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I haven't been driving 'old Yellow' cause I have started driving the Towncar. I get a base dispatch me to pick up some executives. Now, it's safe for me cause I am not randomly picking up Jack and Jill on the street. I pick up regular customers on a regular basis.

Did you know that Dubai was building a resort? They had to import sand from wherever because the sand from there was not cutting it.
Did you know to build the NYC tunnels they lowered concrete to form the tube? Later the water was vacuumed out of the tube to make the finishing touches possible. By the way this was done by deep sea divers who happened to be engineers. I hope you get the point.

One of the regulars I picked up on Monday @ 9am going to Queens requested someone else on Tuesday. I then had to do an 8 o'clock Tuesday into Brooklyn which wasnt so bad. So Thursday, on my birthday by the way, I was going to sleep in. I was woken up at 8.15am to pick up the 9am who had unrequested me. I arrived, and she was embarassed to see me, cause the driver she requested cancelled. She was trying to explain herself in a roundabout way and I thought to myself why the defensiveness, Lady.

Anyway, I am grateful for the Black car, but one positive about the Yellow, no one can unrequest me like that. It sure does hurt, but I will not wear my emotions on my sleeve. I repeat, I will not........I am better than that.

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Mother Dearest

Anytime you dont see a posting is because I have just taken a vacation. Yes, I take about million vacations each year. Anyway, Pandave is going on vacation and who is going to push me to keep on keeping on with the blog. Somebody should step up to the plate until Pandave returns. Pandave dont forget to bring some ears of corn/maize.

About a week ago, I picked up couple from Nevada at JFK going to Great Neck right around midnight. They had to work at 8 in the morning but they hadnt an idea where they were going to sleep. So once we got there the streets were dead and couldn't find a soul to ask for cheap motels in this beautiful burb. I drove around and as you know those are the burbs, nothing was below $250. They couldnt negotiate for the hotel rates to go down so they had to settle. Let me say their faces told it all, not happy campers. That for me would have a been a good fare but I charged them less. They asked Dios/God to bless me and I was on my way. I felt good and I'm sure they were happy.

By the way that particular night was really cold, so on my way over the Willis avenue bridge, mind you this was 3 am, two 12 year olds (a boy and a girl) were going across the Willis avenue bridge. They faked stopping me but continued crossing from Harlem into the Bronx. I asked where they were going? Home they said, what 12year old goes home on foot at 3am from Harlem to the Bronx in that cold, for about a mile. I gave them a ride and told them next time I would give them a switch, and not to do it again. The river is not too far off everyone knows it. In the words of Chappelle, those are what you would call "symptoms of the ghetto". But I was glad to take them home and again I felt good. Next time, I am not sure if I would do it again..........

This just reminded how polar opposite our neighbourhoods are.

A Retraction

I do retract my previous statement, maybe it is the ice age we are experiencing. An ice sheet is covering most of this part of the world. I may have spoken a little to soon (again note to self: to watch the weather report). Fridays are usually fun to work, everyone is shaking off the stress from the week in the best way they know how. Oh the ice era! why? All I can do is wait until next friday. Let me treat myself to a cup of tea and maybe watch those reality shows.


Smiley face....

Complete Meltdown

The weather was just beautiful since the weekend, its been warm and today there is light rain. Just the anticipation for the spring and summer, I just cant wait. I hadn’t realized how the weather plays a part in the mood I’m in. When It’s extremely cold, I have a hard time getting out of bed if at all I get out of it. But the opposite is true when it’s warm, I sing, I dance and I prance along the way to wherever I am headed.

My passengers are always the highlight for the day. I never know what to expect from each one. As we head towards La guardia airport, our conversation
went from the weather to politics. “There is truth to an 'Inconvinient truth' isn’t there?” I said. “I don’t believe there is. You see the former Vice President has a hidden agenda. He is intending to run in 2012. Publicity stunt, hello”.
“So how do you explain the meltdown?”
“It has happened in the past. It happened before the previous ice age, it got extremely hot and then soon after an ice sheet covered most of the earth”.

