Getting What You Pay For....

Funny story that arose out of an experience I had the other day.....

It seems that a local tire shop is offering a $19 special on an oil change. During the course of which, obviously, they tell you your car is falling apart and give you an estimate to fix nonexistent problems....

Okay, so this all started when I got back from Richmond the other day.... Someone I know had dropped their car off there for the oil change special, and was shopping while waiting, and since I was overdue for service, I decided to give it a shot.... What a mistake.

The service writer met me coming out the door and didn't even seem to want to speak to me. Another man was waiting at the counter to be helped, and after being basically ignored for 10 minutes or more (another person came to the counter and didn't even so much as look at us), the service writer comes back in.

The man ahead of me was also a cab driver, owning his own vehicle in another company. Seems that he had a problem with a tire that he bought from the place. The service writer promptly told him that because it was a commercial vehicle, it would not be covered. HOLD THE PHONE.

First off, a defective tire is a defective tire no matter WHAT it is installed on. I could see if he had an issue with an aligment done by the shop, or something like that. But tires have been known to be defective. Looking at the tire, it was obviously defective. One particular spot on the outer edge of the tread was wearing badly, the rest of it was fine.

This is indicative of separation of steel belts in the tire, causing a wobble as it rolls. My van needed new tires recently, and one of the tires I purchased did exactly this. I had just returned to the place I bought my tires from the previous day, and been given no trouble at all, just a replacement tire and an apology for the inconvenience. And yes, they knew it was a taxi when the tires were installed, and it is still a taxi.

So I simply looked at the other driver and recommended the place I went to for tires because they would take care of him and service what they sell. The service writer's jaw dropped open and said, "You can't do that."

"Oh, really?" I said. "I'm just a customer having a conversation with another customer. I was going to get this oil change special you guys are offering, but it sounds like to me if the oil filter is bad, you won't honor it because I have a commercial vehicle. Think I'll head on over to Jiffy Lube. Have a nice day."

The funniest thing about this? My friend's car had been at this place for at least 45 minutes at this point. Jiffy Lube had me in and out in 15-20 minutes, and checked a great deal of things in the process. When I got back to the first place, my friend was STILL waiting for her car! Looking in the open garage bay doors, the mechanics didn't seem very hard at work at all. Interestingly enough, she was given an estimate of work her car supposedly needed, with a promise to "beat everyone's price". What's the point of saving money if the service sucks?

To summarize, Jiffy Lube got me in and out in 15-20 minutes for $15 more. First, time is money, especially in my line of work. Secondly, the people were much nicer and more appreciative of my business. Thirdly, they checked all fluids, tire pressures, air filter, and yes, they do recommend extra services, but they didn't take an hour to do it.

Going Forward In Reverse.....

Well.... The day has finally come..... If anyone actually follows this blog, you may remember that I bought a Sony Vaio laptop about a year or so ago...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but after a year owning a Sony Vaio..... I have come to three conclusions.

1) I will never buy from Best Buy again.

2) I will never use Windows Vista again.

3) I will never buy a Sony computer again.

The sales girl I talked to at Best Buy was very nice, but wound up talking me into a pricier machine that I almost immediately did not like. Best Buy's return policy makes you wait 2 weeks for a refund, which is, for lack of a better word, utter bullshit.

I found quickly that if I were in advertising, my Windows Vista commercial would have been, "I'm a dumbass..... and Windows Vista was MY idea." I have had nothing but problems with Vista. Perhaps it's because I'm something of a power user, but no matter. I will never use it again. I also found that Sony is very proprietary, which I have never liked.

Therefore, I have sold my Vaio and bought an older HP Compaq N620 with Windows XP. Your results may vary, but don't look for me to recommend Best Buy, Sony, or Windows Vista.

Are People Really This Lazy And Disgusting?

Just went to vacuum my van, and some asshole decided to stick their used chewing gum on my carpet, and it apparently was there all last night. It's been stepped on and rubbed into the carpet.....

Things like this are why taxi fares are expensive, people! It costs money to have things like that cleaned. I mean, seriously, was someone really that lazy and disgusting to just stick their gum on the carpet in someone else's vehicle? Whoever you were, jackass, I hope you choke on the next piece of gum you chew.....

Time Is Money....

Why don't people understand this concept?

