MY FAVORITE RIDER COMMENTS IN JANUARY 2025

"Traveling with her husband and two children, she said, "We have more luggage than Santa had presents in his sleigh."

He: "Criminals get 25 years to life, I had 25 years in Buffalo."

She: "I got in an Uber in North Carolina and the woman had fake arms around the front passenger seat and she pulled a string and they massaged your shoulders."

The funny middle aged woman was telling me about her life and said, "My husband passed away, we were married fourteen years." I said, "I'm sorry to hear that."  She replied, "It's okay, I had him killed." (joking)

I got a spam call and I shut it off and the number appeared below and a message which said, "Goodbye." I said to my riders, "What spammer would say goodbye?" He said, "It must have been one of the floosies you have on the side. If she calls back, tell her I said hi."

He: "People complain about more people moving here, but I tell them, 'Suck it up buttercup, it is what it is."

I asked her if she had ever gotten a gift from an Uber driver and she said, "Besides my number? Because they thought they were the gift and they hit on me."

He: "In Haiti it is a show of respect that each meal begins with the wife and the children starting first. The husband does all the cleaning up." (I'm not telling my wife about this)

The dog groomer said, "I'd rather deal with dogs than people."

She: "I'm not going to heaven, I'm going to hell." Me; "Why would you say that?" She: "It's warmer there." (She didn't like the cold weather)

He: "You'd have to shoot me to get me to ride in a car for eight hours. His wife said, "He doesn't even like to drive to the supermarket."

"We had a horse carriage ride around Charleston.  The name of the horse was Bezos. We were the last ride of the night and he took two bathroom breaks and kept taking short cuts."

His dad was a rock n' roll singer and played the harmonica. His band opened for Leonard Skinner, The Allman Brothers and Bonnie Raitt. He said, "When I was a kid I used to sing back-up with the girls. When I was 23, I overheard my dad tell someone that my mic was always turned off."

The young woman got in the car slowly as she watched my mannequin closely. I told her it was a gift from a passenger. A few moments later, I asked her what she did for work and she said, "I work in a funeral home as an embalmer."

He said he worked in a restaurant and I asked what he did there. He: "I run to hide. As an owner/operator, I want my workers to do it. If they find me, I'll wind up doing it."

He: "People who have only been in Buffalo don't know that it's much nicer everywhere else."

From Detroit, she said, "I'm offended when someone here calls me ma'am. I'm not that old yet."

She: "In Michigan they use cheap salt on the roads which makes the potholes so large you can fall in. The roads are horrible. They are ten times worse than downtown Charleston."

She: "I was a teacher in an elementary school and the P/E teachers kept leaving. They knew I had run track in high school, so they told me I was the new P/E teacher."

She had an eye tattoo on her wrist and told me that it's, "An eye of intuition and keeps away bad spirits."

I asked the male college student at the College of Charleston, "How have you handled the 70-30% ratio of women to men," and he said, "I have a girlfriend now, but my first year I handled it a little bit."

She lives directly above a Publix supermarket and I asked what that was like and she said, "It's terrible, do you know how many times I've just used a spice one time? It's like having an extended refrigerator."

He: "I spend $1,8000 a month on Uber going to an from work."

She: "I've never seen so many blondes in my life. (In Charleston) They assume here that if you're not in a sorority you're gay."

After telling them about the secret agent I had in my car, I asked, "What do you do for work?" He said, "I work for a secret agency." His wife burst out laughing since he works for the Immigration office in DC.

At 20 years old, the former soccer player told me, "I've had five concussions. That's not normal-you have to work at it." 

The young woman was playing against much better golfers and she said, "Those four days at Hilton Head in the LPGA tournament were some of the worst days of my life."

"I have five brothers and a sister and the nine of us are big football fans and in the NFL we root for nine different teams."

He: "When I worked as an intern for The New England Patriots I brought statistics into the locker room for coach Bill Parcells, who was butt naked with a towel around him.  He was upset that the statistics weren't in the right order and he followed me out of the room yelling at me which was very upsetting."

Big New York Ranger fan: "I was there the night they won the Stanley Cup in 1994. I sold my season tickets that night, because I knew it would never get any better."

