MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN OCTOBER

 

HE WON THE RODEO BET

There are many ways people meet, but rarely does someone win a bet and find the right girl at the same time. The couple from West Virginia met at the rodeo. He told me, "My friend bet me that I couldn't get her phone number. I walked over and handed her my phone and asked her, 'Can you fill this out for me?'" They are engaged and have been together for ten years. Who said it's a bad thing to bet?

I told her that I was going to write about this in my blog and she enthusiastically urged me on: "Do it, do it!" She is a nurse and he is an airline mechanic with an interesting hobby.  He told me, "I just became a pro fighter.  He also said, "I've always wanted to start a podcast and you would make a good guest." I told him that I would love to, but the only catch was that he wanted me to come to West Virginia to do it.  If you're reading this, you have my number.

THE UN-MARINE BIOLOGIST

My last ride of the month was clearly one of the best.  My passenger told me that, "I have the worst luck of anyone." Recently, her purse was stolen and her Uber driver canceled which is why I got her ride.  I told her that I give out a lot of good vibes and good karma and her luck was going to change starting now.  I quickly had her laughing and told her all the good things that were about to happen to her, including giving her a gift (My list of favorite comments), taking e a picture of us and hanging it in my car as someone whose luck had just changed, and I was going to write this blog about her.

She is a marine biologist with a masters, but she had to leave her job recently because her boss was constantly belittling her. She's temporarily working as a server in a restaurant, but she has a lot going for her.  She is obviously bright and has a delightful personality and a great laugh and big smile.  We had a good time doing a lot of laughing and just before we took our selfie she said to me, "I had a really hard time all week. You are all the sunshine I needed today." It was a great way to end my month.

DEAR UN-MARINE BIOLOGIST: You better have read this story, because your luck has changed.  Expect good things to happen for you and they will happen-all the best to you. THE SUNSHINE MAN

WHEN YOU NEED HELP, WHO DO YOU CALL?

No, not ghostbusters, but how about someone who can help you get electricity?  My passenger's real title is "Right Away Line Cleaner."  He was recently in lower South Carolina and also in Georgia removing trees and debris from power lines so the electric company can restore power for neighborhood's in need.  He said, "It's very rewarding to reduce the time they have to wait from 3-4 weeks to 4-5 days."  It's dangerous work though, and as many as fifty workers doing this in the past year have lost their lives.  

The biggest problem is the communication between the electric company and his company in letting them know which wires are still live and dangerous.  He told me that most people are very good to them, but sometimes they are upset because they believe that we can turn on their electricity.  I asked him, "Was there anything in your life that you've done to prepare you for this dangerous kind of work?" He said, "No, but they do give us a lot of training."

DRIVING "THE TEMPTATIONS"

If I had known at the beginning of the ride that for the last thirty-one years he's been a tour bus driver for one of the top Motown groups in the sixties, our ride would have been different. He got in the car angry at Verizon.  He had just bought his mom a house in Ohio and he was trying to get answers to two simple questions from Verizon. He had spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone and apologized to me several times for the language he was using on the phone.  He said, "I'm calling Ohio and I get India." I was able to calm him down some during the ride, but as he got out he said, "I better tip you now before I throw this phone through a wall." I would have liked to ask him about some stories on the road or if he could sing, but time did not allow it.  The Temptations performed in Myrtle Beach the next night and performed The National Anthem recently at a Mets/Dodgers playoff game.

THE LAW PROFESSOR'S PERSPECTIVE

I enjoyed speaking with a local law professor in the banking area.  I would have loved to have talk with him longer, but I had one interesting question for him. I asked, "In the fifteen plus years you have been teaching, what difference have you noticed in your students?" He told me that he was surprised that, "Young attorneys were demanding things that they would never have gotten in the past."  He said that attorneys who wanted to be partners would come in 90 minutes earlier when the partners are there and young attorneys are intentionally not following traditional rules.  He said that they want a more balanced life and I had a young attorney later that day tell me the same thing.

