Thanks gentlemen

My thanks to Matt, the guy who went to The Willy Street Co-op, and Mr. Jackson. I'd been looking for a way to fictionalize a place that no longer exists, and with your help it came to me.

The entire way to set it up, and roll with it came real fast as soon as I had the beginning of it. As I turned the corner at Bedford and Wash I finally saw it, I'd been looking for that picture in my mind for a few years.

Thus, I am probably going to back burner Night Driver and spend that time on an actual work of fiction. Wow, what a trip.

THANKS GUYS!!

Camel Jack

I'm stoked!!!! Tomorrow evening, there is a writers group in a joint up on the square. It will be the first time I will ever have received feedback from other writers or writer wanna bees. I can hardly wait!! Now, where was I.... The story, yeah.......

The Elder identified the Q & M people for me. Young princes, whose native language is Arabic, they are students, according to him.

Here's the deal. Phone guy couldn't understand this guy, and the guy gets frustrated and gives a destination he can pronounce, Walmart. So the call is on the board as Q & M going to Watts rd. I'm getting empty on Shiloh, and bid that I'm empty there. The dispatcher I have the most trouble with and complains about me constantly, gives me this call. There were closer calls it made more sense to give me, but he knew this was going to be trouble and he wanted me to have it.

When I get there, these 2 guys take their sweet time coming out, and I'm about ready to take off when they finally get in the cab. Guy on the passenger side is going to do the talking, and he has a thick accent which I don't identify, and he's saying something that at first sounds kind of like, "Cat food."

I ask him to say it again. Now it sort of sounds like, "Cap food."

After he butchered the destination the first time, he'd said, "You go, I show you, you go."

Well, I don't do that for a number of reasons. And I told him he'd have to tell me where he wanted to go or we weren't going anywhere, which is what I'd tell anybody, unless I had a compelling reason to believe they needed to show me. This guys 200 word vocabulary is really good, you figure he can speak English, and he's just unwilling to tell you were you're going. Fact is, 200 words aren't enough to express himself, and he should be upfront about it and say his English is weak, and that he's here to learn English, then I'd say ok, it would make sense. People who lie or are evasive about where they're going will get refused service by almost any cab company anywhere.

That this guy is too stuck up, or shall we say, arrogant, to admit that he can't speak English isn't my problem, isn't going to become my problem, and isn't going to make me want to help him.

Where? Cap Center Foods downtown perhaps? He's trying to say it, says it a few times more, I ask where a few times more, and he gets frustrated and says, "Cap food, you know, by Walmart." Ok, that makes sense now, that was how they had it on the board. NOTE: When he was saying cat food, I was thinking I ought to take him to Copp's on Century. There are a couple of small foriegn groceries near Walmart, I'm guessing that's where he wants to go.

We get to Watts and Gammon and I point to an Indian grocery and he says no, take him to Walmart. It isn't making a lot of sense, but I take him were he says he wants to go.

An hour later they have a return ride, I want to go to the airport which is on past Q & M, so I bid for and get the return ride. We haven't gone 1/4 mile and the guy starts in on me that I refused to take him to the grocery he wanted to go to 2 miles in the direction he's pointing in. Closer to 4 miles actually, but he's talking about Copp's on Century. And now, somebody's coached him on how to pronounce Copp's.

"You refuse to take me where I want to go! You make me take ride I don't want! You don't give me chance! This is the 4th time I've riden with you in a month and I have trouble with you every time. You get angry with me every time. I call your company and complain, I will have you fired!"

What............. Just who the hell does this ass hole think he is? Sure we had trouble, if you wouldn't tell me where you wanted to go the other 2 times, I'm sure I would have said if you continuted to refuse to tell me where we were going, you'd have to get out of the cab, and a, "You go", "Get out of the cab", "You go", ..... "For the last time, you either tell me were you want to go, or get out of the cab.", ensued, and he gave up and said something he could pronounce. I'm thinking these guys are Afgans, because I don't recognise the accent, and the way he's butchering English leads me to believe his native language is poorly defined. Poorly defined? Yeah, some languages are strongly defined like Baltic languages, which is why a Latvian will say, 'Wash it the car.' Weakly defined means they dispense with articles like a, an, the, that, this, get the idea? Arabic, I know to be fairly strongly defined because I took 3 semesters of a real closely related language called Hebrew in college. Trying to cool the guy off, I tell him my accent in French is bad and my accent in Hebrew is worse, and least I can make all the sounds in the French language properly, I can't in Hebrew. And I know just what the guy was thinking at that point, 'I'm going to get this filthy Jew, who's screwing me over.'

