ShuttleDave: Life Coach

I was recently telling Jill Bakke about my shuttle gig and what a great time I am having.

Jill creates community and healing at the Atrium in Greendale. She's a life coach, trainer and more.

And, after listening to what I do with people during drive time, she said it sounds like I already have the basis for a coaching practice. I am already listening, holding space and encouraging others. Certainly there is much more that goes into it, however ...

I’ve been creating and distributing words of praise mostly to teachers of foreign language via GoodWorkCards.com since 1990. I created the Mini-Thanks cards a few years ago. I have written the first edition of Do Happy Better as a way to describe the benefits of giving thanks by actually GIVING thanks. A second edition is expected by Spring 2014 on Amazon and Kindle.

As much as I have lately thought to work in marketing communications for a car dealer ... maybe there’s a higher calling.

Okay, there’s always a higher calling.

What's calling you?

Fat Tire Rider

“Two hours after new kids arrive they have forgotten everything their mother ever told them about - well - almost everything.” he says. Ken is a custodian in a student housing facility near the river. He’s seen the devastation and fixed it.

He’s ridden his fat tire bike 5 minutes to work and back for over four years.
Riding gets tough at about three inches of snow he says. He’s geared up for it.

He lives in Riverwest with his bride - new since August last. A week into the honeymoon she broke her right ankle. She was off work for a month and a half. And now the car needs brakes. Or, has needed brakes for quite awhile. They are riding on metal and stopping on the squeal. And now he has to take a day off work to bring their one car in to the shop.

So many of us use of off-work time, our real life, to get the chores done. Often I ask how wonderful it would be to have an occasional day off with nothing to do but what you choose. (You know, the way they do in Europe?)

Deciding to own only one car was a bit of a stretch for a number of months especially when his mother was declining on the south side of town.

And although the bills are mounting up he seems to have a balanced attitude. Life in Riverwest is wonderful - almost everything within walking distance and great neighbors.

He has a particular shine to him when he mentions the Fat Tire Birkie and Bar Hop. Ken likes his bike.

What I like about this story is that, even though there’s so little story here ... for you and me ... it’s Ken’s story. That’s the way he tells it. And we all have a story or two especially when someone’s listening.

Drive Time

Someone said I should write a book. I love when people tell me what I should do. This is a person that did not realize I was already writing the stories down even though I’d already told him at least a couple times. Apparently he’s not online nearly as often as he’d like me to think he is.

Maybe the part I needed to hear from him is that the stories might see a larger audience if they were collected.

While I constantly think of the couple hundred notes I have not transcribed from my recorder I now see that I have gotten 84+ stories onto the blog spaces; ShuttleBug and ShuttleDave. There might be some duplicates.

Where else is free time like this available? This is in between time. Maybe the hair salon. Possibly visiting with the bartender.

If you go see your therapist or doctor you have to make your decisions sound plausible or defensible. There’s this barrier.

While we can and do talk about most things in the shuttle we rarely talk about their car service. I tell folks that my approach to car service and knowledge about cars goes like this: when I have a problem I open the hood, say a little prayer and call someone who knows more that I do.

A few people - very few actually - have needed to vent but most realize that I cannot make the process faster or cheaper. I am not trying to sell anything. We relax.

It’s not that I intentionally want to distract them but I am interested in what they are interested in talking about. Mostly we talk about the job. Their job. Sometimes they ask me about mine.

What did I do before I retired? I love that one. I’m in a white shirt and tie, driving them to work in a company vehicle. What part of this looks retired to you? - is what I think. It’s amazing what we do to the definition of words - I might say.

I do ask about exciting or new projects. I am now wondering about other questions. Here are the 10-questions from James Lipton’s “Inside the Actors Studio” program.

1. What is your favorite word?

2. What is your least favorite word?

3. What turns you on?

4. What turns you off?

5. What sound do you love?

6. What sound do you hate?

7. What is your favorite curse word?

8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

9. What profession would you not like to do?

10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Looks like I’m cooking a book.

36, 37, 38

On Wednesday I met JB. He’s originally from Haiti but considers Boston his home. He did spend six years in Portland and yes, if you haven’t been there, put it on your list. His wife was transferred to Milwaukee and he now works IS for Harley.

We talked about disaster, relief, helplessness and doing what you can with what you have. He has extended family there and visits every couple of years. And once again Harley is a great company to work for.

On Friday I met Edjou. He looked a little surprised when I said his name - right - the first time. I absolutely love doing that. He’s from Cameroon. He came over on the US Diversity Lottery or something like that. You have to have some education, some work experience, some contacts and - it is a lottery - you have to play to win. In the year 2000 he won.

This is my America and it’s pretty much all I know. However things might have seemed to have changed and not necessarily for the better (he agrees) it is still better than where he came from. He brought up justice for instance. There is so much corruption there.

Mostly we talked about people and caring for one another. I’d love to have a coffee with him. There is so much I could learn.

On Thursday and Friday I have a chance to meet Eric B. He’s all homegrown. He works third shift at Miller-Coors on the bottling line. Not the can line.

Between the two of us and the traffic we could not really get all the arithmetic finished but suffice it to say that on a good day/shift he sees 350,000 bottles go by and that’s five semi-trailer loads of bottles. That's a lot of beer.

