What If We Had A $10,000 Bill?

I have been amazed over the past two years how interested people are in foreign currency.  It all started with a secret agent for our government returning from the South Sudan and he gave me a $500 bill from that country.  Although it was only worth $3 here, I was so impressed with the bill I hung it up in my car.  My passengers took pictures of it and then started giving me bills from their country or ones they had just visited. Today, I have 37 countries represented in my museum, just hanging in my car.

Many of the foreign bills are more colorful and more striking that our bills.  However, what if we had a  $10,000 bill? We don't now, but we used to.  Pictured below is a bill from the depression that was just sold at an auction for almost half a million dollars. This bill has a picture of Abraham Lincoln's Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase in 1860.

If you compare a $5 bill of Abraham Lincoln today, a few things stand out.  The old one is in mint condition and the light green does give it some color. Seeing the numbers, "10,000", looks pretty awesome.  Although most people don't know Salmon P. Chase, he was very important.  He established the National Bank system and later served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In 1969, it was announced that we would no longer print $500, $1000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills because they weren't being used.  They wouldn't be used today either since we have computers and credit cards, but wouldn't it be fun to have a $10,000 bill in your wallet just to have one?

My Most Memorable Rider Comments in September

The Jamaican said he was a performer. Me: "Why are you in town? Him: "I'm singing on a yacht tonight." Me: "That would make a great title for a song." He: "It would." He started writing and singing the song immediately. His stage name is Jah Teff and I'm Jeff.

The young woman was explaining how they drive in the Philippines: "They drive erotically." (erratically)

The women had a few drinks with lunch and one attorney said to the other, "Do you really think Ronald McDonald is a pedophile?"

My side door slides and it's heavy and sometimes it takes someone three times to do it. The young woman used one finger to shut it and when I asked how, she said, "It's a girl thing, we multi-task."

Me: "How did you two meet?" Him: I chased her for twelve years and nine months. One day she contacted me and asked if I had plans that weekend and that we should do something fun.  She also made plans with with me for a second date." (Dating 6 months)

Me: "Where are you from?" The young woman with the thick accent said, "Yemen." Me: "Yemen?" Her: "No, Yemen." After doing this several times, she spelled out, Myanmar.  Me: "What does your name "Mya" mean?" She: "Omelette." "Me: "Omelette?" Her: "No." Her name means, emerald.

Getting in the car at 7 am when the temperature was 66 degrees, the young Jamaican said, "Can you put the heat on?" One week later she said the same thing when it was 73 degrees.

"I was in New York City visiting my sister and I ordered an Uber and the license plate did not match the app.  He also had a mannequin in his passenger seat. My sister said not to get in and I didn't." Me: "Take a picture of my mannequin and send it to her and tell her you're in an Uber."

She: "How you do anything is how you do everything."

The Jamaican woman said, "Jamaicans and the cold, we ain't friends."

Women in the army: "We took an Uber back to our helicopter after landing to get some dinner. Our Uber driver couldn't believe we landed in a place that doesn't have planes coming in, so we opened the gates and let her drive onto the runway and see the helicopter."

I asked the very positive Starbucks manager from the Chicago area, "How do you deal with negative people?" She said, "You have to make sure that their negativity doesn't break down on your positivity."

Young guy working at a financial company, "I once sent 52 million dollars to Russia by mistake during a time their were sanctions against them.  We got it back."

He: "I don't have a Super Bowl ring to show you, can I give you a New York Transit card or an insurance card?"

I asked the three women, "What do you do for work?" One woman said, "We're intellectual property attorneys."

Woman: "Bill Murray was playing golf in a charity event and I was told to get him a bottle of tequila. He looked better after he drank it and I had to get him another one."

Wife pointing to her husband after visiting the US Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant: "He was on it twice." He said, "I served nine months on it twice and the last one was in 1965. I was young and stupid back then."

The salesman on commission told me: "If you don't kill it, you don't eat.'

Woman from West Virginia: "In March 2022, I won a $130,000 rig. I feel very blessed."

He: "I moved from the front end of the restaurant to the kitchen, because more people have turned into assholes."

Woman: "My grandfather always said, 'If you're not having fun, what 's the point.' My goal is to always have fun."

