Nice Sunday Morning read from Mike Rowe

GON

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Copy and pasted from Mike Rowe's Facebook:

A Pretty Good Lyft
Last week in Baltimore, Uber charged me $85 for a trip that usually costs $20. I looked into the way their "surge pricing" model actually works, and didn’t like what I learned. So today, after checking out of my hotel in Oklahoma, I called Lyft instead, and was picked up by a guy named Mike. He was driving a red F-150. It was clearly a work truck, full of tools and lumber. I sat up front.

“How far to the airport,” I asked.

“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “You in a hurry?”

“Not really,” I said. “Are you?”

“Never.”

As we merged onto the highway and settled into the slow lane, I asked Mike if he was a carpenter in real life.

“Among other things,” he said.

“Jack of all trades?”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” he said. Back in the seventies I was a plumber’s helper. Then I worked for a spell in the heating and air condition game.”

“How was that?,” I asked.

“Hot and cold,” he said.

I honestly couldn’t tell if he was making a joke or not. His voice had a classic midwestern drawl, and there was no expression on his face as he stared out the windshield.

“After that I started carpentry. Trim, then framing. Then I moved on to building custom cabinets in rich people’s houses. Figured out how to build spiral staircases and furniture. Did pretty good.”

“You retired now?

“No. I build campers these days.”

“What kind of campers?” I asked.

“I build them small ones you can tow pretty much anywhere. They call ‘em teardrop trailers. Got real popular during the lockdowns. I build ‘em by hand, one at a time.”

“Yeah? How’s the quality,” I asked.

“Pretty good,” he said.

“Got a website,” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Gotta have a website these days.”

“What’s your website called,” I asked.

“Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.”

I still couldn’t tell if he was messing with me.

“Your company is called 'Mike’s Pretty Good Campers?'”

“I like to manage expectations,” said Mike.

"Under promise and over deliver?"

"That's the idea," said Mike.

"Is that what you were doing before you picked me up just now? Building a pretty good camper?”

“Yup. But I was starting to get frustrated. And I don’t like to work when I’m frustrated. So, every now and then I gotta step away.”

“And drive a stranger to the airport?” I said.

“Never too frustrated to drive,” said Mike. “Driving relaxes me. Besides, we ain’t strangers no more, are we?”

“No,” I said. “I suppose we’re not.”

As we turned on Airport Road, I said, “So what’s the plan? Drop me off and wait for another call? Or head back to the shop and finish building that pretty good camper?”

“Ain’t decided yet. Guess I'll see how I feel in a few minutes.”

“Good plan,” I said. “By the way, if I like your website, do you care if I share it on Facebook?”

“Why would you want to do that?” he asked.

“I’ve got a few people who follow me on social media,” I said. "I'm not sure why they do, but they do. Maybe some of them are in the market for a pretty good camper, custom made by a quasi-retired carpenter who drives for Lyft when he’s feeling frustrated?”

“Can’t hurt,” said Mike. “Once people see these things, they fall in love with ‘em. They got whole conventions all over the country for teardrop trailer owners. Thousands show up. You wouldn’t believe how people decorate ‘em and such.”

"I don't know about that, Mike. I'll believe pretty much anything these days."

As we pulled up to the airport, Mike asked me what carrier I was on.

“American,” I said. “Right here is fine.”

“Pre-check?” he asked.


“Yes,” I said.
“Well then, you don’t want to get out at American. Let me take you all the way to the end, otherwise you got a walk across the whole dang the terminal.”

We pulled up to the curb at the very end of Will Rogers Airport. I hopped out, as Mike dragged my bags out of the bed of his work truck.
“You look familiar,” he said. “Have I driven you before?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I would have remembered. Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem,” he said. “Was the ride okay?”

“It was a pretty good lift,” I said.

Somewhere behind his mustache, Mike might have smiled, as I walked into the only airport in America named for a cowboy who never met a man he didn’t like. There, I boarded my plane and checked to see if there really was website called “Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.”

