Tampa Taxi Shots

A Glitch In The System

The dispatcher Ruban needs to give me a break. It is not right to penalize me because my BlackBerry is hung up and then say it is my fault. It is the systems fault and I am tired of it costing me money. He says its not his problem. It is his problem. He needs to learn what he is doing or have someone else do it. His excuses are lame. He works for the company; he needs to fix it.

Why Would A Friday During Winter Be So Slow In Florida?

I worked ten hours today and drove 49 miles!  This is the time of year when I should be putting 149 miles on this cab.  The drivers are all sitting on stands and complaining. We are broke and can't even pay our lease. I know how to drive a cab, the problem is not me.

The economy is bad, nothing is being done to promote activity in the area. Perhaps people were scared off months ago during the Gulf Oil Crisis. I really don't know. Tampa is a ghost town and NOBODY IS USING OUR SERVICE!

I am really wondering if I should hang it up after sixteen years in the Spring and try to do something else for a living. I would love to work on the High Speed Rail that Obama said he was going to start building in Tampa to go to Orlando. The work project was supposed to employ over 20,000 workers for four years. A real shovel ready job!  When are they going to build the High Speed Rail? Lets see, that will be when United Cab provides me with business, I guess.

Do you know we have 260 cabs on fleet. Seriously, does the town need that many taxi cabs?

The Credit Card Machines In United Cabs Are Now Functioning

My Veriphone is up and running and people are using plastic to pay for their taxi fares. The machine faces the back seat, and all the customer has to do is swipe the card and enter the amount of the tip. Everything else is done by digital transmission. The printer mounted on the dashboard prints out their receipt. How cool is that?

This is all part of the new digital dispatch system that is currently being installed at United Cab. They are entering the 21st Century. If all goes as planned, our efficiency should increase by at least 30%. If that puts 30% more money in my pocket, I will be loving it.

The best part is that it gets rid of hood streaching and holding the mic. Since I don't lie, this new system will be a real help to me. It will hurt the liers and I hope we can get rid of them.

I'm Very Sick...Getting Better...Hope that Taxi Business In Tampa Gets Better

I have been sick on my back for most of last week. It is all the energy I can muster to get out and try to do something in my taxi cab. I am getting better, I need too, with all the events coming up and the tourist season just days away. 

The new computer dispatch system is working itself out. Paul (Drivers manager) told me that we have only about 70 more cabs to outfit and we should be up and running 100% in about three weeks. It could not come soon enough. This has been a rough transitions, and it has cost me a lot of money. It has also cost us major accounts.

I heard that we have lost Hess Spinal and that we are about to lose our major MRI account that is very lucrative. I hate to say this because I know the big guys look at this blog, but that should concern you greatly. Good business that are well run don't lose accounts. Simple.

Samson (Former United Cab Driver) Is On Facebook

Samson was one of my best taxi buddies for about ten years. He was getting involved in video productions as a way to make money. He always encouraged me to pursue my passion for photography. He believed it was a direction that could lead away from taxi cab driving. I found this photo of Samson on his Facebook account when I accepted him as a friend. It seems things are going well for Samson. He left United Cab on September 1, 2009 and he has never come back. Good for him. He is having more fun now then sitting on stand 21 all day!

I am still pursuing my photography and now have a very successful YouTube channel with Google adds on them. I am working hard on alternative forms of income. Taxi driving now requires too many hours and pays very little.

Anthony Jacondino World War Two Veteran Turns To Pandhandling

I first did a report last September about a man I saw on the corner of Columbus and Dale Mabry holding a sign saying he was a WW11 veteran. I have never seen a dude that old flying a sign before. It is usually the young looking to score motel, beer and cig money. This guy seemed way different. He looked respectful, and I wondered what his story was. Should he be getting benefits at his age? Did something happen? It seems he does have a story to tell. 

His name is Anthony Jacondino (seen in the blow up cell phone image I took in September), and he is a real war hero. He saved a buddy's life in the Pacific by shooting a Japanese soldier that had come into their tent at night. Jacondino has never asked for a thing in his life, now he needs a little help. Here is a news story by the St. Pete Times.