Some people are so moronic that they will wait 20 minutes to save $10.00. Now, people, at 10 minutes, this is $1.00 a minute. at 20 minutes, it is $0.50 a minute. I might add that in that 20 minutes waited, you probably could have been there.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I will not allow a bigger company to put a price on my services. I will also not allow a cheapskate passenger to pay me whatever they think is fair.

A student actually asked me tonight if I could beat Yellow Cab's rate. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!!

The #1 driver ripoff company, and she asked if I could beat their rate? Now you understand why I don't give an inch, because most people want a mile and a half.

Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries.... NOT.

There are many ways this week could have been worse..... must remember that.......

Last Monday I purchased a small 4-wheel-drive SUV due to some rough roads I must travel. It turned out to have a bad rear axle. I traded it for a small older model pickup that turned out to have some engine problems, but at least it gets me where I want to go. Heavy oil and an oil stabilizer will hopefully keep it alive for another year....

THAT, however, turned into an oddysey.... The dealer was going out of business and allowed me to use their dealer plate to bring the truck home as long as I brought it back. It apparently fell off the truck on the 50-mile drive, and despite driving all day retracing the route I took, I never found it.

Bad enough. Then the alternator failed on my van. Took all day to replace, then the battery was too weak to crank the engine, and it took three hours to get someone to jumpstart it. Of course, I was brought down again by a bad power connector that failed, forcing me to do it all over again. *SIGH* I need a vacation....

Grrrrr....

Due to a clusterfuck of people backing out of what they say they will do, starting a new job and being let go in a matter of 2 days with no explanation, I am still in the cab business with no way out.

The fellow who planned to buy me out was actually riding with me to the Department Of Motor Vehicles to begin the transfer, and decided to put it off to the next day, after I had made 4 wasted trips into Charlottesville to get this done. Naturally, I got disgusted and said to hell with it.

I do have to say, though, sometimes you have to see just how bad things can be before you truly appreciate how good you have it.

The 2 shifts I covered doing delivery for a sandwich shop, I was reminded of every single reason I ever had for wanting to leave delivery and start my own business, ranging through the following:

1) People in secured buildings you cannot enter. Calling them ahead of time does no good, as they don't answer their phone and don't return your call until you are on your way back to the store after waiting for them for 10 minutes.

2) People who don't tip enough, if at all. Seriously, folks, rounding it up to the next dollar does us no good at all when we are using our own vehicle and our own fuel.

3) Finding out the store's delivery charge is $2.50 for online orders, of which I only get 50 cents? WTF?

So, I am still in the cab business as an owner / operator for the moment.

This Might Be It.....

Several potential buyers have approached me about my business recently, and they are slowly starting to warm up to the idea of what I feel my business is worth. One made an offer very close to what I am asking a few days ago, and may offer more within a couple weeks.

Checking out a few facets of another potential business venture today, it is becoming clearer and clearer that my best option is to sell, fix up my motor home, and take the money and run. I thought about getting a CDL and buying a road tractor to haul freight, but somehow I think I would be facing the same problems I have as an independent taxi cab operator.

Another Reason Unemployment Is High And The Economy Is Soft....

So, I call back today to check on the job I THOUGHT I had lined up. Apparently, the company has their OWN rating system for points on your license, and even though I would be using my own insurance, and will work 60 hours a week if I can, they can't hire me.

The manager said she had 180 hours she had to give to somebody, and I responded, "Well, that's probably most of the reason you have 180 hours available, the company is too picky, especially considering they aren't liable if there's an accident."

When corporations pick and choose who they hire based on irrelevant points, unemployment rises because many people who want that job can't get it for baseless reasons. Hence, the economy suffers because they aren't making money to spend.

Corporations will be the downfall of America. They and the people who run them largely suffer from RCI -- Rectal-Cranial Inversion.... It affects 95% of Charlottesville. Otherwise known as "Head-Up-Your-Ass" Syndrome.

A Stay Of Execution......

Against my better judgment, I renewed my taxi insurance. Haven't had what I consider to be a reasonable offer on my business, though I am starting to wonder if I shouldn't take what I can get and run.

However, even though I supposedly have another job lined up, it hasn't been confirmed yet. So I think I'm better off to ride this out until I know what's going to happen.... Keeping my fingers crossed, but I guess sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

The Irony In This Just KILLS Me.....

Okay, so last night my phone rings.... totally caught me off guard because it hasn't rung for an actual taxi call much in the past year. Usually friends, etc....

It was a female student who has not called me in over a year and a half. I asked where she'd been, and she responds, "I thought you had gone out of business." Jesus, the irony here. I'm going out of business BECAUSE people like her have been using this stupid rationale to not call me!

