Update on My Orange Car

 Decisions, decisions, decisions, we all have them.  Some of them are easy and some of them are not. Six months ago, I went to the Ford dealership in town to buy a 2021 Ford Transit Passenger van.  My 2018 Transit van had over 200,000 miles as an Uber vehicle and two years as a courier vehicle. I figured at best I had a couple months left, but I knew it was time for a new one.

The plan was to get the 2021 van pictured below.  I had to order a car for the first time in my life and I wanted it to be orange.  Having lost my Dad a month earlier, I wanted the car to be a tribute to him.  His favorite color was orange and although he never would have bought an orange car, I knew he would have loved it.  In addition to that, my business name is The Sunshine Man and an orange car was a perfect fit.  My riders love the grey Transit I have now and I knew an orange car would be even better.

When I went to place the order, it would not go through.  I was told they were not accepting 2021 orders anymore in April and it would have to be a 2022.  The earliest I could expect the car would be August/September.  I would be notified they were making it when the time came.  Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, that moment has not come yet.  Although they have made other Transits, mine is not scheduled to be built yet.

I made two columns examining the choices I had.  I could get a grey 2022 Transit similar in color to the one I have now. I could put two, thin orange stripes on both sides of the car and it would look nice.  The second option is to wait for the orange car which will be at least 3 or 4 months longer or maybe 6 months. It came down to what I would drive when my current Transit could not be driven anymore.  I decided that I would rather drive my wife's older Mazda for a couple months and wait for the orange Transit.  The Mazda won't be as comfortable, but I think every time I get in this orange Transit I'm going to be grinning from ear to ear and I know my riders will enjoy it too.

I'm hoping for March, but we'll have to see when I can get it.

Weekend in Washington (Part 2)

 You don't have to comment too much when you have a great picture, but sometimes a picture does not say much of anything. Continuing my last blog about my adventures this past weekend in Washington D.C. visiting my brother:

A BOTTLE OF WATER: Below is a rare and unmemorable picture of me with a bottle of water that I bought near the Lincoln Memorial.  I've always had a problem with buying water and I bought this bottle of water since I was buying one for my brother.  I can remember buying water twice in my life for me to drink, but let's say I've done this less than five times in my life.  The water was just okay. I probably will never do this again. The open mouth I am showing is something my youngest daughter would do. (she is laughing right now)

A PIZZA FIRST!: Maybe this is the new me?  I have pizza only once or twice a year due to my kids eating all kinds of pizza as they grew up and they ruined it for me. (yes, I'm blaming them) My brother took me to a more upscale pizza place and I resisted ordering plain or pepperoni and ordered a pizza with sausage and bacon.  It was not the healthiest of choices, but it was good and it was something I've never done before and may never do again.  We ate outside and it was an experience. Yes, I ate it all.

A BASEBALL FIRST: My brother and I took a tour of The Washington Nationals baseball stadium.  The highlight had to be going into the bullpen and getting to throw a few pitches.  The picture below is just before I threw the first pitch.  Fortunately only the video of me tossing it was taken, the pitch did not end well.  I should have had my brother with a glove on the other end and maybe I would have come close to reaching him.  I threw a couple pitches and none of them were good.  I needed more time warming up I think.

PRESIDENTIAL WORDS: The inside of the stadium was filled with history. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of US Presidents throwing out the first pitch on opening day and there was a wall with some interesting quotes from Presidents.  I rushed the picture, but the two from Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon are worth reading.

WASHINGTON BENCHES: This could have been art on the streets of the city, but I think they were really benches-you decide:

THE PET AREA: On the way home I saw something unusual.  Before I had a dog I never really noticed signs for dogs.  At a rest stop I saw the below sign-PET EXERCISE AREA  AHEAD.  I had to check it out to see if their really was exercise equipment. (The large fingers in the left hand corner are not from some "Giant" about to pick the sign up, they are mine) I could not find any exercise equipment, but there were a couple of nice picnic tables for pets to have lunch. I really would like to talk to the person who made that sign.  I'm guessing that they have a pet.

It was a lot of fun visiting my brother for a few days and of course many times I said, "I feel a blog post coming," and now you have them.

