged about, on several local Facebook sites around Myrtle Beach.  I got some great responses and a number of  people who were going to buy the book. One Facebook site five days later has had over 4,200 responses/comments and they have shared my post with others 200 times. All together, I answered over 200 comments that people made and for the largest site I am now listed as a "Top Contributor."

2. Tuesday night I appeared on the YouTube show, "Show Me The Money" that I have been on before for rideshare drivers.  I talked about the book and had a great time with Sergio and Chris below.

3. There are three Myrtle Beach television stations and all three interviewed me on consecutive days.  The first one, WMBF, came to my house and spent an hour and a half filming and interviewing. Below is the picture of the drone they used while I drove around the neighborhood with the anchorwoman. I got a picture of the drone as it was descending from the sky.  Look at the upper left corner of my Uber sticker and you can see the black drone.  The cameraman is of course on the left.  One of our neighbors wanted to know what the drone was for.

4.  My wife was driving someone from Iowa who visits here regularly and told her that I wrote a book.  The woman's daughter had sent her the Facebook post and they figured it was me. I am now known in Iowa, but I'm not as popular as "The Field of Dreams."

5. One of my friends who is an Uber driver bought a book from he.  He decided to strap in onto his console. A woman he drove to the airport on her way to Portugal asked to buy it and for him to get it for her when she returns from Portugal.  My friend is now going to make some money on my book!

6. I have my first speaking engagement at a retirement home on November 1. I'm going to have about 45 minutes to entertain 15-30 people with my stories.  I think I'm going to bring my mannequin Lily into the place to entertain the group and give them a tour of my car at the end.

7. I am seriously considering teaming up with an organization to have my car at an event and have people donate maybe $5 to the charity to get in my car and see my museum and for me to entertain them for fifteen minutes.  There are a lot of people who want to drive with me and want me to sign my book for them, this might be a way where everyone wins.

Trust me, all this is true and I've been laughing while I wrote every sentence-what a week it's been!

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AFTER 69 MONTHS, IT FINALLY HAPPENED

We own a television set. The last time we owned a television it was December 2017, really.  Before moving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we gave our television set to our son. It made sense because we were going 650 miles and there was a reasonable chance that the television would not make the trip safely. We decided we would get one when we were ready.

We thought about it and we talked about it and we decided many, many times that we didn't miss it and we weren't ready.  From time to time we would go to a hotel out of town and we would flip through the channels and find nothing interesting.  So we waited and waited and waited.

The reactions that people had when we told them that we didn't have a TV were hilarious.  Several people said, "What do you do?" I missed it on election day 2020, but we were fine. Three comments I received from passengers are worth repeating, because they were so good.

1. When I told the woman that we hadn't had a television in years, her eyes got big and simply said, "I would die."

2. He was telling me about IPTV and the hundreds of TV channels we can get and the things I had to buy for IPTV TV. I said, "Before I get that my wife and I have to get something important-we never got a TV here." Shocked, he said, "A TV is like having a fork in your house."

3. Earlier this year, I told another guy that my wife and I decided again not to get a TV. He replied, "It's un-American, even people in third world countries have TV's."

The above picture is an LG 55 inch set.  We haven't turned it on yet, but it's here. That leads me to a couple questions: if you don't turn it on, is it still considered a TV? Also, we're not going to have regular TV stations, is that still considered a TV or more like a movie center?

Either way, it's here, it's ours and I'm sure you're all relieved we finally own a television set. Below is a picture of my face and my wife's face and the TV in the middle.

What If You Retired On A Cruise Ship?

When our whole family moved my parents out of their home of over fifty years in Edison, New Jersey, we were fortunate to move to Seabrook Senior Living Community in Tinton Falls, NJ. For several years I described it as a cruise ship on land due to its size, quality food, and endless activities among other things.  But, what if you really retired and stayed on a cruise ship?

