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.
Showing posts with label bad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad. Show all posts
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
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....
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....
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
WTF Else Could Have POSSIBLY Gone Wrong?!!!!
Recently, I was *THIS* close to saying "I'm DONE." I know that into every life a little rain must fall, but this week has been ridiculous. Some of it was no big deal, just helping friends, but it really seems like whatever could go wrong this week, DID.
This goes back a few months ago, over the course of a couple weeks. It sorta started with a good friend blowing the transmission in their car on their way to work. It didn't really inconvenience me in any way, but I worry about my friends when they have major problems, even if I don't voice those concerns.
Then, their significant other had a breakdown on the way home one night. Thus begins the real saga.
The car broke down exactly halfway home. The dipshit tow truck driver that picked up the car, instead of towing it 30 miles to Charlottesville where she lived, towed it 30 miles the opposite direction, to a shop specializing in transmissions (?) on Glenside Drive in fucking RICHMOND!!! He told them that the car's owner wanted a diagnostic, which from what I understand, was not asked for.
We went down to try to get the car moved a day or two later. They have the car locked in a shop bay for an $80 diagnostic fee (again, not asked for by the owner). So they had to dish out what little money they had to get the car out of the shop, and then had no money to have it towed.
The whole point of the trip was to try to get the car to move under its own power, but now we pretty much had to, because no money was left to have it towed.
Then a guy from the shop comes out and gives us what-for about working on the car in their lot. I understand their viewpoint, but the shop owner blamed it on a supervisor for the K-Mart store they leased their space from.
Turns out the manager knew nothing about it, and the shop owner couldn't give me a name or telephone number for the invisible man with no name from K-Mart who was chewing his ass for a customer working on their own car in the lot.
So then I finally went off, and it wasn't even my car. I was as calm as I could be, because I really don't like seeing shops take advantage of females just because most don't understand cars, especially when the female happens to be a friend of mine.
Suddenly the owner is as nice as can be, and offers to let me work on the car in their shop bay. Oh, hell, no. You're not holding her car for ransom again, you crook.
I told him exactly this. "Sir, I am going to put the wheel back on this car so it appears operable. It will be locked up. I am driving 55 miles one-way to get a pickup truck and a tow dolly, and this car will be towed out of here today. This car had BETTER be here when I get back, and it had BETTER be untouched, and it had BETTER not be inaccessible, and there had DEFINITELY better not be any additional bills owing in your mind on its release. This is not even my car, and you see I am not happy. Imagine if this WAS my vehicle."
The car was there when we got back, but I was still so mad from the way my friends were treated that I was towing the car at nearly 80, and the poor thing was swaying like a belly dancer on the dolly. It was in no danger of falling off, but damn it, there is no sense in shops treating people this way.
So we get the car back to Charlottesville, and we're pretty sure at this point that the timing belt is the problem. BIG problem with this particular car, 90% of the time results in valve damage.
I spent an afternoon changing the belt and retiming the camshafts (one of which was 180 degrees off, for those who know what I'm talking about -- this was NOT a good sign). Quite a frustrating afternoon, because this car is not designed with easy service in mind.
No dice. It appears that half of the valves in the engine are bent. It will not start, and despite resetting the timing, starting attempts sound no different than when the timing was out. I feel really bad for my friends, because now between a house of three females, none of them have a reliable car to their name between them, and none of them work within walking distance.
So this was not totally a big deal to me in terms of inconvenience, I just donated a little time to help a friend, and stupid people insisted on making things a lot harder than they had to be... but wait, there's more!!!
I upgraded the hard drive in my new(er) laptop this week. On my old one, I ran two external hard drives, one of which held my lyrics and music related files. The other held a mishmash of miscellaneous things. The second one failed without warning. No big deal, I had backups of this one, and so I simply transferred my lyrics and things to the new hard drive, cleared it, then used that drive to relay the miscellanous things, planning to clear it again and reload my lyrics and other related files (which are my life's work).
