A FABULOUS WEEKEND

Everyone always wishes you a good weekend and let's face it, we've had a lot of good weekends in our life.  However, what about those fabulous weekends we've had? It could be the day you were married, or the birth of a child, or when your team wins the Super Bowl. There have been some really fabulous weekends.

This past weekend was a fabulous weekend for me. My wife and I spent most of the day Friday driving to Pennsylvania and most of Monday driving home to Myrtle Beach from New Jersey.  But, in between? Here are the highlights:

1. In those 48 hours from Friday to Sunday night I managed to eat a bunch of my favorite foods: chicken parmesan, a roast beef triple decker sandwich, a corned beef and pastrami sloppy Joe, a Jim Dandy sundae at Friendly's with coffee ice cream, and chocolate cake. I enjoyed them all immensely.

2. We had a very nice Italian dinner with our son and daughter-in law on Friday night and my wife surprised her with a gift, a Brahmin purse.

3. On Saturday, we were at the baby shower for our daughter-in-law.  Below is a picture of the cake which was chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.  Below that picture was the "Gender Reveal" which involved the mother-to-be kicking a rugby ball. (Since she plays) However, the pink smoke did not come out until my son kicked it. The third picture of course is the pink smoke.  The baby's name will be Riley Constance, named after my dad, Richard, and my daughter-in-laws favorite aunt, Connie.

3. Early Sunday morning my best friend, Larry, was celebrating his 64th birthday.  After I treated him to the free breakfast at my hotel, he decided to play his guitar, which he did in the pool room.  It was a short concert and I was the only witness.  In the parking lot I gave him a pizza box with candles and a little song I wrote inside to the tune of The Beatles song, "When I'm Sixty-Four." He didn't read it, he sang it with a British accent.

4.Sunday morning: I drove to the big book sale I haven't been to since 2019 and in an hour picked up 38 books I'm looking forward to read. It cost me a total of $39 which is ridiculous. I think it was my 18th book sale there since 2001, but who's counting.  I had a great time, more on the book sale coming soon.

5. Sunday afternoon: We drove down to the Trenton area to spend some time with my wife's aunt and uncle and we went out to an early dinner before heading to our hotel for a few hours of sleep before heading home at 3 am Monday morning.

Where Did My Package Go?

It seems like every other week someone in our neighborhood is looking for a package they had ordered. I'm sure with Amazon's popularity, this is a common thing in many neighborhoods.  There are many different companies delivering, including some packages coming through the person delivering the mail. Sometimes, the package never appears, but never can be a long, long time.

For example: what if you're a carpenter and you live in the Faroe Islands and your name is Niels. Your wife decides to send Mr. Ladsen's fiance a red sweater in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Did I mention that it is 1807? Your package doesn't arrive because it is seized two weeks after being mailed. The British Navy grabbed it during the second battle of  Copenhagen.

It sounds far fetched, but below is the package that was finally opened 200 years later. The United Kingdom's National Archives finally opened the package and found a red dress in pristine condition, pictured below. It looks more like a blouse, but maybe the fiance was very small or it shrunk?

You know that package that never arrived at your door? Maybe someone else will be opening it 50-100 years from now? 

Is There A Chocolate Crisis?

I don't want to alarm you.  There are a lot of serious things going on in the country today, but if less chocolate is going to be available, THAT is really serious.  Maybe you read the story about how the price of cocoa recently went up by 25% in one week? 

Chocolate is produced mainly in four West African countries, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria.  They have 75% of the world's production of cocoa. The problem is that production will be short 374,000 tons this year, (300,000 more than the shortage last year). The shortage is a result of not enough new trees being planted, bean disease, and bad weather.  

There is more demand than ever for chocolate and whose fault is it? All of us are guilty-The Mars Company, Hershey, (The town and company) and The Girl Scouts too. What would happen if there were less thin mints? How much would a box cost then?  What about M & M's? What about Valentine's Day?

This is a list of the top five chocolate companies in the world:

#5 Lotte, a Korean Company- 2022 revenue was $10.62 billion

#4 Ferrero, an Italian Company-2022 revenue was $1.94 billion

#3 Mondelez, operates in 160 countries-2022 revenue was $31.50 billion

#2 Mars Wrigley Confectionery- USA-2022 revenue was $47 billion

#1 Nestle SA-Swiss-2022 revenue was $108.13 billion

I think the whole world really likes chocolate. Supposedly, the chocolate companies are saying that consumers will have to pay more due to the shortage.  Will Kelloggs start taking "The more cocoa" out of the Cocoa Krispies? 

