Tampa Taxi Shots

Radiation Found In Florida Rainwater

Low levels of radioactive iodine have been detected in Florida believed to be from the Japanese Fukushfima power plant according to Progress Energy. It is currently raining in Florida (where I live) and this news is unsettling.

There is no threat at this time to public safety said Progress Energy spokesman Drew Elliot. Monitors at the Crystal River plant have detected the Iodine - 131. Scientist said there would be other types of radiation then just Iodine if the nuclear plant in Florida was leaking.

Other nuclear stations throughout the East Coast have started detecting the low level radiation as well. The Safety and environmental agency says it poses no threat.

The air and water is my main concern. How long does radiation hang around?
Trace amounts of radiation are being detected in California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the Carolina's.

If this gets worse, I really don't know what you can do to protect yourself. In Japan they say to stay indoors. Does that mean without air conditioning? What about the water? No need to panic yet, but just stay on the alert... Article compiled from DailyMail.UK

Aqib Talib Is Called Out By This Taxi Driver

Aqib Talib is a great athlete. At corner he makes more interceptions then any man in the NFL. He was defense of player of year while missing four games. He is the complete package at defense. There is a problem. He is a very dangerous man off the field. The Buccaneers need to realize that, and get rid of him.

In the meantime I hope he does not get into my taxi cab. In sixteen years of driving taxi, I have been assaulted three times. It did not end well for the perpetrator. Two of them I know are maimed for life, the other may have recovered from his broken arm.

When I was assaulted out of the cab, on the second floor of a project I pushed the guy off the second floor balcony. He may be dead. I don't know, nor do I care.

Many cab drivers have "things" in their cabs. These "things" could bring your NFL carrier too a sudden halt. You were lucky that the cabbie you hit was not armed. I'm telling you guy many are. I would claim self defense.

I am a Buc fan and we need you at defense. Stop being a fuck up guy.

Your coach at Kansas was ripping you on Twitter hard last night saying you were the stupidest person he had ever known. He basically called you a retard. If your coach is calling you that, it may be to late for you.

You hit the DNA lottery with your football skills. The world was your oyster with a multi-million contract. You could have lived the rest of your life doing anything your heart desires. When you are my age and broke, you will know how much you fucked yourself.

You need to contact Tony Dungy and let him be your father and mentor. He is a man of God and can help you get your life back on track. Look at what he did for Mike Vick. Make that call now.

Stalled On A Pavement Called Yesterday

I have always been a man of mirth, and a believer in myths.  If I now look unhappy, there is a reason. The last few years have been rough.

The economy fell apart like a two-dollar watch in late 2007 and has hung around like your brother in law after Thanksgiving dinner. I think of all the things I was to accomplish after starting this blog, and compare those ambitions with what faces me each day.

I feel like a hit and run victim whose taxi is stalled on a pavement called yesterday, looking for the tag number to the vehicle called livelihood.  Is it game over? The reality is as real as the puke I cleaned up this morning, or the cab beater who took off running without payment. I remember the many hopes and dreams I associated with moving to Florida and working in a thriving taxi industry. These dreams are now just cracks in the sand caused by a relentless Florida sun beating on you without mercy until all resolve is gone.

I fell as many of us do.  There are fleeting glimpses of hope, a vision of what may again be a better day.  Then fatigue sets in, and how long can you keep chasing the $2.25 a mile prospect of a better day brought to you by the taxi Gods.  Will this economy ever get better?  Will it be in time? Is a recovering economy more faith then fact?

I believe it is turning the corner. I really do hope so. I am getting to old for this shit folks.

Taxi Drivers Would Lie Their Asses Off Under Voice Dispatch - Radiation Detected In Florida

There is this comment poster named "Big Mike." I know this guy. I love this guy. He was one of the original "Bagel Boys" at the airport that Tony used to talk so fondly about. Barry, Shadow and Mike were the Jewish connection we had in Tampa. (By the way, I ran into Barry's son Saturday morning and he wanted to say hi to Mike). Mike taught me a lot about how to win at Florida Dog Racing. I have cased a ticket or two.

