Most cab drivers don't have a CDL but I do. I can legally drive just about anything on the road. To celebrate getting my CDL renewed yesterday, with NO RESTRICTIONS, good for 50 states, I offer a link to a truck drivers blog http://truckdriverblog.blogspot.com/
And, for some reason, because of the limitations of this clunky machine I use here, it's not allowing me to add http://taxistorys.blogspot.com/ to the blogs I watch, but I like the guys blog and want to follow it, so this link's mostly for me.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
It's not a job, it's a lifesylye. Jesse Trux
Your job stinks
Your love life stinks
The guy in the cab next to you stinks
And it don't get no better than this
Your love life stinks
The guy in the cab next to you stinks
And it don't get no better than this
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
A cab drivers wake, Duane Holloway was my friend
A couple of the mourners, Boomtown and Wanda.
A gathering of a few dozen or more cab drivers is a rare treat. Duane wanted it to be a treat, and he got his way. I will actually include a picture or 2. There was good food, both store bought and home made. What ever you wanted to drink, I thought the cider was rather good. And of course all those people I hadn't seen in years, or only see once or twice a year. They are indeed my family, and I love seeing them, even the ones I don't like. It was held in Tenny Park. Ben Mazel made the wry observation that the last time Duane attempted to reserve a park for a gathering he was denied. Duane was also into Rainbow Gatherings, and the city fathers didn't want that kind of riff raff gathering in a park, it would seem. The gathering to remember Duane was held on Sunday, Oct 12, 2008. Duane was a real cab driver, if ever there was one.
A number of people spoke, I did not. After thinking about him for a couple of days, I do have things to say.
He was from New York City, nobody mentioned that. His cab driving career seems to have started in Key West, Florida, they had a couple of photos of him in a yellow Key West cab. He was also a house painter in Key West, nobody knew that about him. I found out he was a house painter when he and I painted Pari's house, and he was good too, he knew what was wrong with her siding, why it was wrong, and yes Pari, it was the previous owners paint job that destroyed the siding. Like many drivers, he tried to find other things that would turn a buck durring the slow parts of the year, painting for instance.
We used to have this regular rider named Pari. For years she didn't drive, but she finally wanted to, so she got herself a car and a learners permit and hit on all the drivers to go practice driving with her. She had a handicap, so the car was rigged up with the accelerator on the left side, she needed to drive with her left foot. To the best of my knowledge Duane and I were the only drivers who were ever crazy enough to ride with her. My style of being a passenger for practice driving is pretty distintive. According to Pari, she and Duane would go practice driving in the residentail neighborhoods close to Hill Farms, which was near her home, and where she would take her behind the wheel test. I figgured that if she was going to get a license, she needed to really know how to drive, so that's what I insisted on concentrating on. I'll post a couple of entry's devoted to Pari later. I can still hear the high soft accented voice saying, "What means god dammit?"
The gathering included some people I don't know of course. People I knew included Mars Hopper, Boomtown, Wolfie and his dog Luna and his squeeze, Hippie and this charming west African woman who married him (no accounting for taste) and their son, Pinhead and Diaperpin (kid is 5-9, last time I saw him he couldn't walk), Wanda, a couple of Erics, and as I recall them, I'll add them here. God it was good to see them all. Thanks Duane, I'll always remember you in that party at Tenny park.
A gathering of a few dozen or more cab drivers is a rare treat. Duane wanted it to be a treat, and he got his way. I will actually include a picture or 2. There was good food, both store bought and home made. What ever you wanted to drink, I thought the cider was rather good. And of course all those people I hadn't seen in years, or only see once or twice a year. They are indeed my family, and I love seeing them, even the ones I don't like. It was held in Tenny Park. Ben Mazel made the wry observation that the last time Duane attempted to reserve a park for a gathering he was denied. Duane was also into Rainbow Gatherings, and the city fathers didn't want that kind of riff raff gathering in a park, it would seem. The gathering to remember Duane was held on Sunday, Oct 12, 2008. Duane was a real cab driver, if ever there was one.