He: "A friend of a friend of my dad was with one of his friends at a Detroit Piston playoff game when Isaiah Thomas played.  He made a bet with his friend who was about to have a child that if the Pistons won, he had to name his son after Isaiah Thomas. The Pistons won and the son became Isaiah Thomas since the guys last name was Thomas. The baby made the NBA and played for the Boston Celtics."

                                         MORE RIDER COMMENTS

He: "I was able to meet Terry Bradshaw at a bank branch opening my dad, and he signed three footballs for me and a picture too."

"Charleston has the food and culture of a big city, but with a lot of charm."

She: "How does a shop owner not have a snow shovel just in case it snows?"

He told me, "I was an extra in Black Panther 2 and Guardian of the Galaxy 3."

She: "I got in an Uber in Charleston that was like a safari all over the car with safari music."

I asked the retired police officer of 44 years, "What do you enjoy doing in your retirement?" He said, "I like to travel and drink beer."

September said, "My parents named me September while sitting in a McDonalds, but they never told me why.

She got her name, Karys, when, "My sister found the Greek name online and it means grace."

After visiting New Orleans they came to Charleston and said, "Charleston is more preserved, New Orleans has been run down."

I asked her what she did for work and she said, "I'm a nurse and I work for lawyers." I asked how long she has been doing it and she said, "Too long, 42 years."

I asked another male college student about the 70-30 % ratio of women to me and he said, "I'm not complaining about it."

"When I was a kid I was full of energy and my parents would introduce me to others as, 'A springy young sap.'"

She: "Charleston is the best city I've ever experienced."

She told me, "I work for a jeweler and they have been int he same building for 100 years."

The cadet at the Citadel said about going to school, "It's fun if you make it fun."

"Colorado started going downhill when pot was legalized."

"During the beginning of the pandemic I called my uncle to ask him for help and he said they were on the way to Haiti and the tickets were $25 round trip. I got my bags packed and I flew their too."

He had lived in the Charleston area for a long time and I said, "That makes you a native." He said, "Not live the Ohio natives."

She: "As a gym teacher there's a lot of yelling, screaming and crying." (smaller children.)

He: "In Haiti you can't compliment other women, because men are very jealous. I made the mistake of doing it and this guy almost beat my ass."

Giants fan: "Barkley is my favorite Giant. If he had gone to anyone other than the Eagles or Cowboys I would have bought his shirt and rooted for him."

She: "People in the North are kind, reliable, helpful, but they have no conscious plan to talk to strangers." (Like in the South)

She: "There are more possibilities in the South."

He: "When I lived in the Bronx I could look out my living room window and look into Yankee Stadium."

I asked her what was the best thing for her after she moved to Charleston and she said, "The people are so very nice."

She: "We paid $7.77 for a cappuccino in the airport."

Young man living in the South: "I like the cold, I'm not friends with the sun."

She: "Down here, everyone is from New Jersey."

The die-hard Seattle Mariners fan said, "My favorite Mariner was Randy Johnson."

She: I used to work in Madison Square Garden taking care of the big clients."

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Technology lawyer

A nurse working with lawyers

Embalmer

Cook on a scientific boat

Ship Captain

Jeweler

Works for Immigration Agency in DC

Works for the Social Security Administration DC

COMMENTS ABOUT LILY MY MANNEQUIN

Getting out of my car she said, "Goodbye Lily."

She: "I had a mannequin in high school in my locker that had long blonde hair.  My friends used to take pictures with her all the time."

Getting out she said to Lily and I, "You guys have a good day."

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"This is the coolest ride of my life. It's more fun than bull riding."

"You are a highlight. Blessings on everything you do."

"This is the best ride I've ever had and I just got in the car."

"You definitely have found your calling, you are a people person."

"What is going on in here? I thought you might be a crazed serial killer."

"Thank you so much. This makes my day better."

"Holy smokes!"

"You make the ride so entertaining."

"It was a pleasure meeting you."

"This was the best Uber I've ever had in my life.

She: "Can we get a picture of you smiling at us?"

"This way more fun than other Ubers."

"This is insane."

"You have a different set of awareness than other drivers."

"Love the museum!"

"Thanks, I enjoyed it thoroughly."

"This is the most interesting Uber."

The ride was 3 minutes and .5 miles and she said, "I really enjoyed the conversation."

"This is so fun."

