We Celebrated Christmas on a Snowy Day!

Recently my wife and I watched a Christmas movie about a small town in Vermont which took place on Christmas week.  In almost every scene it was snowing.  All my life I have seen movies and television shows where it snowed on Christmas Day.

Growing up in New Jersey and being Jewish, I never recall seeing it snow on Christmas. My wife and I lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the past seven years and it definitely did not snow on Christmas.  We went to the beach once or twice on Christmas.

Moving to Colorado this past year, I was looking forward to seeing it snow on Christmas Day. Did it happen? No, the high was sixty-seven degrees; no chance this year.

But wait, our plans to get together with our son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and daughter and son-in-law, were pushed back due to several of us being under the weather.

It was a snowy early Sunday morning a few days later and I tried to get a picture of some snow coming from my office window.  I'm not sure you can see it.  There were some spots on my computer screen, but when I tried to clean off the white spots, some of them did fall down.

I'm not sure I have good proof that I saw snow falling on the day we celebrated Christmas, but I did go out to shovel and I found about a dusting or an inch in the front.  We have turf in the back and since our dog uses the grass daily, sometimes hourly to pea and poop on, I shoveled about two inches from the backyard for him.  Here's my proof that is snowed on "OUR Christmas Day."  What year will it happen on December 25th?

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS IN DECEMBER

 He: "I was in a pub in Europe and overheard a woman say this, 'I'm going to visit my sister in Texas and we're going to drive to South Carolina, Florida, New York, and back to Texas the same day.' I had to explain to her that it would be impossible to do."

She told me she was in a band in Colorado.  "Check us out online and make sure you type in "Girls on Top Band," or your wife won't be happy with you if you don't put "Band" in."

Talking with a young woman who was a very big football fan, I told her that a Green Bay Packer fan took his Packer hat off his head and gave it to me and that's why it's in my car.  She said, "I'm a Detroit Lions fan and if you put the window down I can throw it right out the window for you."

She: I was working in a school and my friend and I decided to scare some of the other employees.  There was a mannequin head that we hooked up in a closet so when the door opened it swung out. We did get in trouble for that."

She: "One year when I was working at McDonalds an older man gave me a $100 tip at Christmas time, because I always knew how he wanted his coffee."

I asked how they met and he said, "We were both in Vail on the ski slopes but we really met in the hot tub."

She worked for an optometrist in town and I asked her which one? She said, "America's best." I said, "What's his name?" She said, "America's Best is the name of the company."

She: "A lot of people in Minnesota say, "Toodaloo" when they are saying goodbye, because it's less permanent than saying just goodbye."

Barber: "My customer was bragging to me about cheating on his wife and said that we have, 'Barber confidentiality.' I told him there was no such thing and if his wife came in looking for him I'd probably say you might be with your mistress.  He became quiet and when I finished his hair he called me an, "Ass_ _ __" and never came back."

He handed me a $100 bill and said, "Do you have some twenties for change? That's okay, keep it. I've been lucky in life."

                                                 MORE RIDER COMMENTS

The grandma said, "Babysitting is hanging out at grandma's."

Monica said, "I never met a Monica I didn't like."

She: "I was almost kidnapped as a teenager riding a bike with a friend.  Years later a medium told me that it was an international sex ring."

I told the guy from Egypt what passengers have said about the crazy driving in Egypt.  He said, "When I go back there in a couple days I just start driving like everyone else."

After 37 years of marriage I asked them what is the secret of a successful marriage and he said, "Communication and compromise."  She said, "It's okay to go sleep mad, but in the morning it doesn't seem as important. I always think about how he looked the day we got married."

"My uncle was at a football game watching closely the great empty seat in another section.  Before the last quarter he went down there and asked a guy if the seat was taken and if he could sit there for the last quarter.  The guy said he could.  His wife usually sat there, but he was at her dad's funeral."

I asked how they met and she said, "It was on a blind date in high school. I knew who he was because there were two girls in my class who were talking about him like he was the best thing on the planet. I wanted to date him so could tell the girls I had a date with him."

I asked the husband, a football player in high school, "Did you have a bunch of girls in school that were big fans or groupies?" He said he did, but it wasn't a big deal. However, "My brother was like a man-whore."

I asked the guy if he liked what he did and he said he did and, "Half the people I work with are pleasant to work with and the other half are less than pleasant."

"I once made $10,000 one day on solar panels."

She: "I was named Jamaiqa because my mom was a big fan of Bob Marley."

Telling her that I was celebrating Christmas a few days later with family, she liked the idea and said, "It's Christmas all week."

From Iowa, I had to talk to him about "The Field of Dreams." He told me, "I saw Tim McGraw in concert at the field."

He: "I was lost in high school so I joined the Air Force."

I DROVE PEOPLE FROM THESE COUNTRIES:

Egypt, Nicaragua, Nepal, Togo, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Chile.

UNIQUE JOBS

Philanthropy for Merck

Former paintball referee

Glazer

Pipefitter

Outside fork lift operator in Colorado

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"You are giving out joy and love."

