I Guess What They Say Is True...

You can't keep a good man down... I'm still in the game, though I had to put my taxi in someone else's name to keep working. Wow, it's been awhile, I've been a little lazy about posting...

Well, to update, I took a mini-vacation this summer, which is to say I saved enough money to pay basic bills over the summer before before the frat brats left. I worked weekends for a little extra money, but basically took the summer off...

I decided last year that I had spent my last summer making peanuts, arguing with morons over $4.00 fares in the blazing heat, 14 hours a day. Seems to have worked out well so far...

I also was fortunate to pick up a client that will make me much less reliant on spoiled college kids, penny-pinching project folks, and other general cheapskates. People are too stupid to realize that what they are used to paying for taxi fare here is based on 2001 rates. Get over yourselves, people, gas is $3.75 a gallon and vehicles cost money to maintain.

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.

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.

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!