Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Smile for the weekend

This should lighten up your day


When I was in London at the magic convention last year Jeff McBride got an award for his new magic show called the Illusionists. Now I didn't think that many people would go to see a magic show never mind to find enough people to fill a stadium. But in Mexico city they ran for 8 days and entertained 42,000 people.
That is a wow!click here to see the next leg of their world tour.
Promo video.


Paul Daniels once told me that "Magic is fun, its about the best fun you can have without taking your clothes off. But I would advise you John to keep your clothes on at all times"

Let us start to live our lives a bit more fully, it is not all about work.

I was talking to Bernie who runs a flower shop beside me. I asked how her Mauritian girl who worked with her was getting on. She told me that she has started a new job in Paris. She then told me that the girls husband dropped dead from a heart attack a while back.
"Just like that, no warning at 41.
So live your life John"

Look who came into the pub last Friday, Elvis!
 But I can't upload the video.


Saturday, June 29, 2013

When the baliff comes?

Take a look at this.

You would never guess what happens in the end.

Lots of people have come to a very hard end in finance, so look and learn.



There is some intrest in the Sunday papers about these Payday loans, Wonga etc.
EASY TO GET LOANS UNTIL PAY DAY.

The intrest is as high as %4,000  So read the small print

Friday, June 28, 2013

What should I go to see in Dublin?



I was asked this twice in 24 hours!

Let me see.

First thing is to go to the tourist office beside O'Neills pub in Andrews street.
Get maps and information leaflets about things to do.
I do think they have a Dublin pass (like the one I bought in Rome)
Then get on one of those open top buses which tour the city, the ticket lasts 24 hours and they visit many of the top sights.
Our art galleries are great, depending on your taste.(closed on Monday)
The National gallery has a Carravegio which is a must to go see.
The writers museum at the top of Parnell Sq is really good if that floats your boat.
The Hugh Lane gallery has good stuff.

Chapters restaurant do deals for meals (Early bird) and it is excellent and well worth the money.

When I turned 60  I wanted to treat my friends. But dates would not work out for everyone.
So party 1 was held in the 1014 in Clontarf  Fantastic
Party 2 Chapter one Parnell Sq  Really great
Party 3 The Cellar restaurant at the Merrion hotel..The fish was great.
Party 4 L'Ecrevan in Baggott st I forget what the special was but it was really good.
Party 5 La Cave in South Anne St. You have to downstairs beside Vards furriers Always really good.
Party 6 Chez Max in Baggott St  Yes the French food is great

Look at menupages.ie and get special deals, but I find that the places which give deals are not the best.

No it was not 20 at each party but my friends are the most precious thing I have, so I look after them.

Now in North Great Georges St there is the James Joyce center and across the street there is a coffee shop where the elite literati meet.

I am a very strange person if you know me. I know hundreds of people because I am open to conversation always, in return I am greeted by loads of people all the time, all very strange if you are walking with me and you don't know me.One young lady from Boston asked me if I was a film star or a television personality because everyone wanted to talk to me.

OK, so Parnell St has become our China town, a great place to get a cheap dinner or get your mobile phone fixed. Chinese people are great at techie stuff.

Our National Museum has a vast treasure of Celtic gold artifacts they are really well crafted, and then travel through the rest of the displays and become educated.
Trinity college and the Book of Kells were on Mrs Obamas list as well.
The Zoo and the "Dead Zoo" on Merrion Sq.are great for kids.

Guinness brewery is the biggest atraction in Ireland and the Jameson distillery would also be on your radar.
A brand new attraction opened up "The Irish house party" beside the Tivoli theater on Francis St
This is an all in show with food and music. Its new!
Take a look at the art work around the Tivoli it is really good.
Antique shops further down..I had a Hollywood producers wife down there trying to buy Wainscoting of all things
Take a look at the Brazen Head on Winetavern St and the Merchant on the other side of the road still has traditional Irish dancing..
The Arlington Hotel do an Irish night with dancing food and more.
The comedy clubs could rock your boat.
May I suggest the botanical gardens in Glasneven
Perhaps the Casino in Marino would be your thing,
Perhaps a Tango dance lesson in the Harbourmaster bar would be good or try here

As for drink there are literary walking pub tours and loads more things to do.

