That Wonderful Time Of Year.....

When the frat brats disappear to go home for the holidays. Chandler Law Group pays Yellow Cab to monopolize the taxi business for a few weeks. And other cab drivers work 14 hours for gas money. Blah. I'm on a split vacation.... Working a couple days between now and New Year's Eve, but that's it.

I would like to take this opportunity (if anyone reads this blog) to implore you to not drink and drive this holiday season. If you don't value yourself enough, think of your family and friends. Think of the families and friends of those you might kill by driving drunk. Think of the embarrassment and shame of being arrested, or knowing that you killed someone in a crash. Think of losing your job in this economy (Yes, some places will fire you for having a felony. DUI is just that).

None of this is worth saving the money on cab fare. Eat, drink, and be merry. But if you've had too much to drink, take a cab, or better yet, just don't go anywhere.

How Much More Can I Take?

Without a doubt, this just was not my day. 7 hours to get one fare from the airport, which went 3 miles. Even with a minimum airport charge of $25.00, it wasn't worth it..... I worked 11 hours tonight for $47 and a "fuck you, I'll stand in the street if I want to" from a group of frat brats. This, after I almost hit their stupid asses standing in a poorly-lit street, wearing all black. Smart?!!!

Tax Dollars Hard At Work With Gestapo Tactics...

Well, I knew the US was anti-small business, but this is ridiculous. Went to work my taxi the other night, and I got stopped for loading a fare at the curb, that's all I did. The ordinance is written that taxis cannot block or impede traffic, but despite 6 months of working with traffic engineers on the problem, we still have no place to pull over.

Yet the police are starting a detail specifically for this, when it took them 7 years to catch a rapist. Sounds like profiling to me, harrassing the working man for trying to make a living with an ordinance and no way to obey it.

Is that bacon I smell? Yeah, Officer O'Malley, go back to your doughnuts. Tax dollars hard at work.

I've Just Started World War III -- I Am So Proud!!!

Oooookay.... Remember the nursery school posts? Remember the 60 and 70 year old men acting like toddlers? Well, as the saying goes, when you tease a snake, you're bound to get bitten.

The crybabies in the airport line complained about my meter rates being higher than theirs until the airport posted a sign telling customers to compare rates. Which has screwed me out of quite a few fares.

Now that I can carry 6 passengers (as set forth in the state and local city code), I am offering group discounts by passenger request on a per-person basis.

One of these crybabies could have been timed with a stopwatch as to how quick he started swearing when he saw me show up in the van. He's stuck his foot in his mouth 3 times already.

#1) "He's gonna be upset at the start of next year." Apparently, he and the other crybabies are going to start running to and from the airport for $25. Fine by me, it keeps them out of my hair, and as rude as some of them are to the passengers, it can only help me. I think it's hilarious that they think I CARE what they do.

#2) "He can't have that lettering. You can't take over 5, that's city code." Answer: State and city code allow up to six passengers in a taxi cab, if seat belts are available for six.

#3) "He doesn't have but $125,000 insurance. He can't do that." Answer: City and Airport police both have insurance certificates on file for $500,000 on my van.

It's interesting how these guys are so interested in what I am doing. I dare the airport to remove the sign advising passengers to compare rates. I dare the crybabies to ask that it be removed.

Remember the ballroom waltz? Whine-whine-whine complain, bitch-bitch, bitch-bitch! Whine-whine-whine complain, bitch-bitch, bitch-bitch!

The New Taxi

Well, it's not a very good picture, but it will be painted in about 3-4 weeks. I hope, anyway.....

What A Ride!!!

Wow. This is why we have regular safety inspections, boys and girls. This is also why taxicabs cost so much to operate.

I bought my Mercury in April of 2007. Not long after I bought it, a crucial piece of the suspension, commonly known as a ball joint, failed, immobilizing it. When this happens, the vehicle basically collapses to the ground on the affected corner and grinds to a halt, if you're lucky enough for this to happen at a low speed. If you aren't so lucky?.... Vehicles have been known to spin wildly out of control and turn over because of this.

As there are four of these in Crown Vics and Marquis', I had all four replaced, at a cost of $900.00. Needless to say, I will never use the shop in question again, since the parts were at over 100% markup.

On to the point. 30 months and 80,000 taxi miles later, the SAME ball joint (interesting, to say the least) failed AGAIN at 50 miles an hour. As I mentioned before this is extremely dangerous.

The car bounced hard off the pavement nine times before it finally settled and began dragging on the pavement, literally dribbling me like a basketball in the driver's seat. My head hit the ceiling at least four times.

Fortunately, I was vacant, having dropped a fare less than two minutes earlier. No other vehicles were within half a mile, and the tire apparently blew out and became trapped under the car, preventing its weight from digging into the pavement too hard. This quite likely saved my life.

Somewhere, someone or something, whichever it may be, still likes me. If this had happened 100 feet down the road, the car would likely have rolled. It's a wonder it did not spin out or otherwise go out of control.

Looks like I bought the van just in time.

Grrrrr....

Okay, these local hotels are really starting to get on my nerves. They are telling people what THEY think a taxi should cost from the airport, and don't have the slightest clue what the hell they are talking about.

A woman came out tonight going to a hotel on the far east end of town. If memory serves, it's around 12-13 miles. Runs around $48 on my meter, so I told her I could do it for $45. She tells me she was told this should cost around $25.

No one will even leave the airport line for less than $17. Most of us won't leave for less than $20. I won't leave for less than $25. With a maximum expected haul of 3 rides per shift, what do you expect?

At any rate, I already knew at this point I would not be getting the fare. Any time someone starts this "I was told" bullshit, they are going to take the cheapest cab they can find.

I informed her that there were minimum charges from the airport, and the minimums, as well as the fares, would vary from cab to cab. She got a price from the next cab, and asked if I would do it for that. I politely said, "No, ma'am, have a nice night."

The way I see it, if she got a price from another cab, let her ride with that cab. I'll be damned if I am going to let another driver put a price on my service.

The customer thinks.....
she proved how smart she is.

The other driver thinks.....
he proved how stupid I am, and that I'm a crook.

I think....
the customer proved what a cheapskate she is.

I think.....
the other driver proved what a slave he is to someone else's whim. The company he works for sets his wage.

Wake up, people. You're not showing how smart you are. All you are showing is how cheap you are. I know that my opinion of you means nothing to you. But to give anyone and everyone this impression of you, over a few dollars? Have you no shame?

I truly do not care whether someone rides with me or not. I have come to find that what most people consider a good tip combined with the so-called going rate is actually less than what my meter runs. I barely make minimum wage now. I would rather risk missing a ride than do it for no profit.

My fare from the airport is usually only about $10.00 more than the average competitor. What's funny about all this is that I have seen people wait in the cold for 20-30 minutes for a "cheaper" taxi to arrive, just to save that $10.00. Are they really THAT stupid?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You get what you pay for. Chances are, if a cab driver is charging more than others, there is probably a reason. Around here, you either get a cab driver who:

A) is a cab driver and nothing else
B) is a cab driver when he's not dealing or transporting drugs
C) is on welfare

More Work-Related Thoughts....

I have considered doing a shuttle service with the van instead of just a taxi service. Doing a test run by making a lap of the area to the most common destinations from the airport, the meter ran $98 without allowing for loading or heavy traffic, and took around an hour. Ten minutes of time is $6.50, and I think I should allow approximately 30 minutes for traffic and loading, which would make a total time of approximately 90 minutes. The extra time for loading and traffic would come to about $20.00 or so, coming to about $120.00 total.