Son of a gun...
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Mike Rowe is a real deal American… A true icon in my strong opinion. Deadliest Catch voice over work is amazing… Ford commercials… Other random nature shows… Dirty Jobs…

James Earl Jones and Mike Rowe are the ALL TIME GREATEST voices ever for television commercials or voice overs for television shows… EVER.
 
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GON, you made my morning! Thank you so much for passing this on. I agree with what the others have said about Mike Rowe. I know the "Dirty Jobs" program put him in the spotlight, but I don't think fame has changed is real spirit of being a down to earth person.

Great read.....thanks again!
 
Lve him...dirty jobs should be a mandatory watch, people need to know whose keeping the hands ticking while they latte up.

He's got tremendous ideas...nations should be pushing trades, not universities amongst many. we've got this elitist mindset that every kid who doesn't get to university is a failure.

35 years ago, my brother was an apprentice electrician, I was in Uni....at the end, he was a professional, I was a "graduate"...I outstripped him quickly in income, he rose in his professsion, and started a business...He won handsomely, but spent many years in roofs and under floors
 
Lve him...dirty jobs should be a mandatory watch, people need to know whose keeping the hands ticking while they latte up.

He's got tremendous ideas...nations should be pushing trades, not universities amongst many. we've got this elitist mindset that every kid who doesn't get to university is a failure.

35 years ago, my brother was an apprentice electrician, I was in Uni....at the end, he was a professional, I was a "graduate"...I outstripped him quickly in income, he rose in his professsion, and started a business...He won handsomely, but spent many years in roofs and under floors
It has shifted . The best combination IMHO is trades with a university degree in business. The most successful folks I know have this killer combo and crush it and their competitors.
 
It has shifted . The best combination IMHO is trades with a university degree in business. The most successful folks I know have this killer combo and crush it and their competitors.
A tradesman who reads the very easy read book "the e-myth revisited" authored by Michael Gerber just might be more beneficial than a tradesman that gets a business degree at University. I have read Michael Gerber's book and have a four year.degree in business, (and two Masters degrees) and will say IMHO the book without a doubt is more helpful for a business person than a business degree.

With that said, what a four year degree does demonstrate is someone's ability to finish what they start. I recommend a four year degree for that reason alone.
 
Copy and pasted from Mike Rowe's Facebook:

A Pretty Good Lyft
Last week in Baltimore, Uber charged me $85 for a trip that usually costs $20. I looked into the way their "surge pricing" model actually works, and didn’t like what I learned. So today, after checking out of my hotel in Oklahoma, I called Lyft instead, and was picked up by a guy named Mike. He was driving a red F-150. It was clearly a work truck, full of tools and lumber. I sat up front.

“How far to the airport,” I asked.

“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “You in a hurry?”

“Not really,” I said. “Are you?”

“Never.”

As we merged onto the highway and settled into the slow lane, I asked Mike if he was a carpenter in real life.

“Among other things,” he said.

“Jack of all trades?”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” he said. Back in the seventies I was a plumber’s helper. Then I worked for a spell in the heating and air condition game.”

“How was that?,” I asked.

“Hot and cold,” he said.

I honestly couldn’t tell if he was making a joke or not. His voice had a classic midwestern drawl, and there was no expression on his face as he stared out the windshield.

“After that I started carpentry. Trim, then framing. Then I moved on to building custom cabinets in rich people’s houses. Figured out how to build spiral staircases and furniture. Did pretty good.”

“You retired now?

“No. I build campers these days.”

“What kind of campers?” I asked.

“I build them small ones you can tow pretty much anywhere. They call ‘em teardrop trailers. Got real popular during the lockdowns. I build ‘em by hand, one at a time.”

“Yeah? How’s the quality,” I asked.

“Pretty good,” he said.

“Got a website,” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Gotta have a website these days.”

“What’s your website called,” I asked.

“Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.”

I still couldn’t tell if he was messing with me.

“Your company is called 'Mike’s Pretty Good Campers?'”