LOOKING BACK: When I Ran For President

 

Once or twice each month I'm going to blog about something from my past and how it relates to today. As you know this coming Tuesday is Election Day, so maybe this story from forty-three years ago will get you in the mood to vote.

As a junior in college at Fairleigh Dickinson University, I ran for President of the Student Senate.  A year earlier I ran for a Dorm Senator position, but I lost.  Six months later, I ran for a Senator-at-Large position and I was elected.  The presidential election took place after I had only six months experience on the student senate.

The current President of the Student Senate was going to run for re-election and no one was going to challenge him.  I had no problem with him at all, but it bothered me that he was going to run unopposed.  I tried to talk several people into running until someone suggested I run.  When I announced I was running, a third candidate announced they would run and the President of the Student Senate announced he would not run.

The above picture is from the school paper on March 11, 1981 and I'm on the far left.  That is a mustache on my face and not chocolate icing.  My opponent had only six more months experience on the senate than I, but my real adversary turned out to be the guy running for Vice-President who was the second from the right.  According to this article, that guy, "Began systematically attacking, embarrassing and otherwise outraging his audience."  This was 1981 and not 2024.

It would have been a nice debate, but this guy had a different strategy.  He, "Accused presidential candidate Hoeing of incompetence in both the written mode of communication and his general lack of ability to run the senate."  He probably would not like my blog at all. The amusing line from the article was that after another attack, "These statements brought Hoenig to his feet, visibly shaken from the earlier attacks."  I may have just been stretching my legs.

I did win the election with close to 60% of the vote.  I would have given you the actual results, but I couldn't find them. I also ran the senate for a year and I did a good job and I got a lot out of the experience.

On Saturday my election blog will be out and I will answer some questions that you might have and make a few predictions too.  

Did I Tell You About My Movie?

A few years ago I had a couple of passengers who told me that what I do in my car could be a television show or movie.  One even said, "You could play yourself!" Denzel Washington was a Lyft driver in a movie, why couldn't I be an Uber driver on a show or movie? I am qualified after over 14,000 rides.

A couple weeks ago I blogged about some of the different scams or business propositions I have come across mostly since publishing my book a year ago.  This movie proposal was the most interesting:

After interviewing me about my book the guy on the phone told me that they wanted to recommend my book to a successful movie producer for a movie adaptation. The producer, who I looked up online, has a long list of movies including many that I have seen or heard of.  I was told that the producer would call me and he did, if it was him.

He's the first person I have talked to on the phone who sounded like he really understood what the book was about and he told me what he liked about it.  He really sounded like someone who is very creative and has been active as a producer for decades.  I was not my usual self on the phone, because he really sounded legit.

He told me that they were willing to pay me $4.59 million.  Of that money, I was told by the other guy that the company who reached out to me would get 15% of that or somewhere over $500,000. They would need a screen play written and cinematic trailer completed over the next about 6-9 months.

I was very skeptical and I told the literary agent (a second person) who had called me that I wasn't convinced that the producer was legit.  He had the production company send me an email that said exactly this:

"We have received all the requirements except the screenplay and the cinematic trailer.  Once confirmation of the creation of screenplay and the cinematic trailer will be submitted by your agent, a copy of the contract will be sent to you immediately."

"A film budget of $153M is allocated for this project which is 3% of the budget amounting to $4.59M goes to you as the author of the book.  We are looking to start filming towards the third quarter of next year 2025."

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Imagine this picture is on this big movie screen.  I am still technically deficient.                                                                                                                                         

   

I spoke with my brother-in-law who used to be an actor and is familiar with the industry.  He said there were several red flags: one being a movie producer calling me, secondly, the large movie budget for a screen play and thirdly, a trailer would be done before any filming.                                                                    

My literary agent told me he would call me on Thursday and tell me how much the company would invest in my project and that the script and trailer would probably cost around $80,000.  My next call was on Monday from the first guy who contacted me.  He had no clue what had happened the week before and did not know I had gotten a call from the producer.