"This was really nice."

Giving out my list he said, "This is very thoughtful."

"This is the most interesting ride I've ever had."

"This is awesome."

"This was a great ride."

"That was amazing."

"God bless you."

MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN JANUARY 2025

 A LAWYER AT 8 YEARS OLD?

Did you ever wonder what a lawyer looked like when they were eight years old?  I may have met a future lawyer at the beginning of the month.  I picked up a very nice family in Charleston that is from the state of Washington.. The two parents sat in the back of my vehicle and their two daughters 11 and 8 sat right behind me. (The future lawyer is on the right as you look at the picture) Normally, I would start talking with the parents, but in the back it's a little more difficult.

The eight-year-old almost immediately started asking questions, which is what I usually do.  After three or four good questions, I had to ask what her parents did and sure enough, her dad is a lawyer. The eight-year-old did have help from her sister who asked a few questions, but she was the lead interrogator for sure. She was outgoing, obviously bright, and extremely inquisitive.  

It was a pleasure driving this family on New Year's Day and they were my ride of the day.  However, I missed my chance to put the 8-year-old on the stand and ask her some questions.  Whatever she does in the future, I'm sure she has a bright future ahead of her- maybe she'll be the first woman to be elected President of The United States?

HE'S NOT BLUE, HE'S BLEU

He was an interesting early morning ride, so much so, I have no idea what he does for work.  Bleu is a unique name and he told me that he was named after blues music.  He said, "My dad was rock n' roll till the day he died." His dad sang and played the harmonica. His band used to open up for some big acts like, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bonnie Raitt, and the Allman Brothers. He told me a funny story about growing up and touring with his dad. "I used to sing back-ups with the girls from time to time." When he was 23, he overheard his dad tell someone that his mic was never on and he was so proud of his singing!  He wanted to give me something for my museum, so he gave me the chess piece below for my car. He's hanging out with former Presidents George Washington and James Buchanan who is on the coin from Ecuador.

ON THE MILITARY BASE?

I had a delightful two-hour ride to Shaw military base in Sumter, South Carolina.  My rider has been in the Air Force for about a year and we spent the whole ride talking. When we got to the base they wouldn't let me drive in, so he had to walk in from the gate. 

I entertained him with a bunch of sports stories and he told me two very unique sports stories. He has five brothers and a sister and the nine family members are all big NFL football fans and they all root for different teams. I have never heard anything like that.

The second story was bizarre, but here's the condensed story.  A friend's dad had a friend who was at a Detroit Pistons Playoff game with one of his friends who had a last name of Thomas. Isaiah Thomas, was the leader of  the Detroit Pistons and the two guys made a bet that if the Pistons won the game, the Thomas guy had to name his child, who was about to be born, Isaiah.  The Pistons won and I would have loved to be there when he explained this to his pregnant wife.  The baby, Isaiah Thomas, incredibly, made it to the NBA and played for The Boston Celtics. What are the odds of that happening?

SOUTHERN COUSINS

Driving two young women to church on a Sunday morning may not be an ideal situation for a fun ride, but this was one of my favorite rides from the month.  Frequently at this hour, people are a little groggy, but they were both wide awake. Their jumbo-sized coffees were pretty full and I can't imagine how they were after they finished them.  As you see in the picture below, they both have glasses and big smiles and I thought they were sisters, but they are cousins and now roommates.

They are new to the South, one coming from New York and one from Colorado and we enjoyed talking about both places and adjusting to the South.  They both have very outgoing personalities and one is a project engineer with a big company and the other, is in the music industry with social media and marketing currently working with rapper Jack Harlow.

They asked me for a picture of me smiling and as you can see they have much better smiles than I do.  I wanted to take their picture, but they wanted me to include Lily, my mannequin, and take a selfie.  I'm putting our picture up in my car this week just in case I see them this Sunday going to Church.  Having driven many young people, I can tell that these two have great futures ahead of them and they are going to have a lot more fun times together in the Charleston area.  

THE ICE SKATERS

The two sisters have been enjoying ice skating for around twenty years.  Growing up they played on hockey teams and currently are in a women's travel league. They grew up in Florida and play hockey and also coach hockey together with a girls team of teenagers. They love hockey and practice in an arena that the Florida Panthers use and see many of their games in person.  Their enthusiasm for the sport is obvious and they are growing their sport and being great role models for younger girls and doing it together as a team.  They say that the secret of success is to find out what you're passionate about and do it and these two young women are succeeding outside their full-time jobs.