“I like to manage expectations,” said Mike.

"Under promise and over deliver?"

"That's the idea," said Mike.

"Is that what you were doing before you picked me up just now? Building a pretty good camper?”

“Yup. But I was starting to get frustrated. And I don’t like to work when I’m frustrated. So, every now and then I gotta step away.”

“And drive a stranger to the airport?” I said.

“Never too frustrated to drive,” said Mike. “Driving relaxes me. Besides, we ain’t strangers no more, are we?”

“No,” I said. “I suppose we’re not.”

As we turned on Airport Road, I said, “So what’s the plan? Drop me off and wait for another call? Or head back to the shop and finish building that pretty good camper?”

“Ain’t decided yet. Guess I'll see how I feel in a few minutes.”

“Good plan,” I said. “By the way, if I like your website, do you care if I share it on Facebook?”

“Why would you want to do that?” he asked.

“I’ve got a few people who follow me on social media,” I said. "I'm not sure why they do, but they do. Maybe some of them are in the market for a pretty good camper, custom made by a quasi-retired carpenter who drives for Lyft when he’s feeling frustrated?”

“Can’t hurt,” said Mike. “Once people see these things, they fall in love with ‘em. They got whole conventions all over the country for teardrop trailer owners. Thousands show up. You wouldn’t believe how people decorate ‘em and such.”

"I don't know about that, Mike. I'll believe pretty much anything these days."

As we pulled up to the airport, Mike asked me what carrier I was on.

“American,” I said. “Right here is fine.”

“Pre-check?” he asked.


“Yes,” I said.
“Well then, you don’t want to get out at American. Let me take you all the way to the end, otherwise you got a walk across the whole dang the terminal.”

We pulled up to the curb at the very end of Will Rogers Airport. I hopped out, as Mike dragged my bags out of the bed of his work truck.
“You look familiar,” he said. “Have I driven you before?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I would have remembered. Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem,” he said. “Was the ride okay?”

“It was a pretty good lift,” I said.

Somewhere behind his mustache, Mike might have smiled, as I walked into the only airport in America named for a cowboy who never met a man he didn’t like. There, I boarded my plane and checked to see if there really was website called “Mike’s Pretty Good Campers.”

Son of a gun...
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Thanks so much for posting this story, I read it first, enjoyed it so much that i read it out loud again for my grandmother and wife.
I love stories like this, those are two good men.
 
A tradesman who reads the very easy read book "the e-myth revisited" authored by Michael Gerber just might be more beneficial than a tradesman that gets a business degree at University. I have read Michael Gerber's book and have a four year.degree in business, (and two Masters degrees) and will say IMHO the book without a doubt is more helpful for a business person than a business degree.

With that said, what a four year degree does demonstrate is someone's ability to finish what they start. I recommend a four year degree for that reason alone.
I did a 4 year degree in history. The history bit hasn’t been much help but having a degree has opened doors.

I’m in Network/Cloud administration but I think I would have enjoyed being a plumber more. The money would be decent too.
 
He has a form letter for Eagle Scouts that is full truth https://mikerowe.com/about-mike/eagle-scout-letter/.

When my son and his cub scout pack bridged over to boy scouts we used his "A Scout is clean but not afraid to get dirty" and got them some stuff. I did a lot of candy selling fundraising at work and gave to the pack for trips etc and kids that couldn't afford.

For Blue and Gold I found some Desert Tan Camo shaving bags from supplier. We filled them with travel size soaps, shampoos, folding brushes, mirror, deodorants and a bunch of other actually useful things like quality safety whistles, not junk trinkets. The people at my job bought a LOT of candy, some kids and their parents had problems selling even 1/2 a box, I said give it to me, I'll take care of it and gave then the money to turn in. My son and at least 6 friends from the troop all earned Eagle and 14 years later they still use those bags and talk about them. They still are all in contact and meet up for beers, skiing, hunting.

My son, myself, his friends all love watching dirty jobs.

I sent my son the stuff from above. He thought it was great also.
 
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