The musician said, "Your car is whimsical."

"You have an amazing car.  Keep doing what you're doing."

"You're a delight."

"Everything was positive from when I got in the car. You're a positive guy, a light in the world.  You have a delightful demeanor."

"Thank you for your stories and the funniest Uber rider I've ever had."

"This was the most impressive Uber I've ever been in."

"You're the best Uber driver I've ever had."

"I enjoyed the conversation with you."

"Keep spreading joy."

Handing me a cash tip he said, "We enjoyed this very much."

"I enjoyed talking to you."

MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN DECEMBER

COULD HIS LIFE BE ANY BETTER?

Sometimes in life you have times that everything is going right and my passenger was in one of those times.  He was returning from a weekend golf trip with some of his friends from college.  On our trip from the airport I found out that he and his wife had graduated from Lehigh University a few years before my son did.  They just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and were expecting their first child in March. A month or two before his wife is due they have a friend who is getting married in Hawaii. They are planning to stay there for two weeks.  He was an engineer but now he's in real estate development. To top it off he explained he had just moved into his new house and as I drove into the spectacular neighborhood I wondered what his house looked like.  His house had a view of the mountains and his outside deck looked like there was room for restaurant seating.  These few months could be the best ones of his life, I enjoyed being a very small part of it.

AN ARTIST UNLIKE ANY OTHER

It is not possible in a paragraph to describe this rider.  He was fun and interesting to talk to and he kept surprising me with parts of his life.  He is an original, unlike anyone I've ever driven.  I looked him up and he was described as being an artist, a painter, a fine art bookmaker, an author of 17 books, a spoken word performer of seven albums, a musician, a founder of an art church and he's been a legal priest or reverend in a very unique kind of Church.  He has paintings displayed in Europe, some famous people own his works, he's been on the front page of The New York Times, and in the past he has put a curse on The San Francisco 49ers. He is very controversial, but a really nice guy to meet.  Below is a picture of Steven with my mannequin that he wanted to be hung up in my car with my other riders.

EXTREME GENEROSITY 

I have had many generous riders over the past 7 1/2 years, but this was one of the most unexpected tips I've ever had.  My rider was in my car for six minutes and three miles.  He had a local family business and he enjoyed the foreign money and pictures in my car.  It was a short conversation and when I went to drop him off he said he wanted to tip me on the app before he got out.  He had some difficulty finding it and then he put it in and it wasn't what he wanted to give me.  He handed me a $100 bill and asked if I had any twenties for change.  I was grabbing my wallet and said, "I'm not sure how much I have."  He replied, "That's okay, keep it.  I've been lucky in life."  I thanked him, shook his hand and wished him a Merry Christmas.  I didn't get a chance to tell him I've been lucky in life and as an Uber driver.  And now, his generosity will always be a part of my story.

A BARBER WITH INTEGRITY

I have over the years driven a number of barbers/hair stylists and they usually have a good story or two from talking with their customers.  He was a very nice guy and when I asked if he had a good story, he surprised me with this one which said a lot about himself.

This was the second time he had cut his hair, but his customer was bragging about cheating on his wife and wasn't concerned about telling him, because they had, "Barber confidentiality." He told his customer, "There is no such thing and if your wife came in looking for you I'd probably say you might be with your mistress. He was real quiet until I finished his hair and then he called me, 'An asshole.'" The customer never came back, but it says a lot about this barber and I will tell other barbers that story.

MONICA ENDS THE YEAR WITH GOOD KARMA

My last ride of the year was perfect. I knew it would be good when I saw her name, since my wife's name is Monika.  This Monica was visiting from Ohio and she was going to a concert with friends. She runs a software business and she definitely enjoyed the ride. The fifteen minute ride was filled with some laughs, some stories, and she made my day.  

It was just getting dark as I was dropping her off and she told me how much she appreciated the ride with several nice compliments. She had had had a rough day, which I did not know.  I told her it was my pleasure and a few minutes after I left her, I found a $20 bill on my front seat which I did not see her put there.  What she didn't know was that I had a very rare poor day driving all day and her generous tip was a complete and much appreciated surprise.  How do you beat that? At 11:59 that night on my final day of driving this year, Monica's tip for a couple dollars came through on the app to finish my day.  She told me, "I've never met a Monica I didn't like." She's now my second favorite Monica and hopefully she will read this thank you.

I have had a lot of wonderful riders this year in South Carolina and in Colorado and I've given them my best and many of them have given me their best. Thank you.

Random Thoughts To End The Year

1. Some people think my mannequin looks a little weird, what would they think about this head I spotted in a parking lot?

2. You could win a lifetime of chicken to guess what this picture is. I believe it is the crumbs from chocolate cake that were found after someone(not me, I would have eaten all of it) cleaned themselves off after eating.  Possibly some potato chips too. Maybe it wasn't?