30 years ago, in my home town, rich Arab exchange students didn't dress like bums like these 2, and they had manners, kind of like the guys in James Bond movies. My home town? Yeah, another Big 10 town, and we had LOTS of Saudi's, and a whole lot more Japaneese than Wisconsin had. Back then Wisconsin had a lot of Chineese and Iranians. In Ann Arbor, you can buy fresh made stuffed grape leaves. Here, only out of a can, even at a restraunt.

There ought to be a law

There ought to be a law prohibiting passengers from using cell phones. There is a law prohibiting smoking, so don't say such a law is impossible.

2 consecutive passengers:

First one gets in and insists on sitting behind me, and demands I close window. It's cracked 1/2". So she gets on her cell phone and calls the company and tells them I won't roll up the window, she's cold, she doesn't want to move to the passenger side, and they need to make me roll up the window. Screech!!! Now there are almost tears in her voice, she's telling the phone guy she thinks I'm going to kick her out of the cab. Under different circumstances perhaps, but it's very cold, I just take her back to where she came from and tell her she can get a cab driver she likes. I tell the dispatcher that no matter what the issue, if a passenger calls the company to complain or demand they get their way about something, they're out of the cab, PERIOD.

Next passenger can't talk, she has a lisp. She holds out the cell phone like it's a loudspeaker, I can't hear it right. So, she wants me to talk to some guy on it, and it's like a cherry bomb went off next to my ear. Then she claims it's not her fault, it's the phones fault.

Bottom line, I will never put a passengers cell phone up to my ear again.

What a zoo

I worked a 5-5 last night instead of the usual 3-3. It wasn't a great night, for a New Years Eve, it was only ok.

The overhead was way to massive however. I severely injured my thumb. Now it's actually hard to turn the ignition key. The x-rays say nothings broken, hand specialist will look at in a week.

Last night was the first time anyone ever said, "You're Real Cab Driver?" Someone who'd read this blog without me telling them about it, in my cab!!!!!!!

Around 3:30 this smart ass bartender got out of the cab and refused to pay. He shoved me a couple of times, and walked away laughing. His girlfriend wasn't too happy, she wanted to know why he did such things so frequently, I didn't hear the answer. I called the cops, and the officer told me he'd write the guy for disorderly, a $400 ticket. He could do this because while I was talking to the officer the guy called the cops to complain that I was trying to get in his apartment building. I think that lie was enough for the officer all by itself.

New Years Eve with a full moon, how could anyone expect less.

I had a banker in the cab who said he thinks the economy will do a lot better this year. He said that availability of funds to loan was good. Da wha........ I play the stock market too. One of the biggest variables in banking is how much money they can get their hands on to loan. If money available to loan dries up, your credit score isn't important, there's no water in the well. My biggest winner in 2009 has the stock symbol GFRE, which prompts me to share the story of Dow Chemical. GFRE is a company in China that produces specialty chemicals. Dow was founded by a guy who went prospecting for underground salt water when he

In general it took a lot out of me. I guess I must be getting old.

Happy New Year!

In 30 minutes I will take off for work. I wish every night of the year could be as good as New Years Eve. It's like shooting fish in a barrel as they say. The essence of making money in a cab is to keep it full. Tonight mine will be full for 12 hours straight, and only if I take a break to eat or something like that, will it not be full.

I've written 2 chapters of the book now. I sent both of them to a friend in Canada named Laurie. She claims the first one is a good read. I submitted an excerpt from the second chapter to a first page contest at a web site called webook, www.webook.com. I'll let you all know how it turns out, I think I just flushed 10 bucks but who knows.... They say they guarantee that an agent will read it. Agents are out to make a buck. I was VERY careful to make it a good read, and Laurie has said that many of my adventures are good stories.

I chose the first New Years story, for those of you who haven't read that post, that would have been 3:15 am, 1/1/89. Imagine 12 guys in tuxedos rolling around in the snow fighting, in the middle of the street, in front of a serious dive of a bar. What's that Italian guy's name, Felini? I've always said driving New Years Eve in Party City is a lot like watching a Felini movie.

Anybody who wants to review what I'm at this point calling Chapter 2, if you leave me an email, I'll send you a copy. I ask the following in return. Give me an HONEST critical opinion. If you like it cool, but even if you do, please, please, please, help me make it something that will hook a publisher. If you think it's merde (thats french for shit, excuse my french, get it?), tell me it's merde, and if you're really kind tell me what's wrong with it.

When I was a kid, my mother used to tell me I should write books. I knew even then that she didn't like me, and it pretty much took her death last year to actually prove it beyond any doubt, but I knew it back then. If she told me I should write a book, to me it meant I would be terrible at it. But she was judging what was coming out of my mouth. She was listening to the story.

