What Makes People Happy?

I recently read an interesting article on happiness and some of the personal comments that people said make them happy. It's no surprise that close relationships with family and friends was the number one response, but some people did say that animals in the order of dogs, birds and cats make them happy.

Some of the other responses were 27% involved things with nature and 18% mentioned things relating to food.  Also mentioned were individual experiences people had, one being a good cup of coffee.  But, what about some of the unique comments that were made?  Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Sandi from Florida said, "Soap bubbles. They make everyone happy that sees them. I've gotten stuck on the 405 in LA with traffic at a standstill, frustrated honking all around and one wand of wedding bubbles change the whole attitude of the people around me. If you drive 3 miles an hour and stick the wand out of your sunroof, you can bubble a whole area with hundreds of bubbles in just a few seconds, then just watch the magic happen."

                                  

2. Carole from Chile said, "Conversations with random people that I meet around the world of different cultures, nationalities, and backgrounds. Sharing and laughing together is a beautiful reminder that we have so much more in common as human beings than we do differences that polarize us."

3. Alex from Philadelphia said, "Big puppets! I know.  It sounds weird, but human performers inside large puppets on movie sets, Broadway, or lion dancers give me a sense of awe. The art of the puppet meets the art of the performance and you can forget what you're seeing is just human dressed up."

4. Francine from Texas said, "Waking up next to my smiling husband every morning every morning of our 36 years of marriage."

5. Dannon from Maryland said, "Laughing babies, toddlers, children, teens, adults. All the laughter. When people are happy it spreads naturally." 

Call Your Friend During Work?

I had to read this story twice, because it seemed so odd.  It comes from Sweden.  A pharmacy chain is giving their employees 15 minutes a week to call or text a friend during work. They are calling it "Friendship hour.(For the month)  It's supposed to help loneliness and safeguard relationships.  It appears that they are paying employees to make these calls or texts.  They also give a $100 stipend for social activities.

A couple things came to mind: how lonely could they be in a pharmacy? They are paying people to call their friends, does that really sound okay? Do you tell your friend why you're calling? Would it sound like this: "I am at work, but they want me to call friends so I'm calling you."

It is a test program, but it would be even more interesting to see what they find out.  Giving employees an extra one hour a month as a break is nice, but I think it's really odd they are telling them what to do during that time.  Maybe it's just me, but it's an unusual story.  

Can you imagine heading to work trying to figure out what friend you're going to call at work?  There were very few pictures to post below where someone was on the phone at work, but it's unlikely they are calling a friend, but you never know.

"And the Sign Says..."

In 1971, a Canadian group had a hit with a song called, "Signs".  Les Emmerson, one of the singers in the group, was traveling to Los Angeles from Canada when he noticed all the signs along the road.  I had that same feeling as I drove to and from California, but I did not write a hit song, yet.  I am writing this blog about some of the signs I saw:

1. WATCH FALLING ROCK: Is that what I should be doing while I'm driving, watch falling rock? I don't think there was any rock falling, although there was one rock in a lane that probably did fall when I wasn't looking.  My mannequin was with me and I told her to watch the falling rock, but she never said she saw any.

2. LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT: So, if I see a low flying plane I know now that I shouldn't be alarmed, it happens a lot? I did not see any, but I was not looking either...still driving.

                                

3. PRISON AREA HITCHIKING PROHIBITED: Good to know, I think.  I didn't see any hitchhikers and I did not see any prisons, but I'm sure the prisons were there.

4.  YELLOW CAT: Is that really the name of a town? If you live there, do you ever get used to it? Can you visit somewhere else and when asked where you live, you say, "Yellow Cat?"

5. The sign said, TRAIL THROUGH TIME, in Colorado.  It's actually a 1.5 mile hiking tour that show off dinosaur fossils and natural rock settings.  How about a picture on the sign?

6. LEAVING COLORFUL COLORADO: Why is Colorado colorful? It's vibrant landscapes, red sandstone rocks, blue skies and white capped mountains.  It came from the Spanish word for "colored red," due to spectacular sunsets.

7. SNOW COLLEGE: It's a community college in Ephraim, Utah and it has nothing to do with snow.

8. RAINFALL COULD CAUSE FLASH FLOODS: Anything can happen on these mountain roads. At least it didn't say, "Watch for flash floods."

9. ROAD MAY BE FLOODED-10 MILES: Anywhere in the next ten miles the road could be flooded? Not very encouraging, but the road was clear.

10. WATCH FOR SNOW   SLIPPERY: I always think of ice as slippery, but maybe snow is too. I left a space before slippery, because it was written that way.

