End Of An Era?

A fellow driver, who worked the airport line with me, recently sold his taxi and tried to make a fresh start in Arizona.... Apparently, it did not go well, as he called me a couple weeks ago asking if I wanted to sell my van complete with its airport permit.

I have seriously lost interest in serving the airport, mainly because of the politics and double standards. Example? So many rules, hoops and hurdles that make us spend more money than is really necessary to comform to ridiculous standards (this is a regional airport with less than 15 flights per day, down from 24 two years ago).

As previously explained elsewhere in my blog, taxi meter rates are unregulated in this area, and when people discovered that I was charging more than others (about $10-12 more for a 10-mile ride), a great deal of whining and moaning started. Seriously? You're paying $150-$250 more to fly into a local airport and you're bitching about a $10 difference on a taxi ride?

The airport began singing their song by posting a sign advising passengers to shop rates, even those that might not otherwise have. This is simply not fair when the average fare takes 5 hours of waiting in line, and the standards the airport cabs must meet and remain in compliance with mean spending much more than is really necessary.

Add to this the fact that flights have been getting cancelled, delayed or overbooked more and more often, and I don't know about you, but if I pay $350 to fly on an airplane, I'd get a little heated about being shoved into a cab at the last minute I could have booked myself for half the price, and then don't make my connection. We have often been given the impossible task of transporting passengers 95 miles in 75 minutes. It just isn't going to happen. People are starting to use this airport less and less because of the customer service issues and flight reliability.

Anyway, I saw my chance to rid myself of these problems, and possibly recoup some of the perhaps $8,000 I've spent in the three years I've served the airport. So I agreed to sell my van with equipment and airport permit for a fair price, and I must say, I feel liberated. As far as I'm concerned, I was wasting my time and money there.

I am currently exploring other options, including Class A OTR driving, other types of freight driving, vo-tech school, college, and relocating, among other things.

Just in case, I have lined up at least one replacement van for a taxi. I found two more tonight.

A Reminder Of What "CAB" REALLY stands for...

Ooookay... It's been an interesting week / weekend, mostly due to personal situations.... Early Monday morning dispatch informed me that a fellow wanted a non-smoking cab with a GPS to go out-of-town. Most larger companies run low-ball rates to keep people calling, which gyps the driver a bit, as anyone who's read my blog before knows.

So, naturally, this trip was quoted at a somewhat ridiculous rate, which worked out to less than $1.50 per mile, netting me, the driver less than $40 for a five-hour round-trip. I don't have GPS, but I managed to Google Map directions to the address he supplied.


Naturally, the directions were inaccurate and got us a bit hung up. The guy fusses a bit, even though we weren't far from the destination. I got him to his destination 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and the guy gives me exactly the price quoted -- NO tip.

"CAB" has been said to really stand for "Cheap Ass Bastard", and this guy lived up to it to the letter. For someone who doesn't tip, he was pretty damned picky to want a non-smoking cab with GPS...

A New Beginning?

After 14 years of veritable silence, I had a long overdue and much-needed conversation last night. I don't think I have all the answers I need yet, but I did get the major one I needed.

Going back to 1996. (Yeah, that's a long time) Certain individuals (mostly parents on both sides) were interfering with my relationship with someone I really cared about, up to and including making both of us feel like we were doing wrong. When she moved several states away for a job after only asking if I minded her going, I felt cheated out of what I wanted, simply because someone else didn't want me to have that.

Even though I suspected at the time that she might feel the same way about what was happening to us, I never knew for sure until last night. There was always the thought in the back of my mind, that perhaps I did something wrong, or there was something wrong with me.

Now I know that this isn't so, and I think the uncertainty was keeping me from moving on. I've been talked down to all my life by various people. That I wasn't good enough. That I didn't belong. That I don't deserve to be happy. That there's something wrong with me.

Perhaps this isn't really over with, just a means to start healing. I don't fault her for any of it. She did what she needed to do, and I just wanted her to be happy. She didn't do anything wrong except forget to say it wasn't me. When someone that makes you happy leaves you without explaining that it isn't you or anything you did, it will make even the strongest person doubt themselves.

Unbelieveable....

You know, it's a hard thing when people don't believe in you. But worse still, when your parents don't believe in you. Take this for example.....

I was trading war stories with a fellow driver recently, who regaled me with this story....

A fare of his from the airport to the university here was a mother and her daughter. They asked him to take them around various places getting the daughter registered for classes at the university.

During these little jaunts back and forth, it became apparent to my friend that this girl was more than a little ditzy.

After dropping her off at her dorm, the mother asked to be returned to her hotel. After a few blocks, my friend asked the woman what her daughter was majoring in.

She simply replied, "Oh, we don't really care." To which my friend asks, "Well, what is she interested in?"

"Well, we don't really know," she says. My friend is flabbergasted at this. Out-of-state tuition has been known to be $40,000 a year at this college!

The woman finally understands what my friend is getting at and says, "Sir, I have no delusions about my daughter's ability. She's here to do two things, get screwed and get knocked up, and I just hope it's by the right guy."

Unfuckingbelieveable. I've said it for years that the rich have some screwed-up values. But this takes the cake......