Coin Convention In Tampa

I'm glad the numismatic convention was in town today or I would not have gotten very many rides, that's for sure. I love collecting coins, and I was glad to have the interesting conversations that picking them up provided. 

They all agreed that it is getting harder to find things of value in circulation. When I was a kid, silver coins were plentiful in your pocket change. In 1965 the United States government stopped using silver and went to the clad coins that you find today (eventually making our money worthless). However, I have been finding some interesting things lately. 

Buffalo nickles and Standing Liberty quarters I have found in the last month!  Mercury dimes, that's another matter. I believe that in times of bad economy, people will spend the money they have been hording for years. Makes sense, if your broke and need to buy something. Have you been in a convenience store lately and the person in front of you is buying a pack of cigarettes with coins?  

The thing about the Buffalo nickles and the standing liberty quarters was the highest point on the surface was the date. That meant it was the first thing that wore off. Even if it was in Very Good condition, you could still not see the date - No date, no real value

Check you change folks. There might be some treasure in there.

I Got My Money From A Cab Beat

I picked up this lady on New Years Eve on South Howard who was trying to walk back to the Beach Park area of Tampa. She seemed a little confused, and a little bit older then most of the kids that were partying in the So Ho district. She said she had called for a taxi, but it was very hard to get through on our phone lines. Strange, there were cabs all over Howard.

I took her to her house...It only ran $7.85 but she had no money on her. She tried to get into the house but said someone had taken her purse and her keys. Her energy told me that somehow her husband had all of the stuff. They must have had an argument, and he took off leaving her on the side of the road. 

She started crying and said if I gave her my phone number she would call me latter and pay me. Not likely, but I gave her my number and took off. We had Zillions of calls on the board, and I did not want to waste anymore time. Guess what!

She called me Wednesday night and said she would leave the money under her door mat. I went by today, and sure enough, the money was there. Believe me folks, it does not always work out that way.

Angela Marie Finger: Model Missing From Las Vegas Could Be In Danger

Angela Marie Finger disappeared from Las Vegas In June of 2006.  She left behind a good job as a cage supervisor at the Mote Carlo Casino on the Vegas strip. She was young, beautiful, and her family misses her dearly. She may have been pulled into a life of internet porn, and possible human trafficking. She is considered a MISSING PERSON: ENDANGERED by the FBI. I photographed Angela in Phoenix at the Arizona Shootout (Arizona Model Photo Shoot) one year after she was missing. I was not aware of her status at the time.

 
Photo shot of Angela Finger at the Arizona Shootout April 2007

Angela Finger was coerced into leaving her job at the Monte Carlo Casino in Las Vegas during June of 2006. She had met a man on the internet through MySpace, who represented himself as someone he was not. Angela soon moved out of her condo in Vegas(furniture removed, electric cut off, phone discontected) and ran off with this man.

I received emails from Angela when I was setting up personal model sessions for the Arizona shootout of 2007, she contacted me with condolences about the passing of my girlfriend. She told me how sorry she was and that she would like to meet with me.

I met with her and her "husband" when I arrived and she let me take photos of her on Saturday and Sunday of the shootout. Angela told me she was a Phoenix model named "Angel the model." She signed the model release as "Angela Raether." That was not her name, but the alias last name of the man that was controlling her. His real name wasWILLIAM MATTHEW SMOLICH. He is wanted in several States for failure to register as a sexual offender.

Angela may be in danger. She has been on many porn sights that have been taken down since Smolich found out her parents were looking for her. He was pimping her out for imcome. If you were, or have been, associated with the Arizona Shootout in Phoenix circa 2007 and may know this girl, please come forward with information

MEDIA COVERAGE

Missing Daughter Shows up in Internet Porn, Family Uses YouTube to Find Her
A Nevada mother turns to YouTube to locate her missing daughter.

May-12-2008
(SALEM, Ore.) - Michelle and Patrick Finger say they aren't going to stop trying to locate their daughter. She became involved with a man who turns out to be a wanted, convicted pedophile. Sadly, the only sight they catch of her now shows up on Internet porno sites.

Michelle Finger says that two years ago, her daughter Angela worked at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas as a cage cashier, which was looked at as a solid job that had already brought her two promotions.

"She worked there for a little under 2 years. She was bright and sweet, and was very close to her family. That all changed in a heartbeat."