Enjoy yourself..you are on holiday.




Oh yes Riverdance is back in town.
Take a look at this clip with the lovely Jean Butler leading the charge.

Or you could just relax

This is the clip I couldn't find. I think its great.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

HailO still bringing in the work


   A Sicilian alleyway
    This is a "Virtual" tour guide directs folks by I fone.
     New venture in Wexford St

On Dean St a young guy around 25 years old stopped me.

I HAVE TO MAKE 3 OR 4 STOPS.

This is the signal for a drug run.
He was on his phone constantly, "There in 5"
"Are ya ready there in 10"
 "Well tell Anto he has had his chance"
As we stopped at each pickup point a packet of money was handed over. This was counted as we went and marked into a book before the next stop.
I think we made around 7 pickups and the final drop off was made to Drimnagh where the money was paid over.
Heroin is killing off thousands of people every year in Dublin. There is no solution to it. No end in sight.
Look up Buckingham St from the 5 lamps.
There is a statue of a flaming torch in memory of the hundreds of kids who gave their lives to Heroin from that area.
I see them dealing and shooting up around Abbey st Marlborough st every day. They are brazen in the way they go about it, nothing to fear.
A guy gave me his business card one day. "When you find the solution to the drug problem call me up.
Then we will travel the world giving lectures to thousands of people.
No one knows how to beat drugs"


As I passed through the East point business park I got a HailO call.
I stopped and a guy right beside me put up his hand.
"I can't believe it  ! I just pressed the app and there you were."
2 young ladies from Romania ran up and asked me to call them a taxi as well.
Long story short they shared the taxi to town.
But as we were pulling into Amiens St my phone rang.
"John where are you? we cannot see you"
I had the wrong passengers...What I didn't understand at that point was that I was still holding his HailO application on my phone. So he couldn't call another taxi until I disconnected him.
My passenger who was staying in the Shelbourne hotel paid by AmeX.
2 minutes later the first guy was back on asking me why I had charged the journey to him.
It took some explaining to him that if he looked at the receipt he would see that the numbers on the card were not his.
I drive a yellow taxi with HailO written all over it, he had booked a taxi from a different company.

HailO started in London, then to Dublin  Next thing the World

Friday, June 21, 2013

World cup Brazil ?



A few years ago your small voice  would be silent.

Today with YouTube you can shout your message across the world.

What kind of idiots rule Brazil?

Are they crooks?

Cost more than the last 3 World Cups put together?

Thousands made homeless, not given alternative accomidation?

 Yet the profit made goes back to FIFA

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Lion King

Its the last few days for the Lion King in Dublin.
I went to it last night and if you do not enjoy this show you must really be dead.




The lead singer in this piece has such a strong voice it is fantastic.
Plus she has a very big part in the show.

A taxi driver was coming along the road and in front of him he saw a bus shelter with an advert for the Lion King.
He also saw a Garda motorcycle parked on the footpath.
Just as he got closer A garda stepped forward and stopped him for speeding.
The Garda had been standing in front of the advrt where his high viz jacket blended in perfectly with the poster.
It is like people imitating lions.

Some people would amaze you when you look back.
Example ...I picked him up in Donnybrook and he was going to Dawson St.
When we got there it cost €5.20. He hands me a €10. "Give me back €5" so I give him back €4.80.
The discussion then went on from him how I should have rounded it down to make it €5 change.

It has been 5 years since the last fare review.
Fuel and everything else has gone up, but the high and mighty have decided not to allow any fare increase.
That is all well and good.
But meters have a 5 year memory and have to be updated now.
I think it cost me €50 to have that 2 minutes of work completed.
Then I have to go and have the meter callibrated and sealed.
 I think that cost me €90 plus 1/2 day off work.
So I kept my cool and looked at him in the eye and said.

"Stop waisting everyones time"

Its a good job I am a patient man.