A PROUD CUBAN

It's only happened a few times in 6 1/2 years, but I had the same passenger twice in one day.  I was very lucky to pick her up and I knew it was her because her first name starts with an X.  She told me that she was the class clown in junior high school and she has not lost her sense of humor.  When she told me that her husband had died after fourteen years, I told her that I was sorry.  She said, "It's okay, I had him killed." She was kidding and her delivery was perfect.  She also told me this, "I'm not going to heaven, I'm going to hell."  When I asked her why she said that, she replied, "It's warmer there." (She doesn't like the cold weather)

She is very proud to be a conservative Cuban and I asked her why she is conservative.  She told me because of what Castro has done to her country.  She told me that many people were killed and lost everything and she had family who were jailed.  She misses having four seasons in the South and may go back to New York sometime, however, "There are a lot of liberals there and I would have a big job turning them around.  I hope to drive her again, she's had a very interesting life.

ON A BOAT FOR 18 YEARS?

My rider used to live in Gabon in West Africa. (One of the wealthiest countries in Africa) He's been a chef most of his life and when he was in Africa he worked as a chef on a job for eighteen years on a boat.  I asked him what he liked best about his job and he said, "I enjoyed traveling to different countries." The boat was a scientific boat that did a lot of testing.  He did tell me that he doesn't miss being on the water.

When he lived in the Bronx in New York, he lived right near Yankee Stadium.  He could look out his living room window and look into Yankee Stadium.  I would have enjoyed that, but a boat for eighteen years? I would pass on that, but it did sound like a great adventure.

It's Colorado in Myrtle Beach!

It finally happened on Wednesday.  For seven years my shovel has stood in my garage here waiting for the day I could shovel snow as I did in New Jersey.  About a year and a half ago in Colorado I was able to borrow a shovel and twice get a little shoveling in, but Wednesday I may have shoveled more than any day in my life and I had a great time!  As Adrian Monk would say, "Here's what happened:"

                                               

It all started in December 2017 as we packed our belongings to move to Myrtle Beach.  I've loved shoveling snow and watching it fall since I was a kid and there was no way I was leaving without bringing one shovel with me just in case I needed it.  Below is the picture of me enthusiastically holding the shovel in our kitchen when we arrived in South Carolina.

It unfortunately started snowing 7-8 pm Tuesday night in the dark.  I tried to get a picture of me holding the shovel in the snow and this is the best I could come up with.  You should be able to see some snow on my hood and in the sky. Below is a picture of our palm tree.

         

Wednesday morning before I headed out for the big day, I decided to post on our two neighborhood Facebook sites and this is what I said:

Good morning neighbors! It's a beautiful winter morning and I'm heading out to shovel. My shovel has been sitting in my garage for 7 years waiting for today and I'm heading out for some fun. If anyone really needs a walk or driveway shoveled you can text me at ( ). I'm going to have a great time today.

I did not mention that I wasn't going to charge anything, but would only accept a $5 tip so they wouldn't feel guilty.

The first thing I saw was sleigh riding-southern style. I was so surprised I didn't grab my phone until they were down the street.  The hatch was open with the mom and a child in the back and a rope pulling another child on a small sled.  I've never seen this before.

I started working on my driveway and moved to my neighbors on both sides and did their driveways that had cars on them. These pictures are of our palm tree and house and down the street.  The best time after a snow is early in the morning when it's just you and this was the quiet and peaceful scene.  

     

A neighbor around the corner wanted to borrow my shovel, but when I got there I could tell he didn't want to shovel. I told him to go inside and I'd take care of it.  This is an action shot in case you didn't believe I really did this.  He said to me, "I've never seen someone smiling while they shovel."

I did get three texts from people I didn't know and I did one walk and two driveways.  The last two people would have been upset if I took only $5 from them, so to make them feel better I accepted their generous payment.