Mike does not like this new dispatch system. I can understand that. I respect his opinion and love getting comments on it. Change can be difficult. In my opinion there are two major reasons this system is better then voice. 

You do not get the Hood stretcher's that you used to have and nobody can hold the microphone. Yes, you may have to roll a bit, but would you rather role then sit still reading a newspaper and talking to another cab driver about how slow it is. 

Plus, you know dispatchers are always going to have their "go to boys." That is never going to change.

On a more serious note: Progress Energy at the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant in Florida has detected radiation in today's rainfall. They say it is only Iodine -131 which means it is from an outside source. If it was from the Florida plant, it would have other elements involved. The working theory is that it is from the Japanese power plant. Trace readings of radiation are showing up all over the Untied States. Does this mean we run for the hills? What hills? Why did Obama not mention this tonight when he tried to convince America that the most important thing we have to do is shoot missiles at Libya. 

What if this radiation contaminates the local Florida water supply? If it is in the air, do we just close our windows? Do we run the air conditioning? I don't think there is much we can do. 

What The BlackBerry Shows To The Taxi Driver

The top level shows what zones have calls. The bottom level shows where taxi drivers are posted and how many of them This is information that in the past was impossible for the driver to know. If you are smart, you can make real money with this system.

Lost In The Travel Section

I asked a fare while on the way to Tampa International Airport if they where checking their emails on their cell phone. It seems they were doing much more then that. They were reading a book. They had an Amazon Kindle, and they could get formated newspapers as well. I felt like Fred Flintstone as I looked at the hard copy paper that I had paid 50 cents for out of a machine. I often wonder if this fast changing technology is good for humanity.

The modern world does not look any different from the one I grew up in as a little kid in the ‘60s. I see houses, cars and telephone and electrical wires strung aloft in the neighborhoods; styles have changed, but that is just fashion. What I do see are brick and mortar retail stores beginning to vanish along with newspapers because people can simply go online to buy whatever they want, and get a better price. I know I buy almost every book I purchase from Amazon. They always have a better price, and consistent delivery, and essentially every title known to man.

      I am sort of angry at myself for doing it this way, but I still like to enjoy a Saturday afternoon at the local bookstore with a fresh cup of coffee while I browse and look for the books that I will eventually purchase somewhere else.  I still find it very relaxing and there is something tactile about holding a physical book in your hand and thumbing thru it, instead of just reading a brief synopsis of it and a photo.  I had no idea that people would start getting their news this way.

      Can you really find everything you want and need on a website?  How can it be easier or more efficient to navigate than a newspaper with sections that proceed in a linear fashion?  I do not know, but apparently, millions do.

      We will one day live in a world where people will have no idea what its like to curl up on an easy chair on a Sunday morning with that ubiquitous cup of fresh coffee and slowly read and spend time with yourself, without the time pressure you have been under the previous part of the week.

      Does that make us a better society?

      Does that improve our humanity?

      Are we robbing ourselves of a synergetic connection with the world while we are lost in the Travel Section? Once things are gone, they can never be experienced again.

      They say Britain’s undeniably most significant contribution to Western Civilization was afternoon tea.  Is it just the caffeine or is it sitting down to drink tea that we enjoy. Relaxation and contemplation nuance the rewards of life and your humanity in many ways.  That is how I feel about the vanishing of newspapers and perhaps books.      

The Right To Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed..

  Former Miss Tierra Verde Meghan Brown Shoots Dead Home Invasion Ex-Con Albert Hill with 4 slugs. In nature the female of any species isdeadlier then the male. Again folks, why was thisscumbag with multiple arrest and incarcerations doing back out on the streets?

 DAILY MAIL UK NEWS….Meghan Brown opened door to intruder at 3am in Tierra Verde Florida thinking he was a friend.  But she claims the 42-year-old, 200lb man named Albert Hill (ex-con) grabbed her from behind and covered her nose and mouth with his hand, before heading straight to the bedroom.

As she screamed, her fiancé emerged, later telling the St Petersburg Times: ‘My number one objective is to get this guy off my fiancée.’ Detectives said the intruder then ordered him to give him money.
 