On Vacation I Saw Four things I Had Never Seen Before

 

1. What is that? What does it look like? How about the end of a Q-tip? We have cleaned our ears hundreds or maybe thousands of times in our life, but this time was different.  I cleaned one ear and cleaned the other one and looked at the Q-tip and the part pictured above was missing. Where was it? In my ear? Try looking inside your ear-it doesn't work well.  It was in my ear and I threw it out without taking a picture.

When I got home from vacation I realized I should have taken a picture.  I took another Q-tip and used it and then I took a scissor and tried to cut this piece off.  I tried and tried and tried.  Finally, it snipped off this piece, but the rest of the Q-tip shot across the room. I looked all over, but I couldn't find it. It may be behind the bookcase? Don't tell my wife-we'll find it one day.

2. How many different sodas are there in The United States? How about 450 brands? Have you ever heard of Dr. Thunder? It's a soda, not a doctor. What does it taste like? It is like a cola, "With a subtle twist, featuring caramel notes and a refreshing fizz." My sister-in-law bought it-it didn't look real.

3. When you start driving north from South Carolina you notice right away that the speed of cars increase considerably. Driving on the New Jersey Turnpike I saw something I've never seen.  There were cars zig-zagging in and out of lanes, but one car wasn't satisfied with the lanes on the road.  Not once, but twice, the car got on to the right shoulder to pass someone. A day or two later in New Jersey, a car passed me on the right shoulder.  Keep your eyes on the road and off of it!

4. I love chicken and I love bagels, but chicken on a bagel? No, it's not chicken on a bagel, although I am told that it is delicious. It's a French toast bagel which I had never heard of. It sure looks like chicken or egg on this, but I have been assured it is just a bagel.

Tips For Driving Across Country

Have you ever considered taking a drive across the country from the east coast maybe in New Jersey and going out west to a state like Colorado? What if you took your time and did it in two weeks? How would you do it? What would you do? Just in case you have that urge, here are some simple tips:

1. If you fail to plan you're planning to fail.  It's an old phrase, probably older than me, but it is true.  In the old days you would take out a map and look at the states and figure out what hotel you want to stay in and what you wanted to see.  Today, the most important thing is to make sure you have your phone and a phone charger, that's all that matters. (And two credit cards)

2. Avoid hitchhikers and especially one like this: If you see this old guy and he looks like he's from "The Twilight Zone," you don't want to give him a ride.  If he's in black and white like this picture, do not stop, do not slow down, you want to make sure that your next destination is not in "The Twilight Zone." 

3. Avoid pizza places: If you're from the east coast, you have probably been in 47 pizza places and you know some of them are the very best anywhere.  You might find some barbecued pizza, but go elsewhere for food, like Joe's Barbecue in Kansas City.

4. If you're not used to driving long distances, take many breaks.  If you're not stopping at a rest stop, make sure you see how many miles it is until the next one.  Rest stops on mountains or with mountain views are much more enjoyable.

5. If you have back problems, buy a cushioned backrest like this below and strap it to your seat. This will help your back get to the next rest stop.  Get the one that says, "Everlasting comfort", it will last longer and your back will too.

6. Snacks: For a great road trip, you need a lot of snacks.  Sure, do some of the healthier ones like raisins, grapes, apples, cheese, food bars, sugarless gum, etc.  But, it's your road trip and you need to make your belly happy too.  Chips, (no dip), pretzels, and there's nothing better than having a dozen or two chicken wings or drumsticks in a little cooler with some ice packs.  (One roll of paper towels for each way and plenty of wipes too.) You may need one case of water for each way also.

7. When you need to stop, do it.  Throw some cold water on your face, take a ten or fifteen minute walk, and talk to some strangers that don't look like the hitchhiker above.  Take plenty of notes on your journey and start writing your blog about your road trip of a lifetime.

Bon voyage Larry-have a great trip!

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS IN MARCH

The young Jamaican cashier said, "My co-worker told me if I don't wear green tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day, someone will pinch me.  I wish someone would pinch me, because I want to punch someone." (Laughing)

She: "I didn't want to go see "Mean Girls"; we have some of them in our neighborhood."

I asked the grandmother of eight children, "How do you watch them all at the same time?" She said simply, "Melatonin."

