MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN DECEMBER

STILL FIGHTING

Last month I drove a woman who overcame breast cancer and this month a woman told me a very difficult story about her battle with liver failure.  One day she was fine and the next day she was very sick.  It was not hereditary and it didn't have anything to do with alcohol, she had a very serious liver disease. She told me, "I couldn't walk or talk for five months." Eventually, she was able to get a liver transplant with very little time to spare.

From Buffalo, New York, she was on a trip to South Carolina, her first trip since her illness a few years ago.  She looked perfectly healthy and had a very big smile too.  She told me that she has to watch what she eats and is going to many weekly doctor appointments so they can monitor her progress.  She is planning on writing a book from a children's perspective on how they view a sick adult since her niece and nephew have had to see her difficult journey.  She was inspiring and I wished all the best with her book and her continued good health.

LIVING AND LOVING PORTUGAL

My Christmas morning started with a terrific early morning ride to the airport. The woman was heading out to another city to visit family and then coming back to the Charleston area to spend more time with her dad. She works in property management for a company in this country, but she lives in Portugal and she loves it there.  She explained to me that the people there, "Make leisure a priority, they work to live and not live to work. The quality of life is better there." When she lived in New York she considered herself, "An Honorary Jew." She had many Jewish friends and she had celebrated all of the Jewish holidays.  She got my morning off to a great start and she was fortunate I was there to get her to the airport after 5 a.m. for the rest of her journey.

BANGLADESH IS NUMBER 59!

A very nice couple from Bangladesh was visiting their daughter and gave me this incredible bill. They have been visiting Charleston for many years and could probably give tours.  They were so excited to get this bill to me-thanks again for your thoughtfulness and wishing you continued success and happiness in Bangladesh.

THE AMAZING TRAVELER

This is the time of year that everyone is traveling and I've heard some incredible travel stories.  However, my passenger had some of the most unusual travel stories I've heard and she probably has enough of them to write a book about them.  A few examples:

Moving out of her apartment in Washington DC, she didn't have a car so she put together a bunch of large bags for the move and ordered a taxi.  She expected the driver would help her, but when he pulled up he had only one leg.

She once gave her ID to a lady at the airline counter, but the woman dropped it and it fell into the counter.  They were unable to get it out without taking apart the entire counter, so they let her on the flight and mailed her ID to her.

She got on a small plane to go to Wyoming. There was only twenty seats and she turned out to be the only passenger.  Going through the security measures, the pilot asked her if there was anything she needed.

About to travel on a small airline she found out that the airline closed completely.  She took a taxi for a two-hour ride out of the state. Driving in the dark early in the morning, the driver told her that he had never been out of the state.

She had a great ride with me and there were no problems.

A STAND-UP COMIC

I had the pleasure of driving a stand-up comic from California, Courtney O'Donnell. She's and actress and writer also and is starring in a short film this coming year.  I didn't get a chance to talk with her that much about her career, but I did look her up. She has appeared at the New York Comedy Festival and has won several awards for turning out comedic content for others.  She's been a comic the past five years and I'm wishing her the very best in 2025.

POKER ANYONE?

He had sold a number of businesses and then sold a weight loss company with nineteen locations just before the pandemic hit.  During the last four years he's been a professional poker player in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.  He doesn't particularly like living out of a suitcase so he's only working 26 weeks a year and at the same time contemplating the next thing he's going to do in his life.

THE COUNTRY OF JORDAN IS MY 60TH BILL

The four guys from Jordan pictured below are on a five-year visa and they are cooking in a restaurant helping out one of their brothers.  They had big smiles when they got in my car and one of them ran inside to get me the bill pictured here since I did not have one from Jordan.  They tried to encourage me to come into the restaurant and try their food and I may just do that one day.  I did ask if they had chicken but I think beef kababs will probably do.  They also said I should come to Jordan one day because the beauty of the country is, "Indescribable." I'm putting their picture up in my car which will also advertise their restaurant.  Thanks guys for the Christmas present.

I Saw Some Things on Vacation You Normally Do Not See

If you look carefully on vacation you may see something amazing, unusual, funny or something you've never seen before.  We only spent a couple days in Disney World in Orlando and this is what I saw:

1. In The Magic Kingdom it is common to see tired people. These two people expressed the feeling of many when one laid down face first and the other is on their back.  I believe they were still breathing.