Well, the new hard drive failed within 24 hours, minutes before I was about to start a backup of those materials. So now, every lyric, rap rhyme, or song I ever wrote that has not been recorded in some form is gone, probably forever. I also lost about 3,500 MP3s......
I did manage to salvage some stuff that was halfway recorded and ready for vocal recording, but this is a total of nine songs, out of over 250 total.
To top it all off, my newer laptop is starting to have issues that were not present with the old one. I'm seriously considering stripping both of them, selling the parts on eBay, and using the money to buy a new one.
Now I know how someone feels when they say "Just Shoot Me".
This goes back a few months ago, over the course of a couple weeks. It sorta started with a good friend blowing the transmission in their car on their way to work. It didn't really inconvenience me in any way, but I worry about my friends when they have major problems, even if I don't voice those concerns.
Then, their significant other had a breakdown on the way home one night. Thus begins the real saga.
The car broke down exactly halfway home. The dipshit tow truck driver that picked up the car, instead of towing it 30 miles to Charlottesville where she lived, towed it 30 miles the opposite direction, to a shop specializing in transmissions (?) on Glenside Drive in fucking RICHMOND!!! He told them that the car's owner wanted a diagnostic, which from what I understand, was not asked for.
We went down to try to get the car moved a day or two later. They have the car locked in a shop bay for an $80 diagnostic fee (again, not asked for by the owner). So they had to dish out what little money they had to get the car out of the shop, and then had no money to have it towed.
The whole point of the trip was to try to get the car to move under its own power, but now we pretty much had to, because no money was left to have it towed.
Then a guy from the shop comes out and gives us what-for about working on the car in their lot. I understand their viewpoint, but the shop owner blamed it on a supervisor for the K-Mart store they leased their space from.
Turns out the manager knew nothing about it, and the shop owner couldn't give me a name or telephone number for the invisible man with no name from K-Mart who was chewing his ass for a customer working on their own car in the lot.
So then I finally went off, and it wasn't even my car. I was as calm as I could be, because I really don't like seeing shops take advantage of females just because most don't understand cars, especially when the female happens to be a friend of mine.
Suddenly the owner is as nice as can be, and offers to let me work on the car in their shop bay. Oh, hell, no. You're not holding her car for ransom again, you crook.
I told him exactly this. "Sir, I am going to put the wheel back on this car so it appears operable. It will be locked up. I am driving 55 miles one-way to get a pickup truck and a tow dolly, and this car will be towed out of here today. This car had BETTER be here when I get back, and it had BETTER be untouched, and it had BETTER not be inaccessible, and there had DEFINITELY better not be any additional bills owing in your mind on its release. This is not even my car, and you see I am not happy. Imagine if this WAS my vehicle."
The car was there when we got back, but I was still so mad from the way my friends were treated that I was towing the car at nearly 80, and the poor thing was swaying like a belly dancer on the dolly. It was in no danger of falling off, but damn it, there is no sense in shops treating people this way.
So we get the car back to Charlottesville, and we're pretty sure at this point that the timing belt is the problem. BIG problem with this particular car, 90% of the time results in valve damage.
I spent an afternoon changing the belt and retiming the camshafts (one of which was 180 degrees off, for those who know what I'm talking about -- this was NOT a good sign). Quite a frustrating afternoon, because this car is not designed with easy service in mind.
No dice. It appears that half of the valves in the engine are bent. It will not start, and despite resetting the timing, starting attempts sound no different than when the timing was out. I feel really bad for my friends, because now between a house of three females, none of them have a reliable car to their name between them, and none of them work within walking distance.
So this was not totally a big deal to me in terms of inconvenience, I just donated a little time to help a friend, and stupid people insisted on making things a lot harder than they had to be... but wait, there's more!!!
I upgraded the hard drive in my new(er) laptop this week. On my old one, I ran two external hard drives, one of which held my lyrics and music related files. The other held a mishmash of miscellaneous things. The second one failed without warning. No big deal, I had backups of this one, and so I simply transferred my lyrics and things to the new hard drive, cleared it, then used that drive to relay the miscellanous things, planning to clear it again and reload my lyrics and other related files (which are my life's work).