Believe it or not, there's at least one couple in the world who did just that.  The below picture is an Australian couple who booked 51 consecutive cruises because it was cheaper than a nursing home.

Think about it, they don't have to go shopping, they have cleaning services, endless food choices, activities all day and night and they get to travel the world.  What bills do they have to pay? There's no traffic, they don't have to drive or get an Uber, and they can socialize with a wide variety of people that will never see again unless they want to.

They have been on the cruise now for 500 days and still have twenty more cruises to go on. They are scheduled to get off the cruise ship in 2024 and guess what they are going to do? They are getting on a larger cruise ship than the 2,000 passenger ship they are on. Their next cruise is only for another year.

At the beginning of this year a cruise line announced a three-year cruise hitting seven continents, 135 countries and 375 ports.  I hope they don't run out of bagels and lox.

Things You Don't Usually See

 I have a few unusual pictures to show off from our trip to New Jersey:

THE KITTY LITTER BOX

 I hope George Jetson is reading this.(He's from the cartoon, "The Jetsons" from 1962)  I'm not very familiar with cats, but I've seen a lot of litter boxes and they don't look like this.  I did not take a picture of Lady Arwen in there due to privacy issues, but I can't imagine what it would be like if we had to go in something like that on a regular basis.

2. THE DEER IN THE CEMETERY

This is a little hard to see but on the left side on the path and between the first and second tree is a deer in the cemetery.  I've seen deer and I've seen cemeteries, but never a deer in a cemetery.

3. BUTTER'S? 

While we were driving my wife told me that the convenience store was called Butters. Could someone really name their store "Butters"? It could be "Butters," but it's really Rutter's, which isn't a whole lot better.

4. TWO DRINKS

We've all been to many restaurants over the years, but what you're looking at is just a moment after something unusual happened.  My wife and I were having brunch in a Cracker Barrell restaurant and server brought me a refill for my coke.  Instead of putting it down and taking the empty one, she poured the new drink into the old drink which had ice. 

5. THE LARGE ART PIECE

This a tree on the left and up front from Northern California that was inverted and is standing 20 feet up in the air. It looks like a bunch of fingers on top and it's call, "Alien."

6. THE LEAF BLOWER

There's nothing unusual about a leaf blower, except for the fact I don't think I've ever used one.  We have one, but my wife usually does cleanup with it.  This picture was taken by my wife, who said, "I"ve never seen you holding one." I had just mowed my daughter's lawn in New Jersey and I picked it up to use instead of a broom which I usually use.  My wife already did it and I never got to use it.

IT'S DOCTOR WEEK-DO I NEED GLASSES?

NO, absolutely, positively, the answer is no. I knew this before my eye exam today.  I went for a check-up, because I promised my wife I would go to the eye doctor and get a physical in the fall.  Today was the optometrist and next Monday my regular doctor, whoever he is.

I know there are many people my age, 63, and younger, who regularly make a lot of visits to doctor offices on a regular basis.  I am fortunate with my health, but there was a time in my life between the ages of 13-16, I had a lot of visits due to stomach problems and broken bones every few months.

My wife and children have been talking to me about getting my eyes checked for a few years.  The last time I got them checked was approximately 2007.  My wife has explained to me that everyone in my immediate family has glasses.  I explained to her that you don't get glasses or contacts because everyone else has them.  I love to read and have literally read hundreds of books since 2007 and have not had a problem reading.  I told her that the day I have trouble reading, I will call for an appointment, because reading is very important to me. I also have driven maybe a million miles without any trouble driving, not counting the intense fog in Kansas this summer.

My wife drove me to the eye doctor and before I got out of the car I said, "Are you sure I should do this?" As I walked into the examining room I passed this picture on the wall and I thought to myself, "Is that really what people want to see before the big exam?"

The first thing they did was flash a bunch of colors at moving and little moving things just to make sure my vision was impaired a little bit. The optometrist came in and I saw the eye chart.  He told me that my right eye was much stronger from far away and my left eye was better from close up. He said my vision was good. Before the dilation, the assistant told me my vision was, "Very good, you don't need glasses." 

