How Witty Was That?

Some people are just very clever and very funny, but in an unusual way.  Here are some comedians and others with some of their best lines for your amusement.  I was amused.

BETTY WHITE: "I've always liked older men.  There's just more attractive to me. Of course at my age, there aren't that many of them left."

OSCAR WILDE: "I have the most simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: "I reckon that some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.

MARK TWAIN: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and surprise others.

STEPHEN FRY: "You don't have to remind my of my age, I have a bladder to do that for me."

WINSTON CHURCHILL: "I am ready to meet my maker.  Whether my maker is prepared for the great ideal of meeting me is another matter."

GORE VIDAL: "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country-and we haven't seen them since."

JOAN RIVERS: "I wish I had a twin so I could see what I look like without plastic surgery."

MAE WEST: "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." 

Where is Elmo?

How does a small child get attached to a stuffed animal or a doll? Our eighteen month old grand daughter's favorite by far is Elmo.  She walks around with him and is constantly looking for him. The question frequently is, "Where is Elmo?" 

He is everywhere and in case you don't know who is Elmo is, he's the red one waving to us in a crowd of animals and dolls.

How old is Elmo and where did you come from? He is a "fictional" character on "Sesame Street" today since 2012 when he came to life. He was first used in 1979.  He is actually 3 1/2 years old all the time and celebrates his birthday on February 3rd. He has been the star of two movies and has appeared on many television shows over the years and had a very popular Tickle Me Elmo doll in 1996.

Sometimes it is difficult to find Elmo and recently my granddaughter and I searched several rooms without finding him.  I was sitting in the kitchen and looked downstairs to another room and this is what I found.  He did not have a heart attack.

Sometimes Elmo dresses up and thinks he's on a television show in the house.

He has a different way of shopping because he just jumps in the cart.

Elmo is going to be doing very important work for our granddaughter in the near future and I think it's about time he did something valuable.

If you think it's difficult getting diaper on a baby, it's a different kind of difficult putting a diaper on Elmo as you can see from this picture.

Frequently when I'm babysitting Elmo is just hanging around looking very innocent, but my granddaughter absolutely loves him. After her mom and dad and my wife, I'm just slightly ahead of.... Elmo.

Would You Take A Polar Plunge?

You have probably seen on TV or pictures of people running into freezing temperatures and you may have asked yourself, WHY?   Would you do it one day? People have been doing it across the country since 1902 and I don't think anyone has died from doing it, but it is cold.  It originally started in Boston, Massachusetts many years after The Boston Tea Party.

The above picture is from last year in San Francisco.  It's not just a couple of people. Studies have shown that there are benefits and risks to doing this.  Here are some of the benefits you could have on your future plunge: regular plunges can make your body more resilient and give you a psychological boost also. On days you plunge you can feel more confident, have lower anxiety, and get better sleep.

I had to laugh reading what happens when you go into these kind of temperatures. Tell me if you were thinking the same thing I was when I read this: "You feel Zen, you feel every part of your body, you're aware of your breathing, you forget about everything else." How about these comments, "Your heart rate goes through the roof, your blood pressure goes through the roof, you have trouble breathing."

Maybe I would try it in a cold bath tub, maybe not?  Something to consider if you ever want to do it, it can be beneficial, or your body could be close to going into shock. I'll leave it up to you.

Changing A Filter

If you're going to change a filter you might want to change the water filter on your refrigerator or maybe your coffee filter.  When I heard that the air filter in our crawl space needs to be changed every three months, it did not sound exciting.  However, this may make an entertaining blog.

I know our kids have changed the filter a couple times, but it was time for me to experience this exciting household moment. Below is the steps leading down to somewhere in our closet.  

We were prepared.  I put on some dirty sweatpants and two knee pads.  My wife had a very soft, old blanket we would move across the luxurious floor pictured below.  We also had a small flashlight if we needed it. This is the new world that faced me below.

We were both going to go down because as usual, I had no clue what I was going to do.  My wife said I should bring my phone in case we couldn't make it up.  My wife's knees couldn't make it down, so it was my mission and I was going in blind.  I had my phone to communicate and she facetimed me. I was about to visit another world and I would have liked to have Scotty beam we down instead of climbing into it.

I didn't see anything that looked like a filter, but there was a latch somewhere in the above picture and inside was the dirty filter, pictured below, which I replaced.  It says "test" here, is that important?