If the meter runs $60.00 to encompass common destinations, the shuttle should divide the $60.00 among however many riders on that particular trip (e.g., 6 riders at $10.00 each, 5 riders at $12.00 each, 4 riders at $15.00 each, and so on)

I am also considering just selling the business, buying a small car and going back to delivering food like I used to do. I have come to realize that I am working more hours for less money than when I delivered food. On top of that, I don't have much of a life outside of work, and I know there's more to life than just work.

Whether You Did "Cash For Clunkers" Or Not, You Should See This........

Okay, so for all the people who think Obama is such a great president, and "Cash For Clunkers" was such a great program...... Wait and read this entire posting before you start calling me a Communist, anti-American, or whatever else comes to mind.

I am not anti-anything except sheer STUPIDITY. Calling a vehicle a "clunker" simply because it gets 18 mpg or less is exactly that. A vehicle with sub-20s fuel economy is not a "clunker", it is a gas-guzzler. This is part of what we pay gasoline tax for.

The main guidelines were fuel economy of 18 mpg or less, less than 25 years old, and registered for a year, which is completely too broad of a definition.

Those who took unfair advantage of this program by turning in vehicles less than 10 years old because they met the fuel economy requirement were just plain selfish and stupid, especially those who unloaded these vehicles when they were worth more as a trade-in than they received. But I don't just blame these people. I blame the government for being stupid enough to allow it to happen.

I say selfish because a lot of people were left out in the cold that had REAL "clunkers", like my friend who had a '92 Corsica with 190k+ on it, and was falling apart. In some respects, it WAS a "clunker". But it didn't qualify because its original fuel economy rating was over 20. Never mind that it got perhaps 18 while she had it (it blew up a couple weeks later).

Thousands of perfectly good vehicles (some less than 10 years old) were turned in as "clunkers" under this program, and whether their owners knew or not (or were told), dealers were required to destroy the engines in these so-called "clunkers" by pouring sodium silicate solution into the engine and running it at speed until it seized, rendering the engine and all of its internal parts worthless. This was required regardless of mileage and age. Even on a 2000 with 58,000 miles! This is MADNESS!





But surprisingly enough, the vehicle had to be driven in. If it had to be towed, it was not eligible. Why did it matter if the engine was to be destroyed anyway? Hmm, doesn't sound like this really is about helping those with REAL "clunkers". Not to mention the fact that this program was far more complicated than an average trade-in.....





And what about the dealers who still have not been paid?





This program was supposedly designed to help the car dealers, which was supposed to in turn help the car manufacturers, therefore it really shouldn't have mattered what you were trading or what you were buying. It also should not have mandated destroying what was being traded. Instead, it became a misguided media circus, and the program officially became something it was not.

I have to give Obama this, it SEEMS like he is trying, and it is nice to see a President trying to take care of our OWN for a change, instead of trying to police the rest of the world, but this program was not very well thought out.

First off, this program should have been limited to vehicles between 10 and 20 years old, currently getting less than 85% of their rated fuel economy, and valued at no more than $4500. If a vehicle was under 10 years old, still got its advertised fuel economy, and/or was worth more than $4500, it should not have qualified for this program. PERIOD.

Okay, you're asking yourself, "This guy talks a lot about the problem, without offering a solution." I DO offer a solution. Here are my thoughts on how it should have been handled from the beginning.

First, the billions given GM in bailout money should have been stipulated to restructure not only the automaker (I am a GM fan myself), but also its position in the marketplace and perhaps even the marketplace itself. Allow me to explain.

Everyone is in an uproar about the United States' dependency on foreign oil, emissions, and the economy. I blame big oil for part of the recession we are in. Greedy, selfish CEOs that make too much money already began grabbing at straws last year, even as crude oil prices began to drop. If $4.00 per gallon was really necessary to make a profit, why did big oil report record profits last year?

While I am still on the fence as to whether oil-based fuels such as gasoline and diesel really harm the environment in and of themselves, Compressed Natural Gas has been a viable alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel for years. Big oil has lobbied vehemently against it, because it feels threatened.

Therefore, CNG has been prevented from having an equal place on the market, even though Ford, GM, and Honda have all offered cars and/or trucks powered by CNG for quite some time! E85 is a misguided step in the right direction, as it has been shown to pollute in ways that gasoline and diesel do not.

Compressors are available for home natural gas lines that enable you to fill a CNG vehicle at home for as little as $1.60 per gallon. Some people might say, "Why didn't you sign up for CHANGE.ORG and tell them about CNG?" I DID! Obviously, they weren't listening. I guess it made too much sense.

Honda has offered the Civic in a CNG version, and GM offered the Cavalier and several models of pickups as CNG fleet vehicles. Ford has offered CNG Contours and Crown Victorias for quite some time. As they are nearly identical mechanically to my Grand Marquis, I looked into scavenging a totalled CNG Vic to convert my Grand Marquis. The cost of conversion would have run somewhere around $3500.

The two main drawbacks are that the tanks take up the bulk of luggage space, and must be recertified / replaced every so often, and also the relatively limited availabilty of fuel.

This is not because we don't have natural gas reserves to use. It is because big oil has blocked it at every turn! What big oil is too stupid to realize, is that if their executives would realize that they don't need to make $5,000,000 a year, and not think only of themselves rather than the environment and the consumer, they would survive just fine. My theory is this:

Some of GM's billion-dollar bailout should have been stipulated to convert all vehicles on GM franchise dealer lots to CNG, and begin building more models of CNG vehicles. Another part should have been stipulated to initiate a buy-back / upgrade program for interested owners.

10% of GM's bailout ($5 billion) could have been used to convert up to 1,000,000 unsold new vehicles to CNG.

Another 20% could have bought back up to another 1,000,000 used vehicles and converted them to CNG. They could then be refurbished and sold as recertified used vehicles, reclaiming the money spent, with a small profit.

GM dealers and their service department techs alike would have been busy, (in a constructive way) and everyone would have won in the end. Obama's economic package could have then been used to expand CNG availability sufficiently to allow more widespread use.

And what would 2,000,000 clean fuel vehicles do? When people can drive vehicles that burn clean fuel for less, they will save money. The money saved will enable more people to go more places and do more things they want to do, thereby helping the economy in a bigger way as more businesses make money. Some people who have stopped driving because of high fuel prices might even start again.

Also, how much would 2,000,000 clean fuel vehicles with an average fuel economy of 25 miles per gallon, driven 25,500 miles per year, save in gasoline and diesel? 2,000,000 vehicles multiplied by 25,500 miles per vehicle, comes to almost 18 billion miles per year.

18 billion miles divided by 25 miles per gallon comes to 714 million gallons of fuel. Oh, wait, they burn CNG! This would save 714 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel per year!

And as for GM? They would have the CNG vehicle market nearly cornered until other manufacturers caught up.

Big oil would still survive if they aren't greedy. We will still need motor oil, transmission and axle lubricants, and other automotive necessities. And if more people are going more places and doing more things, big oil can still make money from what is still necessary. The bulk of the big oil community is obscenely overpaid and wasteful.

All that Cash For Clunkers really did that this plan would not, is destroy perfectly good vehicles. This plan would have sold new vehicles, allowed older vehicles to join the clean fuel movement, and kept dealers and manufacturers busy.

