MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN JANUARY 2026

LAST MINUTE INSPIRATION

I was driving two co-workers of a cleaning company to their next house.  One woman, the manager,  told me that they had cleaned some million dollar houses for football great Peyton Manning, basketball star Nikola Jokic, and football great Brett Farve's mom. I was impressed with many things she said, but the one comment that stood out was, "I love America with a passion." In her younger days she had gotten in trouble, but had turned her life around.

This good ride turned into something extraordinary when she shared this story in the final 2-3 minutes of the ride. She said, "I was 19 and I had just had a fight with my boyfriend. I got in a car and was driving in the mountains with friends and I kept shutting my lights off but I kept them off two long.  My brother and I almost went off a cliff when the car crashed. When I was pulled out of the car I became paralyzed. The doctors told my mom I would be paralyzed for life.  There was no way I was going to lay in bed with my mom caring for me."

It took her 6-12 months before she could walk with assistance and she fully recovered except for some issues with one leg. A number of years later she met a 20-year-old girls who had just had a sports injury and was paralyzed. She was having a difficult time adjusting so my rider spent some time encouraging her. Years later she heard that the girl was walking and playing sports. I gave my rider a hard time for waiting till the end of the ride to inspire me. Her co-worker added, "She inspires me every day."

THE FRENCH TOAST GIRL

A short ride in your hometown can turn into a bunch of laughs with a smiling passenger.  She was heading to work at IHOP and I asked the 19-year-old, "How long have you worked there?" She told me since she was 13. When I asked how she got a job at 13, she explained, "It's a family business." I was laughing and said, "You have IHOP in your family?" Her cousin owns thirty some stores across the country.  Her mom helps get each of the stores going and she's been helping her.  

Since my wife loves eating at IHOP and we were there just a few days ago, I asked her, "What's your favorite thing to eat there?" She said, "French toast, I'm a French toast girl." I told her I had never driven a French toast girl.  My wife loves French toast also and I'm looking forward to driving "The French Toast Girl" again.

THE ALMOST DOUBLE LAWYER

I had never heard of a, "Double Lawyer," until this month. The woman told me that she was studying to take the bar next month and then she said she was already a lawyer.  In Columbia she had practiced law for seven years and then she took 5-6 years off to spend time with her kids.  In The United States she had to get a Master's Degree in Law and then pass the bar exam to be a lawyer here.  She confidently said to me, "I will pass the bar," and I have no doubt she will succeed.  We had a terrific conversation and she has a delightful personality.  I'm adding her to my collection of lawyer stories.

THE PERFECT COUPLE

The best ride of the weekend was driving this couple from Florida to the airport. They had a lot in common with my wife and I beginning with they were originally from Long Island, New York.  My wife and I are from New Jersey and we moved south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina before moving to Colorado. This couple just had their 43rd anniversary and my wife and I will have ours in August. They also have three kids around the same ages of our three kids. We have two children living in Colorado and they have one.

Both retired, he was an orthopedic surgeon and she ran his office for thirty years.  My wife and I years ago worked together and I was her boss.  I asked them the secret of a successful marriage and she quickly replied, "I just keep telling him that he's right all the time." He answered laughing, "Telling jokes like that all the time." 

They also said that they were best friends and have been together a very long time. She said that she often says that she went to medical school with him since she went through it with him.  We had a lot of laughs in the car.  I did my best to console him after his Buffalo Bills lost the day before to the Denver Broncos and they were at the game.  I may get another chance to drive them when they return to Colorado and it will probably be just as much fun.

THE GODFATHER OF CLUBBING!

There are people you meet that you immediately like. This New Yorker in his seventies had a huge smile before he got in my car.  He was heading to Florida for a family reunion.  He was meeting his seven siblings to celebrate their mom's 95th birthday and their uncle's 104th birthday.  Over his career he had two stores for young people going to clubs and a long career as a merchandising rep and he call himself, "The Godfather of Clubbing." But, that smile? For sure, he's had thousands of smiles given to him because of what he gave to them.