I asked the guy from San Diego, "What do you do for work?" He replied, "My best. I'm in the entertainment business." At the end of the ride he had me write down his name, Omega Kayne, and told me, "Look it up, you'll be surprised." He's been an actor, director, and writer for thirty years.

He told me: "I grew up with Daniel Jones (New York Giants quarterback) and played basketball with him in Charlotte.  Me: "I had a rider who told me she dated him for I think two years."  He: "Oh, I know who that is." (He showed me a picture of him and Daniel Jones years ago)

The Citadel cadet told me: "The Ravenel Bridge was built by three Citadel graduates, one was an engineer, another an inspector and the other was an architect."

Woman: "I was working in DC on 9-11. I usually don't drive to work, but that morning I decided to. After the attack they sent us home early.  The subways weren't working, but I was able to drive several people home.  I was only 8 miles away and it took three hours, but I was lucky to have my car."

She said she wasn't looking forward to her long trip. "I'm going to Boston, Japan, and the Philippines and then I'm going to the Octoberfest in Germany in October."  Joking with her I said, "That sounds terrible, I feel badly for you."

He: "My great grandfather won a large sum of money and helped build Darlington Raceway with it."

Me: "Have you ever gotten a gift from an Uber driver?" She: "I once got a small bottle of perfume."

His advice to his wife when she's packing for a trip, "Better to pack it, then to need it."

The male chef said, "I went to Disney University twice and I'd do it again."

The Cowboy fan said as he walked away from me, "Go Cowboys-I like the Giant too.'

She: "The best part of our trip to Alaska was flying in a helicopter up to the glaciers."

The guy in pharmaceutical sales explained, "I work for the devil, but it pays the bills." 

He: "My friend was deported four years ago and is still part owner of two restaurants in the Myrtle Beach area."

He said that moving from Ohio to Connecticut he had to get use to how aggressive they were. I asked, "How do you deal with that?" He said, "Sometimes not too well."

I asked a guy with a lot of experience dealing with difficult people, "What's the best thing to do?" He said, "Listen and let them be heard and then do whatever you can to fix their problem."

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MY MANNEQUIN "LILY":

Months ago I told a young guy that my riders gave me the bills from other countries. He said, "Motorcycle riders?" One Saturday this month, a young motorcycle rider pulled up to me at a light and yelled over the motorcycle noise as he pointed to Lily, "Did you get mad at her and you took her head off?"

Getting in the car she asked, "Do you use her for the HOV lane?"  Getting out of the car, she said, "Bye Lilly." She turned to me and said, "She winked at me." I said, "I'm sure she did."

They guy got in the car and said, "I thought you were going to put on that wig when I got in."

He: "Lily, you're not in Kansas anymore."

Not that amused with Lily, I asked her if she'd like a picture with her and she said, "I want to forget her." When I told her some of my ideas for the future with Lily, she said, "This is really weird, you may have a cop at your window one day."

He got out of my car and said, "See you L'ill."

She said about Lily, "I love it."

Several riders said, "This is so cool."

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ME AND MY CAR:

She: "I'm so glad that you were driving this morning."

"I enjoyed it."

"You're one of the best drivers ever."

The woman over fifty got out of the car and said, "Can I give you a hug?"

"That was the best Uber ride I've ever had."

"I won't forget you."

She: "I will never forget this ride."

He: "This was the best Uber ever. You made my day."

"Thanks for the entertainment."

Talking about the list I give some riders of my favorite comments, she said, "It's nice you do that for your passengers."

The young man said about the title of my book, "It's a banger."

The young guy liked my money collection: "It's an impressive collection. It feels so good to see it. This is the best trip. I enjoyed it, the most genuine ride I've ever had."

The woman sitting all the way in the back of my van wasn't that interested in the conversation in the car and when she got out, she said half joking, "I just spent the last 24 hours listening to my dad, I just wanted some peace and quiet.  You should be friends with him." Me: "I've been married forty years and you're trying to set me up with your dad? Tell him I said hi."

MY BOOK IS ALMOST IN!