If all this was not feasibile, at the very least, owners of REAL "clunkers" (see MY definition above) should have been allowed a chance to trade for the perfectly good vehicles that were instead destroyed. I might also mention that many vehicles that should have qualified for this program actually DIDN'T because of the fact that the program goes by the original manufacturer's fuel mileage estimates, NOT what the vehicle in question ACTUALLY gets.

The government mandated destroying hundreds of thousands of perfectly good vehicles, while leaving those who really could have benefited from this program out in the cold. But it doesn't stop there.

The program claims to have destroyed 700,000 vehicles. It would take 70,000 fully loaded car carrier semis, which get about 4-6 miles per gallon of diesel fuel, to haul these vehicles to the scrapyard. Not to mention there are those less fortunate who now might not be able to afford a car at all, because some of these cars were not worth $4500, but might have provided transportation to work for a low-income family man.





Many of the vehicles turned in as clunkers were not even 10 years old. Many more had nothing wrong with them whatsoever, they only met the fuel economy requirement.





Charities have reported donations being cancelled to be turned in for Cash For Clunkers. Shame on anyone who did that! You knew the rated fuel economy when you bought the vehicle, so don't ditch it needlessly.

If you don't want it anymore, donate it to charity and get a tax write-off for the full value of the vehicle while helping those less fortunate, instead of being stupid. Or trade it in as you would normally. Don't cheat people who needed help more than you do.





Now, I have done a little simple math to show just how poorly executed this program was. My S-10 Blazer gets 19 miles per gallon average, and it qualified, but I will explain why I didn't buy into "Cash For Clunkers".

I am going to assume that the average vehicle can accumulate 255,000 miles in a 20-year life span, much like my Blazer (which is PAID FOR). That comes to 25,500 miles per year, which is actually three times what most people drive. That's okay, because that leaves A LOT of wiggle room. With improved fuel economy, the more you drive, the more you save on gas, right?

255,000 miles divided by 19 miles per gallon = 13,421 gallons of fuel, times $2.50 per gallon = $33,552.63 over ten years. $33,552.63 divided by 10 years is $3,355.26 per year in fuel.

255,000 miles divided by 38 miles per gallon = 6,710.53 gallons of fuel, times $2.50 per gallon = $16,776.32 over ten years. $16,776.32 divided by 10 years is $1,677.63 per year in fuel.

Now, $3,355.26 minus $1,677.63 = $1,677.63 saved in fuel per year. $1,677.63 divided by 12 months = $139.80 per month fuel savings, or about 56 gallons of fuel per month per vehicle.

I don't know of a single car sold new in America that costs less than $140 a month with full-coverage insurance. Most payments are at least $300-400! Now who in their right mind would get rid of a perfectly good vehicle that's paid for to spend another $100-150 a month in payments and full-coverage insurance? This is of course, assuming that everyone traded a 19 mpg vehicle for a 38 mpg vehicle, which is not realistic.

That's right, America!!! Many of you gave up perfectly good, paid-off vehicles to be destroyed so that you could buy cars you might not be able to afford in a year, because it's NOT saving you any money! What you save in gas, you spend anyway on the payment! And I've seen no proof either that your old vehicle was hurting the environment, or that your new one is helping it! I've seen little evidence of REAL "clunkers" being destroyed through this! Are we feeling stupid yet, America?

More food for thought -- 56 gallons per month multiplied by 700,000 vehicles comes to 39,200,000 gallons of fuel saved per month, which comes to 470,400,000 gallons saved per year. But this is assuming everyone more than doubled their gas mileage. The CNG plan realistically saves 714 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel per year and would have helped the economy more in the long run.

As for those who scrapped perfectly good vehicles for this program, SHAME ON YOU! Especially those who got less than book value for the vehicle. I hope everyone that "clunkered" perfectly good vehicles like the ones in the videos below got a lemon out of the deal.

I also hope, and can almost guarantee, that with our continuing recession, at least a few of you idiots will be forced under duress to sell your new car when you are out of work. Businesses are still failing in this country every day.

And if you think you got $4,500 off your new car? Think again. If you don't have to claim the rebate as income on your taxes next year, your taxes are going up to pay for the rebate you got on your new car. Many noble ideas are simply stupid in execution. Call me what you will. I don't care what anyone thinks.

You wanted CHANGE, America?!!! You got it! But at what cost?

The buyers lose because they are in debt for a vehicle that they didn't necessarily NEED.

Owners of REAL "clunkers" lose because they were left out in the cold.

Dealers lose because they are not being paid for the vehicles.

The working poor lose because they will no longer be able to afford a good vehicle or parts to fix the ones they have, once used vehicle and parts prices go up from 700,000 perfectly good used vehicles being destroyed.

The environment loses because more emissions are generated scrapping and disposing of these vehicles than were generated by the vehicles themselves, or those that replaced them.








Every time a good idea comes along, the government comes along with 50 ways on how and why they want to screw it up. Nothing ever gets done in the interest of the people in this country because the government takes six months to six years trying to figure out how to make money off of doing what they are already collecting tax revenue for. The government sells the working class of this country out to Jose Illegal every day. It's not bad enough that Jose Illegal can get amnesty (due to further government stupidity) by knocking up his girlfriend and dropping an "anchor baby", so then he takes a job that Joe Legal could have had, for half of what Joe Legal needs simply to live and pay his taxes.

No. The government has to go further by giving Jose Illegal all the benefits provided by those taxes. Undocumented (and therefore untaxed) under-the table income allows Jose Illegal to get welfare, housing assistance, government-sponsored lunches for his anchor-baby once they begin school, and all the other wonderful benefits that Joe Legal makes too much money to receive. I'm not racist in any way, but if you want to go to another country to work, do it legally, and don't expect anyone to speak your native language, you are not at home anymore.

I might also add that most of these nice new cars come equipped with OnStar or something of the like. Guess what? If they want to, the government can now spy on you in your car! Better yet, watch "Demolition Man" for a demonstration of what too much government control can lead to.

They can also track your vehicle and shut it down any time they want! Under the guise of preventing dangerous pursuits when vehicles are stolen.





Here's a scary thought -- What's to stop the onboard GPS for these things from reporting your driving habits and travel speed to law enforcement? Remember, any government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.

Though this was not really about emissions, let's move right along to the emissions argument. More emissions are generated by scrapping these older vehicles and building new ones than the old ones and new ones combined could generate for a long time.

I did a paper in college in 1999 on so-called "anti-clunker" legislation, and my research found a study indicating that 98% of so-called greenhouse emissions came from industry such as power plants, textile mills, and the like. It went on to state that every motorized vehicle in the United States as of 1998 could be on the road and running at the same time, and would still be eclipsed by industry.

The effect, if any, was caused by the use of leaded fuels, of which use was ceased nearly 40 years ago. However, many government eggheads cry "CFCs" and "hydrocarbons".

CFCs are found in many aerosol-sprayed products, such as hairspray. They are also found in certain refrigerants, such as R-22, R-12, and others. R-12 has not been used in automotive air-conditioning for almost 14 years.

Hydrocarbons, for the uninformed, are basically unburned fuel or vapors from standing petroleum fuels. Have a look at what I learned in researching my college paper years ago.

Vehicle emissions are controlled by several systems:

1) Electronically monitored and managed fuel injection. A controller monitors and precisely meters the fuel-air mixture the engine receives, keeping it at a ratio of 14.7:1. This ensures a proper burn with virtually no unburned fuel leaving the engine. Most cars have had this since 1981. ALL of them have had it since the early-90s!