A number of people spoke, I did not. After thinking about him for a couple of days, I do have things to say.
He was from New York City, nobody mentioned that. His cab driving career seems to have started in Key West, Florida, they had a couple of photos of him in a yellow Key West cab. He was also a house painter in Key West, nobody knew that about him. I found out he was a house painter when he and I painted Pari's house, and he was good too, he knew what was wrong with her siding, why it was wrong, and yes Pari, it was the previous owners paint job that destroyed the siding. Like many drivers, he tried to find other things that would turn a buck durring the slow parts of the year, painting for instance.
We used to have this regular rider named Pari. For years she didn't drive, but she finally wanted to, so she got herself a car and a learners permit and hit on all the drivers to go practice driving with her. She had a handicap, so the car was rigged up with the accelerator on the left side, she needed to drive with her left foot. To the best of my knowledge Duane and I were the only drivers who were ever crazy enough to ride with her. My style of being a passenger for practice driving is pretty distintive. According to Pari, she and Duane would go practice driving in the residentail neighborhoods close to Hill Farms, which was near her home, and where she would take her behind the wheel test. I figgured that if she was going to get a license, she needed to really know how to drive, so that's what I insisted on concentrating on. I'll post a couple of entry's devoted to Pari later. I can still hear the high soft accented voice saying, "What means god dammit?"
The gathering included some people I don't know of course. People I knew included Mars Hopper, Boomtown, Wolfie and his dog Luna and his squeeze, Hippie and this charming west African woman who married him (no accounting for taste) and their son, Pinhead and Diaperpin (kid is 5-9, last time I saw him he couldn't walk), Wanda, a couple of Erics, and as I recall them, I'll add them here. God it was good to see them all. Thanks Duane, I'll always remember you in that party at Tenny park.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Ticket Scalper
The best they could do for me was a 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm shift. I'm not on the default schedule anymore, so I should be grateful for getting anything for a home night game. It was a 7:00 pm kickoff at Camp Randall, so I knew I'd get the business before the game, but it could easily die by 7:30, and stay dead until after 10:00. Somebody asked me how my day was going, on the way to the stadium, and I told them it was great so far, but in order for it to stay great, Penn State would have to blow out the Badgers. If the away team blows out the Badgers, the home fans will start leaving the stadium in disgust around half time, so it wouldn't stay dead until 10:00. My passenger wished me well, and noted that she wanted the Badgers to win.
The last stragglers went to the stadium during the first quarter. Those are all short rides, I ran a few. The dispatcher gave the score a few minutes into the game. Penn State 3 - Wisconsin 0, the Badgers would never catch Penn State, and it was indeed a blow out. Something like 41 - 7 during the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It got really busy, really quick. It was fat, as we say.
I came down Monroe and picked up a lady in front of The Grid, "Travis Terrace", she said.
I would turn left on Regent. I would take it slow until we got past the crowd, looking for another fare going short west. Yes, I split load flags with passengers already in. On a football Saturday, I do it frequently. I rolled up to the light at Monroe and Regent, and a couple of guys walked up to the cab, they wanted to go east, nope, can't help you, this lady is going west. Then we rolled past a couple who were waving, through the open window, they said State st., again, no help. Now it was a guy and girl sitting on the curb at the corner of Breeze and Regent, he tried to help her to her feet, she needed to go to detox, no thanks I don't need vomit in my cab right now, and past them we went. Then there was this older guy, waving in the dark, just past Lathrop. He was the last chance to get a second fare in, so I pulled over, and BINGO, he wanted to go to Hilldale. Get in sir.
Neither of these 2 folks were football fans, and they were both stone cold sober. Refreshing! The guy was 40 something, he said his bike had been stolen. He hadn't locked it, so it didn't surprise him, it was only a 20 dollar bike from St. Vinnies, anyway. I told him about my Raleigh that I got for a $3.00 fare from Busk, I ought to include that story some time.... I noted that they were both sober, and asked them if they were working the game. I figured concessions, selling bratwursts and hot dogs.