Today is supposedly the first day my book is available. I was expecting to get my copies by this week, but it looks like they will not arrive until next Monday or Tuesday.  Every time a truck goes by the house I check to see if they are delivering my books.  There's always a chance they make it here this week, but they are almost here.

There are four sites right now that I know have my book for sale online. Below is what it looks like on the Walmart site.  If you order the book today, which is Tuesday, when would you get it? Walmart says October 2nd and the others are listed below.

Books A Million: 3 days

Amazon: October 2-7

Barnes & Noble October 2nd

Next Tuesday, a press release will go out and I just got a list who is getting the press release.  It's kind of neat so here are some of them: ABC News, the Chicago Tribune, Fodor's Travel, Forbes, Huffington Post, London Evening Standard, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, NPR, Publisher's Weekly, Slate, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and US News & World Report.

It will be interesting to see if my title and cover can get a few inquiries from some of the above or the others on the list.  I know a few books have been ordered through the person buying them.  I'll be mailing out some copies next week

Jeff Hoenig

Driving On the Sunny Side With 10,000 Strangers : Celebrating The Lives of My Uber/Lyft Riders (Paperback)

$19.99

Price when purchased online

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Shipping, arrives by Fri, Sep 29 to 

My Most Memorable Riders in September

 JAH TEFF AND JEFF

The Jamaican man lives in Brooklyn, New York, but he was visiting Myrtle Beach.  He told me he was a performer and when I asked what he was doing in town, he said, "I'm singing on a yacht tonight." I immediately told him that it sounded like a good title for a song and he agreed.  Much to my surprise and amusement he started throwing out lyrics for the song. He said, "Singing on a yacht tonight, just in your full suit of white." It wasn't a long ride, but he threw out a few other lyrics with sunlight and I think he's going to finish the song. I gave him my address so I could see the finished song. I looked online and he really was singing on a yacht that night.

"FUN, FUN, FUN"

In 1964, The Beach Boys had a top ten hit with the song, "Fun, Fun, Fun." In the first few minutes of driving the young woman from the Chicago area, she actually said the word fun four different times.  I told her she was in "The fun car," since that's what one of my riders called my car.  On vacation, The Starbucks Manager was a joy to drive.  She said, "My grandfather always said, 'If you're not having fun, what's the point?'" Her goal is, "To always have fun." Not too long ago, her father hadn't had a vacation in eight years and she convinced him to take a two week road trip with her to visit the states in the north east of the country. She has a lot of great memories of that trip with her dad.  "He's usually the guy at the party standing by himself," but he really enjoyed the trip with his daughter. I asked her how she deals with negative people and she explained, "You have to make sure negativity doesn't break down on your positivity."  Starbucks is very lucky to have someone with her attitude working for them and I was lucky because she made my day.  It was definitely a fun ride.

MUSTANG LOVE

Way back in 1976 The Captain and Tennille released a song called, "Muskrat Love." The couple I drove had a story that would fit perfectly into a parody and it would be called, "Mustang Love."  They had been dating six months, but the guy, Layne, told me, "I tried to date her for twelve years and nine months." He was persistent and one day she contacted him and wanted to go out on a first date and a second one. Her name is Shelby and she is named after the shelby mustang, because it was her dad's favorite car.  It was no surprise that Shelby and Layne both love mustangs.  I suggested that if down the road they have kids they could name them after mustangs.  They both started laughing since she already had the first name picked out-Roush, after the roush mustang.  I think this is a relationship that was meant to be.

HIS BEST

I've asked a lot of people the same question, "What do you do for work?" This was the first time that someone has answered, "My best." I told him about Jah Teff from the Bahamas and he was also from the Bahamas.  Living in San Diego, California now, he told me he was in the entertainment business.  A very nice guy with a big smile, I told him he had to be an actor.  When the ride ended, he had me write his name down, Omega Kayne, and he said, "Look it up, you'll be surprised."  For almost thirty years he's been an actor, director, and writer and has been in a number of movies and television shows, some which I've heard of. I was surprised his career was thirty years old, but I'm sure he does give his best and his best and his smile has carried him pretty far.