Weekend in Washington (Part1)

I began the seven hour trip north to Washington D.C. to visit my brother early Friday morning and returned home to Myrtle Beach late Monday afternoon.  Over four days there were some interesting and unusual things to blog about and so I begin....

SPENDING CASH: I've blogged recently that I have a difficult time spending cash and it sometimes borders on the ridiculous.  I brought about $100 and although I spent almost all of it, it was not easy. On the way Friday I stopped at a 7-11 for gas and could not resist getting a soda.  I've been avoiding soda except on vacations, so getting a soda was a big deal.  I took out my two dollars and the cashier told me that they had no change so the drink was on her.  Since I had no change, I offered a dollar bill which would have paid for a good part of it, but she declined my offer. I walked out of the store with the drink and my cash rejected again.

THE APPLE STORE: Walking to dinner, my brother showed me the Apple store below which they had refurbished with a lot of money.  Going into an Apple store is a pretty common thing for people to do, but not for me.  However, this was Washington. D.C., and they do things a little different here as you can see by the picture below. It really is an Apple store!

WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE? On a Friday and Saturday night the residential area my brother lives in, did not look anything like a Friday or Saturday night in a busy place.  I'm used to seeing a lot of people and cars in Myrtle Beach or Charleston, but in Washington, D.C., not so much and it's probably due to the virus.

THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL: One of the less traveled memorials, it is a magnificent structure with Jefferson standing in the middle inside.  This picture however, is me, a random woman, and just the legs of Jefferson.  This is the kind of picture you never see, you have to see the rest in person.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: She does not get enough credit, but at the Roosevelt Memorial she does:

MARTIN LUTHER KING'S statue is tremendous in size and this picture shows the Washington Monument peaking out of the trees. On the stone it says, "out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: My favorite memorial by far.  From the back of it looking across the water to the Capital.  And, above Lincoln, a bunch of windows(?) that no one ever takes a picture of this scene.

Looking From A Different Perspective

 I enjoy reading things I don't agree with and I like talking to people who have different views.  I know that's pretty unusual, but I think it's important to look at things a different way.  But how often do you  do it?  Fortunately for me as an Uber driver, I have 60-70 strangers in my car each week and we get to talk about almost every possible topic.

At the end of August, I found myself on vacation in a hotel room in New Jersey. It was early in the morning and my wife and dog were both sleeping.  I was done sleeping and needed a place to read without waking them. On the other side of a wall was the bathroom and I turned the light on and got on my stomach and started to read.  Taking a break, I turned over on my back and saw the room in a different way.

The first picture says, "Europe."  Was it really made there or is the name of the company that installed the ceiling called Europe? I have no clue.  I wonder how many customers have ever seen "Europe" on this ceiling over the sink? The second picture shows the light coming out of the bathroom and also the hall closet. I think there were 15 of those pieces of the closet that you can see.

It was not very exciting taking in these sights around 6 am in the morning, but it was different.  What things are you not seeing in your house or on the way to work or at work? Frequently, we take things for granted, maybe there's a "Europe" in your life and you just haven't seen it yet?

The Kellogg's Plants Are Closed!

 It seems like a cruel joke, but Kelloggs, the cereal company that makes my favorite cereal, Cocoa Krispies, is closed.  About 1,400 employees are on strike about a number of pay and benefit issues. Their plants are in Omaha, Nebraska, Battle Creek, Michigan, Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Memphis, Tennessee.

I have taken inventory and I have five full boxes of Cocoa Krispies left.  I don't think I can make it to Thanksgiving.  Does this mean there will be less than zero boxes in stores? Are there still shipments coming in? This can't even be blamed on the virus.  I'm waiting five and a half months for Ford to make my car, what if I can't get Cocoa Krispies for five months?

Here's some things you don't need to know about Cocoa Krispies: It appeared in the United States in 1958, which makes it 63 years old. It is two years older than I am and also Haagen-Dazs Coffee ice cream.  It is called Coco Pops in Europe. In our country, it was originally represented by a monkey named Jose and then Coco the Elephant and Snagglepuss (the cartoon character) and then Ogg the Caveman.