Which iceman saw all these events and has lived to tell all about it? (I will leave that to the scientists). I hadnt heard of that argument before (note to self: watch/listen to the news more often). I somehow thought if the meltdown begins, there is no turning back. But whoever is right, I wouldn’t want either the meltdown or to be iced out. Where would I drive my cab ‘Old Yellow’, where?

Ice age or meltdown?

Internationally known and locally respected….

As I was at the traffic light around 12.30am (96th Street and Broadway) a very familiar BMW pulled to my left side at the light. Could it have been the gentleman I had met back in August of ‘06’, what would be the odds? Well, in that particular hot and humid night I pulled up at a famous hotel on 8th avenue in the mid 40’s. My passenger paid up and he bid me farewell.

As I was filling my trip sheet (10pm), a tall, dark and goodlooking man approached my cab from a BMW parked up ahead. “What’s a fine young thang like you doing driving a cab?” he asked. “What’s a young man like you doing driving a BMW?” Questions just didn’t stop right there. “You look really young, how old are you, what do you do?” I really wanted to know, I had to know. “Are you a rapper, an athlete, what?” The usual stereotype. He said if I really wanted to know all I had to do was call him. Curiosity killed a cat, but not this kitty. I couldn’t wait to find out. Are we not all opportunists? Could this have been the only knock at my door which I have so long waited for?

I got home, took a shower and dialed those 10 digits 6-4-6 with such hesitation. “Hello, so how are you doing”? I asked. “What up shawty?” The usual exchange of words went on for about a minute or so. “So what do you do”? I asked again.“Well, I got me a couple of girls, a caucasian, asian and puerto rican. Maybe you can be my dark chocolate”. It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. Talk about being naïve! He went on to tell me that he has rich clients that need some company on occasion. ‘Pretty Woman’ came to mind and that got me excited. What if I got lucky and I met my own ‘Richard Gere character’ on first try.

The question that followed put me off completely “What are you really good at?”. “I beg your pardon” is all that came out of my mouth. He tried to break it down and I just told him I would have to get back to him. I hadn’t thought of the actual services rendered. I didn’t call him since that early morning.He didn’t call me either. Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to ‘find out just how his pimp hand is way strong’.

It sure is survival of the fittest!!!!

The measure of a man

I just enjoy the graveyard shift cause all the eccentric characters become alive in the city, the good, the bad and the ugly. My second fare was a fine looking gentleman in a designer blue suit. Which designer? I couldn’t tell you. The fare was for $5, he handed me $6 and asked for a quarter back. I scrambled through my bag and pockets and came up with nothing. I told him I had none and he asked for his dollar back. Being used to those dollar tips I was stunned by the request. All I could do was give it back to him knowing that he wasn’t obligated to tip. How could this hunk of a man, in a nice designer blue suit leave me without a tip? Speculations led me to believe he probably needed a quarter for the meter or the phone.

At the end of the night, two guys jumped in my cab right in the midtown area on their way to Queens. I will add, these guys were as drunk as a pair of skunks. One was a supposed chef just getting off work. How was that possible that he could be so drunk and be coming from work? Apparently he takes Tequila shots, or swigs of whatever is available in between his gourmet preparations. “I do it to deal with my crazy boss yo and the stress yo” he told me. The younger looking guy just opened up his closet of skeletons to me about the time he was gang banging in California. “Yo, sweetie, I used to be bad yo, my baby mama doesn’t even wanna see me yo. I used to be loud yo”. I almost told him to ease up with the yo’s but before I knew it, I joined in with the yo’s. “Yo, so what made you stop with the gang banging yo?” I said. Well, this yo is a contagious word I tell you.

He was all about making money. Just about 4 years ago in a single night he made $25,000 smuggling illegal aliens. But as I just started getting into his stories, we were coming to their stop, at a bar. The trip was for $27 of which he gave me $90. I was shocked and grateful at the same time. He asked me to go join them have a little fun, to which I declined. I couldn’t picture myself in the middle of a bust for illegal alien smugglers. They gave me both their numbers and I promised to call.

So thank you to ‘Mr can I have my dollar back if you cant find a quarter’ and many thanks to ‘Mr gang banging, illegal alien smuggling, gourmet chef from California’.

Is the measure of a man determined by the size of his tip?
Is it by his appearance?