When in reality, I know why. As I said before, these people will ride a Sherman tank if it gets them there cheaper. I know who they've been calling. The limos that are running as taxis illegally. The shuttle buses that are in no way, shape, or form, legal.

I said, "Well, ma'am, the irony in this is that I AM going out of business this weekend BECAUSE people like you haven't been calling me."

"Oh, we'll start calling you..." blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Sure. It's a little too late for that now.

She was in a large group, and wasn't even part of the group that rode with me. Whatever. She did call later.... Want to know how THAT call went? Keep reading.

She called and told me she was at a bar about two blocks from where I was. No problem, I'll be there in about thirty seconds. I told her I would be on the Market Street side of the building, and which way to go to find me.

Here's a map to explain what happened next. Locations are circled in red, street names are circled in blue to show locations in relation to each other.


Forty seconds later, some people I assumed to be with her group approached the van and got in.

Four blocks later, my phone rings again for Call 2, wanting to know where I am. Keep in mind this position on the map is a guess, because she didn't even know where she was for sure. I informed her that I thought I had her people because I had told her I would be on the Market Street side "Where I Am". Before that call was over, she put her friend on, who said they were on Water Street. I told her I would be back as soon as I dropped the people who had gotten her cab.

Call 3 came two minutes later. They had determined where they were on Water Street, and it was pretty obvious that they were walking. I told them that I would not be able to find them if they continued walking, because they would not be where they said they were.

Two minutes after THAT, in comes Call 4. Still walking. I told them that I was on my way back to get them, and that they needed to stop walking or I would not be able to find them.

I arrive at THAT location 4 minutes later. Calling her back got the response, "Oh, we got another ride." And just when was she planning on calling me to let me know about this?!!!

People like this are too stupid to be left unsupervised, and I really hope that she reads this and sees how stupid she was being. People exactly like this doing stupid things exactly like this are part of the reason I am going out of business.

Another Song I Really Like...

This video is for "Maybe Tomorrow" by The Stereophonics. It is a great song that is featured in the end credits for the film "Crash".



I sing this song when I go to karaoke sometimes, and I seem to have developed a fan club at one particular place that requests I do this song every time I am there. :) It's nice to be able to do SOMETHING that's appreciated....

Here's Your Sign..... Again!!!

Now to outline the utter hell I went through in California....

Should have been simple, drop the car off to the lady's family there, and they were supposed to get me to the bus station to catch my train back.... Riiiiight.

I was dropping the car off in Aptos. I was getting very sick, and still had to drive 700 miles in about 12 hours. I had a reservation with Amtrak to catch a connecting bus out of Santa Cruz, near there, at 5:25 am. That bus was to San Jose, about 25 miles away, where I was to catch a coach train to connect with the scenic California Zephyr train back east.

Speaking with these folks the night before, it was agreed that to avoid waking them, I would nap in the car until they woke up once I got there.

Due to apparently insufficient aptitude to look in the driveway, this guy is sitting in his living room, wondering if he should call me. I wake up at 5:45, and my bus has departed 20 minutes ago.

Then it took an act of God to get these idiots to understand that simply dropping me at the bus station was not going to work now, because I was going to have to pay an extra $200 that I didn't have to reschedule my train tickets.... Not to mention the fun of waiting in a bus station for two days!

And they didn't even seem to WANT to help me make my train. Pretty fucked up, I thought, considering I slept in the car to avoid waking them when I got there... Not to mention it was their fault in the first place!

By some miracle, I managed to make my train with 4 minutes to spare. Moral of the story? Want something done right, do it yourself! I am definitely not going to California if and when I relocate.... I was not impressed with anything about the state.

My Exit Strategy.....

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about a lot of things. I have possibly found something good in someone in Arizona, who is trying to go to Nevada. I have been considering Nevada for a long time anyway, but have not been able to save the money to relocate. I actually have not even been able to repay money borrowed to stay in business. It is time to cut my losses and run.

I should have seen this coming. In 2006, I had a reasonable amount of money saved. I burned through a third of that in six months, at which point I barely had enough to replace my taxi when it died. Since then, I have gone to having to borrow money to keep insurance on the taxi, to uncertainty I will even be able to make renewal.

Since I came back from my trip to Arizona, it is becoming obvious that I will never be able to leave as long as I keep trying to run my business.