The Winter Indoor Beach Party

This coming Monday is February 2, 2026. It is the 46th anniversary of one the most fun and crazy nights I've had in my life. (If you know me, I am not known for having crazy nights) My college roommate and I came up with the idea to have a beach party in our living room at Fairleigh Dickinson University on February 2, 1980.

We started planning it at the end of 1979 and he made seahorse invitations that we gave out to friends.  Over the winter break I was working at Burger King and my future wife saw the invitations, but I did not meet her until three months after the party.

We cleared everything out of the living room and put in a couple beach chairs, a blanket, and an umbrella. We had to have sand for the party so we bought some bags of sand and put plastic on the living room floor.  The 250 pounds of sand wasn't a lot when you spread it out, but I remember it as being closer to 1,000 pounds of sand which is in the song below. (We'll never know for sure)

Steve had this extremely large poster of I believe Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.  We put it on one wall and we had flood lights shining on it.(pictured below).  In the sky we put blue tissue paper over the ceiling and we had a little airplane up there with a sign that said, "Don't Burn Use Coppertone." I am in the middle pretending to eat sand and Steve is on my left and another roommate Russ is on my right.

We had friends from high school and college and some girls from Burger King.  Many people were wearing shorts and bikini tops since we turned the heat up.  The temperature outside was in the teens. We played beach music, especially the Beach Boys.

The two funniest moments of the party was that night when some guys from our building knocked on the door. They were not prepared for what they saw when the door opened.  The look on their faces while they were wearing heavy coats was priceless.

Four hours later we cleaned up and threw the sand into the garbage cans in the garbage room just outside our door.  The next morning a number of maintenance people were talking very fast in Spanish and trying to move and figure out what they were going to do with the sand.

Below is the picture of a blanket that most people signed at the party.  Many of the names are fading, but people who were there still remember it. There were about fifty people at the party. 

It went so well that six months later on August 2, 1980, I decided to have a Halloween party at my home and a number of people from the beach party were there. That's another story for August.

Below is the song I wrote in college to remember this unusual and fun college event.  The words go to one of my favorite songs, "Taxi" by Harry Chapin.  Who would ever believe that 46 years later I would be driving people around in my car.

                                                    "The Winter Indoor Beach Party"

It was very cold on that Saturday, it was February 2, 1980.                                                            Fairleigh Dickinson was kind of quiet that night, but it was only eight o'clock.                                      You knew there was something in the air, something was about to be done.                                          But you didn't know when or where, but somehow it would be fun.

So you walked around looking for a clue as your fingertips started to freeze. The force of the wind pushed you towards building two, your teeth chattered and you sneezed. Then the wind howled and led you right next store, next to building two was building one. You didn't know what you were going for, but the cold made you run.

When the door opened at Suite 1 1-A you couldn't believe your eyes. There was nothing you could possible say, the beach was quite a surprise. There were two lights shining brightly on the poster that was on the wall. There was a little plane that was flying right by saying "Don't Burn Use Coppertone."

You stared in disbelief as you looked all around at the pails and the shovels too.  And there was no doubt what was on the ground, there was sand in front of you. There were shorts and bikini tops all around, the umbrella was hit by a beach ball. The Beach Boys were singing in the background, a girl in a bikini was on the wall.

There was a thousand pounds of sand in that place, four hours later, it was time to go. It was a sight that you would have had to face, like nothing you'll ever know.

                                               

                                                            

 

MY FAVORITE RIDER COMMENTS IN 2025

2019 was my first full year driving rideshare with Uber and Lyft.  The people I met, the stories and comments I heard, they were incredible.  The holidays were coming up and I wanted to give a small, inexpensive gift to some of my riders. What could I give them that they would like?

Each month I had blogged about my favorite riders and my favorite rider comments so I decided to put together a list of my favorite rider comments of the year and give it out to some people.  The response I got was off the charts and I decided to give it out all year long to riders who I knew would enjoy it.