Some of the slogans used in the past were: "Keep your eyes open on the monkey you see, I'd always like a bowl of Cocoa Krispies," "With every bite so chocolatey, oh, everybody wants my Cocoa Krispies," and "Coco Pops is so chocolatey, it even makes the milk turn brown." (and if you use orange juice.....)

Did you know that Cocoa Krispies contains a good source of 8 vitamins and mineral and are low in fat? I didn't know that, maybe I should eat more of them when it's better times. I looked up a list of the top 100 cereals and Cocoa Krispies was only ranked 47.  In the top ten were Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, Corn Flakes, and Cap'n Crunch. Some of the cereals ranked in front of Cocoa Krispies were: Puffa Puffa Rice Cereal, Hidden Treasures Cereal, Waffelos Cereal, C-3PO's Cereal, and Nerds Cereal.  I did not make these names up.

So, if you're looking for Cocoa Krispies, I may have the largest collection and they are not for sale.  I guess I'll have to wait before I send them a letter asking for more to be delivered to the area.  I'm going to limit myself to only one bowl until the strike is settled.  Maybe I should check the store closest to me and grab whatever is left?

SEPTEMBER RIDER COMMENTS

 The mother said, "Arkansas is a terrible state." When I said that Bill Clinton had a library in Little Rock where they lived, the 14 year old boy said, "we don't condone him."

The recently engaged man said to me about first meeting his fiancee, "she has rich parents which kept me interested for awhile."(joking behind her back)

Former Uber driver: "I'd rather be pissed off, than pissed on."

He said, "Elon Musk's daughter's name is an equation." It is X AE A -Xii.

The three close friends, sorority sisters, were on a girl's weekend. One woman: "I don't think we've said anything funny to make your list of favorite comments." Another woman pointing to the third woman, a lawyer, " I have it. We have known her for 17 years and this is the first time we've seen her boobs."

Insurance agent: "I had a couple in my office and the husband said, "How can you expect us to pick what kind of insurance to get, we can't even decide when to have sex."

Retired and now a limo driver: "My best day for tips was recently when I made $1,150 in one day which included a $200 tip during the day and a $700 tip on a $600 bill in the evening."

Her: "My nickname is "Moon." As a baby when I cried they showed me the moon and I stopped crying.  I had a lot of male cousins and when I got a little older I would drop my pants and moon them."

"My friend and I were at a bar in New York and we looked online and saw that we could get tickets for the Michigan game for only $20. We got in our car and drove to Michigan without telling anyone. My girlfriend made me sleep on the couch for two weeks."

Me: "How long have you lived in Memphis?" Him: "too long."  Me: "What's the best thing about living in Memphis?" Him: "Leaving."

Two female police officers from Florida: "I sometimes hesitate to tell people what we do since some people love us and some people hate us."

Woman: "I work in research and development for a spirit company- I'm a supertaster." (they have more than 30 tastebuds on part of their tongue) "I really don't like how bananas taste."

Me to guy in his early 20's: "Did your strict upbringing give you a strong work ethic?" Him: "Absofuckinglutely."

Woman: "We were celebrating her birthday and we did drink a lot. We weren't drugged, mugged, or raped, but I did shake a tree a bit."

Insurance agent: "We had a very good customer who was having a mail order wedding, so we had it in our office.  We decorated with a lot of white, not knowing that white in Chinese represents death.(bride was chinese)

Woman: "I like the wind and air here, we don't really have wind in Ohio."

Me: "What kind of lawyer are you?" Him: "A good one."

"There was a 1947 Rolls Royce at the wedding we just attended here. There are only two in the world."

Couple in their 40's?: "Can you tell you us the best strip club to go to? When we travel we always go to one in each town."

Florida resident: "I'm not going to be taking my kids to Disney World, it's too commercialized."

Business owner with 85 employees: "I told my staff, if you're vaccinated and you get sick, I'll take care of it, but if you're unvaccinated and you get it, it's "fuck'n up to you."

Me: "What do you do for work?" Male: "I have 5 R&B's, I'm a slumlord."

"I plowed snow in upper state New York where we had 140 inches of snow in the winter.  One time there was 54 inches that came down in 24 hours.  We had to clear the roof to open the front door."