I had a exec from Google and he told me about Kindle publishing and Google publishing.
I had heard that the authors share was very small. (30%)
He told me that if you published through a normal publishing company you would be lucky to get £1 for every £12 book sold.
It is all food for thought, the modern media can boost sales, better 30% of something than 100% of nothing.

Bryn Ferry was on TV the other night doing  a concert from France.
He was in my taxi when "Arthur's Day" was first being celebrated.
I didn't know who he was on the day but he is a really clever and well behaved guy.
Quite a performer as well.
He told off one of the guys in the back seat so well.
The guys phone had rung and he told the person at the other end that something had come up and he couldn't meet him for lunch.
Bryn said
"Let me get this straight. You had a lunch appointment in London, you knew you would be in Dublin and you never let him Know!
Not only is that rude, and arrogant. But you are closing a door to an opportunity.
I know this guy...He will go far, he is on the way up now. When you need him later on    And you will need him.
You will never feature on his list..      Ever
I am sure Peter beside you and John driving the taxi are not one bit impressed by you either"

You could see that Mr Ferry stays where he is by looking after the small details



This looks easy, you should try it !

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Tuesdays Euromillions


 A fine display of tools in a hardware shop in Mary St.


ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOLLAR!

The Euromillions has rolled over until Friday €150, Million.
No it will not buy you friends, but you will have more interesting enemies.

If you do win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tell no one, perhaps say
"I won €20,000" Leave it at that.
A friend of mine won £4.7 million Punts a few years ago (When money was money) and it ruined his life for a good few years.

It is strange how hard it is to get back into the work!

My timing was a bit off this morning.
I was asked to put on a wash of clothes last night. Which I did.
This morning I went out too early so I came back home to make tea and hang out the wash.
I took some clothes out of the machine and heard a rattle in the drum.
Great! there is money in someones pocket. 
My surprise turned to horror when I found the new key of my wife's car.
God be with the days when a key was a key.
Now it's a mini computer.
This key cost €150, when she lost the original key and needed a new key the garage told her to bring the car in.
"The key is lost, I can't drive it down"
OK in that case we will get a tow truck to take it to the garage, we will have to change all the locks and the immobiliser and it will cost €2500.

Guys are using fishing rods with hooks attached to take the car keys from the hall table, so all this security is easily bypassed in the end.
I have the key on top of the hot tank drying out.
After 24 hours I will try it.
You can also put wet a key or mobile phone into a jar of uncooked rice and put the lid on it. The rice will absorb the moisture in a couple of days. 
Once a friend of mine had a Mrec and her spare key cost over £1,000 back in the day.

Look     Just be careful...

Nice one I had the other day, on the quays I was heading into the marine port at the time and got a lift to the airport instead.
It was rush hour and we took the port tunnel €10 toll, straight through, he was an interesting guy and when we got there I went to the Flyers cafe for TEA.
The girl who works there from Brazil was there and she was on her very last day on the job.
I had left in an old  Roma pass earlier so that she could see what the pass looked like.
She was saying how strange it all seems to be leaving her job, going to Italy and Spain with her friends for a holiday and then straight back to starting a new job on the day she comes back to Ireland.
She spoke about how much she loves Ireland and the Irish people were so good to her.
(We are not GOOD or FRIENDLY we are just dead NOSY and must know about everyone's business)

When I headed back to the city I reckoned that if I put the boot down I would still make the ferry coming in to the port.
Through the port tunnel again (€3 toll going back)
On the way back to the port an information screed flashed up the number of a car which had overtaken me with his speed as well!  That's a first.

So I arrived back at the port to see a massive Garda checkpoint for traffic coming out.
I picked up 2 really good looking traveler girls(You have seen the TV show I am sure) with 2 kids who were just going to the filling station within the port complex.
When we got there there was a blue van waiting.
The problem was that the driver was "under the influence"

That is why he didn't drive past the Garda checkpoint.

These people do not give a damn about anything.
Turning up drunk to bring 6 kids and 4 women on a journey.
No seats seat belts or anything.
I asked the woman that I brought down if anyone else could drive?
She asked why?