I was pretty rough on him because he was calling me and he sounded very confused.  He finally apologized and said he would speak to the literary agent.  The literary agent called the next day and had not spoken with the other guy.  He told me that the company would invest $70,000 into the project and my investment would ONLY be $10,000.  Five minutes later, those numbers were $60,000 and $20,000. 

I made a counter offer and said, why don't you just invest the whole amount and I'll pay you another 5% of the $4.59 million I would receive.  He laughed and said, "It doesn't work that way."  I told him, "Of course it doesn't, because you wouldn't have any of my money until everything was completed." Our phone call ended with me telling him that this was the second confusing and unprofessional call in two days and if you ever figure out what  they were doing, they could call me back.

One or both of them tried to reach me again, but I didn't answer the call.  I have a great story and a movie offer I can put in a frame on my wall.  Could my book really be a movie? I think so, maybe I'll get a better offer?

The Wish Wall

 

In my previous blog I told you about The Hangout, which is a large venue at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach where I live.  Part of the entrance is pictured below and on the very bottom of this blog you can see these two walls completely.  There are two more walls at the entrance also.

All the colors you see are little pieces of paper that visitors have written a wish on and they have put them in little slots in the wall.  Being a number's guy I could not help trying to estimate how many wishes are here. I believe there are over 20,000 wishes on these walls.

I asked one of the workers about the "Wish Wall," and she told me something even more incredible-they regularly empty out the wishes to make room for more wishes.  I asked her, "What happens to all the wishes?" She said, "I tell people they go to the Wish Fairy." 

What do people wish for? I only pulled out a couple of them, but here's one I read before the event last Sunday:

The wish says: "I hope I find a handsome, funny, smart, Rich, Man soon and Live happily ever after." I hope she does too.  

I've been told some of these wishes on the wall are heartbreaking.  But, it does lead to an important question, "What do you wish for right now in your life?" A wish is only a wish unless you're doing something to make that wish come true.  

May all your wishes and dreams come true.

Sunday Was Connecticut Day

There is a National Connecticut Day and that was on August 10th and it was created to recognize the contributions of the state of Connecticut.  Locally, here in Myrtle Beach, Connecticut Day, was this past Sunday.  The event was for anyone from Connecticut who has moved to the Myrtle Beach or surrounding areas.

It has been run for the last twenty years and this year, my friend Neal, was in charge of running it and I helped him out for the day.  Close to two hundred people paid a $15 admittance fee to get into "The Hangout", a local facility here at Broadway at the Beach, the largest tourist attraction in Myrtle Beach.(350 acres)

Each person bought their own food and drink and enjoyed the free cake pictured above. (Coffee too) There was a 50-50 raffle and the winner received $325.  About thirty-five beautiful gift baskets were raffled off made by Cynthia, who has run the event for all these years. The group also played some "Connecticut Trivia". Below is a picture of most of the crowd enjoying their meal.

The Hangout is a great place for food and entertainment and they had a bunch of very large television screens for everyone to enjoy.  Connecticut day took place on the second floor which can hold over four hundred people.  The large windows on the right in the above picture open up completely to enjoy the breeze and the sights of Broadway at the Beach.  It was a terrific event and everyone had a great time.

The most amazing part of this venue for me was the front entrance which has a "Wish Wall." I'll fill you in on that in a few days, it is pretty incredible.

A Modern Stop at Willoughby

In 1960, the brilliant writer, Rod Serling, produced one of his favorite episodes of his show, "The Twilight Zone." It was called "A Stop At Willoughby."  An advertising executive gets chewed out by his boss and the combined pressures of his home life result in him falling asleep on a train and waking up in a peaceful town in 1888. 

There are places in this country in 2024 that are slow and peaceful and for people who need a break from the hustle and bustle of modern life.  One of these places is Mackinac Island in Michigan. Over 1 million people visit this place each summer and there are only 500 residents.