Visiting from Boston he said, "People are like in slow motion down here."

"I'm not into politics at all but when President Obama closed the pipeline for 18 months I lost $400,000." (Welder)

"My husband is an ICU nurse and he has seen so many people die violently without their family, it's been very difficult on him."

Mother: "My two year old has an Italian accent, she's saucy."

"Uber makes it too easy not to drive drunk."

After the man from Boston said the word "Karrr"(not car), he said, "I don't have an accent."

Male: "I'm from Louisiana.  I can only go so long without a woman."

Woman: "We've been engaged for four years.  Getting married is on our to do list."

Father: "My son and I had the talk this past week about how fortunate he is and how he should appreciate what he has.  We ended up hugging and crying on the couch, so I think he got the message."

Black male: "I'm a software developer making games for a cartoon called "Afro Man" which enlightens and inspires young children."

Woman: "When I was 11, I wanted a bathing suit and my Dad said, "If you want it, go out and earn it." I started working in a clothing store to get clothes and at 15, I was running a small store."

Two young men from Honduras working here on a visa: "We're coming back here early next year, we love America."

Two cops from Maryland: "We're in town for SWAT Training." Me: "Where is the training?" Him: "Yes." Me: "I was going to ask if it was top secret." Him: "No, not top secret, but yes."

Me: "I really don't have any good Ohio stories other than I've been told they are bad drivers." She: "So in addition to being bad drivers, we're boring?"

Me: "When you retired five years ago, was it an easy transition?" Her: "No, I went into therapy and I'm still there.  If you're waking up with nothing on your schedule to do, it's depressing."

His Dad was in the Navy, so as a child, 4-7 years old, he lived on an island off Italy. "I came home to Philadelphia when I was 7 and it was 1976, The Bicentennial. They were having parades and celebrations and I thought America was like that all the time."

"The Uber driver told me that he was taking the half dozen married women to a Gay strip club so they could have fun without being bothered. He also said recently he took a few guys there purposely who were not looking for a Gay strip club." 

She: "The world doesn't spread enough kindness."

Employee of The Kansas City Chiefs: As I dropped her off at the airport she said, "If you promise not to mug me, I can show you something," She showed me her Super Bowl Ring from 2020 and allowed me to take a picture of it on my finger. The ring is worth $70,000 now.

"I'm headed to New York today.  I'm the DJ for the 9-11 benefit with Dave Chappelle at Madison Square Garden." "I owe my radio career to a pug that got lost on 9-11 in the attack, but eventually turned up okay.  I call him "Devil Dog."

Two men: "We were both there on 9-11 in two of the smaller World Trade Center buildings.  When the first plane hit we ran out and somehow bumped into each other.  We escaped by water ferry.  One of my cousins survived after being on the 82nd floor.  One of my friends didn't make it. It was his first day back from his wife having a baby that week."

I asked the white couple in their mid to late 20's who had been dating 6 months: "how did you meet?" They replied: "Our families arranged it. They knew each other and invited us out to dinner and didn't tell us the other one was coming until we were on the way.  There were two open seats at the end of the table next to each other and when we talked, the table went quiet."

The blind couple told me, "During the pandemic we've done 5,000 zoom calls as a support group for blind people which has spread out to other countries."

Advice: "It's important to smell the flowers and blow out the candles."(letting things go)

Man about his wife sitting next to him, "Everything she says is unusual."

Restaurant Consultant: she said, "I'm required to drink on my job, but I can't drive home."

Me: "What made you decide to go into the military?" Manager in the Marine Corps: "I was pissed off about 9-11. When I was in third grade I was in class and someone said that planes had gone down from Los Angeles to Boston. A girl in our class said her Dad was flying from LA to Boston.  The teacher turned pale and said, "we have to get you home."  Her Dad was on the plane that crashed.  I just wanted to give something back."

The morning of 9-11: She said, "I was there that morning. I just got to work at the Hyatt which was not close to the attack. I was there about 12 hours before walking over the Brooklyn Bridge with my brother." (I dropped her off and looked at the clock which said 9:11)

"I know a lot of miserable rich people."