TWO DIFFERENT LIVES

I picked up a young woman not far from my house after 5 am one morning.  I was surprised when she told me that she ran two psychiatric hospitals in Massachusetts and she lived in Myrtle Beach.  She spends half her time in each place, but her real challenge is being 26 years old and getting respect from the people she works with.  When someone gives her a hard time, she said, "I just smile back at them and don't respond." She is very confident that she knows what she's doing and then she tells the disrespectful person what they need to do. Her other challenge is that having been raised in the South, her idea of being nice and friendly is a little different than the people she works with in the northeast.  When she's home in Myrtle Beach and not working, she likes to act her age and not be the boss. She explained, "I'm really living two different lives."

Overcoming Adversity

If you're going through a challenge right now, this might help.  We all have challenges, some small and some big.  Where do you get the inspiration to conquer your challenge? This is a pretty amazing story:

In 2016, Chris Shively Layne fell after only seven steps as she hiked in Clear Creek Canyon and she fell 80 feet.  When she awoke after losing consciousness, she found out she was paralyzed from her waist down.  This is a picture of her this month at 53 years old reaching the peak of Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak.

It took 51 volunteers and a one-wheel mobility device for her to reach the peak at 14,438 feet.  The Lockwood Foundation is a non-profit that helps people with mobility issues climb mountains. Layne said, "I got to be on top of the world again-I thought I'd never hike again."

Whatever your challenge might be, most likely you won't need 51 people to help you. It's important to remember that we each have unlimited potential and sometimes are abilities are at full strength when we ask someone else for help.

Have You Ever Visited A National Park?

If not, this Saturday may be the perfect day.  It is National Public Lands Day and you can get in free to any national park. I came across an interesting article about national parks.  I remembered that historian Ken Burns did an amazing documentary on national parks in the United States back in 2009.  It took six years to put it together and it was turned into a 12 hour television series and I did get to see some of it. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is the only National Park I have been to.  

How did national parks begin in this country? President Woodrow Wilson is given a lot of credit for creating The National Park System in 1916. President Theodore Roosevelt created five national parks and has four parks named after him as does Abraham Lincoln.  The most well known national parks in this country are the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Park. Below is a picture of Yosemite Falls.

Although we have 423 national park sites, there are only 63 actual national parks.  There are six other countries who have more national parks than we do and here they are:

#6 Mexico has 67 national parks with many of them focused on the water surrounding the country.

#5 Brazil has 72 national parks and is best known for some of the most amazing beaches in the world, which you may already know.

#4 Israel? I was surprised with this one. They have 81 national parks and their National Park System covers 20% of the country.  The best known one is Masada National Park which looks over the Dead Sea.  Two of my children have visited this site.

#3 India has 106 national parks and one of them is the best place to in the world to see tigers.

#2 Thailand has an incredible 147 national parks including one that is 1,125 square miles.

#1 Australia: I actually knew the answer to this after reading a book on the country.  Ready for this, it's pretty amazing. They have 726 national parks which sounds ridiculous.  The most famous one is Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park which has on display a 4.4 billion year old rock formation pictured below.  How about that purple sky?

                                       

Where Did That Dream Come From?

When I was in college I was fascinated by the dreams I had.  I decided to write down all the dreams I could remember for about a year.  The only one I can remember today was that I dreamed I was the fifth Beatle.  It makes sense since I really can't sing, play an instrument, or read music. However, I had only been a Beatle fan for a couple years by that time and I did have hair. (It could have been cut like the Beatles)  Maybe, I could have written some songs?  One day, I'll find that notebook and I'm sure it will be entertaining to read, at least for me.

Over the last few months I've been having "delivery dreams." Considering I've made thousands of deliveries in my career and I'm still delivering people, this does makes some sense.  I had one dream that I was back in college. I went to FDU in Madison, New Jersey and in the dream I was in a building that is called the Mansion. I haven't been there in decades, but it looked the same in the dream.  I walked up this big flight of stairs from the main level and walked into a lecture hall, which looked larger than Carnegie Hall. 

This is where it definitely became a dream.  I was sitting way up on top which seemed more like a stadium looking down at the stage and to the right were very large windows that you would see in an airport.  Actually, outside the windows was an airport.  It was distracting as I watched planes taking off and landing right outside. I'm not sure what the lecture was about, but it wouldn't surprise me if the topic was, "This is stupid, it's time to wake up."