As we rode, they talked about living in Europe, he'd lived there for many years, she'd lived there for only a couple, but he knew the city she'd lived in. Lately he'd lived in Mexico. We dropped the lady off, and headed down Midvale, I said, "You must be independently wealthy."
No, he said, he was broke. He said he'd gambled all his money away. He said he had indeed been working the game, he was a ticket scalper.
"Wow, tell me about ticket scalping, if you're willing", I said. I'd always wanted to find out about it, they don't do too many Discovery Channel specials on ticket scalping. So, he told me about his trade. He travels all over the world scalping tickets. He gave me a brief tutorial on how to do it, and made a big point of noting the potential pit falls. 1) You can lose money! 2) Beware of counterfeit tickets! Hilldale was pretty close, so I pulled into the parking lot, and dropped him at his saloon of choice. He pulled out a big wad of twenties, $1,500.00 minimum, and paid me for the ride. I guess he had a passable day at work.
A few fares later, I was telling a lady in the cab about the scalper, and she said she'd had one arrested in Las Vegas when she was out there for a bowl game the Badgers had played in a few years ago. She said she was pretty amazed when she brought the cops back to where she'd bought the tickets, to arrest the scalper who'd sold them to her. He was still standing in the same place selling tickets. Why did she have the guy arrested? She'd been sold counterfeit tickets. The must have been pretty good fakes, the scalper certainly didn't know he'd sold her bad tickets. If he had, he would not have hung around. Kind of makes me wonder, how many people that counterfeiter ripped at that bowl game.
It was a great shift, even if it was only a 2 to 10!
The last stragglers went to the stadium during the first quarter. Those are all short rides, I ran a few. The dispatcher gave the score a few minutes into the game. Penn State 3 - Wisconsin 0, the Badgers would never catch Penn State, and it was indeed a blow out. Something like 41 - 7 during the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It got really busy, really quick. It was fat, as we say.
I came down Monroe and picked up a lady in front of The Grid, "Travis Terrace", she said.
I would turn left on Regent. I would take it slow until we got past the crowd, looking for another fare going short west. Yes, I split load flags with passengers already in. On a football Saturday, I do it frequently. I rolled up to the light at Monroe and Regent, and a couple of guys walked up to the cab, they wanted to go east, nope, can't help you, this lady is going west. Then we rolled past a couple who were waving, through the open window, they said State st., again, no help. Now it was a guy and girl sitting on the curb at the corner of Breeze and Regent, he tried to help her to her feet, she needed to go to detox, no thanks I don't need vomit in my cab right now, and past them we went. Then there was this older guy, waving in the dark, just past Lathrop. He was the last chance to get a second fare in, so I pulled over, and BINGO, he wanted to go to Hilldale. Get in sir.
Neither of these 2 folks were football fans, and they were both stone cold sober. Refreshing! The guy was 40 something, he said his bike had been stolen. He hadn't locked it, so it didn't surprise him, it was only a 20 dollar bike from St. Vinnies, anyway. I told him about my Raleigh that I got for a $3.00 fare from Busk, I ought to include that story some time.... I noted that they were both sober, and asked them if they were working the game. I figured concessions, selling bratwursts and hot dogs.
As we rode, they talked about living in Europe, he'd lived there for many years, she'd lived there for only a couple, but he knew the city she'd lived in. Lately he'd lived in Mexico. We dropped the lady off, and headed down Midvale, I said, "You must be independently wealthy."
No, he said, he was broke. He said he'd gambled all his money away. He said he had indeed been working the game, he was a ticket scalper.
"Wow, tell me about ticket scalping, if you're willing", I said. I'd always wanted to find out about it, they don't do too many Discovery Channel specials on ticket scalping. So, he told me about his trade. He travels all over the world scalping tickets. He gave me a brief tutorial on how to do it, and made a big point of noting the potential pit falls. 1) You can lose money! 2) Beware of counterfeit tickets! Hilldale was pretty close, so I pulled into the parking lot, and dropped him at his saloon of choice. He pulled out a big wad of twenties, $1,500.00 minimum, and paid me for the ride. I guess he had a passable day at work.