2) Evaporative emissions to control gasoline vapors. A separate vacuum system purges these hydrocarbons into the engine to be burned. Therefore, emissions from standing fuel in the tank are negligible. I believe most cars have had this since the early 70s.

3) Recirculation of exhaust gases. A vacuum or electronically controlled valve routes exhaust gases into the engine's intake to be reburned. Most cars have had this since the mid-70s. Some run clean enough that they are not required.

4) Catalysts. Yes, that rotten egg smell you get around some cars from time to time. A catalytic converter is, at its basics, a filter made of platinum and other metals, or ceramics, and uses exhaust gases to superheat the catalyst, which in turn burns any hydrocarbons or other non-solid emissions in the exhaust.

With these four systems, how can any car really pollute more than necessary? It seems to me with all these systems controlling emissions, the only emission should be carbon monoxide. Well, gee, I think that's a basic byproduct of fire, which is inevitable!

Many fine examples follow of just how retarded this program really was, and how stupid some of the participating buyers are....... Feel free to throw up. I know I did.

Pay close attention to how well these engines run before they finally accept their forced suicides. One ran for over 40 minutes! NONE of the vehicles in this lineup were known to have ANY mechanical problems WHATSOEVER. I thought this program was for "clunkers"?

I heartfeltly thank all the dealership employees that posted the embedded videos of this madness. You are true patriots, exposing the stupidity of our government and the stupid, selfish people who took unnecessary advantage of this program.

What is our government thinking by taking perfectly good vehicles like this Ford Taurus SHO off the road? It may have had 220,000 miles, but as long as it took to die, I know full well this car got better than 18 miles per gallon average. Oh, and by the way, it took SIX DOSES of the sodium silicate to kill it. No kidding! Watch all six videos of this car by advancing to the next.





A perfectly good vehicle that could have transported a low-income family.....





Perfectly good pickup with many miles of service left.





Can someone tell me how this POSSIBLY qualified as a clunker? I know it had to have done better than 18 miles per gallon....





And some people just don't know where to advertise a classic for sale..... Dee-dee-dee!!!!





Another one that had lots of life left in it.....





The Crown Vic on the right could have made an excellent car for a low-income family.... the truck could have served a working man well.





Another waste of a perfectly good vehicle.... Way to go, Uncle Sam!!!





Okay, this one had a lot of miles, granted. But who says high mileage means it's a clunker? Again, a waste of a perfectly good vehicle that could have provided transportation for the less fortunate.





A waste of yet another perfectly good vehicle that could have carried a low-income family to and from work, home, school......





Perfectly good low-mileage work truck being destroyed.





This one made me extremely angry. It could have made a nice taxicab. Hmmm, so THAT'S why I can't buy another Crown Vic or Marquis for under $3000!!!! A '98 with 102k on it, if I heard right. My '95 has 227k on it and still runs fine! And for those who say I should get something more fuel-efficient for a taxi, you obviously know nothing about the taxi business. Are you sure you don't feel stupid yet, America? Wait, there's more!!!!





Two for the price of one. Again, both of these trucks could have provided someone less fortunate with reliable transportation. Instead the engines were seized with sodium sililcate.





This one was just mind-reeling. This car didn't even have 5,000 miles!!! Yet another waste of a perfectly good car that could have been transportation for the less fortunate.





A 79,000 mile 98 Cadillac Deville is a CLUNKER?!!! Are you SERIOUS?!!





58,000 original miles. Only an IDIOT scraps a vehicle with 58,000 miles on it, people! It was likely worth more than $3,500 - $4,500!!!





Somewhere, a farmer, contractor, or low-income family could have used this truck.





Yes, this car looks rough. But again, it ran fine until the engine was destroyed by Cash For Clunkers. Another fine example of perfectly good car that ran fine and could have been transportation for a low-income family.





Fully loaded Ford Expedition. Yes, it doesn't get much gas mileage, but this vehicle was probably worth more than $4,500 as a trade-in!





Another perfectly good car destroyed that could have been low-income working class transportation.





Maybe we could learn a thing or two from this F-150 truck. It gave one final middle finger to the program by attempting to kill its executioners.....





Waste of another perfectly good Blazer.





As well as this Tahoe ran before its forced suicide, I seriously doubt it was on its last leg. Clunker, indeed!





A BMW 735i?!!! This is just ridiculous. I know full well this car was worth more than $3,500 - $4,500 as a trade-in.





Another example of lots of service life left, that could have provided transportation to a low-income, working class family.





I think whoever turned this next car as a clunker was just plain stupid. Nice vehicles like this are donated to charitable foundations all the time to be auctioned off to help those less fortunate, and the donor gets a tax write-off equal to the value of the car. Are you SURE we're not feeling stupid yet, America?





I say it again. WHOEVER TURNED THE LAST CAR IN IS AN IDIOT!

Was this 2003 Explorer REALLY a clunker? I don't think so.....





You can't tell me this car wasn't worth more than $3,500 - $4,500 trade-in.





A true testament to Mopar toughness, this van ran for over 40 minutes before it finally died, and even then it had to be driven!!!!





This one angered me even more, because it shows at least three Chevy Astro and GMC Safari vans, I have been searching high and low for one in order to replace my current taxi! I have not been able to find one locally, because at least a dozen of these vans were turned in locally for THIS STUPID PROGRAM!





So, YES, this has already affected me on a personal level. Why? As I mentioned earlier, I can't get a Crown Vic, Town Car, or Grand Marquis for under $3,000 anymore. Why? Because of THIS STUPID PROGRAM!!!

Moving right along.......

A Mercedes?!!! You've got to be kidding me! Another car that could have been donated to a charitable foundation. And a warm thank you goes out to Uncle Sam from the needy!





Now THIS one REALLY made me just flat-out DISGUSTED. This was an $8,000 car (VERIFIED THROUGH KELLEY BLUE BOOK'S WEBSITE, and there was NOTHING wrong with it! Not to mention it would have been a collector's item in a few years.





The person who turned this car in as a clunker is nothing short of STUPID! Hey, moron, you could have donated that Corvette to a charitable foundation and gotten a tax write-off for the FULL value of the car. Out of all these idiots, I hope YOU got a lemon for SURE.

Please send the link for this blog to as many people as possible. I can only hope some of the idiots who cancelled charitable donations, or turned in vehicles worth more than they received for this program, recognize their old vehicles and see how stupid, short-sighted, and selfish they really are.

I am curious what the government officials that started this debacle drive to and from work every day.

With all these perfectly good vehicles being thrown away, this begs the question, if the government can trick us into letting them do this to our vehicles, what can they trick us into letting them do to US as people? Government healthcare, anyone?

Obama, you're an idiot. Congress, you're even worse. The Senate, worse still.

Could This Be It?

Though I have not written much of it, as I have a MySpace page for it, I have been working on recording original songs that I composed for the past few years. I put the finishing touches on some demo tracks late 2008.

In early 2009, I put out about 50 promo CDs of this demo as a test bed to see if anyone liked it. Almost 8 months have gone by and perhaps 15 people have actually taken the time to listen. Quite disheartening, and it has made me wonder if I am where I need to be.

Early to mid-2009, I learned that a friend in my line of work had a customer with connections in the music industry both here and in Europe. My friend told his customer about my recording efforts, in the spirit of trying to help my discovery, to which the customer said to send him a disc and he'd see what he could do. I pulled an all-nighter re-mixing the entire demo to make it sound the best I could. However, I heard nothing, and assumed no joy a month or two ago.