An actor who got a fairly long ride the other day was a real good audience, and liked some of my stories. He said it was all about the story. How true is that? Well, I was told in Comparative Literature that there are only 7 (if memory serves) fundamental stories. The most recent is the sidekick template, and all the sidekick stories are knockoffs of the same template.

That makes Car 54 Where Are You, and The Hobbit variants of the same story, right? What makes the story then, is how it's told. Life is strange, the world is strange, and maybe I do have chance. Maybe my mother was telling the truth, which she actually did on rare occasions. For the record my mother loved my brother, was indifferent about my sister, and seriously didn't care about me. Anybody wants to know, I'll share the reasoning behind all that. I've compared notes with my dad's older sister, and it's how it is (was, my mom and dad are both dead).

10 minutes to get dressed, let the dog out, feed the dog, and hit the road. Wish me luck. I'm excited. New Years Eve is a blast to drive a cab.

You've got to see this picture

http://paneerkadhai.blogspot.com/

It's the picture of the little boy and little girl. When you finish laughing, and I'll tell you about a car accident or 2.

I've been in enough accidents in cabs that I don't recall them all, I'm sure. 21 years is a long time. They teach you things about people and driving, so perhaps if I tell you, you can learn without an insurance claim. First off, convince yourself that there are people out there who will get in an accident intentionally. The last one I was in, the pavement was slippery, traffic was heavy, and this woman in this ratty Volvo station wagon passed me in the right lane zipped in front of me and with turn signal on slammed on the brakes. She claimed she needed to go to the bank. Bull! When the cops were done she didn't go into the bank AND she had a court track record for suing people like insurance companies. She wouldn't dream of doing that to another car like hers.

Black ice will do the job real nicely too, you need to watch for it. What is black ice? After a big snow fall like we had a few weeks ago, there are big snow piles all over the place. On a nice warm winter day with sunshine and upper 30's, some of that will melt, and that pool of water will be smooth, invisible ice within an hour of sunset. I was sitting at a stop sign at the corner of Index and Stewart, and bam. Guy lived close by, no ice there when he went home for lunch, and he in general drove too fast and aggressively. Moral of story, YOU Babba, you must watch for it because he won't, and don't stop where he can hit you. 3 accidents/tickets in 3 years and you're gone these days.

Bottom of hill in any kind of storm but especially in snow. I was waiting for a passenger to come out of this apartment building on Park st., and I saw this car start coming down the hill in my lane. Why isn't he changing lanes to go around me I wondered. NOW I mentally watch for 2 seconds and start accelerating away, go around the block, and come back. I watched in my rear view mirror as he kept coming down the hill. He couldn't be wanting to plow right into me, could he? Complete moron, an engineering graduate student from Taiwan, he'd never driven on a slippery surface before, locked up the brakes at the top of the hill, and slid all the way down the hill and plowed into me. The black lady in the back seat said, "I think I hurt my elbow. No it's my shoulder........." I cut her off right there and said, "Merry Christmas ma'am, Merry Christmas."

I've had more than one person hit me head on while they were looking over their shoulder. I thought this one ass hole in Middleton, on Parmenter st., was going to drag me out the window and start pounding on me. He hit me in the northbound lane while traveling southbound, and he's mad at me? Boy was I glad to see the cops show up. That cab was totaled too.

And an accident that wanted to happen but didn't last week was this complete idiot who stopped on the beltline. In a perfict world it would be acceptable to chase the guy down and strangle him. It's slippery, real slippery in spots, and he's coming at a tight circle ramp way to fast so I decide to let him zoom by, but I want off there too, so I put on my turn signal. So he slows down right on my rear bumper. I slow down, he slows down, we got to walking speed and I'm looking at a car coming on fast, as in 50 mph in my lane so I floor it and pull over on the left side of the ramp. Well, now Mr. Polite goes past me. What's his plan? Oh, he's just being a safe driver, and being polite, and he'll kill somebody doing it someday.

I had a couple of black kids in the cab and a metro and I was waiting for to make a left turn at First and Wash (washington), and you know how people will floor it to run the very last of the yellow light? Well, I started to make my left turn, looked at a fool coming the other way doing just that and decided to let him come and I'd wait for one more light. Unfortunately the guy in the car behind me had to tap me just then. Awwwww, SHIT!!!! With a metro in, I've got to get the cops, no choice. Now with this 3 in 3 years business, I'd chance going on and letting everybody forget it. The 2 black kids in the back seat were acting real nervous for about 10 minutes, then all of a sudden that changed. The one kid started shouting, "My arm hurts! When do I get paid?!" What changed was they decided to hide the dope they were transporting under the seat, and walk away from $50, and go for the big pay out, and when they figgured out how to get it off their person, that's what they did. The cops did shake them down too. If it ever happens again, you can be sure the cops will shake down the back seat too. I remember the cop too, her name was Gail Holmes. She was amazed that I was so calm and composed. The previous time we met, I'd been attacked, was bleeding, and wanted her to arrest the guy who blindsided me, on a moving job I was running.