A few fares later, I was telling a lady in the cab about the scalper, and she said she'd had one arrested in Las Vegas when she was out there for a bowl game the Badgers had played in a few years ago. She said she was pretty amazed when she brought the cops back to where she'd bought the tickets, to arrest the scalper who'd sold them to her. He was still standing in the same place selling tickets. Why did she have the guy arrested? She'd been sold counterfeit tickets. The must have been pretty good fakes, the scalper certainly didn't know he'd sold her bad tickets. If he had, he would not have hung around. Kind of makes me wonder, how many people that counterfeiter ripped at that bowl game.
It was a great shift, even if it was only a 2 to 10!
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Glitter Twins
The Glitter Twins were these 2 very elderly sisters, who lived in a house on the corner of Mineral Point and a side street, on the near west side. Every Sunday morning, they would get dressed up, and take a cab to the Inn on The Park. They were very nice ladies.
I distinctly recall the navy blue 3 piece suit, one of them wore. It was covered with spills, probably years of spills, coffee, food, and just normal daily wear dirt. It was a very nice, very elegant, wool suit, but it was soiled beyond imagination. It didn't smell good either, but that's ok, if and when I'm in my 90's, I hope the fashion police will look the other way and turn a blind nose.
I liked these 2 ladies. We all liked these 2 ladies. Passengers don't get nicknames like, The Glitter Twins, unless we like them.
I thought about those Sunday dress up outfits for quite a while, 6 months perhaps. What I really wanted to do was to say to them, 'Ladies, could I come by on Monday and take your suits to the cleaners? I'll take them to the cleaners. I'll pick them up and return them to you when the cleaner is finished with them. I'll even pay the fee to make them look like new. May I, please?' I knew I couldn't do this because, if they complained that some cab driver had implied that they were unkempt, dirty, and they stunk, Roy Boy would be really upset. Rightfully so too. You don't go around telling regular passengers, who are favorites, that they're not wonderful to have in the cab. And, it wasn't that they weren't wonderful. It was that if I could see that they were wearing dirty clothes, the rest of the world could see it too, and I knew that if they cared enough to get dressed up, they wanted to be seen as looking nice.
Like all cab companies, we do parcel delivery. One day, I got a parcel going to a place called the coalition for the aging, or some such thing. It looked harmless enough. A do gooder outfit for the elderly. When I went in, I got my package signed for, and I mentioned these 2 ladies, and their dirty clothes to this guy who was getting the parcel. I asked him, if there was any anonymous way I could offer to take their clothes to the cleaner. I was a fool. He said, he could arrange for it, where did they live? So, I told him.
I never saw the Glitter Twins again. Not long after that, there was a for sale sign in the front yard of the house, across from the big Catholic church. I pulled into the driveway, and looked, sure enough, the house was empty. Soon the house was sold, and a new family moved in. No rationalization will ever make it ok, this was the worst thing I ever did as a cab driver. The old folks police got the Glitter Twins, and it was my fault.
Any time I get an elderly person who stinks, or a habitual drunk who stinks, or anybody with similar issues, I think of the Glitter Twins. It makes it easier to smile and offer to help them get from the cab to the door.
I distinctly recall the navy blue 3 piece suit, one of them wore. It was covered with spills, probably years of spills, coffee, food, and just normal daily wear dirt. It was a very nice, very elegant, wool suit, but it was soiled beyond imagination. It didn't smell good either, but that's ok, if and when I'm in my 90's, I hope the fashion police will look the other way and turn a blind nose.
I liked these 2 ladies. We all liked these 2 ladies. Passengers don't get nicknames like, The Glitter Twins, unless we like them.
