The New Scrabble-"Words With Friends"

Growing up I believe my Mom introduced her three kids to the game of Scrabble and we were hooked on it. We all enjoyed playing it and I've passed it on to my kids and who knows how many decades the love of Scrabble will continue. When my wife and I were newly married we sat down in our apartment in 1983, to play Scrabble for the first time.  To start the game, I put down all seven letters for a lot of points and my wife had played enough and has not played me since. Ironically, my youngest daughter's boyfriend, (also Jeff), had a similar experience that my wife had when he played my daughter the very first time-she put down all her tiles.

A few years ago, my wife was playing "Words With Friends" on her phone and I started playing too.  It's not as much fun as Scrabble and it's a little different, but it is still fun.  I've been playing my sister i and my brother who both live up north.  The below game is what I am playing with my brother now.  Some things you should know:

My brother has won 149 games against me and I have won only 55, not counting the one I'm about to win. 400 points in a game is a pretty good score and I have an average of 396 a game and my brother has averaged 442 points. This is one reason why he has won 94 more games than I have. Recently, I have played much better and have won 6 of the last 9 games and two of the games I lost were with scores of 475 and 484.  Take a look at the board and let's look at some of those words.

The letters on the bottom are mine and I had to wait until he went to post this.  He got 30 plus points near the left bottom (TR-triple word score) and I am putting "relied" up top with the last two letters being under the F and I.  I'm ahead by 150 which should be enough to pull this out.  I just put down "absented" for 137 points, which is one of the most points I've ever gotten. (Just by coincidence it was on the board when I took the picture) What are those words on the board? I have no clue on many of them:

Raj: Was he in Alladin?

Hosen: Is that when you've been hosed or chosen?

Dozers: I have to feel this is missing "bull".

Adagio's: Has to be an Italian restaurant, right?

Caleans: A sauce served at the restaurant?

Misraise: Very close to being miserable, as my brother is reading this and finishing this game.

The purple words are my brothers and it's not a coincidence that 5 of the 6 words listed below are his.  His vocabulary is larger than mine.  You can make words that you don't know, it will tell you when a word is not a word, unlike real scrabble.

My brother and I have had some great games and I've said to him before that we should have an audience and guess what? You picked a great game to watch us.

My Push Mower Lives Another Year

 For anyone just starting to follow this blog, you've got a lot of catching up to do. Over the last four years and four months I've written close to 500 posts, so take your time.

About four years ago I posted about my new purchase, a manual push mower.  I was tired of putting gas and oil in a mower and the push mower was so quiet I could actually have a conversation on the phone while pushing the light mower.  I still think it's one of my best purchases ever, not counting Cocoa Krispies of course.  The first two years the mower was great since we didn't have a lot grass.  And, as unusual as it was, my next door neighbor and the neighbor across from him, all had manual push mowers.

The neighbors have gone over to the dark side with other mowers, but I was still enjoying my mower until last summer.  It just wasn't cutting everything, so I was basically just trimming the lawn. Since I "worked" on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I would trim the lawn Monday and then again Thursday. The lawn would look like I mowed a day or two ago and never had that perfect look. Who cares about that, right?

My wife did and said I should look at an electric mower or we should get the blades sharpened on my mower.  I said I'd look it over in the winter, but I knew my time with my mower was running out. And, then the day came, my wife said, "Let's go to Home Depot, we can look at a mower while we're there." It was a joyous moment, for sure.  My strategy was simple: give in and say we'll get the electric mower and maybe she would change her mind.  It worked perfectly and we went home without spending the $250.

I was going to have to get the blades sharpened if my mower was going to make it for another year.  My wife got the phone number of the guy who sharpens blades and gave it to me. The guy lived about two blocks away, right at the entrance of our development.  I walked over and he said, "The blades don't need to be sharpened, you just have to adjust them slightly." I watched him do it, barely moving them. He wasn't going to charge me, but I tipped him $10, thinking, maybe he just saved my mower.

Below is a picture my wife took with my "new" mower. She said I looked, "Like a kid." The mower mows the lawn great and my wife is happy. I may get to keep this another four years! I can't understand one thing-why didn't she think of taking it to someone sooner? (I can hear her yelling to me, I did!)