Well, the new hard drive failed within 24 hours, minutes before I was about to start a backup of those materials. So now, every lyric, rap rhyme, or song I ever wrote that has not been recorded in some form is gone, probably forever. I also lost about 3,500 MP3s......
I did manage to salvage some stuff that was halfway recorded and ready for vocal recording, but this is a total of nine songs, out of over 250 total.
To top it all off, my newer laptop is starting to have issues that were not present with the old one. I'm seriously considering stripping both of them, selling the parts on eBay, and using the money to buy a new one.
Now I know how someone feels when they say "Just Shoot Me".
Dude, You're Getting A Dell...... My Condolences, Dude.....
Okay, this is a warning to anyone who owns a Dell computer. Don't expect much.
I received a Latitude C610 laptop as a gift about five years ago, and while it has been a solid little machine, I have simply outgrown it.
I bought a Latitude C840 laptop through CSR Technologies on eBay, to replace it. Unfortunately, the machine has issues. It was not clear in the description that it was refurbished that I remember, and it is basically a time bomb. I am not saying in any way not to buy from CSR Technologies. Just be very certain of what exactly you are getting.
The 840 basically runs fine for two weeks or so, waiting until I get everything set up just as I need it, then begins crashing and corrupting Windows. It has been reloaded 12 times since purchase. I finally gave up and called technical support a few nights ago, only to be told that they can't help me because I am not the original purchaser and don't know the name of the original purchaser.
How exactly am I to know this when I bought it through a resaler off eBay? So I informed the technical non-support personnel that not only would I not be buying used or refurbished computers anymore, I would not buy Dell from now on, since Dell did not seem interested in standing behind what they manufacture.
I am not faulting Dell for the problem with the machine, I am sure this is an isolated incident. But when I am in the market for a new laptop, it is hard to justify buying a Dell when you can't get them to help you with one that you already own.
So after a few attempts to get advice from friends, some of which had time, some of which didn't, I went to Best Buy and bought a Sony Vaio. Nice machine so far, stay tuned. There is another blog about the sales process....
I received a Latitude C610 laptop as a gift about five years ago, and while it has been a solid little machine, I have simply outgrown it.
I bought a Latitude C840 laptop through CSR Technologies on eBay, to replace it. Unfortunately, the machine has issues. It was not clear in the description that it was refurbished that I remember, and it is basically a time bomb. I am not saying in any way not to buy from CSR Technologies. Just be very certain of what exactly you are getting.
The 840 basically runs fine for two weeks or so, waiting until I get everything set up just as I need it, then begins crashing and corrupting Windows. It has been reloaded 12 times since purchase. I finally gave up and called technical support a few nights ago, only to be told that they can't help me because I am not the original purchaser and don't know the name of the original purchaser.
How exactly am I to know this when I bought it through a resaler off eBay? So I informed the technical non-support personnel that not only would I not be buying used or refurbished computers anymore, I would not buy Dell from now on, since Dell did not seem interested in standing behind what they manufacture.
I am not faulting Dell for the problem with the machine, I am sure this is an isolated incident. But when I am in the market for a new laptop, it is hard to justify buying a Dell when you can't get them to help you with one that you already own.
So after a few attempts to get advice from friends, some of which had time, some of which didn't, I went to Best Buy and bought a Sony Vaio. Nice machine so far, stay tuned. There is another blog about the sales process....
I Am SOOOOOO Bad.......
Okay, so it's that wonderful time of the year when all my permits and licensing are due for renewal. Which is usually an inevitable pain in the ass.
DMV requires a motor carrier permit, which basically is their certification that I am insured as a taxicab. My "special" taxicab-for-hire license plates are also due for renewal.
Then there are the local permits for the City Of Charlottesville. There are two. One to license the vehicle's for-hire status, and one to license me as a driver of such a vehicle ("hack" license, as it were).
Usually this entire process is one big headache. This year actually wasn't bad, and I was actually having a little fun with the local permits by the time it was over.