2. You can go to an aquarium and see a lot of fish, but this fish was hanging on a restaurant wall with a Christmas hat on.  I think his name was Nemo.

3. It is not unusual to see a woman breastfeeding.  However, in this case she was in a very nice restaurant and she was underneath the teepee.  Two seconds earlier was the better picture-completely under the teepee.

4. Did you ever wonder how an elevator works? I haven't either, but here is the side panel and what's inside and I have no clue what the circuits are.  This action took place at our hotel.

5. You can see thousands of hats and not see one like this.  In The Magic Kingdom, this man has about 50 Disney pins on the hat.  He told me he had 20 of these hats and he's working on another one.  Each hat had to cost at least a few hundred dollars and maybe close to $500 to make.

6. If you have never seen the "Country Bear Jamboree" in The Magic Kingdom, it consists of a bunch of bears playing music and singing.  This has to be the best bear singing group in the country.

7.  You have probably seen gingerbread cookies before, but a gingerbread giraffe? It is standing in the lobby of The Animal Kingdom Lodge.  If you ever wondered how long a giraffe's tongue is, the answer is eighteen inches long.

8.  My Uber car has a museum inside and these cars are transportation on Disney property driven by Disney employees.  I did not look inside, but you can get a ride in this through the Lyft app.

9. With all the decorations and Christmas trees it's only fair to show you a menorah.  We were standing in line on our first ride, which was called "The Jingle Cruise." I looked in the window and saw an office and there was a menorah a little covered up.

10. In the lobby of our hotel with the gingerbread giraffe, was this pretty amazing Christmas tree.

Where Did Rudolph Come From?

With Christmas only a couple days away, I thought it would be helpful to answer a question you've probably asked before: "Where did Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer come from?" I'm sure you don't know the answer, but you are about to find out-consider it my Christmas gift to you.

We can thank Montgomery Ward for giving birth sort of to this legendary animal.  The original Montgomery Ward was a mail-order business and later a store that existed between 1872-2001. Aaron Montgomery Ward started the business in Chicago. A few years after the original store and mail-order business closed, it re-started as a website and mail order and is just called Wards.

Rudolph was created as an ad campaign to get more people into the store and it was successful doing that in the 1930's.  Montgomery Ward asked copywriter Robert L. May to create a story for their holiday coloring books.  The new story was inspired by "The Ugly Duckling" story and the book sold millions of copies between 1939-1949.

May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, wrote the song, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1949 and it became a number one song in the 1950's.  It was recorded by Gene Autry and in it's first year it sold 1.75 million copies.

In 1998, the movie came out and it was a big disappointment at the box office, though it seems to have done pretty well since then.  Some of the voices in the movie are from some famous people like: Whoopi Goldberg, John Goodman, Eric Idle, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Simmons, and Bob Newhart.

And you thought Rudolph only helped Santa out! It's a pretty amazing story that has existed for over eighty years.  Merry Christmas to all!

"The Wonderful World of Disney"

I recently spent a day in the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, which is a park I haven't been to in a number of years. I may have been the only one, but walking around the park I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite people in all of history-Walt Disney.  

He used to take his two small children to a playground and sit on a bench and think that there should be a place where kids and adults can both have fun.  From that one idea, became Disneyland in Anaheim, California and almost 70 years ago on July 17, 1955, he opened that park by dedicating it with these words:

"To all who come to this happy place, welcome.  Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future."

Walt Disney had difficulty getting financing for Disneyland until ABC agreed to produce a show which originally was called "Walt Disney's Disneyland," but went by many other names over the last seventy years. (including "The Wonderful World of Disney)  

A friend of his, Art Linkletter, who was a well-known actor on television, turned him down, but volunteered to be master of ceremonies for the opening show.  He brought two other actors with him that day, Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan.(The future California Governor and U.S. President) After the show, Walt Disney asked his friend Art Linkletter if there was anything he could do to show his appreciation for his help. Linkletter, was now convinced that Disneyland would be a big hit, so he asked for Disneyland's camera and film concession on Main St. and for the next ten years he made a small fortune on it.