The crawl space was bigger than I thought and I thought I was going to be crawling and hunched over, but it wasn't that bad.  Below, I am triumphantly coming up the stairs.  All that was missing was the banner behind me saying, "Mission Accomplished." Three more months and I'll be doing it all over again.

                                                        

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Imagine if you woke up every single day for 16 years and the first thing you said was, "Today's the day!" If you're living a normal life like most of us do and you're expecting good things to happen, would your life be better? You may be thinking, "That's ridiculous," but what if it really happened?

I read about the story of Mel Fisher years ago and just came across it again.  He was born in Indiana and served and survived the Normandy invasion and at age 31 he sold the chicken farm he owned. He was obsessed with shipwrecks and he became a pioneer in underwater exploration. He moved to Florida in the search of Spanish galleons that had sunk long ago off the Florida keys. (In 1622)

His main search began in 1969 for the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora, which sunk in a hurricane where 260 people died and a large treasure of gold, silver, and emeralds were lost.  During his 8,000 days and 16 years of searching he lost family members who drowned, he went bankrupt, people thought he was crazy and he mortgaged his house 13 times.

In 1973 he found three silver bars that were from the sunken boat.  In 1975 his son found five bronze cannons with the ship markings.  In 1975 his son, wife, and another diver drowned, but he still woke up every day saying, "Today's the day."  

It was ten years exactly to the day of the horrific drowning, July 20, 1985, another son came over the radio and said, "Put away the charts, we found the pile."  The treasure was worth $450 million, the largest underwater discovery in modern times.  After many years of legal cases he was was awarded the treasure. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West was opened to share the discovery with the world.

He died in 1988 at the age of 76.  His family continues to search for the remaining parts of the treasure, but Mel Fisher is celebrated for his optimism and determination through his museum.

Visiting Costco

Here's a riddle: When can you visit Costco and spend no money? You got it, my blog is here for you.

The Costco we go to is in the middle of nowhere and I have managed to go two different ways and miss the turn.  Next time I'm going find the right turn.

Walking into Costco recently I had only two thoughts: Let's get the rotisserie chicken and I'm ready to head back to the car. It's not that I'm overwhelmed, I just want to go in and get a few things and get out.

After five minutes I had the same thoughts and I wasn't near the chicken.  That's when I came up with the idea of "touring" Costco which would be more fun than actually shopping.  I did help my wife out by pushing the cart and I grabbed a couple things, but here's the FREE tour:

How cool is this pillow? What size bed do you have to have to use this pillow?

This is a pop-up sauna.  How often does it pop-up? What room do you put it in for it to pop up?

It's a cute dish my wife wanted to buy so I could use it as a drainer for fruit.  She said that when I just use a normal dish the dirty water stays on the fruit. Is that really a problem?

This special aroma thing looks very good and it's only $80 because it's on sale from $100.  How many do you want for your house?

Looking for new luggage? How about some Lego luggage? It's easy to put together.

If you're looking for a laugh, how about the Laughing Cow original wedges? I didn't eat any.

This Lumpia thing, wouldn't it sound better if it was Schlumpia? What a great name!

This oversized mat fit perfectly in our cart.  It's supposed to be put at our sliding door to go out to the back. When I checked that area there is an oversized piece of carpet.  The mat is now perpendicular to the carpet. Oh wait, it has now moved! It is on top of the oversized piece of carpet and it's smaller than the carpet. Sitting on top of it is our outdoor shoes for the backyard.

Some things are funny without comments. I did not eat any.

How hard did they work on coming up with this name? Dubai style, chocolate pistachio, almond milk latte.

As a diabetic I'm supposed to watch my sugar.  How long can I watch this sugar without a note from my doctor?

I'm not that big on veggies, but if it's called "Veggies Made Great", how bad could it be? I have had some since the visit and I have to admit, they were very good.

Driving home I told my wife sitting next to me, "I was pretty excited when I was pushing the cart and my fingers were sliding against the hot chicken bag." She only heard me say "hot chick.'  Visiting Costco was a fun adventure except it wasn't free for me.

My Favorite Rider Comments in February 2026

He: "When I moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Colorado it was like moving to Beverley Hills."

She: "Lovely was supposed to be my middle name, but my dad wrote it on the wrong line, so I'm Lovely."

The truck driver who was from Turkey and now living in Michigan asked me a question no one has ever asked: "How is life living in America?"

She: "I once worked at a gas station and my boss said this, "You know how you've heard the customer is always right, not here. They're 95% wrong. We have a whole drawer of lost car keys here."