DMV was pretty much a breeze, after making sure that my ten-days-expired permit was renewable. In and out in 45 minutes. Wow. Is that why it snowed yesterday?
On to the local permits. Now, this started out as a wild goose chase. The city sets aside three days of three officers doing nothing but taxi cab inspections to insure that they are roadworthy and safe.
Due to some nomenclature confusion, I had to remove a NICE $200 window tint job, due in part to the fact that some competitors' drivers have been engaging in illegal activities while operating a taxi. So now, I'm already pissed off. I stayed up way later than normal just to make this inspection process.
Then, after losing more sleep for three hours removing the tint, I was told that my "borderline" front tires (that I planned to replace within the week anyway) would have to be replaced before I could be certified, and if not done by March 1st, I could not operate until it was done. If they had told me this in the first place, I would have just went home and slept, to deal with it later. GRRRRRRR.....
Anyway, after getting these issues taken care of, I returned to get the cab inspected. Surprise, surprise, these are no longer done on demand, they are done on designated days now. So I have to wait until March 3 (2 days past the deadline I was given) to try again. Does this make any sense to you?
Anyway, the cab passed this morning with flying colors. On to my driver's registration. The ladies in the office where this is done are a trip if you're nice to them. However, I had them laughing by the time I left. Even though I have already blogged before that I am "done", I actually find a couple of them attractive.
I had already picked and flirted with them before I even took my taxi driver's test. So when I didn't miss a single question, (and I was pretty sure of this) one of them told me they wanted my cheat sheet before I left. She actually made me laugh. Something I've NEVER done during this process.
I asked her what she meant, and she told me I was the first driver in two weeks to not miss a question on the test. To which I raised my eyebrows. It really is NOT that hard. Most of it is common sense.
She joked a little further about me having a cheat sheet, to which I took off my coat and turned completely around to show I didn't have one.
Then she asked if I had anything up my sleeve, and I told her, "Just my shoulder. But if you want to strip search me, SHE gets first dibs," pointing at one in particular.
Those poor women turned a brighter red than the color of this year's city permit, and laughed up a storm.
We got on the subject of relationships and such, and of course, the one I would definitely hang out with was married. Truthfully, the other lady I would hang out with also, but I haven't dealt with her as much :P
Oh, well. Besides, I haven't met someone in over 12 years that I could trust out of my sight for ten minutes. When I told her that, she said she felt the same about her husband.
Weird. Why be with someone you don't feel you can totally trust? Of course, some people think you're cheating on them whether they are or not, so that's food for thought too. Just affirms some of my observations in my time on this planet.
First, most people want what they can't or aren't supposed to have. Secondly, good people always wind up with the wrong person for them. Third, one of my favorite scenes from Clerks Part II has once again reaffirmed itself. Blog on this elsewhere.
DMV requires a motor carrier permit, which basically is their certification that I am insured as a taxicab. My "special" taxicab-for-hire license plates are also due for renewal.
Then there are the local permits for the City Of Charlottesville. There are two. One to license the vehicle's for-hire status, and one to license me as a driver of such a vehicle ("hack" license, as it were).
Usually this entire process is one big headache. This year actually wasn't bad, and I was actually having a little fun with the local permits by the time it was over.
DMV was pretty much a breeze, after making sure that my ten-days-expired permit was renewable. In and out in 45 minutes. Wow. Is that why it snowed yesterday?
On to the local permits. Now, this started out as a wild goose chase. The city sets aside three days of three officers doing nothing but taxi cab inspections to insure that they are roadworthy and safe.
Due to some nomenclature confusion, I had to remove a NICE $200 window tint job, due in part to the fact that some competitors' drivers have been engaging in illegal activities while operating a taxi. So now, I'm already pissed off. I stayed up way later than normal just to make this inspection process.
Then, after losing more sleep for three hours removing the tint, I was told that my "borderline" front tires (that I planned to replace within the week anyway) would have to be replaced before I could be certified, and if not done by March 1st, I could not operate until it was done. If they had told me this in the first place, I would have just went home and slept, to deal with it later. GRRRRRRR.....
