Lotto e13 Million

Heres a thing. Lights set into the walkway at the Point(O2)Little fishes inside


A poor Punto meets a sad end

Coming to you on eBay soon



Well its Wed night and the Lotto is e 13 mill.

Things are good when a few mill could solve all your problems.

I found this linkon Roys Irish taxi blog. I hope it works, use the little pointer to move the show on by 2/3.
The delays at night would be solved if they stopped closing the pubs and clubs at the same time, also if there was a sobriety test more drivers would work those unsocial hours.

I keep an eye on a few of my elderly neighbors, some of them have been badly hit by the collapse in the value of their investments. One lady is 99 and she had a big number of bank shares which are now almost worthless. The best I could offer to comfort her was that the person getting them might have a valuable asset in the future and that they will have to pay very little tax to inherit them.
This has helped her and she is not short of a few bob anyhow.
She is a great lady, reads the Irish Times every day, has relaxed with the crossword for the present. But she is all there.
Others cannot pay their nursing home bills, which is tragic.
The last survivor of the Titanic who was a baby at the time is a case in point, James Cameron the movie director was approached to give her a few bob to help and the guy on the radio said that Cameron's people were hostile towards him but in the end they gave a few dollars under the understanding that he would go away and never come back.
Strange attitude from a man who made many millions from the movie.
Other members of the cast gave her lots more. If I remember Leonardo DiCaprio wants to meet her and he has donated.

But to be fair the agents and the people who "look after" film stars can misrepresent them. Often if word went to the person directly he would open his wallet without question and donate.
Perhaps it is a bit like charity, some people feel that the government should take care of all the starving and homeless people.
Arabs have a 10% rule where you give that much of your wages to help the needy.
Perhaps the Jews need a discount!

School is over for my boy for another year, this means I can start work at 7.00 am and seek all the early morning commuters, but I will have to put up with the school teachers who drive taxis during the holidays.
Just a thing which happened a few winters ago. My Scudo got pelted with eggs passing through O'Deveny Gardens, I went to a filling station where they had a pressure washer as I didn't want the eggs to dry on the car.
A taxi was in front of me who had suffered the same fate.I borrowed the gun from him while he put his taxi sign in the boot and in the boot I saw that he had an Aircoach jacket.
So he had a job driving a coach and when he finished he jumped into his taxi and worked on.

There was a great joke which went like this.
"When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep,
like my dad did.
Not screaming and shouting like his passengers"

My Dad never taught me much but he did tell me "Never destroy the whiskey still"
What he meant by this is that everyone should have a way of making an (Honest) extra few bob.
But the taxi plate is now not worth a second thought as a means of making a reasonable income

In Cornwall they call smuggling "Free trade" In Cavan Monaghan, Louth Or Doneal you would never get a jury to convict in a smuggling case.
That would go for the border counties north of the border too.
But now the taxi plate must be making no money for anyone any more.

Fact is that some taxi drivers are working 60+ hours a week.
On the all night I have often noticed that the light is green but the car in front is not moving. I used to blow my horn, now I drive around them, they need the rest.

A taxi driver picks up a hooker and after a while she says to him "Would you like to sleep with me for e100".
"Jesus miss I am very tired and I could sure could use the money" Said the taxi driver.

So many drivers are skimming in this business, Outside a Heuston a bunch of drivers pull up ahead of the taxi rank and "Tout" for fares, only once have I seen an enforcer, but it might have been a mirage.
You can't make a living so you rent your taxi out, but then your taxi is driven by 4 illegal drivers 24/7, with no PSV licence, no knowledge of Dublin.
Worst of all no background check.
So this illegal driver takes your son or daughter around the city for 10 miles and then you complain that all taxi drivers are robbers.

Fact is that there is no one who cares about what is happening.

In a few weeks the elections will be over and the polaticians will be off on their summer break only to come back in the autumn.

When there is a murder it will all come to a head.

So for a little diversion look here

MY YOUTUBE

This is my first footage on you tube.
Listen to the news !



This is the line for the train one Sunday night, imagine being last car.
Look at the gaps where cars have not moved on.
But it is a heel of a line!

TOO MANY TAXIS IN DUBLIN.





Taxi Drivers For Change



"Change For The Better"



Newsletter





"Taxi Drivers For Change meet with Gardai , first time the Gardai have been consulted on Taxi issues on the ground"



Taxi Drivers For Change met with An Garda Siochanna on Monday 18/05/09 to discuss the day to day problems that Irish taxi drivers are experiencing in trying to make a living. The main problem from our point of view relates to the unavailability of rank space and enforcement by Gardai and their instructions as to how to deal with the Taxi community. From this first meeting it was agreed to address the most important issues of mutual concern ie, our need for rank space and the Gardai's job to keep traffic moving and access for the public and emergency services. It was agreed that the main issues will be be addressed as follows:

Taxi Drivers For Change and the Gardai Siochanna will meet in the coming weeks and will speak to Gardai from around the rest of the City and Dublin City council officials to finalise the way forward together. On that agenda will be rank spaces,new ranks, enforcement and accessibility for Taxi's, Co operation with An Garda Siochanna is in the best interest of our agenda and the community we serve at large.