I can't tell you how much fun this has been, how surprised people are, and how much they have enjoyed reading them.  Below is my list of comments from 2025, some I heard in South Carolina and others in Colorado.  In 2026, hundreds of my riders will get to read this.  It's a great way to celebrate people.

I always tell people that some of these comments are funny and some are strange and some are just amazing.  These people made 2025 an incredible year for me:

                                                   THE BEST OF THE YEAR

He: "I put orange juice in my Captain Crunch and Frosted Flakes. It started when I was a kid.  I loved orange juice and I loved cereal, what could go wrong, diarrhea?" 

He: "My dad had me when he was 65 and my mom was 23. He had 22 kids, 67 grandchildren and 30-40 great grandchildren. I think the song, "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," was written about him."

She: "I was in a hurry in the bathroom and I went to brush my teeth and I grabbed the Preparation H and it was disgusting. There was no minty flavor. I probably needed a root canal after that."

She lost her mom three years ago and has been carrying and wearing her mom's ring. "It has bad karma and I want you to take it and change the karma and give it to a Leo. My mom's birthday was August 15th and mine was August 17th." (I gave the ring to a passenger's daughter in the Army for three years)

He said: "Even the geese are nicer in Colorado than Indiana. Several in Indiana attack me-they are crazy and angry."

I asked the couple how they met and he said, "We met on e-Harmony. One of her pictures was in a Hazmat suit and I said, 'This is interesting.'"

She: "My cat brought a blue jay into the house so I decided to raise it. It sings and dances now. It's blue, white and black, like a cop."

The professional server gave this advice to give great service, "You have to read the room. You have to caress their face without touching them."

She: "My dad was a train conductor and he was a unruly grizzly bear. He had a distaste for the public."

He: "Out of college, five of my friends and I traveled out west looking for a lot of land to buy together. We bought 200 acres in British Columbia on a dirt road, with no electricity or running water, and an hour and a half from the nearest gas station. I built my house from scratch and we were there forty years." 

She: "I have one more Super Bowl ring than Jerry Jones. (Owner of the Dallas Cowboys) I inherited two of them from my mom and aunt who had worked in scouting for the Cowboys."

I told a rider I know that I was moving after seven years and he said, "You're like criminals, you're moving every year. You're a fugitive, people are going to want to know what your crimes were. Can't wait until your kids find out you're fugitives. I might just turn you in if there's a reward."

Former flight attendant's favorite story, "I was going around and taking meal orders and for one flight it was beef and chicken, but we were out of chicken. A woman said to me, 'Is there some way we can stop somewhere and get some chicken?' I told her it doesn't work that way."

Young guy: "When I saw your mannequin it creeped me out at first, but some people are creeped out by the things I collect: knives, swords, bows, and lighters."

Married only five months, the wife said, "You've been with me all day, are you sick of me yet?" He said, "No, I have the rest of my life to get sick of you."

"I go by JP, my initials. My dad is JP too and my sister and two brothers are also JP.  I named my two sons JP too.  When you call out JP you can get anyone."

In Denver, The New York Giants fan said, "We're going to the game tomorrow against the Giants and my friends who are Denver Bronco fans are going to dress up as New York Giants fans for me." The two friends said, "It's okay, we're going to wear orange underwear." (The Broncos color)

He: "I knew I couldn't live the rest of my life with an old girlfriend the one moment when she got mad at me. She stood on my sofa, pulled down her pants, and urinated on it."

He: "I was 46 years old with no hope. I was a drug addict and had spent twenty years in jail for three bank robberies." He changed his life. He met his wife and at 60 years old has two young boys. "A company hired me at $12 an hour, trained me, and later I became their operations manager supervising fifty people. I helped two companies become million dollar businesses.

A server for 18 years, she had an amazing customer. "I had lost my 22-year-old son and returned to work. A regular customer noticed I wasn't myself and found out why.  He gave me a $200 tip.  Later that day he returned and handed me an envelope with $1,200 in it and said, 'Do something nice for yourself.' I bought a gravestone for my son."