However, I received some interesting information yesterday. My friend walked up to me rather purposefully and handed me a slip of paper with a name of a person, a record company, and a time-frame of 12-14 weeks.

I was floored. My friend told me that the producer that contacted him gets about 1000 demo CDs per week, and just got to listen to mine last week. He liked at least four tracks on my demo, was going to listen to it some more, then send it to another producer and get together with them, at which point they would be calling me in 12-14 weeks, as noted on the paper.

I can't help but be excited and wonder if this is going to be my big break, but at the same time, I'm trying really hard not to get ahead of myself.

More On The Van...

Had to go to Maryland to find seats for the van on Friday. I do not understand how an interstate highway with eight lanes can get congested and backed up for miles. I disagree about "666" being the number of the beast. I think it's anything with "95" in it, be it 695, 895, 495, etc.

Filled it up from near-empty for the first time last night. $60.00 in midgrade fuel. OUCH! However, it does pretty well on fuel. 17 mpg highway with the A/C on, and that was through a lot of stop-and-go traffic. Hell, my Grand Marquis gets that. I should have done this a long time ago.

Interesting Run-In With The Inhabitants Of A Tour Bus.....

Charlottesville, having not one, but two concert arenas, is now beginning to attract some pretty big names in entertainment. Jay-Z, Elton John, George Jones, Rascall Flatts, and Eric Clapton have all played shows in Charlottesville in the past 18 months.

A tour bus showed up in town this past Thursday. Not an uncommon sighting in this day and age. The name "Kid Rock" was on the side of this one, with a huge Jim Beam logo. A very nice airbrushed graphic reading "American Bad-Ass" across the nose. It quite obviously was THE tour bus that carried the entertainer himself. It was parked at this particular time on West Main Street, in the midtown area.

Several local cab drivers, including myself, use the parking lot across the street as a standby point, so naturally we looked at the bus from time to time. However, being an aspiring musician myself, I understand the extreme pressure of being in the public eye non-stop as an entertainer, so none of us approached the bus.

I left to pick up a customer, and when I got back, the bus had moved across the street into the parking lot, with two men standing outside it. They seemed to be trying to find a way around a bridge that the bus was too tall for.

After being told the bus was simply for advertising purposes, (yeah, right) I offered to help with re-routing them, which was met with some disdain and general attitude of "we don't need your help." Okay. Whatever. Five minutes later, the same guy asks two of us to pick up some people from a restaurant for them. Sure, no problem there.

Finding out that these people were indeed with the tour, I let them listen to one of my own songs, which they liked. I told them that if they could help with exposure or getting signed, the cab ride was on me. Yes, I know that it might have been all bullshit, but what's five dollars compared to a chance at getting discovered? They insisted on paying me anyway, however.

After they left the cab to go to the bus, however, the same guy that asked us to go pick these people up steps up and gets in my face, accusing me of double-billing them by charging a credit card and then taking cash. I don't even TAKE credit cards, so I simply told him that A) I didn't take credit cards, B) I didn't do business that way, C) if he had a problem with me, he didn't need to get in my face, D) he was outnumbered five-to-one, and didn't even have a reason to get in my face in the first place, and E) I tried to comp the ride and they insisted on paying.

I have one thing to say. If everyone in the entertainment business is THAT much of an asshole, I guess I should be glad I haven't made it yet!

Let’s Go To College!

Yeah, let’s go to college!

Let’s study useless majors.
Let’s re-live Animal House.
Let’s stand or walk in the street like a dumbass with a perfectly good sidewalk on at least one side.
Let’s kick cars that almost hit us because we’re standing or walking in the street like a dumbass.
Let’s walk out in front of cars whether we’re in a crosswalk or not.
Let’s call a taxi when we’re not ready for it.
Let’s stand in the street like a dumbass while we talk to our dumbass friends.
Let’s hail a taxi when we don’t need one.
Let’s hail a taxi when we aren’t ready for it.
Let’s get the taxi driver a ticket for impeding traffic waiting for us.
Let’s run on a taxi fare.
Let’s turn over recycling bins and let bottles roll into the street to cut tires on cars that pass.
Let’s walk up to a cab with no yellow on it anywhere, and ask if they are with Yellow Cab.
Let’s walk up to a bright yellow Crown Victoria with lettering that says, “Yellow Cab”, and ask if they are with Yellow Cab.
Let’s bring a car to college that costs twice what some locals make in the town we are a guest in.
Let’s have no sense of humor.
Let’s drive like idiots because we’re from out of town.
Let’s disrespect anyone and everyone in the town we are a guest in.
Let’s act as though we own the town we are a guest in.
Let’s treat everyone else as an inferior.
Let’s break state law by carrying alcohol out of a bar and into a vehicle.
Let’s talk shit to cops because Mom and Dad pay for us to go to school here.
Let’s murder someone and be out of jail in five years because we go to college here.
Let’s be an asshole.

Yeah, let’s go to college. We need higher education for the rite of passage to do all these cool things.

Boy, am I glad I didn't finish college!

Current Goings-On And Other Thoughts Circling My Mind.....

The old Mercury tripped 225,000 miles this week, and it is time to replace it. I know some might wonder why I am spending money to replace my cab when it might be better spent toward converting the bus, but it is time to retire the car before its repair bills prevent my escape from here.

The car has started burning oil, and the front suspension creaks and squeaks from the extreme wear. On top of that, these cars are known for transmission and differential problems past 200,000 miles as a taxicab. To fix what is currently known to be a problem, and what will be pending in the future, I will be much better off to replace the car than to fix it.

However, I was heavily influenced to buy a van rather than a sedan, since I lose so many fares due to groups of 5 or 6 that want to travel together. Sedans truly are going the way of the dinosaur in the transportation industry, and they are getting too expensive. Vans and buses are making a big comeback.

I bought a 2000 GMC Safari 7-passenger van last Friday. Nice van. Needs a couple things though, still getting that straightened out. Pics are coming. Now that I have a van, since the crybabies in the airport line have been so insistent on advising customers to shop rates, I will be displaying this or something similar on the windows......



You want to compare rates, FINE! Compare THIS! Even if I don't get any more business from it, it will be enough satisfaction to aggravate those that have aggravated me for so long.

On a more personal note, the more I hear "No Surprise", the more I realize I have GOT to get started on my bus.

Unfortunately, to facilitate that, I have to replace my cab so that I can save money toward the conversion, and that is taking precedence.

More Thoughts On Moving On........

New song I heard recently, "No Surprise" by Daughtry, also #2 on my MySpace profile playlist. I don't usually listen to radio. However, I am driving my van a bit to test it before I make it a taxi and it only has an AM-FM radio. I've been hearing this song on the radio the last few weeks and thought it was Nickleback (sorry Chris!).

I like this song for a lot of different reasons than the song was written, one being that I wish I had written it. It sounds a little like something I might have written on one of my better days..... LOL.

Listening to it, it really speaks to me and my state of mind lately, especially the second chorus lyrics:

It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow
I can't believe that I stayed 'til today
There's nothing here in this heart left to borrow
There's nothing here in this soul left to say
Don't be surprised when we hate this tomorrow
God knows we tried to find an easier way
Yeah, you and I will be a tough act to follow
But I know in time we will find this was no surprise......