Early this morning I had a dream I was on a bicycle, which I haven't been on in thirty years? It was late at night, but it was light out. I must have been in Alaska when they have all that daylight. I was in a neighborhood riding close to where I grew up in Edison, NJ. I think I did ride my bike there about fifty years ago?

There were young kids riding also, maybe 8-13 years old and they all had small cardboard holders they were giving to people and they were all wearing red.  This wasn't something you mail. It looked like the picture below, it may or may not have been red.  One kid asked if I wanted one and I said, "No thanks."  As I rode away I realized what it was, a french fry holder.  After midnight they give out free fries if you have a fry holder! Where? I guess at the local McDonalds, which was not in that neighborhood. 

I woke up and did not have a holder, but I did think, where did that dream come from? So, if you wake up remembering a dream and you say to yourself, "Where did that dream come from?", you are not alone. However, if you wake up and you had my french fry dream, it means that we have to go visit McDonalds together and get some french fries.

REMEMBERING 9-11 AGAIN

Monday has always been my favorite day of the week, but yesterday was different.  For the past two years I have been Ubering on many weekends and Monday morning is the time I go through my to-do list and in the first two hours I get a bunch of things done.  It's very rewarding to get those things done, but this Monday there was something more important that I had to do.

It was twenty-two years ago Monday, September 11, 2001, that we were attacked in New York, Washington, and a plane was forced to crash in Pennsylvania.  That day and the preceding days and months were extremely difficult.  After 9-11, I came up with the idea of doing something to remember 9-11 each year.  My 11-year-old daughter and I put together the two scrapbooks below.   

The one on the left is more focused on the attack and destruction and it's filled with a lot of pictures. The one on the right is on how the country recovered and all the things that happened afterwards related to 9-11.  There are over eighty pages in both books that are are filled with pictures, stories, and columns from many places and on many subjects on the 9-11 attack.

Every single 9-11 for the past twenty-one years, I have sat down and looked through the heartbreaking pictures for at least thirty minutes. The blonde woman searching for her husband and the look of anguish on her face, the business man with a suitcase completely covered in soot, and the woman who was carried down 80 plus floors in a wheelchair, are just some of the faces I can see without the scrapbook.

Sometimes I read a story or two, but I always read the column by Leonard Pitts Jr. which I'm showing below. His career as a columnist took off with this column, because it was so well written for the moment.  

Just to give you a sample of some of the unique pictures in the scrapbooks I am posting them below.  This was a good idea twenty-two years ago and it still is. Maybe one day I'll figure out a good place to display this.

At Ground Zero

Superheroes Asking Fireman for Autograph

Support Around the World

Ground Zero

Congress Singing "God Bless America" on the Capital Steps

Flags in New Jersey

Something For You To Do in August 2024

I'm guessing your schedule is free next August, so I have a suggestion.  Almost everyone likes a good garage sale or yard sale, what if you went to the biggest one next August?  The "world's longest yard sale" takes place each August and it's called the 127 Yard Sale.  It goes through six states, two time zones and covers 690 miles.  That is the distance from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Mahwah, New Jersey, in North New Jersey.  It is always held over three days, Friday thru Sunday. I wonder, how many books will be on sale?

Back in 1987, a manager in Jamestown, Tennessee came up with the idea to divert traffic from the highway to the small towns onto Rt. 127 to Covington, Kentucky.  This yard sale years later went through Georgia, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan.  There is no estimate on how many people attend this yard sale, but there are less people than there used to be.

You have to look this up to believe it. If you go to this and you live outside the area, you have to plan it like a vacation.  You have to set-up a hotel somewhere, make sure you have a lot of water, sun tan lotion, comfortable shoes, and it's even suggested to bring a little wagon to put the things you buy in.  Don't forget to bring money and lots of small bills too!

Having driven now twice in the mid-west, I am sure the scenery is amazing and this would be a lot of fun.  I'm only around 9 hours from Tennessee, what a weekend I could have next August! How about you?