Another Book Review

I will not be doing a book review on every book I read, but there are some that are incredibly fun to read and fascinating for different reasons.  

By page two, I loved this book.  After around ten pages, I knew I would read this again.  The book is three big stories in one and here's a very quick summary of the stories:

1.  A very independent woman goes to law school and decides not to be a lawyer.  She goes into the field of opinion research and then opens her own business.  She becomes one of the best in the business because she polls and listens to a lot of people outside the Washington Beltway.  Her husband, George,

is a successful lawyer and a graduate of Yale law school.  Both Republicans, they live in a building owned by Donald Trump.

2. Her political career takes off when Donald Trump after many attempts gets her to join his 2016 Presidential campaign.  She then moves into becoming the first female campaign manager of a successful Presidential campaign.  She is one of the few people Donald Trump listens to and that made a big difference in the campaign.  The ins and outs of the campaign and what she did as his Presidential Advisor were great to read about, but I'll spare you the details.  She really knows politics and people.

3. The third part was her family life. Accomplishing this while raising four kids was of course challenging and a major accomplishment in itself.  Her husband was very supported of her and President Trump and enjoyed several visits to the White House, but then something changed.

In 2016, her husband George was on twitter and had no tweets.  By 2020, his tweets totaled around 100,000. Keep in mind that was in around 1,400 days.  Many of the tweets were against President Trump and what his wife was doing.  He got a lot of publicity which he loved and it consumed him. 

Their 15-year-old daughter was on TikTok and she became very popular and there were media who were contacting her for interviews instead of contacting her parents.  It was obviously too much for a 15-year-old to handle, but this was overcome in a short period of time.  

In the end Kellyanne left the White House to spend more time with her children and she opened up a new consulting firm. In 2023 her and George divorced, but they are friends and very involved with parenting their kids. 

In April, 2024, George donated the most money you can legally donate to a Presidential campaign.  He gave over $900,000 to President Biden's reelection campaign.

It's a terrific book.

 

I Don't Believe in Conspiracies Even on Christmas

I got up early Christmas morning to do some writing and not to look under the Christmas tree or to go out and drive.  I did get some writing done and a couple other things in my office until I realized why I woke up so early.

I was doing some reading online and glancing out the window in case a flurry of snow came down and then I saw something that made me laugh out loud, but quietly.  The headline read, "Paul McCartney Sets Record Straight on Whether his Classic Christmas Song Encourages Witchcraft."  It was from The New York Post which I used to read regularly, but this was a real story.

There are big conspiracy theories such as "Oswald didn't kill Kennedy himself," "We knew about 9-11 before it happened," and some recent ones like, "Russia is responsible for Trump becoming president in 2016," and "President Trump Really Won in 2020." I don't buy any of those, but this story is hilarious.

In 1979 McCartney, (my favorite musician), wrote the song, "Wonderful Christmastime." He recently explained, " There is a theory online that the song is about people practicing witchcraft, getting found out and trying to cover it up. Thank goodness they found me out.  This is completely true and an actual fact, I am the head wizard of Liverpool. Either that ...or it's complete nonsense and you know it's the latter."

It gets better when he explained that fans mixed up the words, "The mood is right," but they heard the words "The moon is right."  He explained, " The thing is about this stuff, it's so easy to convince half the people in the world."

The song itself was voted by Esquire magazine as the worst Christmas song ever.  However, I did read the comments from a music professor who listed the lyrics as:

'The moon is right, the spirit's up, we're here tonight, and that's enough... Simply having a wonderful Christmastime." 

The word is mood and I hope this changes your mood the next time you hear some conspiracy theory whether it is minor or major.  Think about Paul McCartney being accused of encouraging witchcraft and you'll understand that most conspiracies are just nonsense.

