MY FAVORITE RIDERS IN MAY 2026

 

AN INSPIRING ITALIAN WOMAN

On a very short ride, the vivacious woman visiting from Italy was inspiring  At 77 years young, she was a master tennis player in Italy and Peru. She actively plays in tournaments and I'm pretty sure she's very good.  I asked her how she keeps young and she said, "I don't look at the body, I look at the spirit." She also plays tennis five days a week. She gave me a new bill from Peru which appropriately has a woman on the front pictured below and I replaced the Peru bill with a man on the front. I would have loved to have driven her further, but we ran out of time.

THREE NEW MEXICAN DOCTORS

I had a delightful ride with three women from Mexico who recently graduated from medical school.  They were in town for the very large vision conference.  They were all friends and at times answered questions all at once.  The enjoyed the ride and one of them said it was, "refreshing."  I asked to get a picture of them for my car and they wanted a picture of me.  I'll be putting their picture with my Mexican display which will inspire other young people-congratulations to all of you!

One of the doctors was named Lily, the same name as my mannequin.  She's only the second Lily to be in my car in three years and she was happy to take a picture with my mannequin. The caption reads: "Dr. Lily and My Lily."

THE DOUBLE BIRTHDAY RIDE

It's always fun to drive a family celebrity a birthday, but this ride had two birthdays to celebrate and they were originally from Massachusetts.  A mom, her two adult children, and her daughter-in-law were going to a very nice restaurant and I was their before dinner entertainment.  They loved my stories and I even got to play "The Boston Seagull" recording for them.  A woman from Boston two years ago this May did an incredible seagull impression that I recorded.

The daughter generously gave me a bill from Qatar, which became the 77th country represented in my car. She told me, "I've had it for eight years and I traded a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos with a college friend." It was another great ride from the state of Massachusetts, one of my favorite states to pick people up from.

A HAIR STYLIST FOR PORN STARS

When he lived in Las Vegas he worked for three years doing hair, make-up and wardrobe in the porn industry.  He says that, "Now I'm working for a boring salon," but there's nothing boring about this guy.  He has a lot of personality and he said, "I'm married to my career." He told me he used to scare his little cousins with mannequin heads in the past.  He wanted the below picture with my mannequin and he took his glasses off and gave Lily a new look. This picture will be in my car.  

THE ITALIAN COACHES

When I picked them up early in the morning for an hour ride, one of them said, "You're our angel." They were here from Italy and were about to become master coaches. They are strength and conditioning coaches with private clients and they've been in school for eight years.  They told me that training here is far ahead of their training in Italy. They hadn't slept and they were about to take the final part of their test and they were very confident they were going to succeed.  This picture below will be hanging in my car and it will say Italian Master Coaches.

HE LOVES EVERYTHING HE DOES

I was impressed with his energy.  I picked him up on the weekend where he had been coaching two different teams that morning.  He told me that we was teaching leadership in a middle school and he was an entrepreneur.  He has his own aquarium business and he's a reptile breeder.  He said that, "I can take a $500 reptile and turn it into twenty $500 reptiles." When I asked him how he manages his time with all his activities, he explained that the key thing was, "I love everything I do." He has a great future ahead of him and he's a great role model for the kids he works with.

HE'S STILL IN MOURNING

I've only had a few rides like this over eight years of driving, but this was a difficult ride. The man was probably in his late 50's or early 60's. He was married for twenty years, but he lost his wife to cancer-17 years ago.  I spent a lot of time listening to him and he told me, "I'm completely lost. The only thing left for me is death. I try to forget, but I can't." He has ten grandchildren and I think eight children who live close by. He said he has tried everything and he cried some on the ride. I wished him well and to keep in mind that his wife would want him to get through this.

Where Do You Live?

It's a very simple question, but I'm sure that some people would rather not answer it, or they have a lot of fun doing it.  Confused? I don't blame you. What if you lived in a town with a very unusual name? There are some towns in the United States that have very unique names.

HELL, MICHIGAN: How do you name a town hell? Can't you just hear the conversation.  Someone asks, "What are you doing today?" Answer: "I'm going to hell." They do have devilish attractions in the town for tourists if you're planning a trip.

CHICKEN, ALASKA: Now you're talking, I could get into that. They named it after the animal, not the food. It might not make a difference to you, but it does to me since chicken is my favorite food.

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO: There used to be a television show with that name.  The TV host of that show announced that he would broadcast the show from the first town to name themselves after the show and he did.

ROUGH AND READY, CALIFORNIA: This town was named after former President of the United States and General, Zachary Taylor. They came up with the name because of his reputation.

DING DONG, TEXAS: The name came from the words, "Ding Dong" and the picture of two bells on the front door of a general store.

WHY, ARIZONA: They named the town due to a "Y" intersection where the town was founded.

WHYNOT, NORTH CAROLINA: If after reading about Why, Arizona, you may have thought Whynot  could be a name of town also.  That is exactly how it was named, almost. They were trying to come up with a good name and someone say, "Why not this one?" It stuck, why not?