Rental car companies are running specials for $12-$15 per day. UVa sends its buses to the airport to pick students up for free. City buses are reducing their fares and are also running a FREE trolley. How can I compete with free?

There are also two shuttle buses, running illegally so far as I know, because that they do not have commercial for-hire license plates, running large groups around town for $7 a person.

Even though state regulations state that a vehicle insured and registered as a taxicab cannot legally carry more than 6 passengers excluding the driver, there are at least 4 limos that carry from 9-12 passengers on a regular basis operating as taxicabs. I cannot compete with companies that don't do it legally. I have a quote for insurance renewal for $3,600 yearly premium. Why should I spend the money to do it legally when others aren't and are getting away with it?

Not only that, but I am up against two large companies with 50 cars each that rob their drivers blind. Furthermore, these idiots quote low-ball prices and then don't show up to pick their customers up.

Of course, the customer expects me to honor someone else's price, and gets pissed off that I don't. Then they either bitch about what I charge them or they're actually stupid enough to call another taxi and wait 20-30 minutes to save maybe $10-15.

All this really does is confuse customers to the point they don't understand what's fair and what isn't. People can say what they want about pricing myself out of business, as some idiots like to say, but I have noticed you either work a lot for a little money in this business or you work a little for a little money. What's the point? I stopped having fun running my business the moment people started trying to tell me how to run it.

Which brings me to yet another up-and-coming problem. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. An attempt is being made at starting a taxicab association, which has all the earmarks of being a union. Unions have never been anything but trouble in the first place.

Even though neither the city nor the airport is regulating meter rates, these idiots want to establish a common rate, and elect representatives to "deal with the airport". The airport is a private entity, and has already put it in writing and voiced its clause in the ground transportation agreement that it reserves the right to revoke permits and use a primary provider -- any time they choose.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that all these idiots are going to do is piss off the airport authority into telling us all to take a hike, and I will NOT be told how to run MY business when I am the one paying the bills.

I have therefore decided to sell my business by the end of my insurance term next month and go back to delivery or something. It's really hard to come to this decision, but I can't save any money aside the way things are right now. I could always do that delivering.

At least delivering food won't get me accused of being a crook for making less than minimum wage. I know that my selling out and going away is what the big companies want, but I see a time coming when I may go under anyway and walk away with nothing. Better to cash out while I can and at least leave with SOMETHING.

In closing of this decision, I have a few things to say to the general public..... As you idiots are part of the reason for the financial crisis this country is in. No one wants to spend money because the economy is bad, but the economy is bad BECAUSE NO ONE IS SPENDING MONEY!

So, I thank you for refusing service over a few dollars price difference. There is always a difference between ordering a hamburger and filet mignon. If the goods or services you receive are better or more convenient than another company, you should expect to pay a little more.

However, despite my efforts to provide better service, a nicer cab, and a better overall experience, it is quite clear that most patrons will ride a Sherman tank if you can get them there cheaper.

I also thank you for perpetuating a bad economy by choosing to spend your money with big businesses instead of smaller ones that need your business so much more. Remember, that bigger company you choose was once a small one too.

More food for thought -- So many are enraged with the Supreme Court decision that corporations can make as many political contributions they want, and in any amount they want. This basically spells it out that the federal government is for sale to the highest bidder, and many people say that they are angered by this. But YOU are empowering this by not choosing small business! And usually over a few dollars. You're doing it to yourselves.

Part of the reason smaller businesses are not always around to serve you is because you are not using them until the bigger businesses are too busy to serve you quickly. So have fun supporting corporate greed, you sell out the little guy every time you do it.

Vids For Three Of My Favorite Songs......

Videos for three of my favorite songs....... These songs have powerful messages for anyone who has dreams, so check them out.....

Bad Business Tactics.....

If you were given a price for goods or services by a company that couldn't be there to serve you, you probably wouldn't trust that company, would you?

In an effort to take airport business from those of us who are licensed to work airport (AND PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE, MIND YOU)..... Every idiot in this business that doesn't work airport is quoting $25 flat rates to and from the airport -- generally a 10-mile trip. However, none of them are usually here when these people come in. There's no sense in giving someone a discounted rate when you don't show up, and there is no way in hell I am going to honor these prices when I wait 4 hours or more for a trip.

All this is doing is pissing off the customers. They feel they're being baited and switched, and I don't much blame them. These idiots say I'M the one ruining the business? It is to laugh. I'm not the one making promises I can't deliver on.