"My wife does financial work for a woman who sells undergarments for women that covers their private parts and she sells thousands of them."

"90% of hip hop sales are from white people."

Woman from California, "I was approached in a restaurant and the guy said, "you're not from here. I can tell from how you dress and how you present yourself."(meant as a compliment)

Young couple dating three years: He said, "she asked me recently what I love about her and I said, "you're pretty, beautiful and I love your glow."

Male: "My name is Miachel, I'm named after my Dad.  However, his brother and mother call him Michael and I saw his name once in the newspaper as Micheal."

Woman said to me: "My advice is, never work for a fast food place when you're pregnant." Me: "As a 61 year old male, I'm going to follow that advice."

Woman: "I'm crashing the wedding with my girlfriend."

She said, "A lot of people are moving from California to Tennessee where we live.  Many of us say, "You're welcome to enjoy our beautiful state, but leave your politics at home."

"We have a saying in Tennessee, "Don't California our Tennessee."

"Denver is awesome."

Woman: "I majored in Art and I'm doing accounting work for a company now." Me: "So, they wanted someone creative working on their books?"

Tennis coach: "Pickle ball is not a fad. I knew a guy in college who was an average player and he went pro as a pickle ball player."

Male: "When the kids moved out we said, "we're rich."

Just arriving in town the two women took a bunch of brochures from my car and said, "you're awesome, you're our one stop shop."

Bartender: "One Christmas party a fight broke out and they knocked over the Christmas tree and broke all the lights."

Couple from New Jersey who bought a house here. Husband: "We can't move down here until her mom goes somewhere."(88)

I asked two mustang enthusiasts: "What's the best thing about mustangs?" One of them said, "everything" and the other said, "nothing," at the same time.

Me: "What do you sell?" Woman: "I sell trash." (gets new customers for collection)

Recovered from brain surgery: "you have to talk about what you want.  It creates the belief and attracts what you desire."

Male: "I can't eat bad food."

Fireman: "You don't become a fireman to make money."

Retired from 45 years of owning an Italian Restaurant: "I used to tell people in the business that we need to create something so customers can eat our food for breakfast."

Young woman about getting engaged: "I don't want to get engaged on a holiday, I just want it to be on a regular day."

 "My Dad said, "if you're going to live in this house you're going to have to be a Yankee and Giant fan."

Young woman: "I do miss the people in the south living out in California, but I do hang out there with a lot of east coast people."

Male accountant: "Anyone can do accounting, but treating people the right way is the most important thing."

The couple is spending a few weeks visiting southern towns to see where they would like to visit more or possibly live.  When I told him I suggested that to my wife he said, "Tell her that you saw your future."

Restaurant at Broadway at the Beach: "We lost 12 people since COVID started who went to real estate school."

Me: "How do you slow down as someone newly retired?" Him:" I don't let anyone put me on their schedule."

Front desk female at hotel- "I'm just not ready to deal with people today."

Yankee fan: "I was working in upper state New York in a guys house that wasn't there.  I came across a World Series trophy in a enclosed case.  I think it was the Red Sox trophy for 2007 since the home owner was a part owner of the team."

Land surveyor: "There's been a shortage of land surveyors for 25 years." Me: "You should open a school for land surveyors." Him: "Will you run it for me?"

Male owner of real estate office in Florida, "It took almost losing my best friend(38) to the Delta virus, for me to get the vaccine."

Her Mom had a stroke in the past year after constantly watching the news and worrying about the virus. "The news doesn't add anything to your life."

Male engineer: "I tell my kids and any young person-whatever you're going to do in life, get an engineering degree first."

"The weather in San Francisco gets better and better each year."

TSA agent: "There were 41 agents from across the country that came to Myrtle Beach due to the large amount of passengers.  Most of them are gone now. It went smoothly, but in New Jersey those people can be snippy with you."

"At the NASCAR race, the cars were so fast that if you blinked you would missed them.  They were so loud you had to wear earplugs."

Jokingly he said, "I'll give you at least two stars."

Male doctor from Detroit: "I'm in town for a bachelor party, but I'm flying out right away for a wedding in  Ohio-it's pretty much hell."

