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Hello out there, Red the Lyft car is the garage and I am writing you from Tiberius, Israel.  I will be her another week and the I am back to Colorado. I have experienced once again how drawn I am to this country and all of its stories.  I look forward to processing my Lyft driving through the lenses of what I am seeing and experiencing here in Israel. Please know I value this weekly routine but I am taking my first week off in 14 months.  Talk with you next week!!! Onward and Upward, Mark  

I had just finished a sad 15 minute ride with a very broken young woman.  The details are ours; sometimes I assure my riders, “What is shared in Red 🚗, will stay in Red 🚗”.  My head was spinning and my heart  ❤️ hurt.  “Ping”… time to get focused for the next ride. He came out of a classic suburban ‘new build’ carrying a small backpack, destination: Denver International Airport.  He asked to sit in the front seat which I always welcome.  We had a good laugh because I asked him to pronounce his first name which had an obvious…

I’m someone who has always loved to travel.  I only realized somewhere in the middle of adulthood that I was a somewhat privileged kid.   I was very fortunate in that, by Pueblo standards I had seen a lot of the world by the time I was 18. My folks took us on many trips large and small.  The first time I saw the Pacific Ocean I was about 9.  We were on a one month road trip to the Northwest.  I saw the mystery of a tidal pool off the coast of Oregon.  Starfish, and Anemones. I went to…

I am back to writing about about a Lyft ride I took to DIA last Sunday morning. It is early Saturday morning, and I am on our lanai in Kauai. I confess to telling my Lyft riders “You are supporting my travel addiction”. It usually makes them smile. As I write I am listening to the cacophony of roosters that are like sparrows in Colorado. So we have done the math and it is way cheaper and much more convenient to take a Lyft to the airport than to drive and park. We requested the ride and the Lyft app…

About 20 months ago Lyft sent out a notice of a new service called Lyft-Line.   They had test marketed the concept in San Francisco and declared it a big success. The idea is that you take complete strangers in the same general direction.  Somehow through the magic of algorithms, your Driver app is able to connect folk who want a discount ride and are willing to jump in a car with not only an anonymous driver, but also a passenger.  The interesting part for Lyft is that both riders  pay them, but the driver only gets one set fee. …

This past Wednesday I decided to “do a little driving in the burbs”.  I sat in my driveway, turned on the app.  It didn’t take long.  Mandy at “Streamers Coffee” .5 miles away.   I thought 💭 “What, a coffee shop this close to me”?  Sure enough, right there on 86th, sits a dapper commercial niche with a coffee shop on the corner.  I parked the car and hit the “Arrived” button.  A little message came up that said “This is Mandy’s First Lyft Ride”.  About then a young woman came out of a business across the street. I assumed…

Lyft sent my “stats update” yesterday and it showed that I had given 3997 rides in 26 months.  I decided that before I could watch football today I had to get three rides.   This was complicated by the reality that I wanted to drive to Greeley for our monthly ‘Men’s Breakfast’ at First Christian.  My plan was turn on my Lyft app on the drive back to Arvada.  The breakfast is always a treat.  These guys even make me my own ‘vegan biscuits and gravy’.  The program today was fascinating. We got to watch custom ball point pins made…

This was my third New Year’s Eve as a Lyft driver.  Years one and two were what I would call ‘exciting and profitable’.  I had experienced none of the nightmare scenarios that you might expect; they were truly fun. It was like going to a bunch of parties without any of the hassle.  This year the big night fell on a Sunday, which for both an active pastor and a Broncos season ticket holder, created a bit of a crunch.  I made a decision to ‘punt’ and go out to do ‘cleanup’ around 5:30am.  It was a unique experience which…

I wrote my first Lyftingmeup blog 364 days ago.  I launched my first attempt on  January 1, 2017 after lots of encouragement from my two kids Amy and Mateo, and my friends Jim and Chris. “Dad you need to write this stuff down”!  It has become part of my weekly ritual.  I know that retelling these encounters has sharpened my attention to storytelling. I have been honored to receive so many kind and encouraging responses from both friends and total strangers.  My move from 21 years of living in central Denver to the far edge of the Arvada suburbs coincided…

“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy, for ALL people”. Luke We are almost there.  I am not sure which day I love most, today or tomorrow.  As I think about it I choose… BOTH!!! Tonight we get to imagine once again sitting around a campfire, with the sheep all bedded down.  They are making occasional sheep sounds; like baaah, and buurrr.  The shepherds are telling jokes, perhaps aiming them at the occupying Roman Army, or the corrupt and crazy leader in Jerusalem (we get it).  It was just another night, nothing special…