There is so much in this song that speaks to me, about things both from my past and my present. I know everything happens for a reason, but I had at least two golden opportunities to leave this town over 10 years ago. The official video for this song and others are in a newer post entitled "Vids For Three Of My Favorite Songs".

Unfortunately, I saw a lot of dumb-ass reasons to stay, and I let this influence my decisions. I've come to find most of those "reasons" not only WEREN'T really reasons to stay, but most of them betrayed me at some point, which has ultimately influenced and affected my happiness.

I've thought for a long time that I'm not where I need to be, and the past few years have only compounded that feeling. I also know that at the tender age of 33, there are things that I want to get out and see before I am too old to.

Who Wants To Smoke Some Crack?

It's getting to be about that time when replacing my taxi cab is very prudent, in terms of cost efficiency and image maintenance. The ol' Merc hasn't been a bad car (though not without its problems), but it tripped 223,000 miles this week, and it's time for it to go.

Probably quite a bit of life left in it as a personal car, as I did service and maintain this car regularly. But as a taxicab, I foresee it costing way too much to keep running .

So, as any normal InterNet savvy person would do, I have searched eBay Motors and Craigslist for a replacement car. I found a Craigslist listing for a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor for $1800 and called the fellow on it.

Keep in mind that these cars are sold in this price range at auctions all the time between $1500-$2500 for average condition with minor dings and scratches, but still an otherwise decent, and turnkey car. The reason Crown Victorias are popular in the taxicab industry is they have a lot of room, they are usually pretty inexpensive, and get decent fuel mileage for their size. These are BIG cars.

Crown Vics explained: Looking at the VIN number, a series of numbers will say P71, P72, P73 or P74. This is the trim level of the car, as some look alike, and many visual things interchange.

P71 - Full pursuit Police Interceptor package, very popular among cabbies. Fast and usually reliable, these have upgraded cooling, brakes, suspension, and drivetrain to make them hold up better in severe duty use, such as taxicabs or police work.

P72 - Taxi / Police Package. These have everything included in the P71. Some have more luxurious appointments (cloth seats vs vinyl etc) and the P72 has a limiter in the engine controls to cut the fuel back at high speeds, which is also in the P73 and P74.

P73 - This is a base Crown Victoria. Usually a very few options.

P74 - LX package, usually includes nice options like leather seats, automatic climate control, digital dash, moonroof, etc.

He said just last night (and I quote) "Oh, yeah, car runs and drives great, nothing wrong with it, I just need to sell it because we're moving."

Taking him at his word, I drove nearly 70 miles one way to look at this car. I was less than impressed.

The first thing I noticed was the cracked windshield. This car already will not pass state safety inspection as-is.

The next things I noticed were the various scuffs and scratches along the entire body.

The next thing I noticed was the small chunk broken out of a trim panel on the trunklid and impression in the bumper casing where the car had backed into something. Lovely.

The next thing I noticed was a hastily done spray-can paint job on the header panel, indicating the car had been in a front-end collision.

I thought, "Eighteen hundred dollars seems a little high, but if there's nothing else wrong with it...." So I flipped open my cell phone and called the seller and had them meet me at the car so that I could test drive it.

With the engine running, it was readily apparent that either the power steering pump or the transmission internal pump was about to fail, judging by the loud growling and whining from under the hood. It was indeed a P71, but this car needs a LOT of work.

Driving the car, it had a pronounced pull to the driver's side. I am getting more disgusted by the minute.

Last but not least, one of the rear doors does not open from the inside. This is not abnormal for a police-spec Crown Vic, as many are ordered this way to prevent you from escaping the rear of the cruiser. But it is something that must be remedied in order to make it a taxicab. This is a $1500 car, maybe. IF nothing else is wrong with it.

The person that showed me the car was not the one I spoke to last night, otherwise I would have had a few very choice words for wasting my time, my fuel, and not giving an honest description of the car. I don't expect perfection for $1800, but this car needs at least $2000 worth of work done to it before I can make it a taxicab.

And as if this wasn't enough.......

Coming back from this debacle, I found another place that had 4 or 5 Police Interceptors. One was extremely nice, a 2004 with a fresh transmission. I was told I could get it for $3600, which was reasonable for a 2004, but I don't quite have that much to play with just yet. On to the older cars.....

A 2000 they had ran pretty decent, but I spotted a telltale sign that the engine had been replaced.

Crown Victorias had an all-plastic intake manifold from 1996-1998, and into 1999 when it was changed. This is due to the fact that the plastic could not take the pressure of a 200-degree cooling system at 16 psi of pressure. Late 1999s had a revised intake that had a cast aluminum coolant area. This car was a 2000, but had the all-plastic intake, making it obvious the engine was from a '96-'99 model.

Given that the 2004 was available for $3600, what do you think the price was for a 2000 with 166,000 miles on the odometer, an engine with unknown mileage with a critical engine part that is known to fail, the rear doors being inoperable from the inside, and needing substantial cleaning? $3000!!!

I left on that note, thinking, "These people have lost their frigging mind!"

Who the hell pays $3000 for a 9-year old car that has "severe duty" written all over it? I might as well get a van.

Is Nothing Sacred?

I actually posted this on MySpace some time ago, but had trouble importing it. I read online awhile ago where Bill O'Reilly was running his mouth about Michael Jackson.

Also, a video has been posted of Congressman Peter King calling Michael Jackson a low-life and a pervert. I think Mr. O'Reilly AND Mr. King BOTH need to have a Coke and a smile and STFU.

I've not seen anyone accuse Mr. King of being racist. But tell me, Mr. King, just what kind of "low-life" attacks the character of a person who isn't around to defend themselves anymore?

Michael Jackson was certainly not perfect, and did some rather strange and dumb things. But no one on Earth is perfect, and we all do strange and dumb things sometimes. The only truth we will know is that only Michael Jackson and his accuser will ever really know the truth. The man is dead, and where I come from, it's very disrespectful to speak badly of the dead.

Mr. King, you say you're tired of hearing people grieve for Michael Jackson, but I'm getting tired of hearing people beat on him even after his passing for something he was never convicted of.

I have a few things to say about this.

1) Does being found innocent in a court of law not mean anything anymore? If so, then something is VERY wrong here.

2) Do either of these pompous gas-bags have some earth-shattering evidence that proves King's allegations beyond a reasonable doubt?

3) Has anyone stopped to think why Michael Jackson's friends and colleagues would risk their careers to stand by him (and as far as I know, they did) in his darkest hour? Maybe because they know him better than that?

4) Has anyone stopped to think that the child who said he was molested may have been pressured to make an accusation in order to sue? The "American Way" of working hard and getting ahead seems to have given way to suing and retiring. Anyone with a brain can see that the man was a huge target to this sort of thing.

5) Whoever thinks kids never lie has blinders on. There are some very mean-spirited jerk-offs in this world who do not care who they hurt, as long as they get what they want, and will stop at nothing to get it. Washington is full of them, and so is the media. And guess what? They were ALL kids once!

6) I have noticed that politicians, particularly Republicans, have an annoying tendency to jump on whatever wave seems best to ride to get votes, even if it means ruining someone's reputation. It's all a guise to draw attention away from their own shortcomings and faults. My father always told me as a kid, "The guilty dog barks the loudest".