The fight between the two men broke the dining room table and chairs but, as they tussled, Miss Brown produced her pink gun from her bedside table. ‘I had my gun drawn, focused in on him – as he moved, my gun moved. I waited for my shot and when I saw an opening, I fired,’ she told the newspaper.  Miss Brown said she was ‘glad’ it had been her, because not everybody else would have been as prepared as she was, MORE FROM THIS SOURCE….

Albert Hill was a life long criminal who only robbed people to make a living. His arrests and convictions include, Cocaine Sales-Dealing, Burglary, Resisting Arrest, Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer for which he got 10 years in prison and Grand Theft.

The Brown family is rich. That is good becasue they will be able to hire Barry Cohen or some other great lawyer to help them. This sounds like simple self defense. Look at how beat up Mr. Brown was after the fight with this dirt bag.

 

Information for post gathered from Private Eye Bill Warner Blog

How much money does a Tampa taxi driver make?

I often get Google searches wanting to know how much money a cab driver in Tampa makes. The average cab driver works 70 hours a week, 7 days a week, weekends, holidays and could work all hours of the day. He will book about $1,000 a week, pay the company $510 lease a week, and the gas station about $200. That leaves the driver $290 or about $4 an hour with no overtime or benefits. That is going to change now! How? The drivers have taken over!

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE BIG MONEY DRIVING A TAXI CAB IN TAMPA FLORIDA?  LET TIM AND TOM SHOW YOU HOW YOU CAN DO THAT IN LESS TIME AND ENJOY LIFE MORE!

FROM THE GENERAL MANAGERS OFFICE, LET US SHOW YOU HOW

IT ALL BEGINS WITH KNOWING HOW TO USE THE COMPUTER AND LOCATE 'HOT' ZONES AND PULL YOUR MONEY OFF THE SYSTEM!!!!

YOU NEED A SMART DRIVER LIKE TOM CASTROS (VA TECH) TO WRITE A MANUAL EXPLANING HOW TO WORK THE COMPUTER AND INCREASE YOUR INCOME POTENTIAL

The new management of United Cab Tampa allows us to use their office to give imput, or complain, or argue with them. Castros is putting together a training program, and much of this focuses on making money! Now how cool is that? The former management would never let us in their office. They only wanted our money. 

Staying With Typepad For My Blog Service

I am finished playing around and have decided to stay with the server I've had for the last six years. My new banner proclaims "Since 2005." I remember when I started, back in the glory days of the Tampa Blogging scene. Blogs were new and they began to pop up everywhere. The beauty of blogging is that anyone can blog about anything. The top blog back then was "Sticks Of Fire" run by Tommy Dunken. He has stopped his blog after he got tired of it I guess. I think I must be one the survivors. Oh well, what else is there to do when I get home. 

From Hope And Change To Shock And Awe: Obama's Bay Of Pigs

The purpose of the Libia bombing attack was to establish a no-fly zone and support a group of rebels lead by the Muslim Brotherhood. Comments by President Obama and other world leaders make me conclude a disaster is at hand. President Obama and the British Prime Minister have now stated that the objective is the ouster of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi.  Is it a coincidence that Libya is rich with oil? Obama lied, people have died. Did they not say that about George Bush?

No military objective is known and the future prospects are unclear as Obama says there will be no "boots on the ground."  We can only hope that this engagement does not become blown up and entangled like recent wars in the Middle East. I can see no reason to think otherwise. If Qaddafi and his supporters are fighting the rebels in close range combat, how can you send in missiles? This concept is not even tactically sound. You may have a "no-fly zone" but be unable to risk killing innocent people.

"While Obama’s action is being widely compared to the Bush-Cheney 2003 attack on Iraq, parallels to the April 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco are also strong. In that instance, a force of anti-Castro Cubans organized by the CIA was militarily defeated in an attempt to take over Cuba, resulting in calls from Allen Dulles to President Kennedy for air strikes and a ground invasion. Kennedy rejected those calls and fired the Dulles CIA leadership. Obama, faced by the military collapse of a CIA force in Libya, has ordered such bombing, opening a second phase of the present US debacle."   Inforwars.com

I have not seen any information that the CIA was supporting the rebels. I don't think Obama is that clever. That would be something Ronald Reagen would have done. This is a guy that promised us that he would not use American forces unless our vital interest were at stake. I did not know he would continue in following the Bush Doctrine.