"Minister Dempsey acknowledges Taxi Drivers For Change"


For the first time since Taxi Drivers For Change began their campaign in January 2009 Minister Noel Dempsey has acknowledged the existence of TDFC and in a letter to us has expressed his wish that we allow the taxi regulator to conduct a "consultation process" with the Taxi industry to enable her to say she has consulted with the industry, We don't think so. Our position is that until the taxi industry has the ability to negotiate its position and has an appeals process we will not be engaging with the Taxi Regulation Commission. However, if the TRC applies to the Minister of Transport to expand its remit to include these requirements then the industry will engage in a positive manner. The Minister has further written to us to say how unhappty he is with the personalistion of our campaign towards the present incumbant at the Taxi Regulation Commission.



"Delegation from TDFC met with Jim Glennon, ex TD and now professional lobbyist"



Jim was impressed with our presentiaon and mentioned that TDFC are new and fresh, very professional in their appraoch, are very focused in their objectives and have public support. Jim has comitted to TDFC to lobby on our behalf and we trust will do so effectively. We thank Jim and Seamus for taking the time at their own expense to meet with us.



"Killarney Protest"



Taxi Drivers For Change visited the kingdom to meet with our supporters from Killarney and Tralee, Cork and Limerick. A workshop had been arranged by the taxi regulater to discuss their agenda for further propping up the goodbody report ie addressing enforcement issues and providing better access to services for people with additional needs (wheelchairs etc). Taxi Drivers For Change and its supporters told the regulater that the taxi industry would not engage with her until her remit had been expanded to include a negotiation footing and an appeals process and any further directives issued by her office would be ignored until we have achieved this. We further mentioned to her that we knew that to achieve this would require a change in primary law and therefore the person we need to speak to is Minster Dempsey. The Taxi Regulater will be attempting to conduct a similar exercise in Carrick on Shannon next Monday, WE'LL be there.


"People before profit"

Taxi Drivers For Change attended the launch of people before profit's alternative economic agenda held in Dublin. Taxi drivers concerns were highligthed to the attending delegates who are very sympathetic to our cause. We urge all our supporters to consider people before profit's candidates in the upcoming local elections.


"Jim Higgins"

Taxi Drivers For Change attended a recent meeting of the largest trade unions in Ireland hosted by long time supporter of our campaign JIm Higgins. Again the treatment of the Taxi industry was highlighted and the concensus of the meeting was that how we were conducting our campaign was "an example to all". We recomend you support Jim in his efforts to gain a seat in Europe, there can be no better individual advocate working on our behalf in Europe.


"Labour Taxi policy"

Taxi Drivers For Change attended the launch of the Labour parties Taxi industry policy document "hailing a new taxi service". Taxi Drivers For Change had direct input into the formation of this document and while we would not agree with all of the document, the vast majority of it is positive and progressive toward the Taxi industry. We are greatly impressed with the Labour Parties willingness to listen and engage with our industry, their policy document reflects much of the industry opinion and so we urge you to consider favourably all Labour candidates in upcoming elections. You can download this document from the Labour Parties web site, have a look its worth the time. On the editors personal note, we wish our friend, colleague, supporter and chairman of the Galway Taxi association, Enda O Rourke success in the upcoming local elections in Galway.


"Fine Gael"

We have made inumeral attempts to arrange a meeting with Fine Gael and all have failed so far. We have no idea what , if any, their policy is in regard to our industry and can only lament their unwillingness to engage with us as a lost opportunity on their behalf in this present political atmosphere.



"Fianna Fail"


As all will know, our campaign has been directed against Fianna Fail, its Goverment and Minister who we hold responsible for our present circumstances. However in an effort to leave no stone unturned we will be meeting Bertie Ahearne next week to see if anything can be salvaged, theres always hope! (do the lotto and pray to the lord)


"Libertas"

Taxi Drivers For Change Were invited to a meeting with Declan Ganly and Caroline Simmons of Libertas which we attended. Declan demonstrated a clear concise and knowledgable policy positiion on the issues affecting our industry in a European context and we were very impressed with the the agenda Libertas wish to pursue on our behalf. Again we urge our supporters to consider this when they go to the polls it will be a vote well made in all of our interests.


"The Irish Cancer Society"

A delegation from Taxi Drivers for Change met with the Irish Cancer Society to discuss the impact of our participation in their recent daffodil day fundraising event. The society professed to be "delighted" with the extra media exposure our participation brought and were convinced that this helped them to be well on there way to achieving their fiundraising targets for this year.