She: "Our baby was only sleeping a couple hours each day so we had a sleep coach spend three days with us. Our baby is now 9 months old and she takes two 2-2 1/2 hour naps a day and sleeps from 6 pm to 7 am." I said, "She's sleeping almost 18 hours a day, you have a visiting toddler."

The young Texan was visiting New York City and he was lost. "I went up to a guy in a suit and asked him if he knew where I could get this train. He said, 'Figure it the F_ _ _ out yourself.  He was probably thinking this guy has the audacity to ask me a stupid question."

She's in grad school to be a therapist to "Pay forward," for all the help she received when she was younger.  I asked her how being half blind and half deaf she was able to head out to live in Alaska for three years.  She said, "My mom taught me that the universe looks out for you."

He is twenty-two: "I'm a daredevil. As a kid I would climb up on the roof of our house and jump off. I once had a bad fall on a skateboard and I still have a scar to remind me how stupid I was."

A drug addict for ten years I asked him how he became drug-free the last couple years. He said, "I got tired of doing something that was getting me nowhere."

She: "2025 was the worst year of my life, but I do have a perfect F'n six-year-old."

Talented musician of many instruments: "Talent is a quality you have to practice or you lose it."

He: "My uncle wrote a book that I published, "Meals to Die For."  He was a chef in prison who cooked the last meal for 189 inmates describing their requests and crimes. I'll send you a copy."

After fifteen minutes of silence she suddenly asked something no one has ever asked me, "Jeffrey, what do you think I should make for dinner?"

Me: "How did you decide to join the Air Force?" He: "I was a junior in college studying finance and one day I was running late through the student center and I saw a sign that said, 'Free lunch if you take our test.' I got the free lunch and took a test for the Air Force and they said they could get me wings to fly and I was with them for thirty years."

                                            MORE RIDER COMMENTS

I told her that I've had a lot of amazing people in my car and she said, "I don't know if I'm one of them."

I asked the young guy who does security checks at Wal-Mart, "Do you like your job?" He said, "I like it when it's easy."

She said, "Working in assisted living is the coolest job.  You get to hear people's stories, be part of their family and help them."

He: "I messed up in my twenties and didn't travel.  Now I'm in my thirties and I just got back from Japan.  It was my first plane ride and time in another country."

She used to live near the very famous Monterey Bay Aquarium in California and said, "They had a two year waiting list for divers who wanted to volunteer to clean the aquarium."

The app said his name was young, so I asked the young guy, "Is young your first name or your last name?" He said, "It's my middle name."

She pointed to a neighborhood near her neighborhood and said, "Years ago they found the bones of an eight hundred year old Cherokee Indian there."

He's a junior in college who wants to direct movies.  I asked him him what his three favorite movies were and he said, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Dark Knight" and "Heat."

I asked the man from Iraq who has been in Colorado for ten years, "Do Uber drivers talk to you?" He said, "None of them talk to me, and I don't know why."  They don't know what they're missing.

She: "In my mom's condo they don't let you take your garbage out, you have to pay to have someone pick it up."

He: "My grandma taught me how to play the piano when I was four or five and then I learned how to play a violin next."

He: "We have a woman at Amazon who is 74 years old and she's doing physical work."

He: "I once paid $25 for beer at Coors Field."

She lived in a suburb in Pennsylvania and said, "I loved it there, the people were great."

Picking her up from the emergency room she said, "I accidentally cut my hand with a knife and there was blood everywhere."

                            COUNTRY #73 IN MY CAR

Special thanks to Alexis from Vancouver, Washington for the above bill from Vietnam.

UNIQUE JOBS

Surgical Athletic Trainer

Sand Allocator Coordinator for Fracking

I DROVE PEOPLE FROM THESE COUNTRIES:

Argentina, Nepal, South Sudan, Iraq, Mexico, Peru, China, El Salvador, The Congo.

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT ME AND MY CAR:

"I love what you're doing, we need this."

"I'm enthused, my heart is fluttering. It's like a kid in a candy store."

"Thanks for lifting my spirits, I was in a shitty mood this morning."

"I truly enjoyed your car ride. It was like a museum on wheels. Most of all, I enjoyed your kind and joyous energy! I appreciate your curiosity for culture and people!

"This is a cool Uber, you're a cool dude."

"This is a great way to start our trip, I didn't expect this."

She said about my mannequin: "She's beautiful. She makes her statement-I'm here to stay."

"This was so much fun."

"Thank you for the conversation."

"This really is a museum."

"I'll remember this car, it's unique."

"You're not like any other Uber driver."

"Awesome car."

