What If We Had A $10,000 Bill?

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

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

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

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

My Most Memorable Rider Comments in September

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MY MANNEQUIN "LILY":

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

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

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

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

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

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

She said about Lily, "I love it."

Several riders said, "This is so cool."

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ME AND MY CAR:

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

"I enjoyed it."

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

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

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

"I won't forget you."

She: "I will never forget this ride."

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

"Thanks for the entertainment."

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

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

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

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

MY BOOK IS ALMOST IN!

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

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

Books A Million: 3 days

Amazon: October 2-7

Barnes & Noble October 2nd

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

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

Jeff Hoenig

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

$19.99

Price when purchased online

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Shipping, arrives by Fri, Sep 29 to 

My Most Memorable Riders in September

 JAH TEFF AND JEFF

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

"FUN, FUN, FUN"

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

MUSTANG LOVE

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

HIS BEST

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

TWO DIFFERENT LIVES

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

Overcoming Adversity

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

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

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

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

Have You Ever Visited A National Park?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                       

Where Did That Dream Come From?

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

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

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

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

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

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