They checked for all the diseases and he showed me highlights of my eyeballs and said, "You don't need glasses." I told him, ready for this-an Uber story of the optometrist who told me that there are many people in their sixties who don't need glasses, but everyone in their seventies does.  He laughed and said he would disagree with that and here was the clincher, "You may not need them into your seventies." I made sure he wrote a note to my wife and below is his message.  The lady at the front desk highlighted it, I think for anyone who has trouble seeing. This blog can be referred back to by anyone in my family on a regular yearly basis.

I promise, I will go back...in a few years or if I have trouble seeing.

What I Learned When I Was Away

I'm beginning to think that my IQ would go up considerably if I was away from home a lot more.  Every time I go and stay somewhere else I learn things I did not know.  Here's a few things that I remember I learned last week when I was away:

1. I never realized that you can lock the glove compartment in your car. Honestly, I never have seen the lock on it.  And, some people actually lock their glove compartment.

2. Is the name Barnabas a Jewish name? I am not kidding. I was trying to remember a guys name while we were driving home and I knew it was a Jewish name. My wife started looking up male names that were Jewish and Barnabas was one of them. It's the name of a "Cypriot Jew, " meaning from Cyprus. Below is a picture of the most famous Barnabas, Barnabas Collins from the television show, "Dark Shadows." Do you think he would look good wearing a yarmulke?

3. Driving by our old house slowly, I noticed they had a trampoline in the backyard.  My wife noticed there were a lot of weeds. I guess some people can notice weeds in a moving car, but I'm probably not one of them.

4. Driving down to my high school reunion, I noticed a number of green diagrams on the console where the time and temperature was.  I thought they were warning signals and looked them up in the car manual and called my wife.  She said they've always been there. I've driven that car maybe 20,000 miles and I've never seen it. No wonder I couldn't see the weeds!

5. Cats are very much like dogs. Sure they have four legs, but there are a lot of things that are similar.  They usually can position themselves in the perfect spot to be in your way. This is the cat I blogged about, Lady Arwen, and her laser focus right at this minute was to run up the steps at me.

6. It can actually cost a lot more these days to use cash.  The bridge from Phillipsburg, NJ to Easton, PA., cost $3 if you use cash.  If you use your E-Z Pass it cost only $1.50. It sounds ridiculous to me.

7. We really are going to get a television. You may have read on my blog that we have now gone five years in Myrtle Beach without buying a television.  My wife talked with our son-in-law and went over what kind of television and how big it should be and I think she's ordering one next week! I don't believe it either, but both couches are gone in our house and we have a television stand-stay tuned. How many years will we now go without a couch in the house?

The Ins and Outs of a High School Reunion

When you think of ins and outs you probably think of all the details, but I'm not the right person to explain that. I was one of about fifty members of the John P. Stevens 1978 graduating class who got to enjoy a few hours eating, drinking and talking in Asbury Park, NJ. last Sunday between 4-7 pm.  The amazing woman mainly responsible for putting all the ins and outs together was SPD. I would mention her name, but I don't want her to be swamped by other high school classes wanting her to run their reunion.

Below is my high school picture which was my name tag for the event. You may notice I did have hair in 1978, forty-five years ago. I think my nose was bigger then too and I look way too serious!

Back to my ins and outs. I drove up to the restaurant about ten minutes to four and realized there was no parking lot at the restaurant.  It's right on the beach so space is limited.  I would have to pull into a spot and pay on one of those incredible parking meters. They were all over, everywhere I looked. Technology is not my thing, but I gave myself a pep talk, "You're 63 years old, you can handle this."