I've been to Disney World several times as a kid and many times as a parent and this was the first time as a grandparent.  It is a spectacular accomplishment that brings joy to around 50 million people a year in Florida.  It's an amazing place that often does not look real. The picture below looks incredible, my wife and Cinderella's Castle.

It doesn't matter who you are or what you like, there is something here for everyone.  You can see things you've never seen, eat a big turkey leg, watch fireworks, see singing bears, go on slow and fast rides, and have one of the best days of the year with family, friends, or just yourself.  

Many years ago, I replied to a famous columnist who wrote a column complaining about the cost of going to Disney World. I answered his column and he replied to me.  I told him about my experiences as a father bringing my kids to Disney World and I explained that for some things cost does not matter, but value does.  

We don't see excellence enough, but when we see it, we know what it is.  You can call Disney World wonderful, magical, or a number of other incredible adjectives, but very simply...it's a place that you can experience excellence and enjoy it forever.

Thank you Walt.

VIEW in your browser

Thank you for a magical visit.

We hope you had an enchanting time during your recent Walt Disney World Resort visit. We sure enjoyed having you as our Guest! And we appreciate you playing a part in creating  magical memories for everyone around you. Hope to see you again real soon.

My "Wicked" Experience

I'm pretty sure you have noticed a lot of advertising for "Wicked," the blockbuster movie that recently came out.  It's probably a little too much for you, it may remind you of when the big "Avengers: Endgame"  movie came out in 2019.  That was the Avengers that started with "Iron Man" and Robert Downey Jr.  The lead in to "Wicked" was that children's fantasy that L. Frank Baum wrote in 1900 and became a movie in 1939, just "The Wizard of Oz."

My wife and I had an unusual experience seeing "Wicked." Our oldest daughter has been singing songs from "Wicked" (the musical) for twenty years.  It appeared on Broadway in 2003 and made a billion dollars in revenue since then.  Unfortunately, the movie we saw did not go smoothly.  The picture on the screen was not great, the sound was not perfect and the small cinema had chairs that were not very comfortable.

I knew my daughter was very excited to see it, so I had some fun with her.  I was sitting next to her and I asked her if she wanted me to switch seats with my wife so she could ask her questions during the movie. That did not go over well and she said, "There should be no talking during the movie." Then, she warned us to, "Shut off our phones." We have been to a few movies in the last fifty years of cell phones.

During the movie, my wife leaned over to me to tell me who two of the women were and our daughter shushed us and hit me in the arm.  We had trouble controlling our laughter.  Suddenly, an ape who looked like he was the ape from "Planet of the Apes" appeared on the screen and before I could say something, my wife said, "Planet of the Apes" and I almost lost it.

I felt a lot of pressure during the movie and I didn't want to get hit again.  I had one last close call when this large face of "The Wizard of Oz" appeared on the screen.  I thought it looked like Ronald Reagan, but I didn't want to say anything.

The plot was outstanding and the music was good also.  I didn't expect to be laughing so much during the movie.  I'm hoping my daughter will sit next to me for the second part of "Wicked" which comes out about a year from now.  I'll be ready not to laugh then.

Do You Know This Family?

My wife and I were hungry after being on the road for six hours.  We pulled into a Cracker Barrel restaurant which is a good place to eat. We were sitting at a table and my wife was admiring all the old, country decorations around the store, when she said something very funny.

She was looking to her right at a picture on the wall of a guy obviously from a different generation.  She said, "I bet he never thought he would be hanging on a wall in a Cracker Barrel."  I'm pretty sure that he never knew what Cracker Barrel was. (It started in 1969 in Tennessee)  I would have taken a picture of him, but there was a family sitting at the table in front of him.

I thought this family would do, do you know them? I have some questions and I'm sure you do too. Did the photographer tell them not to smile or is this their smile? Did other people get this picture or just the family? Were they paid to pose for this? Was it placed in the local general store? Did other people look at it and say, "I know Bob and Mary, nice picture?

How did the picture end up on the wall in that Cracker Barrel? Is this same picture in other restaurants?  Is the picture 100 years old? Now that I brought this up, will you have questions about pictures you see in other restaurants? Yes, I have finished asking questions.