Woman married 38 years as my wife and I, but she has 11 grandchildren and we're waiting for our first. "You're going to have plenty of grandchildren, I'm already speaking it."

Guy in his 20's, "I love talking about food. I have the same problem you have with chicken being your favorite food."

My nickname is Tripp because there are three John's in our family."(triple)

Him: "When I set up the account on the Uber app, I was worried about losing my money, so I made up my name as "Cash." (only rider all day to give cash tip)

Insurance agent: "My client asked me what kind of carpet I should get in his house."

"The people here are much nicer than in Philly."

"The last time I was in Myrtle Beach it rained every day. When I looked at the forecast and saw rain every day I thought this would be the worst vacation."

Young man who was arrested and was going to pay the fine, "I'm in trouble, but I'm not really in trouble-you know what I mean."

25 year old male who just had his dream car, a Mercedes stolen-"There's no reason for me to get all upset, nothing I can do about it."(earns $26 per hour)

"I moved to California near Los Angeles and the weather is pretty much the same everyday, but I can't break the habit of checking the weather forecast daily."

"I moved to South Carolina for the quality of life."

"A year after 9-11 I won a golf tournament in Idaho and the trophy was a large picture of The Statue of Liberty, The American Flag, and The World Trade Center."

"I went to first NASCAR race.  I'm from Louisiana, but I was surprised how everyone was dressed, it was a different kind of country than I'm used to."

"Montana was a beautiful place when I lived there."

"Thank you for getting our day off to a great start."

"I'm a big Steeler fan and I got to go to Canton to see three Steelers inducted into the Hall of Fame recently, it was great."

Couple: "We have a COVID dog." (bought to keep them company)

When he saw the Super Bowl ring he said, "Damn!"

Me: "So you're a Cowboy fan?"  Guy from Dallas, Texas: "Unfortunately."

Young woman in Charleston, "I wouldn't say the people down here are friendly."

"You're an excellent driver."

September Rider Stories

 THE DJ:  I've picked up DJ's before, but this DJ turned out to be a famous DJ. The morning after 9-11 I took him to the airport.  He was heading to New York to DJ at Madison Square Garden for the 9-11 benefit with comedian Dave Chapelle. He was tired after working the night before, but he was in a talkative mood.  I asked him if COVID had affected his work and he said, "No, I just worked in the red states where governors didn't care about their people." He mentioned a number of rappers he has worked with and also Howard Stern and Opie and Andy. (radio personalities)  The most amazing thing he said after seeing the framed picture of the Twin Towers I had in my car was this: "I was there that morning. My studio was next to The World Trade Center, but I left there at 8:30 am., shortly before the first plane hit." He said that a famous DJ had lost his pug that morning in the attack and could not work.  He was asked to substitute for him on three shows and then the dog was found.  They offered him a job, because they said he was funny. "I owe my radio career to that pug, I call him devil dog." He's been on the radio since then and has been a DJ in a number of foreign countries also. My wife would have really enjoyed driving him and I'm sure she would have had a great conversation with him since she enjoys rap.  I checked him out on the internet and he's the real deal.

"THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTER": If I picked out my favorite 25 riders in the 6,000 rides I've given, one of the riders would have been the guy I met in January 2019 who worked at Trader Joe's greeting people at the door.  Without a doubt he was one of the most inspiring people I've ever met.  When I dropped him off that early morning at a restaurant, he was standing at the locked door and making someone laugh inside because he was flapping his arms like a bird.

This month, I had the pleasure of picking him up again, but he was wearing a mask and sitting in the back and I did not know it was him.  As he got in I said, "how are you today?" He said, "Amazing." He told me, "every day I wake up I'm amazing." He said in 1988 in high school he was in a horrible accident and the doctors did not think he would make.  His parents kept encouraging him and he kept getting better despite the doctors saying he would need to be put in Assisted Living.  He recovered from brain surgery, worked for four years helping researchers help people recovering from serious injuries and also volunteered helping kids recover from injuries.  He told me, "you have to talk about what you want, it creates the belief and what you desire."  I asked him what he does at Trader Joe's and he said, "I rap there." Still not realizing who he was I said, "you know a couple years ago I picked up a guy who was an attitude adjuster at Trader Joes." He said, "I'm the same person." I was floored and so excited to see him again.  He was very happy that I remembered him and some of the story he told me last time. He made my day and I think I made his.