Since the beginning of the 19th century cars have been banned here.  They do have emergency vehicles, two fire engines and one police car and one ambulance.  They have incredible fudge here and produce 10,000 pounds a day during their busy season.  That sounds like a ridiculous amount of fudge, I hope they have plenty of milk.

A couple other unusual facts about this island.  There are only 70 students in their entire school system.  80% of the island is state property and it had an active military post for a hundred years.  If you're looking for some natural beauty, this may be what you're looking for. It is more beautiful than Willoughby.

 

"LOST" Again

It was twenty years ago that the television show "Lost" appeared.  When I heard that a show was going to begin where people were stuck on an island and it wasn't a comedy like "Gilligan's Island," I had no interest watching it.

However, that night I was flipping channels waiting for my youngest to fall asleep and I was mesmerized immediately.  The first thing that struck me was that it looked like a movie not a television show.  The pilot was the most expensive pilot ever made.  Secondly, it was full of unusual things such as a polar bear on a hot island. Third, the music was striking and a significant part of what was going on.

Our two oldest children and my wife and I watched the show every week for the six years it was on. I wish I had a dollar for every time we said, "What does that mean?" The characters were terrific.  The plot was extensive and fascinating.  It had everything you could possibly want in a television show or movie.  Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on.

On May 23, 2010, the final episode aired from 9-11:30 pm.  The local news was moved back thirty minutes.  Episode 121 had everything in it from the last six years.  Although some people panned it as disappointing, I remember when the show ended they had a special show on with some of the actors and a live audience. The first seconds of that show had an audience member crying after just watching the ending. (He was not the only one)

I've always considered "Lost" one of my top three favorite shows, with "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone being the other two.  I found it impossible to rate the three since "Lost" was so new and the others were from the sixties.  

In the fourteen years since the show ended, I have watched a couple shows again, but I've always thought about when I could watch the entire series again.  One hundred twenty-one shows of about forty minutes each is a lot of television.  "Lost" started on Netflix in the past year and my brother started watching it from the beginning. Surprisingly, my wife said that she would watch and in August we started by watching the incredible pilot.

This week, we watched the last show and it is clearly my favorite show of all time.  My wife said that she thought, "It was better watching a second time." The plot is still incredible, the humor was more than I remembered and the great and unforgettable moments were absolutely remarkable.  

When I first started watching this show, it reminded me of "The Twilight Zone."  One of my favorite songs is a one-hit wonder in 1969 by Zager & Evans called "The Year 2525."  I wrote the below song twenty years ago to the music of this song and I sang it probably a hundred or more times in my car.  

Congratulations to everyone involved in "Lost"-it is still a special show and I had a great time watching it again.

                                        LOST and FOUND?

                                          “The Year 2525”

 

There’s a place, oh so far away,

Where there are people, trapped today.

No one knows where they happen to be,

After their plane crashed tragically.

 

What did the psychic see in his head?

Is Jack’s father really dead?

What did Ethan want with Claire?

And how does a hot island have polar bears?

 

There are questions in our mind,

We’re looking for answers all the time.                   CHORUS

We don’t know what theories are true,

So we’ll keep watching until we do.

 

How did Locke get out of his chair?

How did he become a leader there?

What’s the story with Hurley’s weight?

And what will be Claire’s baby’s fate?

 

Is Sawyer really bad?

What will happen the next time he’s mad?

Will he go after Sayid or Jack?

And when will the monster next attack?

 

REPEAT CHORUS

 

“No monsters,” Danielle said,

Is the rest of her party really dead?

Why would someone kill for a toy plane?

Or kill themselves with drugs-that’s insane!

 

Can the boy make things appear?

Who are the voices in the woods they hear?

Will each person find what they’re looking for?

Or will they find something much, much more?

 

So now it’s been about fifteen shows,

How it will end, no one knows.

Will they ever get back home?

Or, will they be stuck there, all alone?

 

Why is there magic in the air?

What is happening on that island down there?

Why do so many people care?

Can’t you just tell us about the polar bears?