To Post Or To C-Post - The Driver Is Now In Control

The final features of the United Cab GPS computer system seem to have come online. The Post and C-Post functions are now up and this is good for many reasons. This should eliminate some of the major problems that have plagued the taxi industry since it started which are hood stretching and microphone holding. These problems are now eliminated with the new GPS system. A bidding system by voice was good, but the new technologies will upgrade our level of service. I’m glad this has arrived. 

Hood stretching was when a driver would lie about his location and be sent on a call only because the dispatcher thought the driver was closer to the call. This hurt our business because it often took too long to get to the customer because the lying driver would be coming from across town. Holding the microphone would block any driver from getting through to the dispatcher. As a result, none of the taxi drivers could get bid on a call and our customers would not be picked up. In addition, it would prevent drivers from making money because this idiot was pissed off at the dispatcher for some reason. 

Now, when a driver tries to check into Zone 24 from downtown - he can’t. The computer will block his post and check him into the zone he is ACTUALLY IN. In fact, it will check him into downtown! Jack has got to hate this!! LOL. Now you can just go about your business and not have to wait for the dispatcher to come back from a cigarette break. This should make us money in the long run. 

UPDATE: Larry has told me has had some trouble with comments showing up. That is because I had selected to moderate comments. I have changed that to just signing in with your Facebook or Twitter account. I am trying to eliminate the trolls. 

Taxi Nude - I Got A Ride To Paradise Lakes Nudist Resort

In all the l years I have been driving taxi, I have never got a call to Paradise Lakes Nudist resort. I finally did today. The fare had been parting in Tampa all night, and needed to get back home. They have a nice residential community. I did not know that people live here like a normal neighborhood. It was not what I expected. I did notice (only because my fare pointed it out to me) that the people by the pool were swimming nude. It was a nice Spring day in Florida. Anyway, when my passenger got out, I put my cloths back on, and headed back to Tampa.

In fact, Pasco County Florida is a nudist destnation point for tourist. The nice weather and location to beaches bring people from all over the world. You would think there would be more places like this in Florda, such as nude beaches. I often get asked by Europeans about were the nude beaches are located. They seem surprised when they found out there are none. 

The New Computer System has Exposed The Bad Drivers

As I thought, the new GPS system that United Cab of Tampa is using can tell where the drivers are at. It seems that some of the former Yellow drivers are burning off calls if it is not what they want. Since you can check back into the area and not lose your out (is based on positions) cherry picking could be a problem. But Rob Searcy and Paul Hinton are going to stop them in there tracks. 

They have compiled a list of drivers that the computer has flagged as 'fare burners.' These drivers will be taken care of. Ths is an important development. Not all of our fares go to the airport. All of our customers need to be served. That was  why the new system was implimented. Our business will grow and we really don't need these kind of drivers. They need to go to A-1, and sit at the Merriott Waterside Hotel. That is were all the nut jobs sit. 

Mr. Searcy told me is going to suspend these drivers for about a week and then talk to them if they want there jobs back. This is awsome. We will really have some teeth in disciplining drives. In the old days you would just fill out an incident report, but nothing ever happend. Those days are gone.

The Start Of Change And The End Of Hope...The Day After Obama

The world is in an Apocalypse. In 2012 America will have a Presidential election and we will not be choosing between political parties and personalities, but the start of changes and the end of hope, between a future and a new era of hard times.If the world is still here in 2012, as the Nuclear plants in Japan meltdown, what will happen to Obama?

 He is the man that has stood still in the face of multiple world crisis. Joe Biden said Obama would be tested early in his administration. He is being tested. A man that said he would evoke change has only resided over deepening stagnation and social and political anarchy.

 Obama was ill prepared for the task compacted by his own limitations and massive obstacles  Obama's change will bring a reset of how we define modernity. Sorry folks, this all looks very grim.