"I wish you safe travels and many beautiful memories with your passengers."

"I love what you're doing."

"I like you car it's pretty cool."

"This inspired me to keep traveling."

"You have a beautiful car."

"Everyone has a story."

"You should put a blindfold on your mannequin, please."

"You are awesome."

"Thanks for helping get my week off to a good start."

After the .8 miles ride she said, "You're of the best Uber drivers I've ever had."

She said about my mannequin: "She's beautiful. She makes her statement-I'm here to stay."

MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN FEBRUARY 2026

THERE IS A FREE LUNCH!

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "There's no free lunch," but I am writing this to let you know that it is not true.  Not only is there a free lunch, but it can change your life which is exactly what happened to my passenger.  I've asked many people who served in the military how they decided to sign up to serve our country, but this is the second best reason I've ever heard.

He was a junior in college and he was running late through the student center when he saw this sign, "Free lunch if you take our test." He didn't think twice and got the lunch and took the test.  The Air Force said they would be able to get him wings to fly.  He started R.O.T.C. and served in the Air Force for thirty years.  He traveled the world and told me, "I would do it all over again." He is a great reminder to all of us how fortunate we are to have people like him serving our country.

THE UNIVERSE LOOKS OUT FOR YOU

I had a very serious and inspiring conversation with a young woman who is going to be finishing grad school this year. She's working with young autistic children and her plan is to help develop programs or systems to make their life easier.  Since she needed a lot of help when she was younger, she considers her choice of a career, "Paying forward."  

She is half blind and half deaf since birth and her disability has not stopped her. A few years back she decided to change her environment so she moved from Colorado to Alaska for three years.  When I asked her how she has been able to overcome her challenges and to move so far away, she told me this: "My mom taught me that the universe looks out for you." 

I loved having her in my car and it's great to know that there will be a lot of young, autistic children who will have her along with the universe looking out for them in the future.

TALENTED AND MOVING FORWARD

I had the pleasure of driving a young guy who has been drug free the past couple years after ten difficult years on drugs.  He's a talented musician who plays many instruments since his grandmother taught him piano when he was four or five and then he started learning the violin.  He told me he learned this from someone else who said, "Talent is a quality that you have to practice or you lose it."  I asked him what made him give up drugs and change his life and he said, "I got tired of doing something that was getting me nowhere."  I can tell he has a bright future ahead of him and he was kind enough to share some of his struggles and new life with me and I'm rooting for him.

MOVING TO BEVERLY HILLS?

Growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he knew that when he had a chance he would have to move out.  He told me that some people there are, "Proud of their gang mentality." He moved his wife and three kids to Colorado and said after arriving, "It was like moving to Beverly Hills."  He wanted better opportunities for his kids, especially his young daughter who is autistic.  He told me that Colorado offers her so many things and she's doing very well here.  I enjoyed driving him and I congratulated him on making the big move so his family can have a better life.

HER HEART WAS FLUTTERING

Riders react to my car in many different ways, but the young woman this month made me laugh when she said, "I'm enthused, my heart is fluttering, it's like a kid in a candy store." She really enjoyed the car and probably enjoyed me laughing too.  Just before dropping her off I told her about the woman recently who told me how she was paralyzed at age 19.  She surprised me by saying, "The same thing happened to me.  I was 19 and I was hit by an ambulance and I was in a coma for a month and a half." There was no time to get the whole story from her, but she's fully recovered, except for her heart that kept fluttering in my car.  Maybe the age of 19 is a dangerous age for women?

I Weigh 198 Pounds?

You're lucky that I cut out my feet from the picture, but this is really the scale in my bathroom as of the morning, February 12, 2026.  I weighed 182 when I graduated college in 1982 and a year later when I got married I weighed 182 pounds according to the best estimates of my wife.

There have been a couple times in my life I have weighed in the 240's.  My goal in 2024 was to get down to 220, but I didn't make it and I was somewhere between 225-230.  Is 198 pounds a real number? I'm not sure but I have been under 220 for awhile after moving to Colorado last May. I'll be checking it out regularly but I am feeling fine.

Here are some explanations for my weight loss:

1. I'm on the Soda/ice cream diet.  If you haven't heard about this one it's not very well known since I made it up.  I decided at the end of last year to go 100 days without either one of them. Today is day number 43.  I had gotten in a habit of getting a soda while out driving on the weekend and I started drinking soda too often.  I never thought I'd have a drinking problem.  This probably has resulted in me losing some pounds in 2026.