My Favorite April Riders

THE INSPIRING MOM: I have been fortunate to meet many incredible people in my car, but it would be difficult to say there have been even a handful who have been more impressive than this woman. As a single mom at the age of 19, she found out that her little boy was diagnosed with a rare disease, which caused him to have fifty seizures as a baby. The seizures have already caused a lot of damage to her son, who at four years old, cannot walk or talk. She made a point of telling me that he's a happy child and is always smiling. She watched him die twice and be brought back to life. He is on special medication and has been doing well for the past two years.  He has already passed his life expectancy and she believes he is going to make it and she's doing everything she can to help him. She told me, "I am strong," and she's very determined. She's working full-time as a medical assistant and knew since grade school what she wanted to do. A couple years ago she was in a mall with her son and a woman came over to her and said, "Has your son had seizures?" After saying, "yes", she told me, "the woman said he was going to be alright and I'd get through this," and then she walked away." I didn't ask many questions on this ride and I let her tell me her story. I thanked her for sharing it with me and I wished her the very best. This is one young woman who has gone through a very tough four years and hopefully the worst is behind her.

THE POSITIVE BARTENDER: They say that it takes only seven seconds to make an impression on someone you meet for the first time. My rider did that in less than five seconds.  As he got in my car he read the sign I have on the back of the front seat that says, "South Carolina law requires everyone must wear a belt and a smile." He said, "I like that. You see what you project."  He was a delight to speak with and he made me laugh when he said, "When I used to make pizzas in the Virgin Islands, people would ask why my pizzas tasted so much better and I said, "happy dudes make happy foods." I suggested to him that he should read Dale Carnegie's classic, "How To Win Friends and Influence People" and he told me it was on his nightstand. As he got out of the car he said, "It's going to be a good day." He was right and he helped make my day for sure.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: He was an impressive guy before he told me what he did, I could just tell. At 71, he was carrying a heavy golf bag and two smaller bags and for him it wasn't a problem. He's the Chief Operating Officer for the United Negro Fund.(UNCF) The UNCF provides funds for around 40 different black colleges and universities and has been around for 78 years. Fortunately, I had a good twenty minutes to ask him about his career and he was very willing to share it with me.  He's had many positions starting as a CPA and also working for the Olympic Committee in Colorado in the past. He told me that the United Negro Fund, "gives out around 100 million dollars in scholarships each year and donations have increased over the past couple years." His main job this next year is to find and train his replacement since he is going to retire next year.  He tried to retire twice, but was asked to stay. It's been a very rewarding job for him and it was a pleasure to speak with someone who has given so much time and effort to help young people. He enjoyed my interest also and made a point of shaking my hand goodbye.

THE PART-TIME TRAVELER: It wasn't adding up what the young woman was telling me.  I was taking her to the Waffle House since she was a server there. She told me she was a, "Part-time Traveler," a term I had never heard before. She explained that she takes a 3-5 day vacation every month, because she loves to travel. She wants to fill up her passport and has a number of trips planned the next few months. Then, she told me that her goal was to be a chef who travels the world and she's in Culinary School.  I found out she was only 20 years old and she's going to be a flight attendant like her Mom, who just retired from an airline. She had very specific goals and dreams for her life and I have no doubt she's going to succeed. She's already decided she doesn't want to have kids, because she's not someone who likes to take care of people, even babysitting. Her solution was that since she wasn't going to use her eggs, she will sell them so someone else can have a child. I ran out of time, but it was a fascinating ride from beginning to end.

THE GROOM: He was married the night before and was going back to the reception place to get his car. His wife was recovering at the hotel from the day before. He was very easy to talk with and we talked about the wedding and how they met. His wife used to be his bartender and she kept giving him hints which he didn't pick up on. He told me that they are taking a honeymoon in the summer, but, "My wife and I for now are just going to an island for a couple days, she calls it a "mini-moon." But, the best part was when I found out he was a history teacher and then he really opened up.  We talked about 15 minutes about all kinds of history stuff. When he got out of the car, I told him that his wife should thank me because he got his fill of history for their "mini-moon".  As he got out he said, "Someone left a $20 bill back here, it was me." Me: "Thank you, you know when you get married, you're supposed to get gifts not give them?" Him: "I got a lot of cash last night." He may have enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

THE TRAVELING DENTIST: One occupation that is very popular today is a Traveling Nurse, however, a Traveling Dentist? I have never heard the term before and I got lucky getting this ride which was the last ride on a terrific day. I had the part-time traveler that morning and I told my rider about the story and she enjoyed it. This woman is licensed in three states and she substitutes when a fill-in is needed.  She had spent twenty years working full-time as a dentist and was burned out and this situation is perfect for her. Sometimes she works a few days and sometimes a few weeks. I knew I was meant to pick her up when she told me, ""I wrote a journal every day of my 48th year and I'd like to write a book about it. I survived a Typhoon near Guam stuck in my bathroom with my cat for most of the night when winds were at 200 mph." I told her about the book I was writing and of course she loved getting my list of rider comments from last year. 