She: "I once had a tour guide who handed out envelopes with his name on it and then he told us how much we should tip him. A lot of people were angry."

The male in his 30's who studied film in college, admitted, "I love horror movies, but I'm afraid of dolls." (including my mannequin) I asked him, "What's your three favorite movies?" He replied, "Grapes of Wrath,"  "Citizen Kane", and "The House of a Thousand Corpses."

She: "When I first saw him I thought, "What an idiot!" (Married 25 years) "That's the only question we got right when we were on the Newlywed Game."

He told me, "When I was seventeen I was diagnosed with Leukemia, but I've been cancer free now for thirteen years."

The young musician who tours the country said, "There are songs of the times and there are timeless songs."

I asked how they met and she said, "We met in Myrtle Beach on the beach New Year's Eve and we've been back here celebrating on New Year's Eve for twenty-five years."

He said, "I created a new app that just went into the app store.  It's called BOTI, it's a boating social network.  If you want to hang out on a boat and meet people, it's like a dating app."

I asked how they met and she said, "I cleaned his house and never left. He didn't want to lose me."

The GI doctor in his own practice said, "Hospitals are going bankrupt and doctors are leaving private practice because they can't get insurance companies to pay.  We write off 1-2 million dollars each year because they won't pay, sometimes 70% of claims are not paid."

I asked him, "How did you get the name Lucky?" He said, "My dad named me, because I almost didn't make it."

He's a hydrographer and told me about his work under the Ravenel Bridge, (Between Mt. Pleasant and Charleston) "There are still large amounts of debris from the two bridges that were blown up in 2005 and they will be removed."

He was trying to say something else, but this came out about his girlfriend, "She keeps my blood pressure going." She added, "I am your cardio."

After telling him my old story where a rider told a Hitler joke that wasn't a joke, he had a better line that he delivered laughing, "You really have to land the Hitler joke if you tell one."

I asked the accountant, "Do you like numbers?" He replied, "It helps me feel like the world is in order."

She: "When we were getting married our pastor sent us to a class and we had to each answer 150 different questions.  Our answers were put in an envelope and we were told not to open it until we were married 30 years. It's 32 years now and we want to open them with our kids who are in their 20's so they can get something out of it too."

He: "Many years ago my dad was offered a great job at a Harlem Hospital.  My mom had gone to a psychic who told her that my dad should not take the job because he would be murdered.  He didn't take it and within a year, the person who took the job was murdered in the hospital parking lot. The same psychic advised Richard Nixon to get his eyes done after he lost the Presidential Election in 1960 when he looked badly in the television debate. He got his eyes done and was elected President in 1968.

I asked the couple from the Virginia area, "How did you meet?" He: I'm a full-time Uber driver and I accepted a scheduled ride a week earlier.  I thought about canceling during the week, but I felt badly for the rider." She: "I was going to a winery in the middle of  nowhere so I scheduled it early.  My friend was going with me, but canceled. I would have canceled the ride, but I knew the driver had accepted it.  I was hoping he would cancel, but he didn't." (Getting married in two months)

                                        SOME MORE COMMENTS

He is the only rider so far to say that he thought I should show Saddam Hussein's picture on the Iraq bill in my car.  His explanation was thought provoking: "We have a front mirror and a rear view mirror and it's important to be able to look through both of them."

The author was doing research at a plantation on Easter Sunday and found information she never expected to get and was ecstatic, "Such a great Sunday."

She sells men's clothes: "It's the lowest title I've had, but the most money I've made."

I  asked her, "What does your name Alanud mean?"  She said, "Stubborn, actually strong willed and independent."

He: "I own a sandwich shop in the Boston area and all the sandwiches are named for radio people."

I asked her, "How did you adjust from moving from a cold weather climate to the South?" She: "I was sweaty for a couple years. My blood did thin out."

She had a few drinks, but every time I got to the end of  a rider comment or story, she yelled out, "Shut up!" 

"Rice taste better in Japan."

I asked the woman who has been married 32 years, what's the secret to a successful marriage?" She said, "Respect and talking to each other. I never saw my parents fighting, I don't know how they settled their differences."

Fireman: "There aren't as many fires as there used to be. We use an ambulance a lot more."

I asked the spinal surgeon, "How long were you in school?" He: "I think it's been a ten-year journey."

She: "I fell in love with being an ER nurse."

"I left Sweden because I couldn't take the weather anymore."

Originally from New Jersey: "People don't give New Jersey enough credit, it's absolutely gorgeous.  There's a reason it's called, "The Garden State."