2. I've been taking Metformin for my soda/ice cream problem and being borderline diabetic.  I did cross over that border and now I'm taking a new medication called Jardiance.  Both medications are not weight loss drugs but can show some weight loss results of five pounds or so.  I just started Jardiance so it's impact on my weight is probably nothing.

3. The week we left Myrtle Beach and I drove five days to Colorado over six days, was not the healthiest for me.  The the all-you-can-eat buffet at Paula Deans with my friends in between my road trips was very good, but not for my weight.

4. I have been pretty active in Colorado and running after and carrying my eighteen month old granddaughter and my thirty-five pound plus dog, and that has probably resulted in losing a few pounds.

5. I've been to the local gym here only a few times, but I can go and since it's the thought that counts maybe it's accounted for a pound?

6. I have have watching what I'm eating and I've been cutting back on a few things also.

It is now February 20th and as you can see from my scale this morning, I really do weigh under 200! My real weight is around 197/198 which is pretty good.

The Milkman Returns

At the house in Edison, New Jersey where I grew up there used to be a small milk box at the side door which led to the garage.  I don't remember what was in it, but I don't recall it ever had milk in it.  I'm pretty sure that it had pictures of milk and a company name, but maybe the milkman came when I was very, very young?

The first milk deliveries began in 1785 in Vermont.  It used to be delivered in barrels until the late 1800's when milk was delivered in glass bottles. Refrigeration and supermarkets appeared in the 1920's and 1930's reducing the need for home delivery.  In the 1960's 30% of houses were getting milk delivered to them, but by 1975 only 7% of houses received delivery.  In the 1990's less than 1% of houses had milk delivered although when the pandemic hit more people started using direct delivery from a farm.

Now in 2026, we are getting milk and iced coffee delivered by a local farm.  It's a couple less things to buy and carry from the supermarket and it's reasonably priced and arrives every Friday morning.  They put it in this container which looks a little nicer than the old metal can and they put some ice in it to keep everything cold.

This is a pretty nice brochure that you get when your service begins explaining the whole process of their operation.  You can order different things online of course and payment is taken care of that way too.  It's a lot different than the 1800's and we've been happy with the service.

What Can We Learn From a Roman Emperor?

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor 2,000 years ago in the years 161-180 CE.  He was also a philosopher and I recently read an interesting article on some of his most famous quotes.  Here they are with my comments about them:

"THE THINGS YOU THINK ABOUT DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF YOUR MIND. YOUR SOUL TAKES ON THE COLOR OF YOUR THOUGHTS."

Another way of saying, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."  Another great quote I've read before is, "You are what you think about."

"WHEN YOU ARISE IN THE MORNING THINK ABOUT WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO BE ALIVE, TO THINK, TO ENJOY, TO LOVE."

My first thought is, "What time is it?" Since I awake a few times a night, it could be many times.  It's hard to imagine you could come up with a more positive way to wake up than his advice.

"YOU HAVE POWER OVER YOUR MIND, NOT OUTSIDE EVENTS. REALIZE THIS AND YOU WILL FIND STRENGTH."

Definitely, we do have control over out thoughts and our actions and it does give you power and confidence.

"WASTE NO MORE TIME ARGUING ON WHAT A GOOD MAN SHOULD BE, BE ONE."

Discussion is good as look as two people are willing to discuss without anger.  Being the best one can be, should always be a top priority.  However, I'm open to discussion on it.

"IF YOU CAN, SHOW THEM THE BETTER WAY. IF NOT THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE THE GIFT OF KINDNESS."

I think I can understand why this guy ruled for so many years.

"WHENEVER YOU ARE ABOUT TO FIND FAULT WITH SOMEONE, ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESION: WHAT FAULT OF MINE MOST NEARLY RESEMBLES THE ONE I AM AOBUT TO CRITICIZE?"

It would be fascinating to sit down and have a conversation with this guy.  I wonder what influenced him?

"THE BEST REVENGE IS TO BE UNLIKE HIM WHO PERFORMED THE INJURY." 

A pretty cool way of getting back at someone.  I look at it as someone showing you how not to be.  He said it a lot better.

"IT CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE ONLY IF IT RUINS YOUR CHARACTER. OTHERWISE IT CANNOT HARM YOU-INSIDE OR OUT.

He obviously was a very strong and independent person of good character.  You can't help but being impressed with his words, which is probably the reason he is still written about.

How Much is a Penny Worth?

You have probably heard that the last pennies have been made.  They cost too much to make and have become pretty much irrelevant. But the last pennies made? They made their mark because they sold for close to $1.7 million.