Meanwhile on our neighborhood Facebook site. I had a lot of positive comments, but this one was special: "This guy deserves a parade!" When I asked him what the parade would look like, his response was hilarious: "It will be everyone in Horry County holding flags with your name on it while carrying shovels. The parade will go from 29th Ave. North on Ocean Blvd. all the way down to Damon's Steakhouse on the south end!" 

My neighbor across the street, who helped me with one neighbor's driveway, generously posted this on our site: "Our neighborhood is a better place to live because of you. Thank you for being a great example of sacrificing to put others first! The world needs more men like you." It was very kind of him, but can you have this much fun and really be sacrificing?

Seven years ago when we moved in we were with a bunch of people in the development and I overheard a guy from New York say that he had his snow shovel in his garage, just in case.  I told him that when it snows, we have to get a picture together with our snow shovels.  I was shoveling a few houses away from him and I managed to get this selfie of the two of us.  We had almost identical green shovels.

Did I have fun on Wednesday? I shoveled at seven other houses and I was out for seven hours. It wasn't a lot of snow and I took breaks and had water and food.  I even ate a little chicken at my house while I shoveled!  

As I arrived home I knew I had to finish my driveway, but one of my neighbors cleaned it up which of course was the southern thing to do. My left leg was a little sore the rest of the day, but the next morning, I had no aches or pains. By far, one of the best days I've had in South Carolina.

Defending The Hall of Presidents

 

In December we visited Disney World and I got to go to The Magic Kingdom for the first time in many years. One of my favorite places to visit is the Hall of Presidents pictured above.  The idea came from a Disney exhibit at The New York World's Fair  in 1964 which was called, "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln." An Audio-Animatronic figure of Lincoln stood up and gave a collection of half a dozen of his great speeches.

Disney loved the idea and although he died in 1966, this exhibit turned into "The Hall of Presidents attraction in Disney World when it opened in 1971.  Several Presidents speak, including the current President at the time. Each President is announced and a light shines on each of them.  The speeches and introductions are the central part of an extraordinary video display about our country.

My wife wasn't planning on going, because she wasn't as interested in the attraction, but she went with me and enjoyed it.  I was going to blog about this, but a few days after our trip there was an article on Yahoo News saying that it should be replaced with another Muppet exhibit.  The article received over 400 comments, some positive, some negative and some just funny.

I posted a comment and said that, "The Hall of Presidents gets an A+. It was one of the best things I saw all day." One guy replied, "Well, there's one orange problem with it that we can't get around." He was bothered by the President Trump figure and many of the comments were for Trump or against Trump.  However, I picked out some of the amusing comments just for you:

"They should close its a small world ride. I rode this ride decades ago and I am 68 now and I am still traumatized by the song. It keeps repeating in my brain."

"They should replace it with girls on trampolines."

"How about making it the hall of vice presidents?"

"Let's replace people who write senseless articles with muppets!"

"Yeah let's replace a kid's entertaining history lesson with Muppets. We are dumbed down enough already. 🙄"

"Good place for cranky kids and losing my last nerve parent to go and cool down. Can't think of why any one under the age of 65 would care about it being open" (I am 64)

"Why don't they have 2 exhibits: one for each side?"

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS OF 2024

This is the sixth time I have put together a list of my favorite comments of the year.  Originally, in 2019, I was going to give this out to some of my riders as a holiday gift, but I got such a great response I've been giving this out to some riders all year long each year.  This is the list of twenty-one comments some of my riders will get this year.

He: "What's the number one responsibility of a father? Teach your kids how to throw-up, so they get to the toilet."

He: "I was born in Japan on a military base.  My parents had to sue the emperor to keep me. At the time all children born in the country belonged to the state."

I asked the college students who were not drinking if they had anything funny for my blog.  She: "I'm an old man in disguise. I'm really 82 years old. My name is Bob-it's short for Bobby. I worked for Kroger for fifty years and never got a raise. The spirit of the old man will always be in this car."

The man from Haiti, "In my country, women always come first. If you want to make love, she has to start it."

He: "I've been married four years. I met my wife on September 26th and we married on October 5th." (10 days later) We knew we were right for each other. She was perfect."

He was almost 81 years old and I asked,  "How are you in such great shape?"  He said, "Cheerios, I used to eat the colored ones when I was young." He meant Fruit Loops.