7) Sometimes these things are done even in the name of religion. Whatever happened to separation of church and state? I'm not necessarily religious or spiritual, but if there IS one Almighty God controlling everything, I would venture a guess that He wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. If you really want to bring religion into things, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Now just let that sink in for a moment. You have accused a dead man of being a pervert and a low-life. How are you really any better than Shirley Phelps Roper, the idiot who shows up at dead soldiers' funerals to attack their character? Link to her interview on Fox shown below.

Fox News Interviews Shirley Phelps Roper

So, all I have to say to either Mr. O'Reilly, or Mr. King, is, fuck you very much. I don't let the puppetmaster media or my corporately-owned government make up my mind for me. I tend to think about things a bit before I form my opinion, unlike the lemmings that Mr. O'Reilly preaches to, referred to in this video by Green Day as "one nation controlled by the media".

Green Day - American Idiot

These guys are absolutely right. The media is just a tool of the government to keep their lemmings, I mean, constituents, under control.

And by the way, Mr. King, what of the accusations against your buddy Mr. O'Reilly by his former producer of sexual harrassment? Here's the link to a story where he settled the claim.

Bill O'Reilly Settles Sexual Harrassment Suit Out-Of-Court

Tell me, Mr. King, just what kind of "pervert" buys their way out of a sexual harrassment suit? If he was falsely accused, and a victim of a "shakedown", as he says, why did he settle the case out-of-court?

And what about your own record of voting on issues relevant to illegal aliens, a key issue directly pertinent to the economy in this country? If you don't believe me, consider this.

Illegal aliens mean cheaper labor, which means Joe Legal loses his job to Jose Illegal and forces the economy to tank because he has no money to spend. Meanwhile, Jose Illegal enjoys many benefits at government expense, paying no taxes on his undocumented income, which he does not spend in this country, rather, it goes home to his family.

Peter King's Stance On Illegal Immigration

Could your inconsistency here be for your own personal benefit, while you sell out the working class? I think our founding fathers would be ashamed of both of you. If you live in a glass house, it's best not to throw stones.

And just for the record, Mr. King, while you may THINK you're speaking for millions, rest assured, you DON'T speak for everybody. And I doubt you speak for as many as you THINK you do, you self-righteous prick.

I hope someone publicly bashes BOTH of you on YOUR bad points and YOUR names are dragged through the dirt after YOUR passing. What goes around comes around.

A great many people say that Michael Jackson disgusted them, touting what are essentially little more than rumors. Does anyone have any actual EVIDENCE? It disgusts ME that the dead cannot truly rest in peace, even when they are falsely accused.

Since Michael isn't around to tell Mr. King to go to hell like he did Gloria Redall in the infamous baby-dangling incident....... I will.

I don't defend Michael's actions in that incident, but I do agree that Redall is a busybody who had severely overstepped her bounds in that example, and I, for one, salute Charles Barkley for telling her to shut the hell up and mind her own business. Must we forget that the man realized and admitted in his own words that it was a "terrible mistake"?

I agree it was not a good thing for Michael to do, but it was quite obvious that the child's safety was not her primary concern, and when it happened in another country, how was it her place? I'll have to bastardize one of Michael's songs to make my point....

Peter King does all this talkin'
But we don't wanna hear him squawkin'
Tellin' lies and throwin' boulders
So we called his mouth a motor
Someone's always tryin' to start my baby cryin' ........

What..... The...... Fuck??!!!!!

Ladies beware, READ THIS FULLY before you jump to conclusions........ I apologize for NOTHING, because I have done NOTHING wrong here. This is a partial explanation of why I am the way I am.

I'm getting ready to have big fun.... Keep in mind, I USED to respect women immensely. I don't think all women are bitches (yet), but I HAVE to come to discover what classifies one as a silly bitch or a full-blown cunt.

Now, among other things, I have already been falsely accused of taking advantage of a female passenger in my cab. Once found to be drunk and underage, she was subsequently cuffed, stuffed and hauled off to jail with a "Sorry about that, sir, you have a good evening."

I went to karaoke tonight to find out that even though I have been flirting with the waitresses for the entire 4 months I have been there and never laid a finger on any of them, I am now being told that there are some of them complaining.

My first thought was to stop coming there, if I can't be myself. But then my rebellious nature and logic kicked in. Damn it, this is my night off, and my fun. I'll be damned if I am going to let someone else take it away from me. I am now going to refuse service from ALL female servers there, and I am going to tip the male servers that serve me double.

This and quite a few other things have really ruined it for any female that gets interested in me, because I don't know whether they're going to cause me problems or not. If I don't know I can trust a female, why should I let them in? And the double standard when it comes to better-looking guys --- give me a fucking break! A waitress would probably let a guy grab her ass if he looked like Brad Pitt!

But I guess I'll get the last laugh when the other female servers find out and get pissed off at the ones who complained. And they will know who, I'm sure. :)

Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson

People can say what they want about Michael Jackson. I believe he was horrendously misunderstood in life. Unfortunately, many ignorant people who can't form their own opinions and depend on the media to make up their mind for them will always misunderstand. The man never really had a childhood, pushed into stardom before he was a teenager. And stars have NO privacy.

Let's face it, ANYONE who gets THAT famous will always be a target. I like to think that his music will live on to show who he REALLY was. To be blunt, those who make accusations, at the end of the day, will never have the courage or ambition to have a legacy as big as Michael Jackson's. RIP Michael. Those that mattered, didn't mind. And those who DID mind, didn't matter. And I think your legacy, combined with record sales, go a long way to prove that.

The Origins Of "Cheese Wagon"....

It hadn't really occurred to me, but some might be wondering just how I came to be in possession of a bus. It's really quite simple. It's part of a barter deal I made in 2006 to pay for my studio time in recording my debut musical effort. Quite simply, I bought it to house computer equipment and surveillance cameras monitoring property belonging to the studio owner and that of his family. Basically, an hour of my time monitoring the video is an hour of studio time.

The studio owner didn't want to go through all the hassle of getting a building permit for a shed to house this equipment, for many reasons. It was just easier to house it in a vehicle. And safer for the equipment, as it has turned out. I thought this was a joke at first, but the surveillance has actually led to a few arrests and at least one conviction.

I didn't really plan on getting this big of a vehicle. Vans were fairly expensive, and I was actually looking for one of the van-based buses, such as a Ford E350 van-based bus. However, when I went to Fishersville to answer an ad for a "1989 Ford Bus", I had no idea how big it was. Stepping around the corner to look at it, I was greeted by a 35-foot yellow monster. But the price was right, and so I bought it.

Fittingly, I dubbed it "Cheese Wagon". Fast forwarding to 2009, it looks as though I may be converting this thing into a motorhome. I have finally come to terms that I need to make some changes in my life, and one of them is to start actually living my life instead of wasting it away with all work and no play.

The Cost Of Being Difficult......

I'm sure that everyone who's ever worked a service job has wished that they could charge people extra for disrespecting or aggravating them. I have one of the few jobs that I can choose to do so at my discretion.

To explain a few things about the taxi business in my locality -- It can take upwards of 3-6 hours of waiting to get a fare from the airport -- which allows us to charge a minimum fare to or from the airport. My minimum charge is $25.00, to insure that I make a profit. After expenses, I actually make around $6.00 per hour.

In the rare occurence that I am the only cab available to serve multiple passsengers and destinations, I typically take the estimated total metered fare for the trip and divvy it up among the passengers equally, so no one feels that they are paying part of someone else's ride. Some people, however, will bitch even if hung with a new rope. The reason I came up with this idea is because invariably someone bitches that they are paying for someone else's ride.