He: "In Ukraine, they have different sized money to help blind people."

I asked the server if she knew what next week was, "It's St. Patty's Day-we're going to make hundreds of dollars!"

Running late for church on Easter Sunday, she told me, "I'm going to have to bike to church."

COMMENTS ABOUT LILY MY MANNEQUIN

Looking at my female mannequin head, she said, "I thought there was a camera in there, I was waving at it."

When he saw Lily as he got in the car, "I almost jumped out of my pants."

He was laughing as he got in the car and I said, "It's good to see you laughing at my mannequin, not everyone does." He: "That's because not everyone has a sense of humor."

She: "You're beautiful."

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

After a great ride the young woman from Pennsylvania said, "God was speaking to me this weekend to bring cash so I could buy your book. This was the greatest Uber ride I've ever had."

She had a beautiful first and middle name and when I told her that my wife and I named our youngest daughter, "Marisa Ciara," she replied, "You and your wife have great taste."

One of my riders I've driven several times and I quoted him twice in my book. He said, "I'm honored to have met you.  Your two lists are in frames on my nightstand. This one will go up on the wall."

"So glad I met you. You're the best Uber driver ever."

"I like this car a lot."

She: "You were meant to do this."

He: "I appreciate the conversation."

The female college student said, "This is genuinely maybe one of my favorite Uber rides ever."

"It' wonderful that you enjoy doing this so much."

Telling him it was a great story and it would have been in my book, he said, "What's wrong with a second book?"

The Uber driver said, "You're my favorite Uber driver."

She: "I canceled two rides before yours. I'm so glad we got you."

Nurse from PA. she said, "This is the best ride I've ever had."

She: "I'm almost crying, I love being in your car."

She: "This is the cleanest car I've been in some time."

She: "You're amazing."

She said about my rider money museum, "It's beautiful that you're doing this."

She: "I have to give you a hug."

She: "I've been in a lot of Uber's and I've never seen anything like this."

She: "This is awesome, you're in the right field."

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

She: "This the best ride I've ever had."

She: "This is the most colorful ride I've ever had."

Giving me a $2 tip he said, "I'm sorry it's not foreign money." (For my car)

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDERS IN MARCH

 I met some incredible people this month and here they are:                                                                  

 THE PROUD MOM

It was an unusual ride from the start.  She needed a two-hour ride to Hilton Head Island from Charleston. I was around the corner and when I picked her up, she said goodbye to her three girls. They had all been in Charleston for the oldest daughter's bachelorette party.  They had grown up mostly in the Las Vegas suburbs and their mom was originally from Hungary. Married for 32 years, her and her husband always took their four kids with them on vacation.  She has visited more than half of the 48 countries represented in my car. 

I asked her what the secret was to a successful marriage and she said, "Respect and talking to each other. I never saw my parents fighting." We talked about many things including how we eat cereal.  I eat it like her husband does and she drowns her cereal as my wife does.  At the end of the ride she gave me a very generous $50 cash tip.  Moments later, she tipped me $27 on the app and for some reason the following day she tipped me another $10. (Only the second person to ever tip me three times for the same ride.) Driving her was a great way to end my day and she will be one of the best rides I have in 2024.

HE BEAT CANCER

On Easter Sunday I had the pleasure of driving a very compassionate 32 year-old nurse.  He works in an assisted living home in South Carolina and he is treasured by the female residents because he treasures them.  Some of them are dealing with dementia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease.  He explained to me how he cares for them and is constantly praising and complimenting them and telling them, "You're beautiful."

I was impressed with him before he told me he was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 17 growing up in Texas.  He said, "I knew it was serious when I had 40-50 doctors in my room." He was told that they caught it early and a couple years later he was able to get a stem cell transplant from a woman overseas.  He's been cancer-free for 13 years.

He also told me he was born with cerebral palsy.  He has a little limp and he constantly needs to exercise his left hand because the muscle will get stuck if he doesn't.  Apparently, both his hands are super strong and it appears to be something that he manages and doesn't prevent it from living his life to the fullest.  He's very compassionate about his life and he's clearly a winner-he was a joy to drive.