ACCIDENT, MARYLAND: Two land surveyors were working on the same property and came up with the same results, accidentally of course. It became called, "The accident tract," and then they shortened it intentionally.

PECULIAR, MISSOURI: They couldn't come up with a name and someone suggested they choose something...peculiar. I am not making these up.

NO NAME, COLORADO: The town was settled as Rt. 70 was being built and since they didn't have a name...

I grew up in Edison, New Jersey, named after Thomas Edison and I'm glad I did.

"I Don't Resent Bezos, I'm Rooting For Him"

That was the headline of a USA TODAY column by Nicole Russell.  She is a columnist in the paper who has four kids and she lives in Texas.  I've read many of her columns and this one like many of them, is right on the money.

I have rarely posted on something like this but back in 1989 I sent a letter to the editor of a paper after reading a column by Richard Cohen, who was a columnist for The Washington Post for 43 years. The article was titled, "Lee Iacocca, Truly a Man For Our Time." Iacocca was an author, engineer, and executive working at Ford Corporation and he revived Chrysler Corporation.  He also raised hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Cohen criticized Iacocca for becoming rich and supposedly lacking in performance. It was a typical hit piece on how bad rich people supposedly are. I wrote, "In this age of critics and knocking achievement instead of recognizing and praising it, perhaps your next article, Mr. Cohen should be, 'Richard Cohen, truly a man for our times.' I look forward to reading that article and comparing it with Lee Iacocca's achievements." 

Russell praised Jeff Bezos and other very successful people by saying, "Billionaires aren't the villains people often imagine.  They're one reason a busy mom like me can order household essentials or school supplies in minutes and spend more time with my kids."

She said that close to 80% of households in our country buy from Amazon and nearly 200 million people have PRIME memberships. In her column she explained, "Many of America's billionaires have built products and services millions of us willingly use because they make life easier, faster or better. Amazon didn't force its way into American households; consumers invited it in because it solved problems and delivered value."

It's not just the value of their products and efforts, but millionaires and billionaires also employ millions of people in their businesses.  I enjoyed reading another defense of successful people, there should be more columns and articles written like this.

One more thing: a few weeks later Nicole Russell posted another column and said this, "For days, my inbox filled with seething email, and I was tagged in social media posts full of personal and professional smears-all for defending Bezos and the company millions of Americans use every day."

She double-downed on what she originally said and she is absolutely right. There are way too many misconceptions on how people create wealth.  I sent her an email telling her I wrote this blog and I hope she takes a look at this.

A LITTLE BIT OF KINDNESS

It's a bit early for World Kindness Day which is on November 13, but every day should be kindness day. I just read that Florida Gulf Coast University just held the first ever K20 Kindness Without Borders Summit in may to inspire world kindness.  The event brought together 20 thought leaders from all areas of life.

The below very short  two-minute documentary was played at the conference where fifty people were given $30,000 to be a "Kindness Ambassador" and use it how they wanted to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp1vmnrdJj4

In 1998 World Kindness Day was created to  inspire people and bring nations together around the world.  They wanted to highlight good deeds and emphasize that kindness is for everyone throughout the world.

The organization lists six different ways that people can improve their community through kindness:

1. Donate money.

2. Help your local food pantry.

3. Give blood if you can.

4. Volunteer your time.

5. Check on neighbors and family members.

6. Support local businesses, schools and child care centers.

My favorite "kindness" quote comes from Scott Adams who was the creator of the "Dilbert" cartoon.  He said, "Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."

Below are some other "kindness" quotes. It's not November 13th yet, but do something kind today.

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."  Unknown

"No act of kindness no matter how small, is ever wasted." Aesop

"Always try to be a little kinder than necessary." J.M. Barrie

"Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows." Robert Green Ingersoll

"Where there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." Seneca

"Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change." Bob Kerrey

"Kindness is spreading sunshine into other people's lives regardless of the weather."  Unknown

"You can always give something, even if it's always kindness."  Anne Frank

What Makes People Happy?

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

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

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

                                  

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

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

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

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

Call Your Friend During Work?

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

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

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

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

"And the Sign Says..."

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

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

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

                                

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Random April Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Walt Disney Museum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Golden Gate Bridge

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

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

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

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

My Favorite Rider Comments for April 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MORE DRIVER COMMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UNIQUE OCCUPATIONS

Climate Scientist for Texas Tech

Operations Manager for Australian Fitness Company

Content Creator

Former Production Assistant in the film industry

Underground Utility Locator

Builds Cancer Research Centers around the world.

I PICKED PEOPLE UP FROM THESE PLACES

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

WHAT MY RIDERS SAID ABOUT ME AND MY CAR

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

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

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

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

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

"This is crazy."

"I hope I get you again."

"Best Uber ride we've ever had."

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

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

"I really enjoyed this ride."