(The picture above is the back of the album of his greatest hits album with his band Wings which came out on December 1, 1978 and Paul is on the right side)

MY 10 BEST RIDES IN 2025 (Part 2-Inspiration)

I've been very fortunate to have driven some incredible people over the years who inspired me.  These five stories all came from Colorado and they are very different, but the people were all incredible.

HIS WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF HIM

I picked up the college student with an unusual name that sounded like "A-ton."(means sturdy) He told me he had a very difficult childhood and his name didn't help.  Kids would tease him and call him, "A ton of s_ _ _."  When he complained to his dad, he laughed saying, "Your mom and I spent a lot of time coming up with a special name that you wouldn't be teased about." He told me that the GPS used to say his name, "but it gave up because it was too difficult."  He said, "My mom got into politics after I tried to kill myself as a kid." She got several bills passed to help kids get therapy.  He's doing great today with a terrific sense of humor and very creative ideas to be in business for himself in the future. I loved talking to him.

THE INSPIRING FUTURE NURSE

She lives in Alaska and majored in journalism.  After a successful career in journalism and in her 50's, she's going back to school to being a nurse.  About ten years ago she contracted a serious virus from her daughter. The doctors had great difficulty diagnosing her and she spent six months in a coma.  She received incredible care and one night a nurse saved her life.  She's completely healthy now and she wants to give back the great care that she got to other people. She will succeed.  She left me one of the best comments I've heard in my car, "If you're not helping people, you're not living."

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Sometimes a rider can almost leave me speechless after hearing their story. This young woman was headed to a fundraiser and I took my wallet out and made a donation to her cause, the only time I've ever done that with a rider.  She was born with a brain disability and has gone through several brain surgeries.  It's rare, but her brain is too large for her head.  She's in college studying theology and she's going to be a pastor in a seminary.  Bright, articulate, and very personable, you would never know the adversity she's gone through at this point in her life.  She'll be able to help a lot of people in the future to recognize how lucky they are.

THE THIRD JOSE WAS THE CHARM

He made my Sunday morning special with tipping me before and after the ride.  He was the third Jose in my first six rides and he was a really good guy  But the story he told me ranks as one of the best stories in 16,000 rides and explains why he is a special guy. This was it and there's nothing more I can say:  "I should have died when I was 16.  I was in a gang shooting and a bullet hit my heart.  The doctor couldn't believe I was saved and it was a miracle. "I spoke to a nurse who said, 'God put his hand over his heart because you have more to do on this earth.'  A few days later I was looking for that black nurse and I was told that they didn't have any black nurses in the emergency room and I never saw her again."

HE CHANGED HIS LIFE

The 60-year-old man in December left me with my mouth open and shaking my head. Fourteen years ago he was hooked on meth, had spent twenty years in jail for three bank robberies, and had no hope in his life.  He went to some kind of meeting that convinced him to change his life. He met his wife at a recovery meeting and they have two young boys.  He convinced a company to hire him at $12 an hour and they trained him to code and much more.  He turned out to be their operations manager managing fifty people. He's helped two companies become million dollar companies.  He's a totally different guy with a big smile and that smile will always hang in my car. He had me grinning all the way home.

I Made My First Meatloaf!

I started 2026 by cooking meatloaf for dinner.  Yes, my wife helped, but I did a lot.  I took the meat out and plopped it into the cooking pan.  I helped mush it up, flip it over, and make the egg disappear. I don't exactly know where the egg came from, but she probably put it there when I turned my head.  I put the meatloaf in the oven and when it was almost cooked, I took it out.  My wife said, "Put the ketchup on it."  I asked, "How does it go on?"  She said to cover it. Here's the picture below.  I was kind of going for a "flag" topping.  Let me know if you can see it.

My family is going to have to start calling me Chef Jeff Sr.  My son-in-law, Jeff, is a terrific chef.  We call him Chef Jeff Jr.  I'm only 3-4 light years behind him.  Below is the picture when it came out.  I'm going to start taking "meatball dinner" orders.  I can be reached right here through my blog.

They almost look like the same picture.  I'm pretty sure the top one was before it cooked.