INcredible!

I have been working a different shift lately. 
It has been interesting.  Extremely!
There is a whole different crew running at night. and by crew I mean the passengers. 
They have a different psychology altogether.  
I think what they need is a dose of The Truth.  

1. Yes, that dress DOES make your ass look big. 
2. No, I don't think that eye makeup makes you look sexy. 
3. That dress is WAAAAAy too short.  (Don't use that one often.)
4. The Goth look is just another way to say, "Hey, I need a bully here."

I suppose that is not a politically correct way to connect with my customers, but the thought did cross my mind.
And, yes, before you ask, I have been issued my own version.  It was painful, but beneficial in the end.
Haven't got any funny or interesting stories, yet.  But, I will be sure to forward the good ones. 

Progress..

As I mentioned before, I am in the process of changing my shift more to the conventional, i.e., starting closer to the actual day shift and working through the "work day" that everyone else deals with.
Well, co-workers and the wife all agreed that it would probably be a good idea.
So, here we are, working verrrry long days as I engineer the change. But, already I can see a difference in the work involved.
I do have to get off my butt and move more.  But, there is still dead time. The phone business has just evaporated and there is no way around that.  Plus, there is so much more competition now.
And they are trying to do a WalMart on us.  They charge approx. half the gate Co-Op does.  They work longer because they practically live in their cabs.  And most live with extended family which cuts their expenses.
Life is just not fair.
And it only took me 60 years to figure that one out. 
They don't call me Speed for nothing...
Wait a sec.... They don't call me Speed.

I just love that line... Can't remember if I wrote it or stole it.  Still good either way.
But I digress.
What I was leading up to is/was that business is better if you pick the right shift and actually work it.
And I have been making nice for the customers so they will take the business card and call me when they need a cab.
Not the Townies customers, don't want to alienate them for sure, but everybody else is fair game.  And it's working.
So, the bottom line is that I am definitely feeling a lot more optimistic about everything lately.
And I must give credit where credit is due.
My wife has been the largest factor in that turnaround.  Both for her advice and moral support.  And every other kind of support as well, since I have been on waivers with this damn leg.
So, that is the gist of this blog.. Progress and major attitude change.
Oh, and by the way, I am losing weight. Still got the gut, but when leg gets better I will be able to start walking regularly.  The dog will love that.

Man! I believe I am out of my depth here.

Seems this blogging thing is just a lot more complicated than I thought. 

F'instance, my son's blog shows up on the wife's facebook.  I don't know how he did that.  But now she wants her blog to do that. so, I am experimenting and having little or no luck.
I will keep working on that.

Day in the Life...

Well, let's see.
I have managed to begin migrating my shift further into the day, with seemingly good results, financially.
Time will tell on that score. But I am seeing more of the day.  Which is a good thing.
I still don't hear from my two favorite stepsons often enough, although I understand they have lives of their own and I ask WAY too many questions for a nice friendly converstation, but I am interested. I want to know.
I am spurred on in my political indignation virtually every day by conversations with my passengers, other drivers and, of course, my wife, who, if anything, is even more radical than I am in some areas.
the concepts behind Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom" are as aggravating as they are true and relevant today.
But, in everyday use, I was driving around town on Cesar Chavez Day, and was struck by the incredible preponderance of absent state workers and of taxi radio dispatch business.
So, I guess it's a four day weekend, whether or not that was the stated intention. WooHoo!
For state workers... Not for the rest of us...
The streets of Sac are virtually empty of business.  Cops, Fire Trucks, Occasional tourists.
And I heard there is a convention of Archaeologists in town.
Boy, talk about partiers.  Look out Sacramento!