Four people, three destinations. I offered to take them all for the minimum charge per stop -- a total of $75, since the metered fare for all three stops would have been close to $70 anyway.

Of course, they want to get stupid about it. "I paid $23 to come out here......" "Why should we each pay $25 when they're paying $25 for two people?" To bastardize a popular waltz tune..... Whine, whine, whine-complain.... bitch-bitch.... bitch-bitch! People really piss me off when they do this. They want convenience without paying for it.

To which I replied simply, "There are 10 companies in the telephone book that will gladly keep you waiting 20 or 30 minutes, and you are welcome to try them if you like." People do not realize that in this town, it is a 10 mile trip to the airport from just about anywhere. Nor do they really care.

Salvation showed up in the form of a second taxi returning to the airport. Three of them walked to the second cab, leaving the $23 lady to pay a metered fare by herself. I will add that the second taxi probly offered the same deal, or followed the ordinance by charging meter to the first destination, paid by the first person, at which point the meter is reset and the second passenger pays the metered fare to the second destination. Either way, I'd be willing to bet they felt pretty stupid by the time they got to where they were going. Six of one, half-dozen of the other in some cases.

So then the $23 lady told me to go completely the long way around, turning what would have been a $30-35 ride into thirty-nine and some change. I offered a discount, as some passengers will tip the difference anyway. Nope.

On to the next moron. Woman comes out and wants to go to a local hotel, to which the base fare was about $38 or so. As I mentioned earlier, extra charges are present on my posted rates, but I rarely use them unless I feel the situation warrants it (customer attitude or high fuel prices).

She didn't say it in so many words, but her tone made it clear that she felt like I was charging too much. I have one thing to say. Buy me a tank of gas, or pay the fare.

She made such an obvious fuss over this that while waiting on the bench in front of the terminal for another fare, I decided not to get mad, but to get even. She approached another taxi that was obviously already loading a passenger, and that combined with the general disrespect of insinuating I was overcharging ensured that $25.00 per person would be charged, no matter how many people entered the cab. The extra charges posted for night service, luggage loading and county pickup or destination came to $4.00.

So not only did the lights actually work in my favor for a change and catch me at nearly every one, she springs credit card payment on me. I love how people assume their plastic can get them through every situation in life. Anyway, we had to stop at an ATM so she could get cash to split the fare with the second passenger.

So then she makes a fuss about the extras, to which I replied that I quoted her the base fare before extras, that fuel is currently approaching $3.00 per gallon, and that she was actually getting the extras for half price by splitting the fare, so what was the problem?

Who knows, maybe she'll treat her next cab driver with a little respect. I don't ask for much. I just want to make a living without being called a crook when I don't even make minimum wage.

My Letter To My Congressman Re: H.J. Res

Mr. Perriello,

I am writing to strongly urge you to vote against H. J. Res. 5, a bill that has recently come to my attention. Here is a link to a web page with information about the bill in particular....

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj111-5

This bill would repeal the 22nd Constitutional Amendment, which is a very real step towards a dictatorship, and at the very extreme, towards communism. Please stand up for the Consitution and the rights of our citizens and vote against this bill. It goes against many basic principles that the US government is supposed to be based on. I have also just been informed of the NLE '09 (National Level Exercise) scheduled for July 2009.

The very thought of this troubles me, especially when agreements have been signed allowing foreign troops to supposedly "assist" US troops in restoring / keeping civil rest..... But who says when they are supposed to leave? Or IF they are supposed to leave? Is the US to be the first guinea pig of modern-day martial law?

I always understood that the US government was supposed to be "We The People, By The People, For The People." These developments would not show this to be true. It is bad enough that our taxes only pay the interest on loans made to the government by the Federal Reserve. Now our own government is attempting to perpetuate its incumbency?

Term limits should have applied to all elected and appointed offices in the first place. Instead, Washington is now attempting to allow the perpetuation of one person's way of doing things. That is as close as we can get to a dictatorship without actually having one, as there will always be those who are hampered or dissatisfied with current policy, whatever it may be at the time.

Now the government wishes to permanently empower those who are satisfied with whatever current policy may be. I urge you and all of Congress to rethink this bill. It can only lead to more problems, and I believe the US has more problems than it can really handle now.

Respectfully your constituent,

The Great Dilemma....

Picked up my motorhome a couple days ago. I've dubbed it the EM-50, after the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle project, in true "Stripes" fashion. Long story, and hard to explain if you haven't seen the movie.

It's getting really easy to decide to convert my bus. EM-50 has problemS, plural. Nothing that can't be fixed, but I really think I'll spend just as much fixing it all as I would converting my bus, and I would have more room. (The motorhome has around 19 feet of usable space, whereas the bus has 26 feet.) Not to mention that I now have most, if not all, of what I need to convert the bus. I have already dubbed the bus "Cheese Wagon."

The motorhome has a few electrical problems, roof leaks, windshield leaks, minor interior damage from the leaks, and pending fuel system problems (possibly watered-down or bad fuel). I may spend close to $3500-4000 to fix all this, and I think I could convert the bus nicely for that amount. "Cheese Wagon" would stand up to bad weather, high winds, and wayward tree limbs and other foreign objects much better than the "EM-50", as well. More to come.....

Wanderlust Strikes.....

The incident of May 30 (Blog Post: Whew!) has started me seriously thinking about a lot of things....

Mostly about how I've been wasting my time in this town. I can't believe it took an incident like this for me to see just how dangerous my profession can be. Someone can actually ruin my life and take away my freedom without even putting me in harm's way. All it takes is for some snobby, drunk college girl to holler rape and it may not matter whether I even said or did anything. If the cops hadn't had any sense (like most people in this town) I would have been locked up for whatever charge applied.

Fortunately, that didn't happen. But I have a whole new way of thinking, and a whole new plan. My taxi insurance and most of my permits are good until December or January. By spring of 2010, I plan to be ready to escape Charlottesville, or at least very close to ready.

I have really thought about this. I have a plethora of reasons to leave, and very few to stay.

In 1996, my world was turning upside down. My ex-girlfriend had a job opportunity that was going to take her 600 miles away or more. Because of tension towards me from her parents, I felt that it was best that she do what she had to do, without me. I never wanted for her to have to choose between me and her family, and I thought it might come to that.

Then there was the upheaval of parental divorce. No big surprise, I saw it coming.

Not to mention that I had friends here. Fast forward to 2009.

The majority of the reasons I had to stay here have in one way or another betrayed me. Most of the friends I had at the time have turned on me for stupid and (mostly) unfounded reasons, up to and including being errantly blamed for getting a couple of them thrown out on the street, which in turn made everyone they knew hate me for something I had nothing to do with. Not to mention these "friends" never paid back loans that I and several other people made to help them.

I hate to say it, but sometimes I even feel like my presence is inconvenient to family. I don't hear from them as often as I would like, and when I call them, if I don't get them directly, my calls may or may not be returned, whether I leave a message or not.

So, I bought a motor home recently. It runs and drives, but I am still up in the air as to whether it is roadworthy or not, and whether everything works. If not, I also have an old school bus that I have been using as a surveillance office, which has been paying for my studio time, and I think it could be converted fairly easily.

I think what pisses me off most about the time I have wasted in this town is that in 1996, I settled an insurance claim that would have been a big help in getting me out of this place. Now I am having to make my own luck. Come hell or high water, if nothing changes drastically for the better in my life between now and March of 2010, I will be leaving Charlottesville.