MY BOOK, "DRIVING ON THE SUNNY SIDE WITH 10,000 STRANGERS," IS ON SALE

It's a pre-sale, but it's still a sale and it's my book! Barnes & Noble and Books A Million both have it on their sites with the availability of September 26th and the price is $19.99.  It is on Amazon, but they don't have a price or a pre-sale set-up, they usually take a little bit longer. They should have it set in the next few days or next week at the latest. When a book is ordered I've been told it usually takes three days to receive it.  I expect to have some books delivered to me the middle of the month or the third week.

When I clicked on Barnes & Noble below and put the title in, it immediately popped up and it actually scared me and I jumped.  I didn't expect it to be on so quickly.  I copied everything that was on the site and the writing was not done by me, but by the publisher.  

I am now officially a driver and an author, how about that!

Driving On the Sunny Side With 10,000 Strangers: Celebrating The Lives of My Uber/Lyft Riders

by Jeff Hoenig

Paperback

$19.99 

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Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Overview

They call Jeff Hoenig "The Sunshine Man." That moniker has been well-earned-Jeff has driven more than ten thousand individuals over the past five years in his bright orange car. As an Uber and Lyft driver, Jeff strives to make people's lives a little bit brighter, starting the moment they step into the car with him. While the job might make many feel a modicum of cynicism (if nothing else, from road rage) Jeff maintains a contagiously upbeat outlook.

In Jeff's eyes, when people participate in a common activity like driving, they have the opportunity for an uncommonly beautiful experience-if they have the right people to share it with. The book includes side-splitting laughter, persistent kindness, and outright fun for readers of all ages. For those looking for a bit more hope and levity in their next read, Jeff's excellent debut is sure to deliver.

                                                       ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Hoenig spent most of his life in New Jersey, where he met his wife of forty years, and raised three terrific kids.  His job has always taken him on the road, including work as a driver and circulation manager for USA Today and Auto Trader magazines.  After downsizing and moving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jeff began driving for Uber and Lyft in 2018.  Jeff views the joy and levity he brings to his riders as an important part of the service he offers.  Jeff is grateful for his work, and that he is able to have the most fun out of any driver on the East Coast.

She Really Was Precious

Our 40th anniversary this past Monday was a pretty busy day.  After dropping our dog off at the sitter, we went out to breakfast. We then went to the furniture store and bought a love seat and chair for our living room.  I already blogged about us visiting the Ripley's Aquarium and showed off some pictures from our visit. This selfie was taken before we went into the aquarium and it would have been a great picture if I wasn't squinting.

We ended the day by going to an Amish country store and my wife looked at all the outdoor stuff they had, but we didn't buy anything.  This picture below is unusual because she is sitting in a comfortable chair in the hot sun, showing off her Brahmin bag, and she is behind a snowman.

We finished the day off with a very good dinner at a steak house, but there is one stop that should not be forgotten-we went to Friendly's to get some ice cream before we had an early dinner.  We have had an endless number of dates at Friendly's over the years, and we've taken our kids to Friendly's a lot, so this was the right place to go on our 40th anniversary.

What made our visit special though, was not the Jim Dandy sundae that I had or the Fribble my wife had, it was our server. Her name was Precious and she treated us as if we were part of her family.  When she came over to our table, the first thing we noticed after her big smile, was that she was sweating, a lot.  It was hot in there, although the air conditioning was going some and there were fans over the tables that were moving some too.

Precious explained that people complain if the fans are on high or if they are too slow.  A few minutes later, it seemed the air conditioning was turned up some and it wasn't as hot, we figured that Precious had said something to the manager.  When I asked Precious how she got her name, I told her thatI have driven several women who were named Precious and a chapter in my book is on unique names.  She said that three different people named her. It took her about five minutes to explain it and she told us that her middle name is, "Diamond."  

We were being served by "Precious Diamond." She was very personable, enthusiastic, and obviously hard-working. We told her that we were celebrating our 40th Anniversary and after we were all finished and asked for the check, she brought out two milk shakes and surprised us.  We both had some of it, but we were pretty full. I told her since it was our 40th Anniversary we were going to have to tip her 40% and we did.

Thank you Precious for giving us great service and making our day special-wait until I drop this off for her to read!