There were two final sets made at the mints in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in Denver, Colorado. In Philadelphia they created a 24-karat gold penny and the two last sets included the three dies used to make the last pennies.(Penny pictured below)

Pennies have been produced for 232 years and the first one was produced in Philadelphia also.  The last coin to be eliminated was the half-cent in 1857 and we all remember how that went.  It is expected that the cancellation will save the government around $56 million a year.

But you haven't see the last of the penny.  They can still be found in parking lots and gas stations all over the country.  It is estimated that people have hoarded 300 billion pennies and sooner or later we'll probably see those come out.

How much is a penny worth today? Not much, but it's always been worth that much. In the future if someone says to you, "A penny for your thoughts?" You may want to take the penny, because I'm thinking we're not going to be getting many of them in the future.

The Robot in the House

I remember watching "The Jetsons" television show a long, long time ago. The show first ran in 1962 and 1963.  It ran against "Dennis The Menace" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" and as you can imagine it did not do well. Reruns ran the next two years and new episodes were out in the 80's including a movie in 1990.

The Jetsons family lived in the future in the space age and had a robot named Rosie who did all the cleaning. That is where my story begins, I am living as George and Judy Jetson did on their show.

A month or so ago our youngest daughter and son-in-law bought us a robot to sweep up, clean our floors, and wash them.  We call him/her, "May's helper." My wife's nickname is May, so she is her helper.  Here it is pictured below.

It's plugged in right into a wall in the kitchen and our seventeen month old granddaughter pressed a button and got it started.  I had no clue what to do other than unplug it.  My wife seems happy with it, but it does take hours to clean the house.(I could do it much faster, but I'm not challenging it.)

How advanced is this invention? My wife says that it can be programmed to find our dog in the house, take a picture, and then send it to her phone.  I can barely do that, but this thing? I think she made it up. The machine backs up, spins around, and the light flashes on.  I haven't heard any voices yet, but you never know.  

"The Jetsons" television show was a ratings flop, but pretty successful as a re-run.  I have a feeling that "May's helper" is going to do a lot better in our house, although our dog is not a big fan of it

.

The Luckiest Man to Have Ever Lived?

There are people who believe they have the worst luck. However, they have never heard of Frank Selak.  His story is one of the most amazing stories you'll ever hear about.  He was born in Yugoslavia in 1929 and he spent most of his adult life as a music teacher.  He passed away in Croatia in 2016 at the age of 87.  But during his life, here's what happened.

As a child he was born two months premature and he was born on a fishing boat. At eleven months old he had life-threatening intestinal problems and when he was eleven years old he almost lost his eye sight.  

In 1957 he was riding in a bus after dropping off all the students on a field trip and the bus veered off into a river when the steering wheel snapped off.  He and the bus driver were okay, but this was the first of seven times he cheated death.  Yes, seven times he cheated death as an adult.

Five years later he was on a train on a rainy evening when a mudslide took out a bridge and the train went into the water.  He broke his arm and had hypothermia and 17 passengers died in the accident.

In 1963 he took his only plane flight and was blown out of the plane and fell 800 meters, lost consciousness, and landed in a haystack.  He was in a coma for four days.

Three years later he was on another bus that skidded into a river and four passengers died.

In the 1970's he escaped two different car fires/explosions in his own car.

In 1995 he was struck by a bus and had only minor injuries.

One year later he avoided a collision on a mountain by driving into the guardrail, which gave way.  He was not wearing a seatbelt and he was ejected from the car and rescued holding onto a tree branch while his car fell 300 feet.

On June 5, 2002, he won the lottery, buying a ticket at the same store he had played the lottery for forty years.  He bought a bunch of things, got married for the 6th time and built a chapel.

By 2010 he had given most of his remaining money away to friends and relatives.

In 2014, he had a heart attack while taking a walk and spent 18 days recovering in a hospital.  Two years later he was gone.

Many of his stories have not been verified or have some details mixed up, but I only have one real question:  how did this guy not write a book about his life?

What's New in Babysitting?

When you're watching an eighteen month old who is going on three or four, lots of things are always happening in the house and here are some of them:

She has two dogs and the littlest one she calls "Little."  She recently got a stuffed animal dog who she calls, "Little." Can you tell which "Little" eats dog food?

This girl is going to like jewelry.  She saw my wedding ring on my finger and insisted on trying it out.