AN ACCOMPLISHED AUTHOR

She currently lives in Florida, but she's a history professor at a college in New York City.  Once a week she flies up to New York to teach classes for one day and visit with her sister. She flies back to nicer weather in Miami which she loves.  She was in the Charleston area doing research for her next book.  She has written 15 books and published 8 of them on many different topics.  She was a lot of fun talking to, but she asked me a question no one else has ever asked, "Are there snakes here?"  When she toured a plantation her guide took her shoe off and placed it on top of a small hole on the floor in a building.  The tour guide said, "The last time I gave this tour a snake came out of that hole."  My passenger was not amused by her story.

DO YOU WANT TO GET ON A BOAT?

Where does inspiration come from? Sometimes a great idea can come to you sitting at a bar.  My passenger was doing just that when someone showed him a dating app. A girl said on the app, "I'm not looking for a boyfriend, just a boat to hang out on." He created an app for people to do just that, hang out and have a good time on a boat.  Just recently his app, BOTI, was put on the app store. It's a social network for people who enjoy being on the water.

I asked him and his girlfriend how they met and he said, "We were both docked on a different boat and I saw four beautiful girls on a boat and I went over and said hello." Recently they enjoyed throwing a big party on a boat for 500 people for the beginning of his new venture. I'm  wishing them both blue skies and smooth sailing personally and professionally.     

                    

THE FLYING REALTORS

It was the perfect ending to a great day in Charleston.  The three women were heading downtown to celebrate one of them getting a new job as a flight attendant.  She is also a realtor which is an unusual combination unless you were her friend sitting behind her.  Two of the three women were "flying realtors" and the third one was "just" a realtor.

How unique were these three good friends?  They met in Oklahoma where there husbands were all pilots and friends in the Air Force. Today, they live 30 minutes west of Charleston and they each have three children.  The oldest child is nine years old and they co-parent together since they regularly meet with the whole crew.  We had a terrific time on the ride.  The woman who ordered the ride said, " I canceled two rides before yours, I'm so glad we got you."

THE UBER COUPLE

After fifteen minutes of entertaining them and having a lot of fun, I asked, "How did you two meet?" He said, "I'm an Uber driver in Virginia and I accepted a scheduled ride a week earlier in an area that is over and hour from my home, but where I regularly dive. I thought about canceling it during the week, but I felt badly for the rider." She: "I was going to a winery in the middle of nowhere so I scheduled it early.  My friend was going with me, but canceled. I would have canceled the ride, but I knew the driver had excepted it.  I was hoping he would cancel, but he didn't."

He said, "I wound up an hour and a half from the winery, but I decided to pick her up anyway." They hit it off and she gave him her number. They are engaged and in two months they will be married.  I think destiny was on their side.  They have a terrific story and I wish them at least forty years of joy and happiness.

THE BOSTON SHUTTLE

I drive friends regularly to and from the airport as the couple goes back and forth to the Boston area for doctor appointments. They normally put them all together, but this time his dentist appointment was the only one. He said, "We're going up for a teeth cleaning and we'll be back in two days."  They've been going to the dentist for thirty years and the dentist felt, "Honored" they traveled from Myrtle Beach just for his cleaning. Below is the picture after his teeth were cleaned. He said, "I'm not shy."  His dentist does the cleaning and it lasts close to an hour and he said, "A lot of dentists up north don't want to do cleanings."

We also talked about some of the foreigners who have clothing attire that they are wrapped up in.  He said, "I'd be pretty bummed if I had to be wrapped up." I would too, he's too funny to be wrapped up.

THE RETURN OF THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTER

When I published my book, I couldn't wait to stop in to the Trader Joe's this guy worked in.  He was my 6th favorite rider out of my first 11,000 rides and I told him I was going to give him a book.  I wrote a nice note to him and signed it, but when I went into his store, he had moved from Mt. Pleasant, near Charleston, all the way back home to the west coast.  I left my name and number with a manager and asked if they could contact him. Unfortunately, I never heard back from him.

He used to work there as a greeter at Trader Joe's.  He told me, "I rap there and get people in a better  mood to shop." His story was incredible.  In high school over twenty years ago, he was in a tragic accident and his parents were told he wasn't going to make it or he'd have to live in assisted living.  After brain surgery, his parents gave him a lot of positive reinforcement and he recovered to help researchers help people and kids recovering from serious injuries.

On the day I hit 13,000 rides this month, one of my rides was Aaron, who greeted me with a hug.  I was thrilled to sign his book and he was excited to read it.  I wrote, "To Aaron, one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. Thank you, on behalf of all the people you've inspired." When you ask him, "How are you?" he will say, "Amazing," and he really is.