The conventional wisdom is that obtaining the right to be an UBER driver is easy: have a car, a driver's license, complete the application and Boom! Done . . .

The conventional wisdom is WRONG!

In fact, there are 12 steps. I've listed them below, and given a pretty accurate cost or time requirement estimate:

Complete the application $258

Change license to Class E $50

Obtain Medical Certification $250

Complete Defensive Driving Course 10 hours

Complete Wheelchair Accessibility Course 4 hours

Drug Test $35

Background check $75

Attend required TLC For-Hire-Vehicle (FHV) training course $175

24 hours

Complete Sex Trafficking Awareness Course 3 hours

Study for required FHV course 10 hours

Pass FHV Test for Regulations and Geography $75

2 hours

Obtain TLC Plates $2200

Total it all up, and that's a cost of over $3000 and a time commitment of no less than 55 hours, over a period of two and not more than three months. If you don't complete it in three months, it's back to Go. And if you don't get at least 70% on the test, you keep taking it until you do.

So don't get me wrong - - as an UBER (or Lyft, or Via, or any black car service) passenger and a New York pedestrian, I'm delighted that acquiring such a license is a time-consuming and arduous process. As a future UBER driver. I'm relieved to have completed the process . . . almost!

First, I did pass the test with an 85%. Seems like a solid B!

I want to make a few observations about my fellow applicants, my future co-workers, or maybe competitors.

I don't think you could find a group in New York City that better represents the vibrancy and diversity of the City. Out of 23 people at my Wheelchair course, I was the ONLY person for whom English was the first language. Out of 52 at my 3 day FHV course, there were just 4 native English speakers.

They were from everywhere: Russia, India, China, Mexico, Uganda, Ireland, Haiti, Poland . . . and on and on. The process is difficult as it is, and passing a test on very detailed regulations and geography in a language you're still learning is a special challenge.

They were a bright and respectful group. I would occasionally get impatient with an overly didactic teaching style, while my classmates never did. A few occasionally slept through it, but then they probably had night jobs and maybe day jobs, too.

My classmates seemed to keep some distance from me. I couldn't figure out why. In a totally crowded classroom, where every seat was taken and 3 to 4 sat at a table, I was the only one at my table for 3 straight days. This picture illustrates it: that empty seat in the middle of the room with a pile of papers is mine, and the only occupied seat in the row.

I concluded that I must unintentionally give off some sense of myself that makes them think I'm more of a passenger in an UBER than a driver behind the wheel. Whatever it was, they kept their distance.

But on breaks, I'd approach people and found nearly all were responsive. Sometimes we talked sports - - more soccer than baseball - - but mostly they talked about trading thoughts on making a living in New York. That they are hustlers is obvious . . . what you find out over time is that, for the group at large, how bright they are. You realize that, given very different circumstances in life, it's not hard to imagine the reverse of my trajectory: they could be going from the Driver's Seat to the C-Suite.

But let's recall my theme in this blog: to lead an engaged life in retirement, you've got to be mindful of going TO something and do your best to minimize your thinking on what you came FROM. I came FROM the Corporate world, FROM the C-Suite . . . . with UBER, I'm going TO the Driver's Seat.

And to be clear, I'm not in it for the money - - thanks to Hello Pension - - but for the experience of seeing what it feels like to be really working, in the most literal sense, for a living. It's not a completely new experience for me . . . . I've been a paperboy, a lawn mower, a gutter cleaner, a mover/packer, a steelworker, a machinist, and a bus driver . . . . but we're talking 45 years ago! A lot has changed, not least of all me.

So don't yet expect when you call for your UBER that I will show up. I still need to get the plates from the TLC, which should be a few more weeks, so stay tuned!