One of her new dolls is Rachel, who has her own television show.  This is her Rachel and the one on television.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                  

My granddaughter's Rachel has been hanging out a lot with "Rainbow Bear," as you can see below they are on top of a slide and about ready to go down together which my granddaughter enjoys seeing.

I use different voices when I'm playing with my granddaughter and for Ms. Rachel I started talking like Mrs. Doubtfire. I had the male, British accent down pretty well and frequently I would say, "Helllooo! Oh my child, what would you like to play now? Help is on the way dear! How precious are you?"

I have been able to teach my granddaughter a new game-the old shell game.  I put a small toy piece under a cup and move it around. She manages to pick up every cup before getting to the right one. I think she may be catching on.  When she's an adult,  she's going to forget this, except for this blog.

Lastly, I was never very good at coloring and this picture will definitely prove it.  I could not stay in between the lines, partially due to her shaking my hand while I tried to color, is that really fair to me?

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                    

MY FAVORITE RIDER COMMENTS IN JANUARY 2026

 At 38 years old she told me about the only normal job she has had: "During the pandemic I started delivering liquor to homes and I was making $5,500 a month after taxes."

The die-hard Houston Texas fan said, "I ordered an Uber recently and before I got in I saw the car was full of Dallas Cowboy stuff.  I told the driver to cancel the ride, I wasn't getting in. When my boss wanted me to work in Dallas, Texas, I told him to get someone else."

Oddest question ever from a rider: "Are you from Paris?"

"Our daughter is one strong girl.  She was at only one pound when she was born and had heart surgery as a baby. She's sixteen now and doing very well."

"If you come across a ghost you should be mean to it and it will leave you alone."

The couple has been married 43 years and I asked, "What's the secret of a successful marriage?" Immediately the wife answered, "I just keep telling him that he's right all the time." Laughing, he said, "Telling jokes like that all the time."

He: "I grew up in the jungle in Honduras. I learned how to speak English when I came here in kindergarten and that's where I learned to speak it fluently."

I told her that a previous rider was a Cleveland Browns fan who had a separate bank account where he was saving money to buy Super Bowl tickets for when the Browns made it there. She said, "That money is going to get old."

I was telling her that one of my past riders was named after her dad's mistress and she said, "My sister was named after my dad's mistress-my mom had no idea where my dad got the name from."

I asked the 19-year-old, "How long have you been working at IHOP?" She said, "Since I've been 13." Me: "How did you get a job at 13?" She: "It's a family business." Me: "IHOP is in your family?" She: "My cousin owns thirty or so franchises."

He: "I recommend to people that the best side gig to have is working in an ice cream store because of the tips."

The chef said, "Chefs are the unspoken heroes of the service world."

The young guy said, "The world needs more smiles and positive vibes."

"People drive early in the morning with their lights off to evade the police."

I asked her what she did for work and the young New Yorker said, "I have two businesses in New York, I'm an over the road truck driver and I just got my real estate license and sold my first house."

He's ten years free of Leukemia, but when he was a child he had a wish through the "Make-A-Wish Foundation. "I wanted to meet Tom Brady.  All the players were on the field for it and I walked up to him and asked if we could have a catch and he threw a pass to me in the end zone of Gillette Stadium and I caught it."

She: "When I was 19, I was driving in the mountains in the dark shutting my lights on and off.  I crashed and was paralyzed. The doctors said I would be paralyzed for life, but there was no way I was going to lay in bed with my mom taking care of me.  It took me 6-12 months before I could walk with assistance and I'm fully recovered with some minor leg issues."

                                                  MORE RIDER COMMENTS

Since she worked at IHOP, I asked her, "What's your favorite food to eat at IHOP?" She: "I'm a French toast girl.  They sometimes call me Frenchy at work."

She: "My friend works for the Denver Nuggets in IT and she has a championship ring and she let me put it on my finger-it was heavy."

The cop told me, "I was one of the Colorado representatives for the last Presidential Inaugural, each state sends them for every Inaugural."

The manager of a Jersey Mikes said, "I told by boss that we need to hire women so they can come in here and clean it up."

He was from Iraq: "When I took the test for citizenship I was very nervous, but I passed."

She: "I had just started working in a liquor store in Colorado when the pandemic shut everything down. It was announced that liquor stores were closing the next day and hundreds of people were in line going around the block and we were letting people in by twos. The closures were canceled the next day."

The accountant from Spain said, "People don't like us, they think our job is boring but I don't."

It's been a mild winter in Colorado and I said to the woman who spent ten years in Chicago, "You must be missing the cold winters there." She said, "No, this is totally fine."