"Work it out yourself"

And off I went.


Did you ever hear of Guggi?
WELL HERE IS ONE OF HIS BOWLS.
It is in the art gallery beside the Westbury Hotel
Having heard about them It is nice to have seen one in person.

If I had it I would put a rubber ball into it and tip the bowl until I could do the "Wall of death" around it with the ball.
Tara who runs the gallery told me that I am a total Philistine, she is probably right.
But if I win the rollover Euromillions on Friday
€160 million, and buy a few.
Then Tara might say.
"My friend John has a keen eye for what is good in art and a wonderful sense of adventure"

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Another big visitor.

   The road out of Rome 3 lanes each way with 2 lanes on the outside for turning off the straight route.
The lights were coordinated as well.
   Pottery head flower pots, big in Sicily

Just when things started to get back to normal Michelle Obama has come to town and everything has gone into total lock down.
Staying in the Shelbourne Hotel there will be big fun getting around.

My grandson will be one year old tomorrow so I will not be in town for the hasstle.

The law needs help.

A girl with special needs was out jogging with her mother the other day. They got seperated and when they found the girl she had been sexualy asaulted.

Newspaper clip.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following an incident in which a woman with special needs was sexually assaulted in Dublin.

The woman in her 20s was on the South Circular Road yesterday afternoon, accompanied by a family member, when they became separated.

Detectives believe the victim was taken to a house in the area where an assault took place.

Gardaí at Kevin Street are appealing for witnesses, or anyone with information, to come forward.


We as taxi drivers are thick on the streets 24/7. Nothing can happen without a taxi being close by.
A programme could be st up on  a computer to send out an SOS to all taxi drivers within a matter of munutes of there being an attack.
I have suggested to several oficials in the Garda and the taxi Regulators office that they do this.
One Garda superentendent told me it would be a breach of confadentiality to set up a data base of drivers numbers without their permission.

So there you have it.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Robbie Williams hits town

 The Aviva stadium is packed and Robbie is singing in the rain.
Just in case you never saw this before.



I just had a really good day, one that makes the bad days seem like they never happened.
Its all luck at the end of the day.

On my third attempt to get home tonight I was stopped by a passenger at the Yacht pub.
He was full of drink and not going too far.
"I just went in for my lunch there and got carried away" he said.
"I'm in trouble with the bank, my construction company has gone belly up and they are ringing me up every day to get paid."
I owe €100,000 myself I said.
"Well I owe €175 million, My father owes €300 million and my brother has fucked off to Australia and he won't come back to face the music."
What can you say?
Risks were taken by everyone.
We bailed out the banks and yet they want all the money back and they also want to keep their glorious golden handshakes and pensions.
Yet they knew that they were involved in reckless illegal trading.

Its always worth spending a few minutes working these guys around.

Years ago I picked up a guy on the Coolmine rd. He had been walking and had got lost.
He had been sacked from his job and was in a bit of a state.
I talked him around a bit but the mistake I made was that I let him out at the junction of the village to go home.
He walked down to the river behind where the new Garda station now stands and drowned himself.

No I don't beat myself up over this, I am now more aware now of what might happen, you cannot undue the past.

But folks you can improve the future.
I spoke to the Samaritans back then and they had business cards printed out that taxi drivers could give out to people that they feel might need a bit of help.
So they are at the Liffey end of Marlborough St opposite the Abbey theater drop in and ask for a handful of them.

They might make a difference to someone tomorrow.