Some Things You Just Don't See

Finishing up on my Orlando vacation posts, I saved the most unusual for last. Below are some pictures that are different and the explanation is below them.

If you've made a lot of eggs before, than this is a picture of what you've seen.  If you've never made this many, this is what it looks like. This is 16 eggs out of the five dozen that we bought the seven us for the week.  We did finish them. When we saw the Beauty and the Beast show in Epcot, the song about Gaston said he eats five dozen eggs each morning. Just this seems like plenty of eggs for me. Did you notice the cook has only one foot?

No one has ever see this in Harry Potter World.  They've see the dragon, but have they ever seen someone eating rotisserie chicken with a fire breathing dragon in the background?  If you look closely you might be able to see the sandwich bag with slices of chicken in my hand.  When I had my bag checked to enter the park, they asked what I had in the bag.  I told them and said, "And a few slices of chicken." The worker said, "Chicken?" (I think the blue shirt goes well with the blue house in the background, don't you?)

These eels look pretty real in Harry Potter World.  Supposedly this is something you would see in the old days in London. Definitely miss those old days! 

Unless you mess up, you usually don't see a picture like this.  I got permission to take this picture of a couple from Denver, Colorado.  I was looking for a bench in Harry Potter World and spotted these nice people holding up this wall.  I walked over and said, "Wouldn't this be a great place for a bench?" They let me share the space and I did tell them I would be blogging about their legs.

This is very, very odd.  If you look behind that shining light in the upper left, you will see the castle in Harry Potter World. We were lined up to see it all lit, which it is somewhat in the picture.  When we started to wait, there was a roped off section on our right with a stage and a couple women and men and a big camera. Just before the lighting of the castle, they set up to film the girl on the right watching the castle. There is one camera facing her being held by the guy whose face you can see and one guy in the bottom right which you can see his ear and a picture of the castle. I took a picture of his picture which at one point had the castle all red which only happened in his camera. Our view was partially blocked, but I was right there for the filming!

This is the same glass and I don't remember what alcoholic beverage was in it. There was a fake ice cube with a switch and you could switch it to different colors. This was in a cafe in Hollywood Studios. So, if you've never seen an all blue or all red drink, this is it.

Did I mention I'm going to Las Vegas next month? What am I going to blog about from there?

The Forever Purse (Part 2)

In the beginning of the year, I blogged about the new purses that my wife had just bought.  They were special designer purses from a company called Brahmin. Little did I know that our vacation in Orlando would include a visit to a Brahmin outlet store and it would be an adventure.

The company was started by a couple in 1980 after the husband was fired from his job. Their purses are very colorful and expensive and they have an incredible following of people who collect and sell their purses. Just a few years ago they sold their company, but the Brahmin purses seem to be growing in popularity.

There was no doubt that my wife was going to get to the Orlando store, but it was complicated squeezing it in. Finally, she got there and arriving at 3:30 in the afternoon, she found out that the store closed early and all she could do was peer into the windows.

 

We were running out of vacation time, so the day before we left I took her back to the store. I turned left one road too early and wound up on an express highway which delayed us fiftenn minutes. When we arrived, the mall was so large that we circled around looking for a parking space, as if it was Christmas time at Woodbridge Center. (For those of you familiar with the mall in New Jersey) I dropped her off and made the walk back to her.

Walking into the store, I noticed only one other customer and the two female employees.  My wife pointed to a bag and asked, "Isn't that cute?" I said it was and when she walked away I checked the price. It wasn't THAT cute! Wandering aimlessly in this small store I noticed the sign on the door which is there to prevent purses from walking out, but it prevented me from just getting some air.

Then, I tried to estimate the number of purses and came up with about 300 in the small store. Finally, I was desperate and I found a purse that would perfectly match my orange car.

We probably spent a good half hour or so in the store and my wife did enjoy it. Towards the end she said to the employee, "I bought my first one in January." The woman replied, "It could turn into an obsession."  I added, "We already passed that point." My wife did not find anything she really liked, so we walked out of the store only with good memories. I don't think this is the last Brahmin store I'll ever visit.

My First Cup of Coffee

We will remember a lot of things from our vacation in Orlando, but one of the most unusual events had to be me drinking my first cup of coffee. Probably when I was in Junior High School, my mom let me taste her coffee. It was instant coffee and it was black and she always put ice cubes in it. The ice cubes always bothered me, because I thought people drank coffee because it was hot! I didn't like the taste and although my favorite ice cream is coffee, I never had any interest in drinking coffee.

