Yes, I'm very busy now that I've opened my own business. In much of the work I just don't know what I'm doing which makes the day seem crazier. When it comes Google Adwords I am pretty clueless. I've read about it and I know what words I think should bring people in... still, reality and my ideas about the internet are different things. I found a cheap programmer who is good at this stuff and we've set up an ad, in Dutch on Google Holland offering bicycle tours of NYC. We shall see how that works but no one bicycles like the Dutch.
I am good at taking people on bike tours. The past three days I've done both a Day and a Night tour. Both are four hour tours and so for 8 hours a day I'm "on" as in "on stage" performing. I love it. New York presents quite a show. There's Mack, the Ferry Boat guy, who is always yelling at the people in line "GET TO THE RIGHT, PEOPLE GETTING OFF, GET TO THE RIGHT" sounding like he's a super mean New Yorker to a bunch of tourists and then giving a big broad smile, taking great pride in his job.
And then last night we stopped for Gelato at "Ferrara" an Italian sweets shop that's been open since 1892 and the manager, Joseph, bought everyone on my tour Gelato and said to the group, "Working here is like nothing else, you meet everybody, in 26 years I've met everybody, even possibly the next president of the United States, Bernie Sanders, I love him, he's good people, a man for the people. I don't care about politics at all. I don't vote. Never. But I love this man. If it's not him I hope it's Trump because these guys in there now don't care about any of us. This place used to be full all of the time. Now it just is what it is, not bad but people are paying for wars, that's where their money goes. Bernie Sanders was really kind, he took a photo with me and the rest of the staff and made the secret service give us time with him. I love him." I think i got the punctuation right on this.
And then I have this guy Jonathan, who is my best repeat customer. He's come on three tours. He came on the Day Tour by himself and there was a family from California on as well that day. We all had a great time. Perfect, beautiful 68 degree weather. The following week Jonathan came with his wife for my first night tour. It was just the three of us. We had a great time and along the way he was telling his wife all of the stuff he learned on the day tour... including reciting my jokes. Then last night he brought a group of three friends. He's a character.We were taking pictures along the water in a park and he walked up to a couple looking at the water in his reflector vest and bike helmet and said, "Excuse me but is this Boston?' and they look at him like he was crazy. They were tourists from Holland and he wanted them to think he just biked across America and was realizing he was in the wrong city. I thought this was super funny.
During my time between tours, from 3:30 to 6:30 I do marketing stuff, building and fixing bikes and yesterday, called my friend Christopher Berge. I was telling him about how I start the night tour talking about the Norwegian Farmer that first settled Greenpoint which always leads to at least one good Ole and Leena Joke. Christopher responded by saying, "If you just take the time to learn, and really learn, one good Ole and Leena joke everyday, and told one everyday, you could become the greatest Ole and Leena joke teller in the world." Quite a title. All part of being a bicycle tour guide.
My life has dramatically changed. I jump out of bed at 6 A.M ready to live my life. So even if this business doesn't succeed it's an amazing chapter. Leading bike tours in NYC all day and then coming home to my fiancee, Sacha, all tired. What a great way to live.