3. When you're babysitting a 16 month old, you're also watching a bunch of other people that are pictured below. Take a look at the socks on that bear:

4. I didn't get a picture of it, but on the car in from of me it said this friendly phrase: "If I passed you on the right, you're an idiot." Who exactly is the idiot? I guess they are saying that you're driving too slow so I have to pass on the right. (which is dangerous and illegal)

5. Have you ever seen a seagull with shoes one? This is your one chance, look carefully.

6. Never, ever did I expect to see gas under $2.00 a gallon, but I paid this and enjoyed doing so.  Murphy USA does it again! I actually saw online that another Murphy USA in Colorado had gas at $1.88! And then it went down further, to $1.71!  I took so many pictures I missed the lowet one.

7. Walking in my neighborhood recently I saw this truck from a distance and I was thinking, "Why would someone put that much tape on a truck?" As I got closer I saw all the lights taped on the truck and I thought, "Why would someone put that much tape on a truck?"

8. Do you know the degree of difficulty to walk by these toy containers piled up early in the morning and in the dark without knocking them over and waking up the sleepers? I didn't want to breathe.

9. How many reminders do we need for a dentist appointment? I have to make my next cleaning appointment, but I don't want all the reminders.  Maybe I'll call them every few weeks to check if the dentist will be available on that day?  Since typing this my doctor canceled the morning of my physical.  Can I charge him?

10. Did anyone else notice that as you get older more people want to tell you what and how to do something? You're probably thinking I shouldn't have typed that out-see what I mean!

11. Now that the penny is gone, could the nickel be next? I read that we lose 9 cents every time a nickel is made and distributed, how ridiculous is that?

The Commercial That Wasn't

We have all watched a lot of commercials in our life.  My dad used to shut the volume off even during Super Bowl commercials which were always better than normal commercials.  There have been many people who became very famous doing commercials, such as Harlan Sanders, Tom Carvel, Dave Thomas, The Tidy Bowl man, and Mr. Whipple. ( I do know Mr. Whipple and the Tidy Bowl man are not real people like the others are.

                     

Have you ever thought about being in a commercial? I haven't either until a couple weeks ago.  When I published my book I did three television interviews on consecutive days.  It was a really fun experience for sure, but being in a commercial is something I never, ever imagined doing once or three times. Could it ever happen again?

A few weeks ago I found out that a company was working with Uber and they were looking for a few drivers to appear in a commercial about their experiences as an Uber driver.  I contacted a public relations person that I spoke with when my book came out and she had someone call me about the commercial.  I had a real shot at doing a commercial, how cool is that? What surprised me was that they were going to pay drivers for a few hours to film the commercial.  I didn't find out what they were paying, because they went with other drivers. I told them to keep me mind, so you never know, I could be the next Mr. Whipple.(with the Charmin)

Being A Left Hand

With my wife recovering from hand surgery I had to play a role I haven't played before-being her left hand.  She's doing well and realizing how valuable a left hand is even when you're righty.  It took a few days but she's using her fingers more on her left hand.  Below is the picture of the bandaged hand.

One of the things I've had difficulty doing is putting her socks on.  I've had plenty of practice recently putting on socks for our 16 month old grandchild, but putting socks on an adult is a different story.  I'm pretty sure I had trouble as a kid putting my socks on also.  Below is the pair of socks that I have struggled with. I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm just glad I'm not wearing those myself.

In addition to making eggs for the first time in my life, I've been refilling her water bottle, opening up caps on medicine, toothpaste, creams and also putting on a sleeve for the shower and a bathing cap too. Putting on a headband sounds easy, unless it's someone else's head.  I was thinking of practicing on my mannequin's head.

Just when I thought it couldn't get more difficult she wanted to put on earrings.  She put it in her ear, since I would have drawn blood, but I to put the tiny piece to hold it in.  I dropped it a few times and finally was able to do it without drawing blood although I almost got myself.  Below is the best picture of her ear I've ever seen.

One day I'm going to get practice being her right hand.  I can't wait-it should be a lot of fun.

Holiday Giving in 2025

What's new with technology and giving? How about a Giving Machine around the world?  Pictured below is a kiosk that is called a, "Light The World Giving Machine."  It can now be found in 126 cities across 21 countries and 6 continents.  Look at the size of this thing!

It is not brand new because it started in 2017, but I've never heard of it. The organization that started it was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with the theme of  "love one another".  People can pick a dollar amount or an item to donate to a charity.

It gives people a chance to give instead of getting something from a vending machine.  Machines may have different gifts depending on the city, but it's a wide variety of things as you can see below.  Mostly 100% of the gift goes to the charity with little or no overhead.

Has it had success? I think donations of $50 million is a pretty good amount. In 2024, 2 million meals were given to feed people, $500,000 children were provided with polio and measles vaccines, and 25,000 refugees received emergency food boxes.  Once the donation is made it can up to 12 months for it to go through.  Below are a few of the cities that you can find a kiosk:

 Washington D.C., Rome, Italy, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Kansas City, Missouri, Provo, Utah, Buenos Aires, and Nairobi, Kenya.