Martin Luther King said that the long arc of history is cruel, but leads to compassion. Events in North Africa would conflict with that idea with a paucity of moral leadership. We are now seeing what a world without American leadership looks like, and its more cruel than compassionate. I really hope we make it. I have lived a long life and accomplished much, but I would still like to fall in love one more time.

 

Pay The Fare Jerk!

It was early in the afternoon when I picked up this couple outside of a bar in south Tampa. It was a young woman and a man that was twice her age. I knew nothing about them, only that they wanted a ride to a house a few miles away to get her purse, and return to the bar for more drinking. It was the time of day when we start to get more calls on the board and the taxi driver can actually make some money. It was the girl that I first noticed when she appeared in my window wanting to know if she could “sit in cab.” I thought that was a strange way of asking for a ride. They get in the backseat and we are on our way.

     It seems he had run out of money and she wanted to get her purse so they could return to the bar and keep drinking. They were very friendly to each other and started making out and groaning in the back seat. I hate that. I have no idea why people behave like that next to a total stranger.

      “Can I smoke?”

      I told her she could if she wanted but I preferred that she did not.

      Smoking seems to be an issue for many people. Most people do ask first, and let it go when I say no. Some people just get in with a lit cigarette or light one up without asking. How rude is that? Would you go into someone’s home and just light up without asking? Considering that many of our fares go absolutely nowhere, they can wait until they get to their destination. I will let people smoke if I am going to make some real money off of them. If they are going a long distance or out of town, fine, go ahead and smoke. I am not that cruel. Plus, they may give me a decent tip if I let them.

     Often customers will request a “non-smoking” cab. These are people, like me, that just don’t want to be around smoke for various reasons. With me its health as I have chronic bronchitis caused by massive exposure to second hand smoke when I was a kid and I find it hard to breath around smoke. The strange thing is that chain smoking cab drivers will respond to these calls thinking all they have to do is roll down the window to air it out. It does not work that way guys. Your stinking cabs reek with the nasty smell. These customers really don’t want to smell it.

      They continue to kiss in the back seat and start making a slurping sound that is getting messy. I’ve had a long day at this point, and don’t want to listen to them carry on. I can’t wait to get to her house merely to just break them apart for a bit. I look in the rearview mirror and you can see them tonguing and grouping. He wants her to come back to his room instead of the bar. What! His has a room? Does this guy live in a motel or something? He ain’t got no money; I know that much and I am now beginning to think all this was just a bar pick up. These situations can go bad quickly. Her street is just ahead and I turn onto it.

      The chick goes up to the door and enters the house. The guy stays with me in the cab. We start talking about south Tampa and he says he has been around a long time. Since I am a sixteen year veteran cab driver and have picked many people at the Tappers Pub before I ask him if knows many of the regulars. My old barber and the bi-polar bombshell chick used to drink there and he says he knows them, but has not seen them in a long time. It has been a few years, to think about it. That’s what happens when you jockey a cab for a living, time starts to mean nothing; it just merges together and eventually a decade seems like last week. Speaking of time, the chick has been in the house a while am I’m beginning to here my little voice.

      All cab drivers have that little voice and it will begin to talk to you at the moment something seems to be wrong. It is a self-defense mechanism which is developed over a long period of time seeing just about everything. My little voice is telling me that she’s not coming back.

      At this point the chicks neighbor across the street walks up with a cell phone at his ear. I roll the window down and he tells me “Susie” just called him and said she is not coming out of the house. I ask him some questions but he states that is all he knows, and walks off. I immediately ask the guy in the back seat if he has any money

    “No, she was going to pay for this.”

     Great, I got a bum in my car and no apparent way of being paid. The guy gets out of the cab and goes up to the house and pounds on the door. She of course does not respond. I notice that there are taxi fares on the computer. Maybe these people have some money and aren’t going to waste my fucking time. I put it in gear and take off leaving dust behind.

      I hear the guys yelling for me to stop.

      What the fuck for?

      I need to make money and he’s lucky this is all that happened to him.

The Mystery of the Tampa Bay Rays: So Many Wins, So Little Money - It's Not The Team. It's The Citizens!