Here's how my first cup happened and why it happened: When you're on vacation your eating habits certainly change and I was probably not eating very well which may have caused my constipation.  It happens to everyone I think once in awhile, but I knew I had to do something about it. I have no idea what works for you and I don't want to know, but Raisin Bran or prunes work for me. (I have actually eaten prunes in the bathroom, but never mind that)

I bought some Raisin Bran and after three bowls of cereal and a few hours, nothing happened. We were heading home the next day and I knew I had to solve this problem.  And, sitting in the bathroom, that is when the light bulb went on.  My wife was just talking about how just the smell of coffee can make her go, so I figured how bad could it be? 

I ordered my first cup of coffee by text in the bathroom, which I'm pretty sure does not happen too often, if ever.  A few minutes later, a hot cup of medium roast coffee with sugar and creamer, appeared at the door. I did not tip my wife for the delivery, but I drank it pretty quickly.

My first reaction was: this is what so many people can't do without in the morning? How does Starbucks really survive serving coffee? I was underwhelmed to say the least.  It tasted like hot, melted coffee ice cream and I didn't like it.  However, in a short period of time, I became a coffee fan, but not because of its taste.

This past weekend, I was driving a woman who manages a coffee shop and was very easy to talk to.  I had to share my "first cup of coffee" story with her.  She rewarded me with a great line, "People enjoy the irony that coffee makes you go." 

One more part of this story: about 26 years ago when we visited Disney World, we were able to teach our son how to go on the toilet. (#2) We told him that every time he went he could buy one of the Disney coins from the machines that were all over the parks. We bought many of them, maybe 10-15 and he learned what to do..  My son, age 30, knew the problem I was having.  While we were out after I had Raisin Bran and before I had coffee, he bought a Disney coin just for me when I completed my mission.

There are fortunately no pictures of the bathroom or the coffee, but below is the picture of the coin commemorating my first cup of coffee. I think this story would make Walt Disney laugh.

Two Woman Said What In Disney World? (and a correction)

CORRECTION: My last post incorrectly named Disney Springs as Disney Studios. Disney Studios is a place that they make movies, Disney Springs is where we went and walked around the restaurants, shops and traded Disney pins.  Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios led me to incorrectly typing Disney Studios.  I would have changed it on the blog, but I'm not sure if it would have been sent out again, so I'm correcting it here.

SHE SAID IT IN EPCOT: It was dark and as I opened my eyes at the end of the ride "Soarin", I heard these words coming from my soon to be daughter-in-law, "I could do that all day long."  Although my hands were still gripping the handles on the seat, I had to laugh.  It was a brutal ride and my hands finally turned a normal color several minutes later.

I was a little surprised I had so much trouble on the ride since 15 years ago I went on the same ride. (18 years ago I went up in a hot air balloon) The ride was a little scary, but I saw most of it then.  This time, I saw almost none of it.  Below is a picture of what it looks like, people sitting in a glider as they await some spectacular views that they "fly over" due to a 180-degree, 80-foot IMAX digital projection dome.  The next picture I believe is the Golden Gate Bridge as people "fly" over it.

Fifteen years ago it was spectacular and a little unnerving, but it was terrifying this year due to motion sickness.  It was created in 2005 and was developed with the aid of an erector set, believe it or not. It is a great ride if you've never been on it, but I won't be traveling on it again.  

I can be pretty stubborn sometimes, (Which may not surprise you), so when we went to Universal Studios I went on Jimmy Fallon's Race Through New York City.  The ride is a computer-generated simulator and I've read that it's not scary.  I'm really not sure of that since I saw almost none of it. I won't be going on that ride again in this life either.

The second woman was in a souvenir store in Hollywood Studios inside of Star Wars World. As I approached her, I heard her son say, "I want to get that."  This is the picture of what he wanted:

She had a quick and terrific response to her son, "We can't get it on the plane." I wanted to suggest to her maybe her son could wear it on the plane, but I held back.  There are a lot of things you can't take on the plane back home, for instance, this turkey leg did not make it also.  We did have a lot of great memories and pictures that we took on the plane and we will always have them.