Anyway, after getting these issues taken care of, I returned to get the cab inspected. Surprise, surprise, these are no longer done on demand, they are done on designated days now. So I have to wait until March 3 (2 days past the deadline I was given) to try again. Does this make any sense to you?
Anyway, the cab passed this morning with flying colors. On to my driver's registration. The ladies in the office where this is done are a trip if you're nice to them. However, I had them laughing by the time I left. Even though I have already blogged before that I am "done", I actually find a couple of them attractive.
I had already picked and flirted with them before I even took my taxi driver's test. So when I didn't miss a single question, (and I was pretty sure of this) one of them told me they wanted my cheat sheet before I left. She actually made me laugh. Something I've NEVER done during this process.
I asked her what she meant, and she told me I was the first driver in two weeks to not miss a question on the test. To which I raised my eyebrows. It really is NOT that hard. Most of it is common sense.
She joked a little further about me having a cheat sheet, to which I took off my coat and turned completely around to show I didn't have one.
Then she asked if I had anything up my sleeve, and I told her, "Just my shoulder. But if you want to strip search me, SHE gets first dibs," pointing at one in particular.
Those poor women turned a brighter red than the color of this year's city permit, and laughed up a storm.
We got on the subject of relationships and such, and of course, the one I would definitely hang out with was married. Truthfully, the other lady I would hang out with also, but I haven't dealt with her as much :P
Oh, well. Besides, I haven't met someone in over 12 years that I could trust out of my sight for ten minutes. When I told her that, she said she felt the same about her husband.
Weird. Why be with someone you don't feel you can totally trust? Of course, some people think you're cheating on them whether they are or not, so that's food for thought too. Just affirms some of my observations in my time on this planet.
First, most people want what they can't or aren't supposed to have. Secondly, good people always wind up with the wrong person for them. Third, one of my favorite scenes from Clerks Part II has once again reaffirmed itself. Blog on this elsewhere.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust....
If not for Fords, our tools would rust. Anyone who owns a Ford, no offense, but I am speaking strictly from my own experience, and I am tired of sinking money into my Mercury (a Ford by any other name, would break down as often)
I bought the Marquis with 148,000 miles, and it now has 216,000 approximately. In just under 70,000 miles in 2 years time, this car has cost me $7000 to repair, with $2200 spent on the air conditioning system alone! The entire system was just disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt for the second time this week, and quit again after four days. A 1997 Crown Victoria I owned previously had similar results before it was sold for parts.
By comparison, the 1990 Chevrolet Lumina I bought with 130,000 miles before this car, cost me only $2300 to repair in the same amount of time and mileage. The only reason I got rid of it was the timing chain broke and caused severe engine damage, and I knew the car would need another $2000 worth of work in the coming year. Looking back now, I should have kept that car and fixed it.
Granted, the Mercury was 12 years old when I bought it, but the Lumina was 15 years old. I will NEVER buy another Ford Motor Company product. EVER. Not even its subsidiaries, Mazda, etc. I think my next taxi is going to be a Chevrolet Astro passenger van.
I bought the Marquis with 148,000 miles, and it now has 216,000 approximately. In just under 70,000 miles in 2 years time, this car has cost me $7000 to repair, with $2200 spent on the air conditioning system alone! The entire system was just disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt for the second time this week, and quit again after four days. A 1997 Crown Victoria I owned previously had similar results before it was sold for parts.
By comparison, the 1990 Chevrolet Lumina I bought with 130,000 miles before this car, cost me only $2300 to repair in the same amount of time and mileage. The only reason I got rid of it was the timing chain broke and caused severe engine damage, and I knew the car would need another $2000 worth of work in the coming year. Looking back now, I should have kept that car and fixed it.
Granted, the Mercury was 12 years old when I bought it, but the Lumina was 15 years old. I will NEVER buy another Ford Motor Company product. EVER. Not even its subsidiaries, Mazda, etc. I think my next taxi is going to be a Chevrolet Astro passenger van.
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