Recently I met three amazing tourists from Sweden! And although Southwest Florida was still recovering from Hurricane Irma, they were determined to follow through with their long-awaited "holiday". With piles of debris along the roads and many businesses and attractions closed, their enthusiasm, excitement and optimism won the day! The Uber request was placed by Ola, and his name immediately caught my attention. As we made introductions he stated that "Ola is more than just a

As Hurricane Irma drew closer to Florida we were safely "hunkered down" near Boone, North Carolina with my son's family. We kept in touch, as best we could, with family and neighbors who stayed in Fort Myers. It was now predicted that our area would take a direct hit with a possibility of a catastrophic storm surge. NBC-2 was live streaming throughout the storm and we watched intently as Irma struck Marco Island and slowly moved through Collier and up into Lee County. We coul

This weekend I met an interesting young man with a unique name, and a cool story! Dedgar is from Venezuela. He started playing baseball at the age of six and by the time he was ten, realized that he had a strong arm and the potential to become a good left- handed pitcher. After years of hard work and dedication, Dedgar is now a member of the Boston Red Sox organization! He is in Fort Myers honing his pitching skills with dreams of making it to the major leagues. Dedgar was na

Arroya was a very pleasant and sociable passenger! As we began a friendly conversation she surprised me by saying that other Uber drivers typically didn't speak to her during a trip. This made her feel very awkward and uncomfortable, and she seemed genuinely grateful to enjoy some dialogue. Born and raised in Fort Myers, Arroya was a graduate of Island Coast High School and now works at Lee Memorial Hospital. This was a surprise to me as she looked so young. I originally thou

On my first night of driving, after Hurricane Irma, an Uber request came from "Bo". In and of itself this name is not uncommon, especially in a southern state like Florida. But the story behind the name was so fun that I HAD to invite Bo to the Uber Namez blog. As Bo explained it, his mother wanted to name him Travis and his father wanted the name Bo. As a compromise, he was named Travis but with the understanding that they would actually call him Bo. This agreement seemed to