How did a group of investment bankers with little baseball experience buy the Tampa Bay Rays and turn the whipping boy of the American League East into one of the best and most exciting teams in the baseball? David Leonhardt asks the question of Jonah Keri, the author of a new book on how the Rays used economic principles to top the Yankees and Red Sox.

I'm more interested in another question: Why is the top team in the American League also one of the least valuable teams in baseball if its owners are supposedly economic experts? The Rays' attendance averaged a little under 22,000 in 2010, or 52% capacity. That puts them in the bottom ten in the league, below basement dwellers like Kansas City, Washington and the Florida Marlins.

Despite playing in supposedly baseball-friendly Florida; despite winning the most competitive division in baseball twice in three years; despite more than a dozen home games against the compulsively hateable Yankees and Red Sox each year; and despite playing in the World Series in 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays have some of the worst financial numbers in the game. They rank in the bottom five in yearly revenue and current value, based on current stadium deal. Even star Evan Longoria called his fans support "embarrassing" after a meager 12,000 showed up in a potential playoff clinching game last year. "We're all confused as to why it's only 15,000 to 20,000 in the building," he said.

Why so many naked seats? The sports argument might be that the Rays succeed without flair-- with quality middle relief, timely hitting, and consistent fielding. In 2010, the team scored and allowed fewer runs at home than any stadium in the country. But I'd guess, it's not the team. It's the field.

via www.theatlantic.com

Some try to blame it on the Tropicana Field stadium. I don't buy that. It has everything to do with demographics, such as most people that live in The Tampa Bay area are from the North East and they are fans of MLB East Division teams (Yankees, Red Sox). That is why these smart investment bankers that bought the Tampa Bay Rays hired Man Ram and Johnny Damon....If you can beat 'em..still join 'em!

Rose Ferlita Is a Conservative Republican..

Rose Felita is a conservative Republican, a fact not commonly known by many (Sue Carlton of the St. Pete Times knows this). Its not like Ferlita is trying to hide that knowledge. She puts it out publicly. The photo above is from her roadside billboard.  Her campaign is working and her support is widespread and cuts across many demographics. This seems to be because of a brilliant marketing campaign by her to appeal to many who are not aware of her status. 

What is odd is I have picked up many customers in my cab who are gay or liberal and support her because they think she supports these issues. One fare of mine, when informed, by me, that she was a Republican, wanted to go back to his house and remove the yard sign he had out front. How could people not know this? Its not like she was trying to hide this fact. 

Pam Iorio gave her support to Bob Buckhorn today because he is a Democrat. Rose does have the Tea Party behind her and seems to be at least 10 percentage points ahead of Buckhorn. Good. The voters have found their minds. Too bad many have not even looked at a roadside billboard.

No More Social Time

Part of the fun of driving a taxi is having social time with your cab driving buddies. Now that we are on a computer dispatch system, you don't see anybody anymore. Since we don' use stands, guys have found their own spots to sit. With Davis Island and Hyde Park being one big stand, who knows where guys are at. Don't get me wrong, I am out here to make money but it would be nice to bounce ideas off of other cab drivers. Now, with the new system in place, we need to get our customer base back.

Farm Workers Have Labor Issues With Publix

Its seems many other people are private contractors not just taxi cab drivers. I saw this group of people (hundreds of them) marching down Kennedy blvd in Tampa Saturday. They were protesting unfair labor policies by the Publix supermarket chain. Publix does not want to pay them a fair amount for their labor. What is strange is these people really don't look like migrant vegetable pickers. Just an observation. 

In America today it seems if you have a union you strike, if you don't have a union you strike, people are not being treated fairly, there is no doubt about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This line of people went for several blocks. They had drums and signs and were chanting. They were organized and very angy with Publix Supermarkets. I guess Publix wishes them a very "Merry Holiday" like they do everyone else In December because the hicks that started this comany can't even use the word Christmas. As they say, they are closed on "December 25" scared to call it what it is. I suggest many more people boycott Publix for this reason alone. There are no Jews that are offended by people observing Christmas..