She: "Comparing Charleston, South Carolina with Savannah, Georgia is like comparing pears and peaches."

She: "You should name your mannequin Makayla." Me: Her name is Lily it's on her, but I'll call her Lily Makayla from now on."

Selling pharmaceuticals for cattle she said, "My customers are also my friends."

I asked the woman from California if she was standing outside in the twenty degree weather waiting for me. She said, "I'd be insane to be waiting outside."

Her last driver canceled and she was late for work and she had a headache. At the end of the ride I was pulling up at a mall with valet parking.  She: "If you stop right there, they will yell at you." Me: "I'll go past there, the last thing we want is someone yelling at you today." She: "It would be a sad day for them."

"You're the second driver I've had who wrote a book about this.  He wrote about life lessons."

He: "Human connection is really important."

I was dropping two couples in sales from New Mexico off at the airport.  None of them had ever been in an Uber and as they got out three of them said together, "You're the best Uber driver we've ever had."

Me: "Have you ever got a gift from an Uber driver?" She laughed, "Yes, I got a small little duck with some unicorn stickers."

The 75-year-old man was on his way to Florida.  "I'm getting together with my six siblings to celebrate my mom's 95th birthday and our uncle's 104th birthday."

The guy in his seventies said, "We need to make more connections."

I asked the two couple who had been married 33 years and almost 15 years, "What's the secret of a successful marriage?"  One woman said, "Tolerance," and for the other couple the man said, "God.

The woman from Colorado looking at my mannequin said, "I had a mannequin for about twelve years. We found it in the river and put it on our raft. I just recently threw it out."

The couple met at a square dance club.  Married for 45 years I asked, "What's the secret of a successful marriage?" He said to the effect, "Yes, dear, " and she said, "Saying I'm sorry."

From Nepal, she said, "There are 25 houses in this neighborhood from Nepal." (In Colorado)

He: "The only thing that can brings out your talent is you."

Her last driver canceled and she was late for work and she had a headache. At the end of the ride I was pulling up at a mall with valet parking.  She: "If you stop right there, they will yell at you." Me: "I'll go past there, the last thing we want is someone yelling at you today." She: "It would be a sad day for them."

Wearing pink glasses in my orange car, I said, "I think me wearing those glasses would be too much for my car." She said, "It's never too much.'

Manager of clothing store: "I like when kids come in with parents or grandparents because then I know who has the money."

She: "We once had snow flurries here in Colorado in June."

Thank you to the college student from Rwanda for this bill for my 72nd country represented in my car.

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS:

Pharmaceutical cattle sales

Researcher at Duke Medical Hospital

Accountant for an arcade company from Japan

Former equipment manager for Indiana University

Social media manager for a podcast in Los Angeles

Geology researcher

Bitcoin and stock trader

I DROVE PEOPLE THIS MONTH FROM:

Nepal, Philippines, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, The Congo, Mauritania, Vietnam, Turkey, Peru, Columbia, Spain, Sudan, Albania, Iraq, Japan.

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT ME AND MY CAR:

The artist said about my car, "This is a work of art."

"This is the most enjoyable ride ever, we should make a poster of you."

She: "This is the best money I've ever spent on a museum."

"This is a life well spent and well lived."

He: "This was so awesome, I never could forget this car. I've never seen a car like this."

He sent his girlfriend pictures of my car and then called her and she said, "You better tip the _ _ _ _ out of him."

"You took some time with this, you didn't just get in the car and "vroom". We're going to have to owe you some money."

"It's been such a blessing talking to you today."

"I loved this ride."

He didn't want to talk during the ride, but apologized at the end and said, "You have a really cool taxi."

"This is the best Uber ride I've ever had, 100%, I'm not kidding."

"I've never seen an Uber like this."

"This is an experience, I'm just taking it all in."

"You've provided a great experience for your customers."

"I really enjoyed your car."

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

"This is beautiful."

"I hope I get you again."

The Mexican woman in Spanish I think she said, "Magnificent experience."

"This was a  beautiful ride."

"This was very nice."

"This was an experience."

"I love your car."

"I really enjoyed the ride."

"Beautiful"

"Your car is beautiful."

"This is the coolest thing I've seen this week."

MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN JANUARY 2026

LAST MINUTE INSPIRATION

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

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

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

THE FRENCH TOAST GIRL

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

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

THE ALMOST DOUBLE LAWYER

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

THE PERFECT COUPLE

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

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

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

THE GODFATHER OF CLUBBING!

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