I thought about those Sunday dress up outfits for quite a while, 6 months perhaps. What I really wanted to do was to say to them, 'Ladies, could I come by on Monday and take your suits to the cleaners? I'll take them to the cleaners. I'll pick them up and return them to you when the cleaner is finished with them. I'll even pay the fee to make them look like new. May I, please?' I knew I couldn't do this because, if they complained that some cab driver had implied that they were unkempt, dirty, and they stunk, Roy Boy would be really upset. Rightfully so too. You don't go around telling regular passengers, who are favorites, that they're not wonderful to have in the cab. And, it wasn't that they weren't wonderful. It was that if I could see that they were wearing dirty clothes, the rest of the world could see it too, and I knew that if they cared enough to get dressed up, they wanted to be seen as looking nice.
Like all cab companies, we do parcel delivery. One day, I got a parcel going to a place called the coalition for the aging, or some such thing. It looked harmless enough. A do gooder outfit for the elderly. When I went in, I got my package signed for, and I mentioned these 2 ladies, and their dirty clothes to this guy who was getting the parcel. I asked him, if there was any anonymous way I could offer to take their clothes to the cleaner. I was a fool. He said, he could arrange for it, where did they live? So, I told him.
I never saw the Glitter Twins again. Not long after that, there was a for sale sign in the front yard of the house, across from the big Catholic church. I pulled into the driveway, and looked, sure enough, the house was empty. Soon the house was sold, and a new family moved in. No rationalization will ever make it ok, this was the worst thing I ever did as a cab driver. The old folks police got the Glitter Twins, and it was my fault.
Any time I get an elderly person who stinks, or a habitual drunk who stinks, or anybody with similar issues, I think of the Glitter Twins. It makes it easier to smile and offer to help them get from the cab to the door.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Special days, like the Big 10 home opener
Any cab driver will tell you, days are not created equal. Some are simply better than others. New Years Eve, or New Years Day for day drivers, is one of those great days to work. Here in Madison, Big 10 game days and nights, as well as days like Halloween are also big days.
When I started driving, they served beer in Camp Randall. You could smell stale beer 2 blocks away on a game day. The Badgers had mediocre to poor football teams, and the emphasis was on fun. Activities like body passing were common, and the student section was a lot of fun. The band was great too. Everybody had a great time except the coach and players. It must have been kind of rough, usually getting run over by every visiting team in front of the home crowd.
The best place to sit in a cab, waiting for passengers, was in the little parking lot, right outside of the ticket office. It wasn't quite possible to see the game from there, but you could certainly hear the crowd cheer or moan, and I never cared who won anyway. Football is for having fun. Football is for making money. Is somebody supposed to win? Are you supposed to care? If you're having fun and making money, what more do you want?
The Badgers are getting whupped by the California Golden Bears that Saturday. I don't recall the score, but it wasn't even close. People started leaving around half time. This is great for a cab driver. The last stragglers will go to the game at the end of half time, so if people start leaving just as the last people arrive, you stay busy all afternoon. The only thing you have to watch out for is the massive traffic jam that happens when the game finishes. If you're good, and I am, you can even slip through that, usually.
These 2 drunk guys came out and got in the cab. The game is close to finished, but the traffic jam hasn't started yet. They're showing me the fake binoculars, which is really a flask that holds close to a liter. Hee hee hee, ho ho ho, wooo hoo, boy are we drunk!!!! Wah hah!! These guys are around 35 to 40, and in real life, they're probably solid citizens in some small town up north, but it's Badger football in party city, and they're both hammered. They say their car is somewhere out by the cemeteries, so what they need is a pretty short ride out Regent st.
We hadn't cleared the parking lot, when the older of the 2 asked the most classic of all passenger questions, "What's the most off the wall thing anybody's ever done in your cab?"