Free Association

Since I have been doing the taxi thing, which is a long time, I have seen, heard, taken part in some really interesting things or events.
From robberies to assaults and runouts, scams, oddball offers of sex, drugs and/or rock'n'roll. (back stage passes to a concert in town).
Sex from an assortment of individuals ranging from a flaming queen drunk out of his mind (he probably wouldn't have gotten so out of hand if he hadn't been.) to a partying couple going to one of the then popular sex clubs and wanting a ride home later and a ride later at home.
I pass all such offers. In the age of AIDS and herpes and etc. who needs that sh!t?
Scams are always a fact of life in the taxi biz. Free rides are the goal. Whether because of the death of a loved one, temporary poverty, permanent poverty, righteous indignation, religious fervor, hard luck, Viet vet, Gulf vet, Thursday vet.
And, OMG, the frikking signs. Everywhere and all the time. Same deal, Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me.
I had an adventure with those guys over 15 years ago that spoiled the originality and humor for me.
I learned how much money they were making, and the hypocrisy of standing around begging and then getting into brand new Dodge trucks to drive to their homes in the suburbs.
I can't believe I have trouble making my car payment every month and these guys just have to have the gall to stand there and look pitiful to out gross me hands down.
As we all should know by now..
Life is not fair. As Heinlein said, "Of course the game is rigged. But, if you don't play, you can't win!"
So, hang in there, baby! Best of luck. Rx

Japan !!!

Well, we have had a cataclysmic disaster on a worldwide scale. The earthquake in Japan is having its effect on virtually every aspect of modern life around the world.
Here is Sacramento, people are desperately seeking Potassium Iodide to protect themselves from drifting radiation, before and instead of doing any thing like real research about the actual danger.
Talking heads are desperate to keep their positions and will hammer any subject that will get them camera time. It increases their ratings and their checks.
Radiation is a scary topic that gets every one's attention with very little need for extra added drama. It carries enough of that by itself.
The real big news is on the economic front. The Japanese stock market is reeling, and this sends rather large ripples throughout the worldwide economic community.
Our own markets dropped dramatically recently due to the shock waves.
And this is without regard to any actual physical effects the quake and tsunami had on American shores and American lives. That is pretty much a separate story.
Even now, while the Nuclear problems are still being analyzed, their extent still unknown, and rescue operations just getting revved up, the full extent will probably never be finalized.
Problems and trauma will keep popping up for years.
They will be finding bodies and other things for years. The recovery, economic and otherwise, will take years.
And, now, the science types are telling everyone to expect more of the same, as the quake has awakened other dangers.
Volcanoes, other faults, The Ring of Fire.
Stuff will happen. End of the world.
Again!
Get yourself a go bag. A gun. Food and water. Because, sure enough, stuff WILL HAPPEN!
The only question is when?
We can never know.
Natural disasters, political unrest, the War on Terror, Jihad, Economic disasters.
Something will happen.
All we can do is all we can do to look ourselves and our families. Give it your best shot.
The secret is to not bury your head in the sand.
As depressing as the news gets, some of it will have relevance to you and your situation.
Seek out the relevant. Apply it to your situation.
Good luck! Rx

What the Heck Were They Thinking?

So, i am a cab driver in a semi major city in California.
As such I sit for 12 or more hours a day in the best psychology class in the world for 12 hours or more every day.
I cycle passengers from every walk of life, every creed, economic level, on both sides of the law.
From the homeless to the heartless they all pass through the cab.
I hear a lot of what they talk about, because I am invisible. That is SO cool!
I am everywhere all day long. I see all the stuff you glimpse out of the corner of your eye.
And BOY! is it ever interesting.
From fat girls wearing fashions designed for 9 year old girls, to healthy homeless types begging at street corners with their little signs, claiming some disability or the other.
I am sure there are some really deserving persons out there doing the same thing, but the experiences I have had and things I have seen have spoiled it for me.
I just refuse to contribute to these dregs of society.
F'rinstance, I give people going to work a 10% break on the fare. I believe I am the only one in the country to do anything like that.
Giving the working person a break of any kind, that is. The backbone of this country is abused, bled, taxed, fee'd, license to within an inch of their lives by every form of government, agency, employers, retailers, i.e., just about everyone.
To get back to the theme of this blog, What the Heck were they thinking?
Obama's health care that they had to PASS to find out what was in it?
Jerry Brown for Governor... Again! (I like Jerry, He is unconventional. But he is a politician and that means he is for sale. To unions and others in his case.?)
Gun control to disarm John Q. Public while they operate a revolving door at prisons.
Lawsuits with no consequence for frivolity. Who pays? We do.
Electing lawyers to congress to make more laws.. Woh! Job security to the max.
Have to get ready for work... more later.. observations, reservations, exacerbations, etc.