Who Was The Real Wizard of Oz?

"The Wizard of Oz" is probably the best known children's book/movie of all-time.  The author, L. Frank Baum, created the character of the Wizard of Oz, from a real person. It took about a century for the name of Washington H. Donaldson's name to be associated with the book and movie.

Washington H. Donaldson was a gymnast, ventriloquist, balloonist, tight rope performer and magician.  For two years he worked with P.T. Barnum in his circus.  When we last saw the "Wizard of Oz" he disappeared in his balloon and Washington H. Donaldson did the same thing. At the age of 34, his balloon flew into a storm and his body was never found.  He spent his life entertaining people with his exploits like few others.  Although few people know his name, he inspired "The Wizard of Oz."

Many years ago in 1990, I saw a terrific movie on television, "The Dreamer of Oz", which starred the late actor John Ritter.  It was the story of L. Frank Baum and how he wrote, "The Wizard of Oz." in 1900.  A few unusual facts about his the live of L. Frank Baum:

During his life he was a writer, editor, owned a store, a newspaper and a magazine, he was a theatre producer, an actor, a singer, he breeded poultry, sold fireworks, was a travelling salesman, a newspaper reporter, playwright, store clerk, and he taught theatre.

He was born in Upper State New York, but it was when he moved to South Dakota that he found his fame. Dorothy would have been from North or South Dakota, but he thought Kansas sounded better.

He wrote 14 "Wizard of Oz" books, 41 other novels and four others that were lost, 83 short stories, 200 poems and 41 scripts in his life. He had planned on purchasing a small island that he was going to call, "The Marvelous Land of Oz."  It was going to be a, "A fairy paradise for children." He had that idea in 1905, fifty years before Walt Disney opened Disneyland.

Washington H. Donaldson entertained tens of thousands of people during his short life and through the genius of L. Frank Baum, his exploits have continued to entertain millions more one hundred and forty-nine years after his untimely death.

LOOKING BACK: Happy Birthday Dad!

December 5th will always be my dad's birthday, although we lost him three years ago at the age of 94.  If you asked me for ten or twenty words to describe my dad I'm pretty sure that "creative" would not be one of them. He was a business and financial writer for many years and that doesn't make you think of creativity.

I was recently looking at some old newspapers he gave me and I found an article he wrote that was definitely creative and funny.  At the time, he was the Associated Press business news writer in New York City and he was replying to a story in a magazine called, "Today's Secretary" which said that good secretaries are hard to find.

The below picture is of the front page of "The Evening Press", a paper in Binghamton, New York. The date is Wednesday, March 13, 1963.  (I was two years old.) The paper cost seven cents.  My dad wrote it as if he was a female secretary and sending a reply to her boss.  He signed it, "Your Girl Friday."  

This was written sixty-one years ago by my dad, the future officer for years at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City.  The title is, "Look Boss, No Machine Can Think Up Your Excuses!" I did not edit anything in the article.  I think he would get a kick out of me sharing his creative writing which I think is a pretty creative thing for me to do.  It's worth reading.

Dear Boss:

     If you think you can get a machine to buy your wife's Christmas present, bring you coffee three times a day and make excuses to the head office, just you go ahead and get yourself one!

     I don't agree with that story in the magazine, Today's Secretary, that says it is almost impossible to find a good secretary.

     They may be talking about the average secretary but they certainly aren't talking about me! Why, I can spell (a lot better than you), I get your dictation within reason, I know how to change the typewriter ribbon and I certainly don't come to work wearing layers of make-up and coats of eye shadow-no matter what the story says.

     The magazine's survey found that some girls demand a salary of up to $75 plus fringe benefits. That may be true of the girls they talked to but you surely know I don't make that much.  And about the only benefit I get that everyone else doesn't get is Washington's Birthday!

     The story says businessmen should resign themselves to being unable to find talented office girls for many years to come.  That may be so but after three years you surely know I have the talent for this job. My advice to those businessmen who can't find talented girls is that they would find the search simpler if they gave raises a little easier than pulling teeth, if they didn't watch the clock so closely at lunch time and if they kept their distance from the secretary's desk.