"Well, nobody's ever mooned out of my cab before", I said. I was thinking, that'll shut 'em up. Wrong! In those days we drove cars with mechanical windows, so if a passenger in the back seat wanted to crank down the window, there was no way to stop him. It took about 30 seconds for that older and more respectable of the 2, to have that window cranked down, and to have his bare butt hanging out of it. The other one, had the other window open, and was sheiking out the window, "Whoooooooooo, whooooooooooo, whooooooooooop", all the way down Regent street. That bozo was mooning all the fans, adults, kids, and little old ladies. Doing it right there in broad daylight. Henceforth, I would only ever be able to say, no woman ever mooned out of my cab, and to this day, no woman ever has. BUT!!! One time I did see 3 little muffies at the corner of State and Lake, mooning State street in general.
My football Saturday was complete, about 30 minutes later, when I got Mookie the Bear in my cab, with a couple of Cal cheerleaders. Mookie the Bear? The Cal mascot!!!! I've never had Bucky in my cab, but I did have Mookie the Bear once.
When I started driving, they served beer in Camp Randall. You could smell stale beer 2 blocks away on a game day. The Badgers had mediocre to poor football teams, and the emphasis was on fun. Activities like body passing were common, and the student section was a lot of fun. The band was great too. Everybody had a great time except the coach and players. It must have been kind of rough, usually getting run over by every visiting team in front of the home crowd.
The best place to sit in a cab, waiting for passengers, was in the little parking lot, right outside of the ticket office. It wasn't quite possible to see the game from there, but you could certainly hear the crowd cheer or moan, and I never cared who won anyway. Football is for having fun. Football is for making money. Is somebody supposed to win? Are you supposed to care? If you're having fun and making money, what more do you want?
The Badgers are getting whupped by the California Golden Bears that Saturday. I don't recall the score, but it wasn't even close. People started leaving around half time. This is great for a cab driver. The last stragglers will go to the game at the end of half time, so if people start leaving just as the last people arrive, you stay busy all afternoon. The only thing you have to watch out for is the massive traffic jam that happens when the game finishes. If you're good, and I am, you can even slip through that, usually.
These 2 drunk guys came out and got in the cab. The game is close to finished, but the traffic jam hasn't started yet. They're showing me the fake binoculars, which is really a flask that holds close to a liter. Hee hee hee, ho ho ho, wooo hoo, boy are we drunk!!!! Wah hah!! These guys are around 35 to 40, and in real life, they're probably solid citizens in some small town up north, but it's Badger football in party city, and they're both hammered. They say their car is somewhere out by the cemeteries, so what they need is a pretty short ride out Regent st.
We hadn't cleared the parking lot, when the older of the 2 asked the most classic of all passenger questions, "What's the most off the wall thing anybody's ever done in your cab?"
"Well, nobody's ever mooned out of my cab before", I said. I was thinking, that'll shut 'em up. Wrong! In those days we drove cars with mechanical windows, so if a passenger in the back seat wanted to crank down the window, there was no way to stop him. It took about 30 seconds for that older and more respectable of the 2, to have that window cranked down, and to have his bare butt hanging out of it. The other one, had the other window open, and was sheiking out the window, "Whoooooooooo, whooooooooooo, whooooooooooop", all the way down Regent street. That bozo was mooning all the fans, adults, kids, and little old ladies. Doing it right there in broad daylight. Henceforth, I would only ever be able to say, no woman ever mooned out of my cab, and to this day, no woman ever has. BUT!!! One time I did see 3 little muffies at the corner of State and Lake, mooning State street in general.
My football Saturday was complete, about 30 minutes later, when I got Mookie the Bear in my cab, with a couple of Cal cheerleaders. Mookie the Bear? The Cal mascot!!!! I've never had Bucky in my cab, but I did have Mookie the Bear once.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I like this Australian drivers blog
We work the same hours, 3:00 pm - 3:00 am, but other wise we are opposites, when it's night here it's day there, when it's summer here, it's winter there. He sounds like a decent sort of guy, just a cab driver, trying to earn a living. Nothing exciting, but all cab driving.
http://canberracabbie.livejournal.com
http://canberracabbie.livejournal.com
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