Better than that he’s off to load and deliver a thousand pounds of donated food to the food pantry he’s been volunteering at for the last ten years.

Ten years? Yahoo! I gave him a thanks and a pat on the back.

“Thanks,” I said, “We need you here.”

It turns out I might be of some service with his promotions.

Finding someone from somewhere else with a few minutes and a willingness to engage is wonderful.

P.S. I add the 36th & 37th countries to my international customer list with Haiti and Cameroon. Hmmm ... I just checked my list again and see that somewhere along the line I forgot to add South Africa. Amazing. 38.

Roots and Strings

Mary S. drives 45 miles into the city from La Grange between Elkhorn and Whitewater. She used to work downtown as a para-legal for a name brand firm. They were trying to turn her into a Republican she told me. Now she works in health care. Less stress; honestly.

Her real work is her homestead and garden. She grows, harvests, dehydrates, cans and freezes. In the non-growing season she studies, plans and prepares. Agri-business will be the death of us.

I try not to argue with my customers. No argument here anyway.

She was born in Lakeland Hospital as was I. She dabbled in Photoshop enough that she was tapped to create the cover art for the 25th anniversary compilation album for Piper Road Spring Band.

Apparently we were sitting together in the Sprague Theater 15 years ago, at one of the stops on the anniversary tour. We did not know that then.

Often I think I’d like to miss the exit, keep going, stop for breakfast, call in sick, or better yet, well.

Not Much Farther

JG was in from Newberry last Friday. I drove him home and back in one morning. His part was not in. The car would have to stay over. He couldn't have that.

We talked about his wife's degenerative neurology, Harvard Medical, an upcoming trip to Mayo and how to retrofit his auto to accommodate his darling dear.

On the way back he mentioned Mac and was not familiar with the local MUG that meets at UWM. His trips to the Genius Bar have been less than ... he had anticipated.

He was in again this morning. He had not found the monthly MUG meeting online - which was actually yesterday - even though I gave him the exact URL: double-click.org - he even wrote it down. I can't really peek over. I'm driving.

He googled something at home and was not able to find it. Hmm ... maybe it's not the Genius Bar after all.

Today, on our way back to his house, we talked about food; specifically vegetarian. He's eaten that way for 30 years. He's worried now about soy and GMO. He thinks he might go Paleo. Agribusiness crept boldly in to our conversation. I mentioned walnuts, Blue Diamond and the FDA.

He looked up Thrive while we crossed the Milwaukee River on North Ave. He has his iPad and a hotspot with him.  Founder Foster Gamble has passion and resources ... a great combination.

We also mentioned Zukav, the Dancing Wu Li Masters, Timothy Leary, what else?

I drop him at home and I am on my way on to the remainder of my 132 miles around town.

I pick him up shortly after my shift is over. On the way back we start in somewhere else in the conversation. He brings up chemtrails. Now it's starting to get a little out there for me.
 www.whyintheworldaretheyspraying.com

Chemtrails; the big brothers club is weaponizing the weather. I don't doubt it.

Anyway, the dashboard calculator says that, over weeks and weeks of time, the average around-town speed I achieve is 24 mph. Today I went 132 in 5.5 hours. That looks like 24 to me.
I have gone farther in a single day but not by much.

Light up. Move forward.

I meet folks in the shuttle that have answers to questions; plumbing, medical, design, nutrition, engineering, DOT road construction, weather radar, it’s actually quite a list. Apparently I have a lot of questions.

A couple months back I met Carrie Lou Who; a children’s book illustrator. Perfect timing.

My wife Pat is assembling a career’s worth of games, puzzles and activities for sale online. She’s got the data smashing and forms layout  down cold. She’s particularly facile with combinations and permutations. What she’s been missing is the graphical elements; clip art. She wants her own stylistically similar sets of pics to go with vocabulary words; clothing, table setting, farm animals, zoo animals, body parts, etc. And she does not want to get into the copyright legal arena. It has been a creative sticking point.

I’m so excited that my dear wife might continue with the most passionate aspect of her teacher career: the creation.

So, one day a couple months ago I met Carrie. A few weeks later the two of them met. Pat said here’s a gal that gets the idea right off the bat. Contract signed, deposit down and sketches in a few days.

...

While Ken’s car is being serviced I’m driving him to Cudahy where he’s been busy cleaning out his mother’s house. There’s been a member of his family in that town since 1908 and soon, whenever his niece moves on, that will be the end of that. Sad times.

He’d taught Social Studies in Waukesha for so long that he’d had my boss in class once upon a time. That has been awhile. “He was kind of different.” he said.

I do not know my boss very well, but I’d have to agree.

Ken’s now retired from public school teaching mostly because of the political fiasco with the governor.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again. The right to bargain means - the right to bargain. It does not mean you get everything you want. For instance, and for teachers, a lunch hour is not an hour. It might be somewhere in the vicinity of 22 minutes in which time you may answer student questions, be a hall monitor or break up a fight. Now try to actually eat, get to the bathroom and make any calls you need to make. By the way, teacher might have phones in their rooms but their personal use of them is obviously restricted to break time. There is - in some years - no break time.

Ken wasn’t ready to retire but he was able to get out before they stripped everything from him. Anyway, he’s now teaching online economics to Chinese students through One World School. And I shared the TeacherPayTeachers site with him.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. And the portal might be found near your best creative self. Shine your light. Move forward.