REVIEWING Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Universal and Disney Studios

Just a few comments in case any of you are headed towards Orlando this year or know someone who is. There are a lot of people vacationing and local people who are enjoying the parks also. About 5-10% of the people were wearing masks at least from time to time. If you're pressed for time in visiting it's better to have a plan on what you want to do.  Be prepared to get some exercise and take lots of breaks and in hot weather, drink lots of liquid. With Disney parks you need to pick a specific day and that's the day you need to go there. Getting in and out of all these places was relatively easy, despite the crowds. These are some other things:

EPCOT: The below picture is the Spaceship Earth ride which was open and closed the day we were there.  We missed this one this time, but the colors changed at night at it looked great.  I was told that Mexico had the strongest alcoholic drink in the park.  It's a very large park with lots of exercise available.  It's not a huge "ride" park, but going through the eleven countries is a lot of fun. The show at the American Adventure hosted by Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain is still great.  If you've never heard the song "Golden Dream," it is one of my favorite songs with JFK and Martin Luther King in the song. It's not a big "kid's park," but there are some fun kids rides.  We had a very good all-you-can-eat buffet in the German Restaurant while watching a show. The flower festival was very colorful and added to the beautiful scenery.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS: This is the first time I have been here and it was Disney-Like, but it's not Disney. There are rides, some current and some from many years ago. Not quite as packed as Disney, but then there is Harry Potter land. Not being a huge fan of the Harry Potter movies, (sorry kids), what an incredible job they did in putting together the streets of London and in a whole different part of the park is a very large castle.  The rides were good I'm told and the attention to detail was incredible. Kids and adults were wandering around with magic wands and actually performing tricks when they say the magic words. (with some help) No Harry Potter fan could go home disappointed at what they saw. This fire-breathing dragon was really spitting fire, or at least it was very hot when he did.  A couple further pictures of Harry Potter will be in later blogs.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: This Disney park is much more of a ride park than Epcot. Unfortunately, the lines were very long and some of them broke down which disappointed a lot of people. Some of the kid shows like the "Beauty and The Beast" performance was exceptional.  Below is a picture of Mr. Potato Head who talked continuously as we waited in line for one ride and he was very entertaining.

Two highlights of the day were the incredible environment and city set-up for Star Wars, which was very large. There were storm troopers and space ships and some rides, and some awesome views.  The second highlight was our dinner at the Prime Time 50's Cafe.  Our waiter was outstanding and he might have earned an invitation to my son's wedding in October. Another big park with plenty of things to do and see, it's worth the day.

DISNEY STUDIOS: It's not a park, but it's much larger than it used to be.  Filled with restaurants and shops it is definitely a nice break from the big parks while also doing some fun things. One large restaurant, Splittsville, has a bowling theme with some bowling lanes. One area has young and old alike trading Disney pins which I'll blog about separately.  This is a great place for local people to visit and enjoy a few hours and it's free and the parking is too.  Below is the mountain for The Rainforest Cafe and that volcano blows, it's hot too. 

Can A Dog Get Addicted to Television?

Four years ago we moved into a new house in Myrtle Beach and we did not have a television.  We talked about it and decided we would get it sometime in the future if we wanted one.  We have gone all four years without a television and other than a couple days, I haven't missed it.  

The best part of this is the reaction some people have when we tell them that we don't have a television. They find it hard to believe.  A couple weeks ago, we visited the woman who was going to watch our puppy while we were on vacation.  I wish I had a picture of her face when we mentioned we didn't have a television. After her mouth closed and she realized we were serious, she said, "I don't know anyone who doesn't have a TV."

Afterwards, I started thinking, "What will our puppy, Odin, think with a large television in the living room over eight days? Will he get addicted to TV? After the first day or two, our dog sitter sent us the below picture and our puppy was clearly mesmerized by what he saw. You can't see the TV, but he did.

In Orlando, our house had seven television sets.  We did watch a comedy special on Netflix for an hour, but otherwise we didn't watch any television.  The one exception is pictured below:

This was taken in Hollywood Studios at The Prime Time 50's Cafe that we had dinner at.  Some of you might recognize the television show as "Dennis The Menace."  The show was on the air from 1959 to 1963. I watched some of it drinking chocolate milk, much to the surprise of our waiter.     

We're back home and fortunately our puppy is not staring blankly at any wall, only the fountain in the pond behind our house. Apparently, he is not addicted to television, but I have a feeling there are dogs and cats who are.                   

Random Things I Learned on Vacation

I don't know about you, but I always have a lot of different things going through my head and over an eight day vacation last week, here are some of them:

VACATION CAN BE A LOT OF WORK: We went to three parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Universal over four days and walked around 22 miles. We stood in line for many hours which was actually tougher on the feet than walking. The day in between a few of us walked round trip three miles to play mini golf, but we didn't play. We got some real exercise on vacation.

COFFEE IS NOT A BIG DEAL: I had my first cup of coffee in my life last week and I wasn't impressed.  I can't believe it's that popular! How does Starbucks survive? More on this on another post which you'll enjoy.