How did the New York couple meet? She: "He chased me for five years." He: "I was at the dentist office getting a needle and she was the head nurse. I told her I wasn't comfortable and asked her to hold my hand.  I took three extra needles so she could hold my hand longer. I would have taken 25 more for her to be with me the rest of my life."

His friend is a Cleveland Browns fan and told him, "When I die I want six pallbearers who are Cleveland Browns players, so they can let me down one more time."

They were talking about the great lunch special at Outback Steakhouse. Me: "You have to stop, I'm going to have cottage cheese for lunch today." He said, "It's about time you went on a diet. You're pushing the weight limit in this car."

She: "When I was eight years old, my dad was a nursing administrator. For two years I worked nine hours a day, five days a week, doing some inventory and payroll." Me: "Did you get paid anything?" She: "God, no."

She calls her southern boyfriend, "Southern Charm." Bringing him to New York for the first time, the former New Yorker gave him advice for LaGuardia Airport: "Don't look at anyone, don't smile, follow me, keep your head down and do not pet the police dog. Pick up the pace, if you can't, go in front of me and I'll move you."

I told the college student from Atlanta that I spread sunshine in my car and my business name is, "The Sunshine Man." She said, "What happens when you're in a bad mood, do they you call you rain cloud?"

I asked the enthusiastic woman who had just opened a restaurant, "How are you today?" She: "If I was any better, I'd be you. I'm as smooth as cream cheese on a bagel. I got up this morning and I didn't pee in my bed; it's a good day."

"I was a category five screw-up. No one thought I would make it to 30, I had to change my life.  I decided to walk for four days to Charleston, South Carolina and start over." (He changed his life.)

The 27-year-old guy said, "In college, I made $100,000 in affiliate marketing and then I decided to be a rapper."

He: "Do you have anything against shooting deer? I shoot them while I sit on my toilet (Going to the bathroom) with a bow and arrow. I've only killed one so far."

I grabbed the large and heavy suitcase and said, "You didn't take furniture from the hotel, did you?" Her friend said, "It's a body," and she added, "It's just the pieces." 

She said her ex-husband sold her dog. She: "His name was Thor." Me: "Your ex-husband's name was Thor?" She: "No, his name was, "Piece of s _ _ _." (Cheated on her)

"My uncle went goose hunting in Maryland and found Terry Bradshaw's Super Bowl Ring. He called him and was told that he hadn't lost one of them. The ring was legit and a few years later, Bradshaw was on The Tonight Show saying he lost a Super Bowl Ring. My uncle still has it."

She: "When I saw you had a transit van, I wondered if you had a stripper pole."

How did you two meet?" He laughed,  "We met at McDonalds where she was working. She was in high school and I was in college. The first time I saw her she took my breath away, and it's the only time in my life everything slowed down like a movie. The first thing I said to her was, "I'm going to marry you." (Married 38 years)

LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD: Predicting The Future

Television, newspapers, and the internet are always telling us what might happen in the future and most of the time it's not good news.  I read an article recently that I saved from January 27, 1997 and it was published by Newsweek.  The article is entitled, "Cloudy Days In Tomorrowland."

Here are some of the quotes from people explaining what will happen in the future.  It's a good idea to keep a few of these in mind the next time someone tells you something awful will happen in the future. (It probably won't.)

1.  "Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances." Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the Audion tube and a father of radio, Feb. 25, 1967 

2. "Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months.  People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox, 1946 

3. "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."  Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French military commander and future World War 1 commander, 1911 

4. "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." Decca Records talking about The Beatles, 1962.

5. "Computers in the future may perhaps only weigh 1.5 tons." Popular Mechanics 1949

6.  "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty-a fad." A President of Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in Ford's company.  Horace Backham bought $5,000 shares of stock and sold it for $12.5 million.

7."There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home." Kenneth Olsen, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977

8. "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." Irving Fisher, Yale University, Oct. 17, 1929

9.  "I have no political ambitions for myself or my children." Joseph P. Kennedy, 1936

10. "I continue to believe that Donald Trump will never be President." President Barack Obama, February 17, 2016 (This of course wasn't in the article)

Living in "The Life of Riley"

Way before I was born, in the 1940's, "The Life Riley" was a radio comedy show.  In 1949, NBC aired  two different television shows with different characters.  It was so popular that comedian Jackie Gleason played the starring role for a year(pictured below) and there was a film version in 1950 starring the original lead actor, William Bendix. In 1955, there was another TV show on "The Life of Riley." Basically, people could not get enough of  Riley.