I pulled into the first space and walked up to the meter. It said to put in my plate number, but one letter would not go in.  I tried several times and got nowhere. I figured it wasn't working. I pulled around the block and into parking space number two. None of the numbers went in and I got nowhere. I also realized that the numbers in the parking lot were faded, very faded. I went to parking space number three and my results were similar-failure.  It's possible I had to download an app, which is something I don't do.

It was about 4:20 now, thirty minutes after I almost arrived when I saw a hotel parking lot across from the restaurant.  The gate was open which I really appreciated.  I know how this works.  I pulled up and pressed the button and no ticket came out. After several attempts I pressed the number for help and got no answer. I called the phone number and they told me just pull in and when I leave call them and they'll charge a flat rate.  I didn't ask what the rate was, because I did not care. 

I had a good time at the reunion and the food was very good also. I knew getting out of the parking lot would be easy. I pulled up to the gate and pressed the button and got no answer.  I tried again, failure.  I called the phone number and  found out that it's not set up for messages.  I called again-failure. I was one hundred minutes from where I was staying and the gate on the other side was open.

What would you do? I did and I have no regrets. I pulled out and was on my way-piece of cake. Will I get a notice that I owe money? I have no idea and I don't care.  The most important thing is what happens at an event and not how you get there or how you leave there.

Below is the group picture with the ocean behind us.  My friend Larry is in the second row in the blue shirt right in the middle looking cool wearing dark glasses. I am in the very back to the right next to the tallest guy, Ed, probably my oldest friend. He's wearing dark glasses and looking cool too and I am to his right or your left. This is proof that I was there and did not drive home when technology got in my way.

MY BOOK HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!

 

Somehow I took the picture below and it's a pretty good picture. The UPS truck pulled up Wednesday around 2:30 pm and I knew he had my books.  It took longer than expected, but I'm very happy with it.  You can see on the front cover behind the title and also on the orange on top that they designed the cover with what looks like a road map.  It was my idea to have my current car on the front and my original car on the back.

I wanted a glossy front cover that was very bright and they came through.  The book needed to be easy to read and many of the chapters have different layouts and they are spread out.  The only glitch I can see is that many of the eighteen pictures are light instead of darker.  They would have been in color, but the cost of color pictures would have been $10 more per book and that's not worth it. In addition to that, a number of the pictures are not very colorful.

The book is selling for $19.99 on Walmart, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books a Million.  I will also be selling them in my car to any of my passengers for a very long time.  I think it's going to be pretty cool on Saturday when people get in my car and see a book with a picture of the car they just got into.  By the way, the orange on the front cover is so bright that my orange car definitely looks red. I can't wait to see the reaction my passengers have this weekend.

The Cat in the House

In 1957, cartoonist Theodr Seuss Geisel, published one of his first books and this book made him a household name- "The Cat in the Hat." Dr. Seuss wound up publishing sixty books, the best selling one was, "Green Eggs and Ham." The moral of the "Cat in the Hat" book is that you have to be careful who you let into your home. If you let "The Cat in the Hat" into your home, you're going to have a mess to deal with.

But, what if it's the cat that's in the house and you're just visiting the house? My wife and I were visiting our daughter and son-in-law in New Jersey and they have a new cat. I would mention her name, but my daughter says I shouldn't use real names in my blog.  I'll call her Lady Arwen and this is one of the best pictures I've seen over the last week of her.

I was told before visiting that she roams around the house in the middle of the night, very much like myself.  She also eats around 4 am, which is also about the time I eat when I'm ubering that day. I decided to stay in my room and let her have the house in the middle of the night. My daughter told me that her cat chases around the robot vacuum cleaner in the middle of the night and I would have loved to see that or at least get a picture. 

Below is a picture of Lady Arwen's "scratchy thing?" I think she scratches on this to relieve stress from her daily life or to make sure her claws are very sharp.

In the end everything went well with Lady Arwen and myself.  We had a couple stare downs and I won them both.  Below is a picture of her inside playground and I'm pretty sure that "The Cat in the Hat" would say, "I really like that."