Welcome to Mark My View

I suppose the first question is why anybody would start a website in 2026 when half the internet seems determined to convince us that the world is ending, the other half is trying to sell us something, and the rest are posting pictures of their lunch.

That's a fair question.

The answer is pretty simple. I've spent most of my life collecting stories, observations, questions, and experiences, and eventually I ran out of places to put them.

So here we are.

I grew up in a small town called Erie, Illinois. My dad was a pilot. Not the kind that wore a fancy uniform and disappeared into the clouds for a living. He built a grass airstrip on our property. Thirty acres of runway, airplanes, hangars, and enough aviation stories to keep a kid entertained for a lifetime.

Looking back, I realize I grew up in a place that was a little unusual.

Most kids had a backyard.

I had airplanes.

Most kids learned where the property lines were.

I learned how to stay clear of a propeller.

At the time, it just felt normal.

Funny how that works.

The older I get, the more I realize most people think their childhood was normal until they start comparing notes.

Over the years I've worked in more industries than I can count. Manufacturing. Retail. Restaurants. Aviation. Trucking. Management. Sales. Ownership. Probably a few others I'm forgetting.

I've spent time sweeping floors, supervising employees, sitting in management meetings, making payroll, worrying about bills, trying to make customers happy, and occasionally wondering how some businesses stay in business at all.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that people are pretty much the same everywhere.

Different uniforms.

Different buildings.

Different job titles.

Same people.

Trying to make a living.

Trying to take care of their families.

Trying to figure out what they're doing while pretending they already know.

Some are better at pretending than others.

Life has a way of changing your plans when you least expect it.

A few years ago, after receiving my first COVID vaccination, my health took a turn I never saw coming. My body retained an incredible amount of fluid. More than 140 pounds of it. My heart was affected. I ended up in an ambulance and then in a hospital bed wondering how things had gone sideways so fast.

It's funny what goes through your mind when you're laying in a hospital bed.

Nobody is worried about who won an argument on Facebook.

Nobody is thinking about whether they should have bought the upgraded trim package.

Nobody wishes they had spent more time answering emails.

You start thinking about people.

Family.

Mistakes.

Things you haven't done.

Things you should have done.

The things that actually matter.

Two doctors gave me advice that stuck with me.

Both told me I should write.

Not because they thought I was some great writer.

They thought it might be good for me.

A way to sort through the noise.

A way to make sense of a few things.

I didn't know if they were right, but I figured they had more medical degrees than I did, so I listened.

Turns out they might have been onto something.

These days my wife and I are helping raise two grandkids.

If you've never had children and grandchildren at the same time in your life, let me save you some suspense.

Grandkids are different.

You get all the joy, all the chaos, all the questions, all the energy, and somehow they're even better at finding things they aren't supposed to touch.

I've learned more about patience in the last few years than I did in the previous fifty.

I've also learned that stepping on a Lego still hurts exactly the same at sixty-one as it did at thirty-one.

Some lessons never change.

Recently I made the decision to return to the car business.

I've spent a good part of my life around dealerships, sales floors, managers, customers, lenders, and everything that comes with them.

The car business has changed.

Customers have changed.

Technology has changed.

The one thing that hasn't changed is that buying a vehicle is still one of the biggest financial decisions most families make.

And judging from the conversations I've had over the years, it's also one of the most confusing.

That's part of what you'll find here.

Cars.

Credit.

Money.

History.

Faith.

Current events.

Stories from the front seat of a rideshare vehicle.

Observations about human nature.

Questions I still don't have answers to.

Maybe that's the point.

I've never been all that interested in pretending I have everything figured out.

The older I get, the more I realize life is less about collecting answers and more about asking better questions.

So that's what this place is.

Not a news site.

Not a dealership website.

Not a political platform.

Not a self-help seminar.

Just one guy's view of a complicated world.

Sometimes serious.

Sometimes funny.

Sometimes probably a little annoying.

But always honest.

If you decide to stick around, I appreciate it.

If you disagree with me from time to time, that's probably healthy too.

After all, if everyone saw the world exactly the same way, there wouldn't be much reason for a site called Mark My View.

Welcome aboard.