 

REPEAT CHORUS

 

There’s a place, oh so far away…..

MY MOST MEMORABLE SEPTEMBER RIDER COMMENTS

 

She: "The one thing I am very good at is I am the best parallel parker."

The anxious male college freshman, suddenly said to me, "I'm not getting kidnapped, am I?"

How did you two meet?" He laughed and said, "We met at McDonalds where she was working. She was in high school and I was in college. The first time I saw her she took my breath away, and it's the only time in my life everything slowed down like a movie. The first thing I said to her was, "I'm going to marry you." (Married 38 years)

He told me that, "Saddam Hussein was addicted to nacho cheese Doritos, it was his heroin." AP fact check: "He could down a large bag in 10 minutes."

He was almost 81 years old and I asked him, "How are you in such great shape?"  He said, "Cheerios." After I stopped laughing he explained, "I used to eat the colored ones when I was young." He meant Fruit Loops.

I asked them, "Do you have anything funny for my blog?" She said, "That kind of pressure makes me feel like the most horrible person on the face of the earth."

The amazing woman told me, "When my fourth child was born, I was cleaning the crib, and I had to give birth suddenly by myself.  I called the midwife and she came to cut the cord."

My frequent rider said, "I just got an oil change and my 10th one was free, when do I get a free ride from you?  Even American Airlines gives us two free Uber rides a month." Me: "I'm working on a Frequent Rider Discount program."

The young woman asked me a question no one has ever asked me- "Can you do a cartwheel?"

After speaking with the singer/songwriter about the songs I've written, he said, "You don't know how close you are to writing a hit song." (How far is Pluto?)

The man from Tennessee said, "It took me thirty years to find the love of my life." She: "It was 28, you're thirty now."

Jack Moore was an instructor on the PGA tour and a great putter: "I once gave Tiger Woods a tip, I won two hundred amateur tournaments, and have trained golfers at $3,000 per hour.  I also sold four million videos at over $50 each."

He: "I've always wanted to be an animation character, maybe a cat."

I asked, "How did you two meet?" He said, "Through the divine power of the internet."

I told him I drive nine hours a day out to Colorado and he said, "I'd have to be on acid to take a nine- hour ride."

The 26-year-old Brazilian has four car dealerships in the Boston area. "We come here to work, we go home to sleep. There is so much opportunity in this country."

I asked the guy from Texas, "Are you a Cowboys fan?" He replied, "I used to like them when they played, but now they are just cowgirls."

How did you become a lawyer? She said, "I didn't want to do math and I said, 'Why not?'"

The intelligent singer said, "Life would work so much better if each person would be working in a job that they are passionate about."

I asked the experienced salesman what the secret of his success is and he said, "I don't have customers, I have friends."

The woman is about to turn 30, but she looks closer to 20.  I said, "You could wear a grey wig to look older." Her boyfriend said, "That would turn me on."

The English major who graduated from Harvard is writing in the film industry. She: "I'm working now on a movie for Amazon, "Sixty-nine Million Reasons Why I Hate You."

I asked, "Have you ever gotten a gift in an Uber?" She said, "I once got a Koran."

She said, "My favorite Uber driver was in a $100,000 truck. He looked like Greg Allman or one of the Doobie Brothers and his car smelled intoxicating.  He said the smell was called, " My uncle's pipe.'" After our three-minute ride, he's now number two!

The Uber driver in Pawleys Island said, "When I was new, I took a ride from Georgetown in the pouring rain.  She was an Uber driver from the Charleston area and thirteen drivers turned the ride down.  It was a three-hour ride to Buford and she told me a lot about the app and helped me.  When I dropped her off, she gave me a $200 tip."

MORE RIDER COMMENTS

I asked her if she was in sales and she said, "How did you know?" Me: "How do you think I knew?" She: "Because I'm so charming?" Me: "I think it's charming that you said you were charming."

I said to the man from India, "The people in Thailand have the reputation of being very friendly."  He replied, "A little too friendly."