THE SUPER TASTER: Sometimes, it's what the person does for a living that is not just interesting, but it's very unique.  The woman who got in my car said she was in research and development for a Spirits company. My first thought was the occult, obviously ridiculous, but her company develops and manufactures alcoholic beverages.  My rider, is someone who is able to taste and smell at a greater intensity than the average person.  By definition, she has more than 30 taste buds on a small part of her tongue which makes her unique. In the past, she worked for a Pastry Chef using her skills. There may be as many as 25% of the population who could be considered a Super Taster, but they may not know they have that skill.  She told me that she likes what she does, but she doesn't like the taste of bananas.   

THE BARTENDER/POET: It was one of the longest rides of the month, 48 minutes from North Myrtle to the airport.  It started as a discussion about capitalism and the minimum wage, but it changed dramatically during the ride.  She was a bartender/server like my wife, but she also loves to write  poetry. (she was a nurse in a Nursing home}  In the past year she had her book published and I checked it out on Amazon when I got home.  She read one of her poems to me in the car and there is a religious connection to her poetry. It was interesting to listen to her..  She enjoyed hearing that I liked to write and was going to check out my blog also. We had no problem talking the entire trip and it was a lot of fun.  I'm sure this young woman has a bright future ahead of her.

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS: No, I'm not really going to say I had a witch in the car.  It was a young couple for my last ride of the day and they were from Salem, New Jersey.  They had been together for nine years and I told the guy that I wasn't going to ask why he hadn't popped the question yet.  I told him a few marriage and relationship stories and we were laughing most of the way to their destination.  The girl said that her boyfriend was puzzled when they moved to Salem, because he didn't see anything "witchy." He didn't realize the witch trials were in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, NJ is actually south of the Delaware Memorial bridge which brings you into Delaware.  You have to drive north from Salem and then go south to get to Delaware.

THE WELDER: This passenger surprised me throughout the ride. He did not come off as someone who was very successful, but he definitely was.  When he told me he sold his large property in upper state New York, I asked, "I guess you did pretty well with that?" His reply was, "I didn't do badly," which was obviously an understatement these days.  He plowed snow up there for five years where they can get as much as 140 inches of snow and told me about the challenges you have because the plow freezes.  "We once had 54 inches fall in 24 hours and we had to clear off our roof to open the front door." His main career most of his life has been a pipeline welder and he had worked in every state except Maine. "I'm not into politics, but when President Obama canceled the pipeline for 18 months, I lost $400,000.  There were many weeks that he worked 100 hours as a welder.  He said there are currently a lot of people unemployed after the pipeline was recently canceled. "One year I worked every day except 9 days and there have been years I worked only three months."  This is a guy who has had a very interesting life and he made my ride very enjoyable.

REMEMBERING 9-11: I had picked her up before, but on the morning of 9-11, our ride was short.  She saw the framed picture I had in the car of the World Trade Center and she told me she was there that day as a 19 year old working for Hyatt Hotels.  She wasn't close to where the attack was, but she remained there for 12 hours.  She said, "my brother was working in the city too and he stayed with me for about 12 hours before we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get out of Manhattan." She didn't have a chance to say much more, but it was obviously a difficult memory.  When she got out of the car I looked at the clock, it was 9:11 am, the morning of 9-11.

TWO FRIENDS: Sometimes you know for sure that you were meant to pick someone up and these two guys certainly fit the bill.  Two weeks after 9-11 I was telling them the DJ story above and they said, "We were both there that morning." They had worked in two of the smaller buildings at the World Trade Center and ran out of their buildings thinking a bomb had gone off.  Somehow, with all the people on the street, they bumped into each other. They were two of thousands of people who escaped by water that day. One guy said, "One of my cousins survived after being on the 82nd floor" of one of the towers. He also described a much sadder story: " One of my friends didn't make it. It was his first day back from his wife having a baby that week." It was difficult hearing a first account of that day, but it was something I'll never forget.