I remembered this title recently since our grandchild's name is Riley and we are living in "The Life of Riley." I realize that every baby is adorable, (except for the one in the Seinfeld episode), but I figured I would share some of my favorite pictures of Riley since she just became five months old.  I might do this once a year, but not more than that-promise.

This is obviously Holiday Riley.  Her first Christmas/Hannukah and she was enjoying all the lights.

This is Smiley Riley enjoying time with her grandma and my wife.

This is Singing Riley as the two of us belt out our first song without words, but a lot of sounds.

Stroller Riley enjoying the ride in her stroller.

This is Snow Riley relaxing in the snow.

This is Hungry Riley and she is about to start eating her first pizza pie.  She may be able to review it in a couple years.

There is no doubt that 2025 will be the "Year of Riley," and we're just enjoying the journey with her.

Is It Wrong to Cut Cheese With a Paring Knife?

It seems my whole life I have heard about doing things "the right way." I have been more interested in doing something, rather than doing it "the right way." I understand that if you're jumping out of a plane there probably is a "right way" to jump out and pull the chord.  In my 800 blogs over the past seven years, I have most likely blogged about this topic, but I thought you would be amused with this.

One of the snacks I bring with me when I Uber is some cheese that I cut up.  It's not a lot, but it's a great quick snack to give me some energy.  Each week, I cut up some cheese for the weekend and I put some cheese in a sandwich bag to eat on the road.

A few years ago I believe, my wife suggested I use a different knife to cut the cheese.  Pictured below is I thought that knife and it's called a paring knife. (I've never heard the name before)  

If you look closely towards the top on the blade side, you should be a able to see the spec of cheese.  This was the knife that was used to commit the crime and I can testify that this is the knife I've been using for many years.

My wife explained to me that this is not for cheese, but I should use a butter knife to cut the cheese.  I decided to check Mrs. Google and ask, "What do you cut with a paring knife and the answer was, "Apples, potatoes, garlic, onions, and coring tomatoes." (I have to look up what a coring tomato is, but it sounds scary.)  My wife, as usual, was correct.

However, I asked Mr. Google, "Can you cut cheese with a paring knife?" His answer was, "If you don't have any cheese knives on hand, we'd recommend a small pairing knife for cutting firm to hard cheeses and a thin kitchen knife or butter knife for soft cheeses." It would appear that my wife is right again, but below is the picture of the block of cheese I am gnawing on.

I guess it really comes down to this: "Is this a hard cheese or a soft cheese?" I know it's not butter.  Next week I have a big decision to make: what will I use to cut the cheese?

MY MOST MEMORABLE RIDER COMMENTS IN DECEMBER

He: "My aunt left me a house in Mt. Pleasant.  She died at 115 years old and was a Cherokee with long hair down to the ground."

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

She has two teenagers, one boy and one girl. "I could have five boys, but I'm done with girls. There's too much drama."

                                 

                   

                                                

She: "My husband only wanted to have girls because he gets along so well with women." I asked him, "How well did you get along with women?" He: "I lived with three of them before I met her." Me: "Together?" Him: "Separately."  Me: "I thought you were John Ritter in "Three's Company."

She: "Why do men fart louder than women? Because men have a microphone and two speakers."

Lawyer: "The only flaw in being a lawyer is having to work with other lawyers."

CPA: "I'm not a numbers guy.  I'm not the one who you give the check to split up."

Married 38 years, I asked her, "What's the secret of a successful marriage?" She: "Be kind and let them be who they want to be." He said, "Let them get the couch they want."

She's from here, but now lives in Portugal. "They make leisure time a priority, they enjoy life and they work to live, not live to work. The quality of life is better there."

Sitting next to her friend, she told me, "He's autistic, I mean artistic."

I spoke with an attorney who is a litigator, about the OJ Simpson Trial.  He said, "The police used to use the investigation as a study not to do too much in a case. They framed a guilty man and made it difficult for jurors to vote him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

She: "When I went to school at NYU there were so many Jewish holidays, sometimes the school was called NYJew."

Stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, he told me that, "It has the widest recorded temperature range of any city- 98 degrees and minus 67 degrees. When it was 60 below zero I started thinking about getting out of the military."

He came from Gabon in Africa. After early retirement, the chemist is working in Charleston and he drove with Uber for six months and said, "Thanks to Uber I was able to speak English a lot better."

He: "When I met my wife she was like a breath of fresh air."

He: "Dan Marino has a home in Kiawah Island (in South Carolina) and in front of his house is a big statue of himself." (?)

She: "One day a few years ago, my liver suddenly collapsed without warning. I couldn't walk or talk for five months and was able to get a transplant at the last moment."

She: "I was in the airport and I gave my ID to the lady at the counter and she dropped it. It went inside  the counter and they couldn't get it out.  They let me on the plane without it and they mailed it to me."

After retiring from the military, he said, "It takes a little time to just be a dude again."

She: "I was moving out of my apartment in Washington D.C. and I didn't have a car.  I had some big bags with stuff in it and figured the taxi driver would give me a hand.  When he pulled up, I found out he had only one leg."

He: "I got sick of the Yankee fans bragging about winning, so I became a Red Sox fan and I was there in Fenway when they finally won the World Series."

He: "I went to a marriage counselor with an old girlfriend. The counselor asked me what I wanted in this relationship and I said, 'I want to get married, buy a house and have kids.' My girlfriend said that she wanted to, 'Dance and play tennis.' The counselor said we shouldn't get married."

She: "When our family gets together for the holidays we play "Fish-bowl." Everyone takes out a dollar bill and puts their name on it and the youngest child picks one bill and they win all the money. About six years ago I started writing my name as Liz and a couple years later when I counted up money left for me as a server, I found my name on a dollar bill-it came back to me.  I still have it."

MORE COMMENTS

He told me, "I've been "cheffing" for 17 years."

He; "I went to Vietnam and Thailand with my younger brother for several months to check out the food scene. I liked Vietnam better."

She: "I once got a small airplane to Wyoming that had only twenty seats. I was the only passenger, so the pilot asked me if I needed anything."

She: "We have two girls so my husband calls us his harem."

Me: "How has your first year of retiring been?" He: "Disturbing."

"Living in Jordan is indescribable. We have a lot of natural beauty."

The woman sadly said, "You can't really enjoy the holidays with all the bad things that happen outside, it's better to stay home."

She: "I'm going to a dog and human birthday. We're celebrating two dogs and my friend's 30th birthday together."

Me: "Have you ever gotten a gift from an Uber driver?" She: "Yes, kind of.  It was my 30th birthday and the driver tried to give me a $5 bill, but I didn't want to take it from him."

Coming back to Charleston after many years, she said, "Some of my old friends are in a time warp, they haven't matured at all and they're in their fifties."

Couple from Bangladesh: "We celebrate Christmas too, we're in harmony with everyone."

He: "People don't seem to have the motivation in the South."

Young woman: "I hate people from Ohio."

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Professional Poker Player

Professor NYU Dental School

Genetic Counselor

Clinical Neuro Psychology Student getting his PHD

Stand-up Comic

Vice-President of Alaskan Company

COMMENTS ABOUT LILY, MY MANNEQUIN

"What's with the dummy?

She: "Did you behead the last rider?"

She: "A friend of mine made a short ten-minute sci-fi film with a mannequin talking to Alexa.

"I like your doll head."

COMMENTS ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

"You're an inspiring person."

"You're a good person with a great attitude, why wouldn't anyone want to ride with you?"

"It looks like you've made the most out of your Uber experience."

He: "I would ride to California with you."

"You're awesome to talk to."

My rider in November sent this message to me this after I blogged about her surviving breast cancer: "I enjoyed riding with you so much!  You made my day as much I made yours. You are just one of those people who has left a lasting impression on me. You are truly a rarity and I pray that God continues to bless you, watch over you as you drive another 10,000 more strangers, and he continues to let your light shine."

"Awesome, I've never seen anything like this."

"Your museum is amazing."

"It was a pleasure riding with you."

Giving her my list of favorite comments, she said, "Thank you, that's so thoughtful."

"I enjoyed your advice."

"I look forward to riding with you again."

"I loved riding with you."

"This was the best transportation we've had all day."

"I like your style."