She: "We were out in Nevada in a gated community for Halloween and they hired a band to play in the park in the middle of the development."

She: "I come from a long line of hoarders and I throw everything out."

She: "I'm writing a book about stories in my life and it's called, "Seriously Folks, All Day Long, I Kid You Not." I'm going to write about you."

The college professor's advice: "Stick to the things that bring you joy."

I asked the couple who had been married for 27 years, "What's the secret of a successful marriage," and he said, "Whatever she wants-most of the time."

She: "We call ourselves, 'The Two B's.' We're just two bitches."

She: "The beaches here in Myrtle Beach are better than the West Palm Beach area."

"I had to change careers and do something doable and didn't irritate me." He became a college professor.

I asked the two friends how long they have known each other and she said, "I've known him almost since birth."

I asked the physical therapist, "Why did you move to Florida?" She said, "There's a boat load of old people there."

From Wilmington, North Carolina, he said, "I'm a musician with a hard rock band." Davey Williamson

I asked, "How did the two of you meet?" He said, "We were in a running club."

Married 29 years, I asked them, "What is the secret to a successful marriage?" He said, "Understanding, understanding."

I asked her is she had any funny stories and she said, "We have funny stories, but they are not funny to other people."

"It feels like a vacation here everyday."

The young Mexican woman said, "Americans are so kind."

He: "My job is now inside so I don't have to experience the 900 degree summers."

I asked the funeral director how he got interested in the profession.  He said, "My dad was a pastor and I went to a lot of funerals with him."

I asked, "Have you ever gotten a gift from an Uber driver?" She answered, "Yes, I've gotten the gift of kindness many times."

She: "I've had a couple Uber drivers that were falling asleep."

She: "I had to get a reservation at The Dayton Hotel.  When my daughter was two, I won a contest to stay here when I submitted a picture of her at the beach."

She: "What I liked about New Jersey was that it's always busy."

The woman in the car with three friends said, "I hate those people."

He educated me about this: "Purple and orange are complimentary colors."

Me: "What do you like most about Charleston?" She: "I love everything about it."

He said, "After thirty years in the hotel business, I've had enough of people."

SPECIAL OCCUPATIONS:

Working for the NBA doing social media.

Funeral Director

Georgia Tech professor

Fire watchers on a boat

Fire engine technicians on an island

Hard rock musician

Very successful PGA golfer and instructor

Data Scientist

COMMENTS ABOUT LILY, MY MANNEQUIN

Waving at her, she said, "Is there a camera in there?"

The esthetician said, "She has perfect skin."

"It's hilarious."

"She's awesome."

"And who's the pretty girl?"

The country of New Zealand is my 58th country in my car and this coin has Queen Elizabeth on it.

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"You're creating memories."

"You're such a fascinating human."

"This is as cool as all hell." (I'm pretty sure he was complimenting me,)

"This has been so memorable and unforgettable."

I said to him that the bills were insane and he said, "Amazing, fascinating, but not insane."

"What an experience!"

"This was the most fun I've ever had in an Uber."

"This was a great ride."

"We were lucky Uber gave us you."

"You  have the customer service, I hope you can keep it up."

"We enjoyed your museum."

"I really had a good time."

"This was the most fun ride."

"This was the coolest Uber ever."

"Amazing!"

Hearing the dolphin and seagull impression, she said, "I can do a whale." It really sounded like Dory from "Finding Nemo" movie.

"You're a great guy."

When she heard the seagull impression she said, "It's not great." (She's the only one)

"This is so fun."

"Take care sunshine."

"You do a great job."

"This is the most entertaining Uber we've had."

"This is the coolest Uber I've ever been in."

"This is the best ride I've ever had and I like your stories too."

"This was the best Uber ride of our trip."

"All I can give you is this taradactle penny." (It said, "Myrtle Beach")

"I hope you get the record for most Uber rides."

"There's a lot of information here."

"That was a good ride."

"That was interesting and cool."

"I love the history on how this all started."

"You would do very well in sales."