THERE ARE A LOT OF DISNEY MOVIES THAT HAVE COME OUT THAT I DON'T KNOW: I used to be up to date on all the great Disney movies as my kids grew up, but I have definitely missed a number of them in the last 15 years.  At one point my oldest daughter was trying to help me pronounce one with an "M" and I couldn't even pronounce it. (Moana)

I HAVE MOTION SICKNESS: There were two rides, one in Epcot and one in Universal. I was on the ride, but I didn't really see it. More on this topic another time.

HOW DO PEOPLE WEAR LONG PANTS IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER? Do they really not have shorts? Is there a certain age you hit that you no longer where shorts no matter what the weather is? I was hot just looking at some of these people.

DO PEOPLE NOT KNOW THEY SHOULD BE WALKING ON THE RIGHT SIDE AND NOT THE LEFT? How difficult is this? Walking in crowds, we regularly would find people walking on the wrong side. Are they too lazy to go to the other side where it will be easier for them to walk?

YOU CAN'T BEAT MOTHER NATURE: We were in Orlando for eight days and the weather was terrific.  The first few days were sunny and in the 70's and later in the week we had clouds and in the mid to high eighties.  The storm scheduled for later in the week only hit later Thursday night and later on Saturday.  My wife and I drove out of Orlando on a nice day leaving three children to get flights that day.  One was delayed three to four hours, one got off perfectly, and the other.... not so good. They sat on a plane for a couple hours, it was canceled and they had to Uber to Tampa to get a hotel room and flight that left 48 hours later. Forget about fooling mother nature, sometimes, you just can't beat her.

The Vacation House

It finally happened-my first planned vacation in fifteen years.  We just returned Saturday from eight days in Orlando, Florida.  In addition to having a wonderful time, the vacation has provided me with maybe as many as ten blogs that I'll be writing and sharing this month.  It was almost worth taking the vacation to get so much new material. (Joking of course, wink wink) 

We started planning this vacation last September.  We decided to rent an Airnb in Orlando for our three adult children and their significant other. (spouse, fiancee, and boyfriend)  We were going to visit Epcot and Universal Studios and Disney Springs and also spend one day in Universal Studios. This is the first time we have stayed in an Airnb. (For some reason I always think of this as an R&B) This was no ordinary house and the computer picture of it is below.  The second picture is a night time picture of my socked feet, lying on a lounge chair on the back deck with the pool and the hot tub in the far left of the pool.

The house was pretty unbelievable and with a group of people it actually was a reasonable price. There are six bedrooms in this house, including a Harry Potter room and a Disney room. There is a large pool table and a game room in the garage which included a ping pong table, two video machines, and a small putting green.  This is the fun house our kids wanted us to have when they were growing up and they everyone enjoyed it for the week.

Some very unique things I have not seen before are pictured below. The first one is the very artistic living room fan.  The appendages go in all different directions when it is on.

The next picture is the light fixture over the dining room table, not your typical light fixture.

Behind the light fixture you can see part of the wine bottle display and below is the full picture. The owners leave a wine bottle for each guest and many of them leave a message on the wine bottle and they are displayed here. One bottle's message is below and  I left a short message on our bottle.

Was there anything we didn't like in the house? The most obvious was that they had way too many light switches on the first floor.  We were constantly trying light switches which turned on other lights we did not want on. We managed with the switches and had a wonderful time in the house.

BEST RIDER COMMENTS IN MARCH

Five-year old boy: "My Dad is getting old and fat.(mid-30's) My sister and I beat him up all the time."

I said to the young woman: "I noticed you don't have an accent and you grew up here." She: "I took care of that. It's not very attractive to sound like a country bumpkin."

Oklahoma Man: "My passion is farming, but I have to practice law to afford to do it."

Taking her to her salon to work, she said to me, "Do you want your hair braided?"

Young woman: "I thought I had COVID because I had the sniffles. When I got the test and they stuck the Q-Tip up my nose, it hurt but it cleared everything out and I felt great."

She said, "My friend, Paul Farmer, who was a Global-Health Pioneer and recently passed, said, "If you can't find the solution, be the solution."

"My fiancee is graduating law school in May and we're getting married in June. She's impressively crazy."

Maine Farmer: "If you want to survive in Northern Maine, you have to work eight days a week."

I asked the young man from China, "Is Vision your real name?" Him: "No, I made it up, probably from the Marvel character."

"Just arriving in South Carolina, some guy just walked up to me and introduced himself. I remember thinking, "I don't give a shit," and then I realized I was the one with the problem."

He lives in Colorado: " We get teased for being "the mile high state," but no person has passed away due to pot. There is a problem with pets and small children getting into things in the house."

I asked the friendly couple who have been together four years, "so when are you getting engaged?" The guy said, "when she pops the question."

