Tourists coming

Farmleigh house


A sculpture standing in the grounds

Farmleigh house standing in the Pheonix park was once the home of the Guinness family, as you see they did well for themselves. The house is owned by the state now and open to the public during the summer with special events planned.

This weekend I have not been able to work much.I have been painting and there is no point in falling asleep at the wheel.
Last Friday the Trinity ball was on, big event on the social calender.
The Garda were out on the streets taking drink from them.
Ammature drinkers are not good for business as they puke and fall into a stupour which could compromise the poor taxi driver.
Not to mention sitting into your car with clothes covered in vomit.
Oh the joys of dealing with youth.
In fact the Garda were doing the rounds taking 6 packs from youths all over the city.
I feel that perhaps some money should be spent on youth education,youth centers and adventure weekends. A few bob spent on prevention is never wasted.
The tourists have started to appear and I saw some of the feathered variety the other day. The Swalllows are here. Listening to the nature program on BBC radio 4 they were talking about how they fly from South Africa, all the way across Africa,the Sahara desert, then up through Spain and France and back to us.
Hope we have a good summer,though with all the school teachers and unemployed builders coming back on to the ranks it is hard to see how the work will come for everyone.The God in charge will be pissed off with taxi drivers asking for a good day at the ranks.
Taking about the economy taking a turn for the worse.
Did you hear that Habitat Ireland has closed its doors ?
Friday evening management told staff not to come into work any more as the company was gone bust.
That is one of the clearest signs of a downturn, a top end furniture store gone.
I was looking for a narrow recliner chair in that shop when that company first opened,as I walked through the store the store detective was nearly walking on my heels. I turned and asked her if she really thought I would stick a sofa up my coat and walk out without paying?
So I walked out and got it in Frank McGowans shop later.
I wonder how Brown Thomas is doing? The lady who owns that store(Hilary Weston} sold her Next shops last year as she said rents in Dublin had become unrealistic.

I must do a piece on the Sunday Times "Rich List"soon.
From number one who is a boy who left school at 15 Sean Quinn.
But why the rich do not do more good with their wealth is beyond me.

Chuck Feeney ,Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are good examples of what you can achieve with money. They have given away billions to help their fellow man.
No strings attached.
I met Chuck one day, brought him and his wife in from the airport. He did not boast about his deeds but when I found out about him it helped me to look at him with great gratitude on behalf of mankind.
He did an interview which you can find hereFriday 19 Jan


"Taxi news" has loads of info for taxi people.

Here is a piece I found in the Taxi news (Link opposite)

Christchurch's traditionally white-vehicled taxi ranks have received a dose of environmentally friendly green with the arrival of a new competitor.

Green Cabs uses only hybrid vehicles that run on battery-powered electricity and petrol. The young company also off-sets any carbon emissions it does produce by planting trees in developing countries.

Green Cabs launched in Christchurch last week and has eight cars on the road, but that number would gradually increase to 50 in the next two years, Christchurch area manager Will Owen said.

The company is the brainchild of Wellington man Callum Brown, who owns Green Cabs with his partner, Eva Romanowska.

Before last November, when the company launched its first cars in Wellington, Brown's knowledge of the taxi industry was based on being a passenger in taxis while working in the executive world.

He was once a climate-change sceptic but Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth changed his mind.

Brown recognised a gap in the market for an eco-friendly cab company and decided to leave his 10-year career in the information technology industry and to set up the company.

Green Cabs has 30 cars in both Auckland and Wellington and is planning on a fleet of between 150 and 200 cars in New Zealand in the next year.

The Toyota Prius uses about 4.9 litres of petrol per 100km, compared to between 12 and 16 litres per 100km used by other taxis.

Brown said the average taxi driver spent between $300 and $450 a week on petrol. Green Cab drivers spent between $90 and $100 a week.