11. FREQUENTLY WILDLIFE CROSSING: I didn't see any, but is this really the best way of saying it? How about "Wildlife Crosses Frequently," or just "Wildlife Crossing?' Give them credit though, they did not say, "Watch For Wildlife Crossing."

Random April Thoughts

 1.  When I say butter, what do you think of? For me, I immediately think: melting.  So, when I walk past our kitchen counter at any time of the day and see the butter sitting on the counter, I think I hear the butter yelling out, "Help me, I'm melting." It's still there. Does this look good?  (About ten days after I wrote this, the butter started appearing in the refrigerator because it didn't taste that good.)

2. I was in the park with my almost 20 month old grand daughter.  She was at the top of a small slide and she counted..."1,2, free", and then she said, "Go Riley."  She went down the slide and I was thinking we should all do that.  When you're about to go into an interview or dig up some bushes, or sitting down to a big chicken meal- "1,2, free, Go Jeff."

3. You know how they send you these invitations for free seminars at these nice restaurants? It's usually on retirement, investing, or something like that.  My friend Larry has been to many of them for the food.  I got this below in the mail inviting me to a pizza place.  First, I really don't like pizza.  I can eat it a few times a year and I'm good. Secondly, what happened to the prime rib dinner? I'm not going.

4. When was the last time you saw a man in a suit and tie riding on a motorcycle? I saw him, could that really be comfortable?

5. Do you think someone could invent a little robot that you can put on your front windshield that would clean off all the bugs and stuff that get your window dirty? You can't always go to a car wash.

6. Have you ever seen a car towing a helicopter? You can't make this stuff up, it really was a car and a helicopter. It was too fast to get a picture.

7. If you were a landscaper, wouldn't you want the account for just one of these mountains that has thousands of trees and bushes on it? Imagine the time it would take to trim them.

8. Did you know that if you're an adult the most difficult thing to do in going down a small slide is not going down the slide? Here's a picture of my legs dangling after I struggled to get onto the slide.

9. When does something fake look incredibly real? It doesn't happen often but take a look at how beautiful these fake flowers are that my wife bought.

10. And, last but not least to wind up the month is this true story. My wife bought a bunch of red grapes which she likes and I don't. I don't know how long they have been in our refrigerator, but I went through them to see what I could eat instead of throwing them out. Most seemed to be pretty good, but as I got to the last bunch of grapes I found something else: money.  In the plastic container pictured below is a dime and a penny. They say that money doesn't grow on trees, but how do you explain this:

The Walt Disney Museum

As a huge Disney fan for decades I wasn't going to miss out on going to The Walt Disney Museum which was located a couple miles from The Golden State Bridge.  As soon as you walked into the lobby past the entrance you see all around you trophies, plaques, and tributes to Walt Disney throughout his almost fifty year career.

Walking around there were endless stories and pictures of his life including his first successful cartoon character, Oswald the Rabbit. When he wanted more money from the guy he was working for in New York he was told no and that he could leave with nothing since he didn't own the character.  He left with nothing and on the train home to California he drew a picture of the mouse below.

Imagine, buy a loaf of bread and get a picture card of Mickey Mouse!  He was involved in a bunch of different projects his whole life.  "The story of Disneyland" was a special movie they were presenting that day and it talked about his struggles to get funded.  One story I never heard was that he needed more trees for The Jungle Cruise ride and so he put ads in the paper for anyone who wanted to get ride of their tree. They came to your house and took your tree and it wound up in Disneyland.

This was the layout for Disneyland or Disney World or both.  I was too busy taking pictures to read what it was, still it was pretty cool.  After walking through endless exhibits on several floors, it was the last small section about Walt Disney's death which was the most moving.

He had been sick, but no one knew how sick he was.  Ten days after his 65th birthday he passed away from lung cancer.  His list of accomplishments are endless, but he still holds the record for most Academy Awards by an individual, 22 and the most nominations by an individual, 59.

Below are two moving pictures that I had to photograph and one incredible tribute by CBS's Evening News, Eric Severeid, which is worth reading.  The best line in his tribute was, "He probably did more to heal-or at least soothe- troubled human spirits than all the psychiatrists in the world." He died sixty years ago this December-imagine his impact since then.

It was an inspiring few hours even for someone who has read a lot about Walt Disney.

The Golden Gate Bridge

It is not listed as one of the wonders of the world, but the Golden Gate Bridge is incredible and impressive in person.  It opened in 1937 and at that time was the longest and tallest bridge in the world. It is a symbol of California and one of the most recognizable landmarks in our country.

Thirty-nine years ago Monika and I were on a boat that went underneath the bridge, but this time I was going to walk on the bridge. My friend Rob and I took about an hour walk to the bridge and this is what it looked like from the ground level.