Him: "There's a very fine line between Friday night and Saturday morning." 

Bartender: "I don't really talk much with my customers.  I just bring them what they want and they love me. There are 7 billion people in the world.  I'd like 1 billion to remember me."

Airplane mechanic: "If the plane ain't broke, we're not fixing it."

She: "I liked Savannah better than Charleston, because it was more rundown. It had more flavor."

Woman from New York: "I couldn't name my daughter Isabella, because I married a Melella." (her husband) "She would have been Isabella Melella and there's already one in his family."

Taking the young couple to get their marriage license on Jail road, they discussed which one of them would be more likely to be arrested. Me: "So, did you come to any conclusion?"  Him: "I think she would."

Male bartender: "I'm situationally witty. I like it when someone says, "Can I ask you a question?" and I say, "You just did," and I walk away."

Him: "I'm a steak and fat guy and I loved New York Prime. I picked up the tab for ten of us which was reasonable at $1,000."

She: "My grandparents raised me that every day I wake up I should thank the lord."

Young woman: "I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but COVID changed that.  I'm now going into the Marines."

He said, "When you open up yourself to the world, you make things happen."

Bartender: "I don't really talk much with my customers.  I just bring them what they want and they love me. There are 7 billion people in the world.  I'd like 1 billion to remember me."

Male: "Working on a project I had to go on to a military base and when they wanted to scan my left index finger, he noticed I was missing half my finger. The guard said, "You're the second guy this week." (both carpenters)

He: "I've been a Schwinn Bicycle distributor for 48 years. I'm trying to retire."

Couple: "We're looking for a house, but right now we're living with his parents and it's a lot of fun. They enjoy hanging around us."

The Professor and Department Head of The School of Computers in a large college in Michigan, said, "Your daughter made a great choice in picking Georgia Tech over Cornell. I've hired many PHD's from Georgia Tech, but none from Cornell."

Female account rep: "For three years in a row I won "the Sunshine Award in our large office for brightening everyone's day and then they canceled the award."

"Our two oldest daughters have been keeping a notebook for years on the things their younger brother says-they call it "Comments From Cooper."

Woman: "The Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland actually goes underground and off the property, but it can't do that in Disney World due to the water." (built on a swamp)

The positive flight attendant: "We have to keep positive people together, you don't want that spirit to die."

After giving notice at a busy law firm, the HR guy was asked by his boss, "what about all the projects you're working on?" He replied, "It's not my problem anymore, you're going to stop paying me."

"We moved out of Grand Dunes after 2 1/2 years. It was a great house and we loved it, but it was getting too crowded and we didn't like that the name Grand Dunes was being used everywhere. We now live on Marco Island. (south of Fort Myers, Fla.)

After surviving Pancreatic Cancer and two surgeries while she was pregnant, the woman told me, "I wake up every morning trying to make the day better. Nothing bothers me anymore, because I know it could be a lot worse."

"I gave notice and I'm taking some time off from my job at a law firm.  I'm going on a six week hike in Spain."

Working at a fast food place, her customer said, "the coffee isn't hot enough" and then she through it at her. She told me, "I think I like doing customer service on the phone better."

Him: "I have friends in Slovakia which borders Ukraine. They have cash and suitcases packed in case their country is attacked next."

Me: "How long have you been working on the cancer foundation?" Her: "15 years." Me: "You have a very young voice, did you start in middle school?" "Actually I started as a volunteer when I was 10 when I lost my Mom to cancer and I'm full-time only the last two years. I'm 24."

Getting the woman ready for her interview for a Department Manager position with Publix, I had her laughing most of the trip.  When she got out she said, "thank you, I'm going through a divorce now and you have totally made my day."

"When I was in LA, my friend bought some tickets for a charity event at the Playboy Mansion.  He invited me and my brother.  I was kind of disappointed, other than the beautiful woman serving sushi, who were only wearing body paint. The mansion and the grotto were smaller than I thought. My brother was drunk and he got kicked out because supposedly he was trying to take pictures of Chloe Kardashian's feet."

Guy from Boston, "My wife and I wanted to celebrate our son's birthday by bringing him to Myrtle Beach. We have three kids and my wife's best friend has two, but several other people wanted us to take their kids and the three of us wound up with ten kids for the weekend." Me: "You should be getting a medal."

I told my riders that my youngest daughter, a software developer, has her own podcast, "The Blossoming Technologist." I also said that she's going to interview my son, a chemical engineer, on the Podcast.  My rider said that I should be on it also and wrote this note for my daughter, " I, Michael (last name), recommend that your dad join your podcast as a guest discussing how Uber is connecting someone who is technically deficient, with people across the globe. Kindly, Director of Finance."