     And what's wrong with having some eligible males around the place? The story seems to think they're taboo.  Would you like to work in a place with girls only?

     "Today's Secretary" says too many secretaries can't take shorthand, erase properly, file, answer the phone correctly or handle carbon paper.  OK, many girls can't, but the story doesn't mention all the jobs we do, such as cleaning the mess off your desk once in a while, telling your wife you're not around or getting rid of pesky visitors you don't want to see.

    The magazine says some companies just tell secretaries to send out letters by a number keyed to a correspondence manual, they are so desperate.  Well, I'll tell you, no correspondence manual will ever show me how to read those scrawled, smudged words you squeeze between the lines of your letter drafts.

    When they make a machine that can read those squiggles, I'll be ready to leave and you can have your old machine.

                                                                                            YOUR GIRL FRIDAY

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS IN NOVEMBER

 

He: "I was born in Japan on a military base.  My parents had to sue the emperor to keep me. At the time all children born in the country belonged to the state."

The Jamaican woman told me that this is how they talk in Jamaica: "My sister says, "A ready, yuh ready, already." Translation: She's ready to go.

Frequent rider: "What kind of mileage do you have on this pig?" Me: "Pig? This is a famous Uber!"

He: "My parents met on vacation in Jamaica. He hit on her and she threw a drink in his face. He chased her around the island for two weeks until she said yes, because he was charming and persistent. They came home and a week later they got married-they knew."

                                      

Me: "It must be great to be the field kicker for THE Notre Dame Fighting Irish." He said, "It is and I'm paying $83,000 to do it."

The survivor of breast cancer said, "Your current situation is not your final destination."

The six-year-old girl asked her mom, "Can I count to ten billion?" Unfortunately, the ride ended when she only counted to 400. 

The woman told me there were so many people from Ohio moving to the Charleston area, that her friend years ago made a killing printing up t-shirts that said, "Ohioans go home, but leave your daughters."

He said he was an introvert, but on a short ride he is the first rider to ever ask me, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"

The history college professor told me, "The FBI had a big file on Eleanor Roosevelt, they considered her a threat."

The local stand-up comedian was on his was way to Ohio to perform and he looked at the money in my car and said, "You have more money in your can than I have in my bank account."

The Philadelphia resident who is a very big Eagles fan was stunned at the wedding last night in Charleston. She: "Dick Vermeil was at the wedding and I walked up to him and said hello and said, 'Go Birds!' He said, 'Go Birds' too." (Eagles coach for 15 years, age 88)

I told him I never know on a given day who I'll pick up and he added, "You're just like Forrest Gump- he said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

The talented artist from D.C. said is motto is, "I do murals for doe and colors for show."

He explained to me that one of his favorite things to eat is a spaghetti sandwich.  "I put garlic on toast with sausage and bacon.  I saw my brother do it many years ago."

His favorite quote: "If you can understand the magnitude of your suffering, you can see the abundance of your blessing."

Mother of two children: "When they come out they are big and hungry."

Family doctor at the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston: "I just walked the bridge.  I'm writing a book and one of my characters walks the bridge thinking about the problems in his life."

He: "They are selling the last few plots on Daniel Island. For sixteen million dollars you can get a pile of dirt."

He: "I'm going to get myself a little piece of car." Me: "Is it the front of the car or the back?"

When I told him that my rider told me he was a secret agent, he said, "He told you that without killing you?"

Moving from the Seattle area to South Carolina, they young man was adjusting to how friendly people are here.  "I was thinking, what is happening here? People were talking with no purpose."

Another young man who moved to the South had the same kind of reaction: "I was thinking, do I owe them money?"

Explaining his retirement he said, "They were tired of me and I retired them."

He asked me, "If you were CEO of Uber for one day, what would you fix?"

She: "My husband and I could not drive so we hired a friend to drive us when we moved from Long Island, New York to Charleston, South Carolina. We paid him $3,000 cash."

Telling  the college history professor about my passenger, one of my favorite riders who lives nearby and whose mom worked with Eleanor Roosevelt, she said, "She's my favorite person in history. I was a tour guide for two years at her house in New York City when I was in college."