As we got closer to the bridge the view of course got better and better.  Finally reaching the top there were people walking, biking and lots of cars going both ways over the bridge.  The bike lane was also the walking lane.  I'm not very good with heights and so I took some pictures and we walked a few minutes before turning around.

Our walk back to the car was only 45 minutes and if it wasn't for the high price we would have taken a Waymo, a driverless car.  Rob took the above selfie and the below picture of the bridge I took from The Walt Disney Museum the day before.

My Favorite Rider Comments for April 2026

I asked the couple how long they've been together and he said, "7,632 years."  She said, "We're celebrating our 32nd anniversary at the end of the month."

Picking him up on Easter he said, "I stopped celebrating holidays when I was eight. I'd rather be low-key, but I faked it for a few years."

After telling me he had four kids I said, "That is a handful." He said, "My dad has 19 kids with two wives."

She: "Our girls are both big planners and Disney fans. One time we were in Disney and we said we need a bathroom break and one of them said, "It's not on the schedule."

He: "In Japan they have bowing deer. They look for crackers and try to take them out of your pockets."

I showed him the yellow ducky a plumber gave me from the place he works.  I said that it was like Ernie's yellow duckie on Sesame Street and when I sing Ernie's rubber duckie song to my granddaughter I try to sound like Ernie.  He said, "You  kind of sound a little like Ernie, but grown up."

I asked, "How did your wife get her name "Clover?" He said, "Her parents were hippies and they came up with it when they were lying in a field."

She said, "Everyone in the world is delusional."

Truck driver: "A few years ago I was driving in Utah on some snow and my tractor trailer went over a cliff with me in it. I just had a cut from the seatbelt. When they took me to the ER I found out I only had one kidney, maybe that's why God had me in the accident."

The young Korean just came back from his first trip to Japan and his first trip to Korea. He said, "I actually liked Japan better."

She and her boyfriend have been dating for five years and are close to being engaged.  They are about to take a trip and she said, "I am packing something cute just in case."

I asked the accountant if she liked numbers and she said, "I'm not good with numbers." When I asked how long she had been married, it took her a little bit to answer and she had trouble coming up with their anniversary day.

MORE DRIVER COMMENTS

I told her that my business name is "The Sunshine Man" and she told me, "I call my boyfriend, "sunshine."

She told me, "I'm a full-blooded Alaskan Athabascan." They are descendants of the original inhabitants in Alaska.

Her name is Divine and her last name is Blessings. She: "I didn't like my last name so I changed it."

Her mom has eleven kids and grandchildren from ten of them. She said, "I'm the only one who hasn't given her one."

He told me his mom had many talents and was, "A master of doing."

I asked, "How do you like working in finance?" He said, "I have my days of fulfillment."

I asked the couple how they met and she said, "We were both in line at a club and he wanted to use my friends and I to get in."  Me: "Did it work?" He said, "It did."

She's been in over 15 countries and told me that if people want to travel more, "They should skip going out to eat for a month."

She: "I was chef in Paris for three years, a manager of a health care facility, a pharmacy tech, and now I'm a flight attendant."

He: "I had a friend of mine who was so black, we said he was purple."

He said, "I'm in the twilight of my 20's."

The young officer explained what he was doing, "It just police work."

What was it like moving from Alaska to Atlanta I asked. He said, "It was quite hot."

The truck driver told me he was just out of the hospital after five days.  He said, "I had carbon monoxide poisoning which was in my truck."

MUCH THANKS TO ALI WHO IS ORIGNALLY FROM KUWAIT AND HE GAVE THIS BILL WHICH IS MY 74TH COUNTRY IN MY CAR.

Thanks also to the two riders who gave me the Alaskan polar bear refrigerator magnet and also the "J" which I'm going to pin on one of my Elvis socks in front of my car.(How's that for a ridiculous sentence?)

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Climate Scientist for Texas Tech

Operations Manager for Australian Fitness Company

Content Creator

Former Production Assistant in the film industry

Underground Utility Locator

Builds Cancer Research Centers around the world.

I PICKED PEOPLE UP FROM THESE PLACES

Guatemala, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Honduras, Somalia, The Congo,

WHAT MY RIDERS SAID ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

Accountant: "I want to stay in here all day. You're a beautiful soul, keep spreading your positivity."

The ride was only three minutes long and she handed me the second largest tip I've ever received and said, "I want you to have this, you're making a difference."

"This was the greatest Uber ride we've ever had."

The scientist said, "This is totally new for me."

"I love the car and the ride. Have an excellent day."

"This is crazy."

"I hope I get you again."

"Best Uber ride we've ever had."

"This was the most pleasant ride we've ever had."

"Thanks so much, it's been a great ride."

"I really enjoyed this ride."