I said to the Republican lobbyist who has been in politics for a long time, "I knew President Trump lost the election on election night because his numbers weren't high enough to overcome the next day's totals.  Do you think he really believes the election was stolen from him?." He said, "I personally don't believe it was stolen, but I know a number of people close to him and he absolutely believes it."

                                                                UBER/LYFT COMMENTS

Female flight attendant: "My favorite Uber ride was in Las Vegas.  The guy had things hanging in his car he had gotten from other riders and he wrote a personal message on a post note for each rider.  I still have mine."

She: "My Dad is an Uber driver in Philadelphia and he loves it. A few years ago he got a bonus check, because he had the most rider in Philadelphia." (?)

When I told him about the Uber driver in Vegas who writes a personal message on a post note for each rider, he said, " That's taking customer service to a whole different level."

She: "I was in an Uber in a different state and the guy drove on the other side of the street and went through a couple red lights."

The 19 year-old guy said, "I recently got a job selling furniture, but they told me I was too young, I had no sales experience, knew nothing about furniture and I didn't have a car to get to work. I told them I would Uber every day and be here an hour early. This job has literally changed my life."

She: "I was in an Uber in Texas for a wedding sitting next to the male driver.  There were three women in the car and the driver made a joke about wife abuse. When no one said a word, he said to me, "no one's laughing, that's going to go against your rating."

The Lyft driver said, "I'm in my second month and I've figured out the system and I'm making $1,500-$2,000 a week."

She is an overworked accountant who got advice from her last Uber driver; "Don't set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm."

Him: "I don't understand how people aren't always outside waiting for you to pick up-it's on the app when you're coming."

"I was an Uber driver in San Diego and one young, attractive woman made it very clear what she needed and I turned her down. There seems to be a lot of young women hitting on older men."

                                                                        MORE COMMENTS

She: "I work for the Justice Department, making sure the government is spending money correctly."

She was the number one account rep last quarter in the country for her company. Me: "What is your secret to your success?" "Whatever the challenge I have, I figure out how to get it done for my customers."

Young guy about his large tattoo he just got. It says, "Realize Everyone Ain't Loyal."

"The ratio of male students to female students in the computer field is about 14-1."

Young man: "When it's time for business, I like to get it done."

"I met my husband when he interviewed me for a summer job. I'm not sure if I got the job because he was interested in me, but it might have been the season tickets for The Boston Bruins that I had."

Couple who used to live in Charleston: "We think Charleston is the best city in the country."

Canadian Male: "I work as a minor, two weeks on and two weeks off. I couldn't go back to working Monday-Friday 9-5."

Him: "When I turned 30, I did not care what other people think."

I told the woman to be careful getting out of the car, she said, "If I fall I'll sue. I'm just playing with you." Me: "No you're not."

Male: "Don't sweat the small shit. It's all small shit." Me: "Have you ever heard of the book, "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff?" Him: "No."

She: "The transition to the South from New York was easy, I fit right in here."

Him: "Small things go to a giant."

The scientist from Boston with a PHD in Immunization, "I've followed COVID closely and although I'm not involved, I think what we've learned will help us in the future with other illnesses."

Me: "How was Savannah?" Tourists: "Fine, okay. After a few days we were looking to do more every day things. Our desires did not fit with the expensive restaurants and things downtown."

She: "I'm going to the Citadel for golf." (student athlete) We have a women's team, but no men's team, since they have a men's tennis team, but no women's tennis team-it evens out."

When the woman at the front desk of the hotel suggested that she would help him charge his room with his card, he thought, "they are very oddly friendly down here."

Me: "What's Chicago like these days?" Chicago resident: "It's cold and dangerous."

Him: "I once met George C. Scott (actor) and we sat and drank together for an hour and a half."

When I told her about my list she said, "That's fabulous."

She said, "We call Wal-Mart, Wally World." Me: "Do you know where that comes from?  Chevy Chase's Family Vacation Movie."

She: "Right now my store is just bleeding the staff dry, due to the hiring problems."

"My Aunt is a CEO and she refused to get vaccinated, she believes COVID is made up."

She: "There's too much humidity in Mississippi."

She: "When the shake machine at McDonalds is not working, it's usually because it has to be cleaned and only one or two people in the store know how to do it."

The owner of the dog boarding school said, "A dog usually takes about 24 hours to fit into the environment, but if familiar with the place, you have no worries."

Yankee fan: "We're not going to have anything in common with a Red Sox fan."

Him: "Stay positive. I'm so happy you have a great rating."

She: "Your book will be very interesting."