She says that through MySpace, two days before Mothers day 2006, her daughter met a man who said his name was Craig Raether. He said he was 27, and that his parents were killed by a drunk driver. His story didn't add up for Angela's parents, but she was interested and they seemed to have little impact on her decision to begin spending time around the man who used the name Craig Raether

It wasn't long according to Michelle, before Angela began acting odd. "She started dressing like a street girl, and acted rude to us all the time. We were fighting a lot. Fathers day came, and she took her dad out to eat, and bowling. We started talking about her brother's upcoming wedding, and I told her we would take her, I didn't want Craig there. Thats the last time I saw her. They left shortly after that not to be seen or heard from for the next year."

Angela Finger's parents said it made them crazy, and they began digging up whatever information they could. They learned that the man had a shady past and that much of what he had told them was not true. Then at the age of 46, Angela Finger's mother Michelle had a heart attack.

"I came home from the hospital more determined than ever. I put up a fake myspace with his picture, and the words 'have you seen me?' I also put his picture on classmates.com, hoping to get a hit."

She also wrote to Craig Raether on Classmates, urging that he get in contact with her. She says that three weeks later she received a reply from the REAL Craig Raether.

"He had looked me up after my email on classmates, and wrote me. He told me that the guy with my daughter and impersonating him was a childhood friend named William Smolich. I was floored, but, I did know something was off from the begining."

She says that over the next two days, they combed the Internet and found porno sites with their daughter, and movies starring her.

"I was devastated. In the weeks that followed, we called the Boulder police, who are useless, and said if I was going to keep investigating to let them know, so they wouldn't waste their time, he is wanted there."

She says she does hold the Boulder City cops responsible for this, at least in part. "He is a sexual predator they let out to do this to our family, and we want our daughter home. As of the last week, I have heard nothing, but, found more sites where she is the pin up girl. Any and all help would be so greatly appreciated! If ANYONE has any private suggestions that could help, or any questions, please let me know."

William Matthew Smolich, who also uses the name Shawn Odow and several others, is 39-years old. He stands five foot eleven and weighs approximately 195 pounds. Smolich is a white male with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Police urges anyone who sees William Matthew Smolich to call 911 and not try to apprehend this individual yourself.

His prior convictions requiring registration are Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child by one in a position of trust (F4); and Sexual Contact-no consent (M1). If you have information regarding this individual contact the Boulder County Sheriff Office at (303) 441-4444. You can also contact the FBI at 702 636-5033.

 

IN THE IMAGE BELOW YOU CAN SEE THAT SHE SIGNED THE MODEL RELEASE WITH ME UNDER HIS LAST NAME...RAETHER

IMAGES I TOOK OF ANGELA IN ARIZONA AFTER SHE WAS MISSING

 

 

ANYONE WHO WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ARIZONA SHOOTOUT IN COW TOWN IN 2007, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT MY E-MAIL IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION OF HER WHEREABOUTS. SHE MAY BE IN DANGER. PLEASE, IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING, CONTACT ME SO HER MOTHER AND THE FBI CAN HAVE THE INFORMATION

So Ho District In Tampa On New Years Eve

These stills are from a video I took of the party action in the Hyde Park area of Tampa called So Ho. This is where all the beautiful young people go to be seen. It use to be on New Years eve, I would concentrate on Ybor City, no need anymore. It was like shooting fish in a barrel after Midnight. Just swoop in with your taxi, and people would pile in. Many of the rides were good, and all you had to do was go back and pick up again. This went on until well after the bars closed. You can see my new dispatch BlackBerry mounted on the driver side dashboard.

I'm glad Don worked the overnight shift. He is perhaps our best dispatcher and he can get the calls out, and seems to understand this new system that is being installed. Since we are partially on voice - we need him now. 

With my BlackBerry, I no longer need to go to channel two (information channel). It sends me a detailed text with all the important information about the call, like name and address. At this point, it is not transmitting the phone numbers. In the age we live in, I believe that is a critical piece of information which is helpful for the taxi driver in finding his fare. In public places, you may need to call them out. 

You can see that the taxi cabs were wall to wall that night. This images shows two United Cabs abreast going down Howard Ave. All the drivers were picking up that night.