The final accident I'll mention was one of those rescue the passengers deals. When a cab dies for what ever reason, the driver is supposed to tell the dispatcher, who will put it on the board as a call. It was back when I first started driving, a Sunday if memory serves. There was a new guy out there, like it was his first or second weekend, a part time guy. He was zooming around downtown way too fast, and he'd beaten me for a couple of calls by doing 60 on West Washington, which is around 30 over. The lady who'd been in his cab when he wreaked it said he'd been brake torquing at a light, and when the light changed he let it rip. Unfortunately for everyone else involved, someone was making a late left turn on a yellow light and had not cleared the intersection yet. She said he plowed into that car with the accelerator on the floor.

When it rains it pours.....

Last night I super sized my shift. What's that? I went in to work a 2p-10p, and actually worked a 2p-2a. As soon as 10:00 came around it got weird.

There was a Hilldale to Yuma on the board, I called for it and got it. I went over to the GDHD (Great Dane Hilldale) and started waiting for the passenger to come out. The Great Dane is a gin joint with pretty good food, and nice pool tables. A city bus came through and this black kid, about 20, got out and walked over to the cab and got in the front seat. Take me to Yuma he said. I told him he should call for a cab from where he actually is, not from somewhere else. He said he got there pretty quick, and he used the cell phone on the bus. The cell phone on the bus? I didn't say anything, but I wasn't liking the sound of any of this. Public bus's don't have cell phone service for the passengers. So I told him that since he wasn't where he called for the cab from when he called I was going to need cash up front for the ride. Where on Yuma, I asked, because Yuma has address's in 2 different zones.

He said it should only be 1 zone, meaning it should be the minimum charge for getting in the cab, which the book would say is no zones. I said it was more than that, opened the book and asked what address on Yuma. He said 9 Yuma. Bad address, Yuma has address's in the 3000's and 4000's. Well, just take me to Yuma he said. I told him I couldn't help him and asked him to get out of the cab. He wanted to know why? He said he'd show me the money. I told him I didn't care, I couldn't help him and he needed to get out of the cab.

Like many people, he was of the opinion that he could fuck anything he could catch. They changed that law years ago. The notion that you can open a car door, sit down, and start ordering someone around is common enough, but I've seen a thousand of him and it just isn't going to fly. He wanted to know why I wouldn't take him.

"Well sir, you don't know where you want to go. You weren't where you called for the cab from. And you want to argue over how much the fare will be. I can kick you out of the cab for any of the 3 reasons. Now, I can't help you, please get out of the cab."

He tried the most common ploy, argue until the driver gives up and refuse to get out. No way. Giving up on a guy like him can get you killed, I told him that if he wouldn't get out of the cab I'd get the cops to help him get out, and I would too. Over and over he wanted to know why? Finally I told him. "The last 2 guys who tried to rob me with a knife were just like you, they wouldn't tell me where they wanted to go, now get out of my cab!"

Now we started with the crap that I was painting him with those to guys, and blah blah blah. He as a black man was indignant. Yeah, the fucking race thing always gets called into play. He finally got out, and said he'd get me fired. How many times have I heard that. He did call the company back, and did complain, and they did not send him another cab. If you want to get refused service, just try refusing to tell the driver where you want to go, or giving him a bad address, works like a charm every time, or should work every time anyhow.

Then, an hour later I get a couple of calls going from downtown to Park and the belt, and Midvale and the belt. I get to Park and the belt, start making change for the guy, and the other passenger is barfing out the door. So I tell him I'll give him a break since he only got a tiny splash on the door and a little in the pocket where people put their hand to pull the door closed. He could pay me for the ride to that point and good bye good luck. He was pretty sincere and begged for a break, said he didn't know where he was, which was true, and it was cold. He held out a hand full of cash, said it was all he had on him and could I please help him. Awwwww, fuck it...... But if you barf again in my cab it's Detox for you and that's a nightmare, understand? I gave him some napkins out of the glove box and told him to clean it up. He made it to Hammersly and Midvale without incident, thanked me, and vanished into a red brick 8 unit.

I told Eric over the radio that when it rains it pours, and he asked why I super sized. I told him that none of that kind of thing is predictable, and if I could predict it I wouldn't have super sized. Who would? He agreed, and the next 3 hours went pretty well.