MORE RIDER COMMENTS

I got a huge laugh from a young man when he got in my car.  I had just watched him sneak out of the front window.  I said, "Last week I asked a young guy what he was up to and he said, "I just skedaddled out of a girls apartment," and he told me he does it a lot.  I said to my rider, "Were you just skedaddling?" He just kept laughing.

The College of Charleston student was from Saudi Arabia.  I asked her how she got here and she said, "TikTok, I saw a video on the town and it's been great."

I told him that a previous rider took her four kids on every vacation even the many to Europe. He said, "My parents went on vacation and left me and my two brothers at home all the time.  The one cruise they took us on they wound up with a $10,000 bar bill."

Groom on his way to his wedding: "You made my anxiety go down a lot."

How did you start dating? She: "We were friends and then I said, 'He's not so bad."

The football player for LSU said, "I eat five pounds of steak a week, they are trying to get me bigger."

Young cook: "I love cooking for people who know I created it."

I told her that there wasn't really a fancy dress code for the restaurant since we're in the South and she said, "So, as long as I'm wearing clothes, I'm okay?" Me: "Yes, you need to wear clothes."

He got in the car and showed me my picture on his phone, "Don't you look black here?"

She: "My two favorite Ubers other than yours, was a Tesla and a driver who gave out all kinds of snakes including Nutter Butter cookies, my favorite."

The woman originally from Thailand, said, "You don't have Thailand here."  Me: "Are you sure?" Seeing the former King and his son on separate bills she said, "I want to scream." Me: "Can you do it in Thai?" She said, "Wooooo."

He: "My name Royall goes back six generations."

Football player from Notre Dame: "I met Joe Montana and he's not a big fan of the movie, "Rudy."

She: "I'm a recovering CPA-it's a very demanding career."

My rider looked at my "Hoop Tea" hat I got from another rider earlier this year and he said, "My wife and I were drinking Hoop Tea before anyone knew what it was."

He moved from Atlanta: "I got tired of the crime."

I asked her, "What do you enjoy most living in Charleston?" She said, "What's not to like?"

The man from Turkey told me he went to visit New York, but got on the wrong bus.  "I went to Buffalo and that was a big mistake, it was not New York."

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Field goal kicker for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Cornerback for LSU

CFO Post & Courier News

Humanitarian working for a government contractor

Data Scientist

Genetic Counselor

Director of Investigations (Pentagon)

Custom Jewelry Maker

Oral Surgeon

Customer Service Rep for American Embassy in Slovania

Motivational Speaker for kids

ABOUT LILY, MY MANNEQUIN

She took six or seven pictures of herself with Lily and said, "I'll send you one to put in your car." (Still waiting.)

The woman from Seattle said, "I was in a department store with my friend and she was talking to a salesman and trying something on. I started talking to a salesman and then touched his arm. It didn't feel right and then I realized it was a mannequin.  Every time I go in that store I hope they don't remember me."

I had a few mannequin heads from when I went to school.  I gave them to my neighbor who puts up a lot of Christmas decorations.  She hung them on a tree, but she got a phone call from the elementary school across the street.  They asked her to take them down because the children were afraid to look out the window.

She: "I love it."

"In Boston they just arrested a guy who had a mannequin for the HOV lane.  He was a repeat offender and had been warned."

Man from South Africa: "Your can would never survive in my country.  People put a mannequin in the front seat to prevent hijackings."

ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"I love your car."

"I've never seen anything like this."

"This is so much fun, I love this."

She: "Are there other drivers who have a museum in their car?"

"This is the best car I've ever seen."

She: "Having all these bills, does it make you want to go visit some of these places?"

Looking at my car, he said, "I have so many questions."

"This was a real pleasure."

"This was a most enjoyable ride."

"This is the coolest Uber."

"You are fabulous."

"This was the best Uber I've had in my life."

"You are so cool, you have a unique approach."

Charleston college student: "I hope my friends and I can get you again."

"Awesome, the most entertaining Uber ride I've ever had."

Impressed with my car, she said, "I know when I see a hustler."

"This was awesome, I wish I had something to give you."

"This was a great ride."

"This was a wonderful ride."

"I enjoyed the museum."

"You're the most interesting driver I've ever had."

Saying goodbye, she said, "Make a fortune."