When I came back from my holidays the battery in my car was completely dead.
A Hybrid car uses 2 battery's one controls the electric motor the other one controls the computers. I have replaced the smaller one twice and I now found out that the replacement one was the wrong type. So I will get the right one soon.
So the other day I got a run out to Blanchardstown Corporate business park and he asked me to call back and bring him to the airport. He came out and we headed off, 2 miles down the road the engine cut off and a big red triangle appeared on the dash display.
Driving on the electric motor only I had to admit.
"Heuston we have a problem!"
I told him that I had to stop and start the car again for a second.
The engine sprang to life after a 1/2 mile but the triangle warning was still there.
One of the other Prius drivers had a similar problem and drove on a few years ago.
His problem was a broken oil pump and he had to buy a new engine.
But I drove on saying my prayers and arrived at the airport, I pulled into the cafe at the Kesh (taxi holding area) and bought tea.
The staff there are really friendly and a Polish girl who works there asked me why I was not in for so long. So I told her of my journey to Rome and Sisely.
"I really want to get married in Rome" she said.
Within 5 minutes she had asked me to come to Poland and stay with her parents for a visit.
"My parents would love to meet you and you will really love Poland"
Stranger things have happened and I might go one day.

Wow that took my mind off my engine for a few minutes.
I went back to the car and checked the fluids, all OK then I hit the button. Everything A OK !

Older simpler cars had pressure gauges and temprature dials which told you what was going wrong.
Now they expect you to stop and close up the shop for no logical reason.
I think it was a voltage drop from the old battery that triggered the panic.

I bought a tool from America a few years ago I think it was called "Sharp shooter 2" and It could read faults, clear them and when it was mounted on the dash would give you oil pressure and engine temperatures and many other readings.
You know that you can buy advanced tools for doing diagnostics for around €400 and if 4 people chip in it and each person used it only once it would have paid you back for your entire investment.
A lot of guys who work in garages are really bad mechanics, take an interest in your car yourself, save money and know its well done.

One guy who came to me before my holidays via the HailO system he told me that he bought an Aston Martin DB9 with a 007 in the number plate He made the garage take it back because it wouldn't start and they had it back in so many times. Finally after 10 months and only 2,000 miles on the clock he got his money back and he bought a Ferrari, I thought he was messing for a few minutes but no he is one of these wealthy guys that move amongst us other folk.
I remember he used to have a silver Morgan, "Yes that was a fun car"
He is building a new house in Cannes, he has always had a house there, then I suppose he will sell the old one.
Another guy I picked up recently had a really nice XK Jaguar, he said he always liked the cars but in olden days they were so unreliable with the Lucas electrics that it was said that if you bought one you had better buy a second one as one would be in the garage all the time.

Perhaps some day my friends our ship will come in and we will give up Guinness and drink only Champagne

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

I'm back

I went away.

Now I an back.

3 days in Rome and 7 days in Sicily.

Even though Sicily is probably as big as Wales.
In my mind it was smaller than the Isle of Man.

Yes I visited your cousins there and they told me to tell you that you are wrong, you should never have mentioned family.
They will look after the rest of the business....

More to follow

Saturday, June 01, 2013

Hot women

Womens mini marathon.
1000s of really hot women.

Last week I was on my way up to Northern Ireland when I saw this fine lady.
I swung my car around and spoke to the owner.
As you can see by the reg she is 1973 vintage.
I had one of them myself.
My one was right hand drive one of only 40 ever made.
2 cylinder air cooled engine, with a walking stick for a gear change, it was something else to drive.
The problem with them was that there was a misprint in the manual, the wrong Champion plug was shown, I found a Lebanese guy who corrected the mistake for me and went through how to do a complete service.
The suspension was something else, really smooth.
I bought 5 or 6 Dyanes (the car version) afterwards, it was a great concept in motoring history.

This is a bank holiday weekend and there are loads of things going on.
The Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny and 5the woman's mini marathon, and concerts in the grounds of the Royal hospital Kilmanham.
Oh yes the Bloom festival in the Pheonix park.

Don't forget fathers day.

Drugs are all over this city,,,,
A few days ago I was moving my car and saw a Chinese girl around 20 years old in a very agitated state. Putting 2 and 2 together together quickly I knew that she was waiting to buy a fix.
By the amount of anxiety shown it had to be Heroin she was waiting for.

Heroin reaps a very tragic price for that moment of solace that it first brings

I have to go away for a few days but when I come back I will find out where I can report active drug dealing to.

I know it is all over the city, but perhaps the Garda will act in Fairview.

Poor kid, lonely and sad she found solace..

Now she has only a short step to hell.