"Road safety Authority"

Taxi Drivers For Change will be meeting with the RSA on Monday 25/05/09 to clarify the RSA position with regard to the safety of Taxi drivers being behind the wheel for 12 to 15 hours per shift

Tell this to the Judge.
He was late.
He had a gun to my head.
But he just had to be there on time or the world would end.

If you know Paris you will love this.



OK here is the making of the movie.

Volvo Ocean race.

Just when you finish a post you find the links you were looking for.
All the boats have arrived in Galway to a fanfare of fireworks even though the first boat arrived in a 4 AM.


And this is the place to go to find out more.
http://www.galwayvolvooceanrace.com/

What a fantastic day today was in Dublin.

Grafton St was heaven for sure.

Off to bed

We've been everywhere.

A traveler grave in Kellls Co Meath
Click on the photo you can see the image which is inside the stone, probably a lazer was used,quite something.

This vaulted celing is at the entrance to Fallon & Byrne at the bottom of Nassau St., It used to be a bank.

Just after a late night, not bad ..But not good either.
I just thought about some local people who were called upon to be extras in the making of the film "The Quiet Man" John Heuston asked a local man how much money he thought he should be getting? He said "Sure I'll have the same money as John Wayne is getting"
Not a bad thought that.

Well Leinster have won the Heineken Cup in Edinburgh yesterday,
Hope it lifts the mood.

On the question of the non response from the taxi regulator, she has received a bullet in the post.
No amount of marching was getting us anywhere, but when reasonable people are met with indifference,others will step forward with different methods for getting her to listen.
If we can work together to reach some solution to get some of our problems sorted.
Perhaps holding a full Irish driving licence for 4 years, a proper new test to replace the old one.
People who apply for PSV licence to be thoroughly checked out.
Not much to ask for.

The outcry over the report on child abuse rumbles on.
I heard one of our government ministers say that the people of Ireland should be happy that they were able to pay money to the victims of the abuse.

Well I for one would be very happy to allow the victims the opportunity to give them a beating,have their property seized and have them spend the rest of their lives living among lepers.
But we would have to protect the lepers from them.

The Vatican will have to be held accountable for this one.

I had a young nurse in the taxi tonight giving out about the staffing levels in the hospitals and the new replacement nurses coming in. A senior nurse from the Mater Hospital and she is moving on,had enough she has.
Things are worse every day,,you don't have to tell me.
They move call centers for example to India to save money and when you make the call you don't get any satisfaction. False economy.
Thank God there are other providers who have call centers at home.

just as I write the Police helicopter has been hovering over the house for the last 40 Min's. "It wasn't me that sent the bullet"

Perhaps there might be the shadow of change coming, I hope so and I am not just talking about the weather.
Galway is the place to be this week, the round the world yacht race is coming in and Guinness has organized a party.

Millmount Hse gone?

Millmount hse Drumcondra.

Cleaning windows Eircom building

Car is art

I have been looking at Roys blog and I read the letter which outlines the reply to the Goodbody report, all done very well it is.
(The link is at the bottom)

The report on the abuse of children in institutions by the religious orders came out today. It did not hold back and told of the physical sexual and mental abuse of children in the care of the Church and State.
It even spoke of abuse of mentally handicapped inmates.

God must be crying in heaven when he sees what was done by so many of his servants to so many of his children.

The devil must be looking forward to having a full house.

One of the people who blew the top off the goings on at the Goldenbridge orphanage wrote the other day that Austin Currie who was the minister for children and Mary McAleese our President refused to meet with them or help them in any way with their plight, it was only after the documentary "States of fear" came out that things started to move on.

I have had as many as 10 different people going to and from the various boards to get compensation. I remember one guy who had got some money and was going back to England, his brother had locked him from the house as the brother had recieved no compensation, he couldn't face the tribunal.
The man was traumatised because he had been cross examineds by a barrester which brought the situation back from the room in his mind where the monster had been chained for all thos years.
Another girl told me she had been abused by a priest when she was 9 years old. She was now getting help.....Death would be a swift solution for the people who abuse children..Mercy for victim and fiend too.

There is a film I saw once about the Christian Brothers in Canada.

They were caught and when the law went after them the order transferred ownership of their properties to a third party. As far as I know the Canadians found out and that action was a serious crime in itself and they confiscated every building and every scrap of land they owned.

Then they were deported and barred from coming back.

At least those kids got closure and the future generations were protected.

Over here the horror goes on.

Still there are European and local elections going on, so all will change.

And pigs might fly.

I found an old newspaper. Evening Herald Sept. 2000

Taxis to rent from Checkers 260 Quid a week.

Plate for sale 65K +3K and another one for 75K.

Pity the poor guys that bought them.

Houses were
Seagrange Ave Baldoyle 4 bed 150K

Furry Park 3 bed 260 K

Cherrywood Clondalkin 3 bed 130 K

The people who bought then should be sitting pretty now.

Its all very relative though. I remember that interest went up to 14% at one stage and we had letters coming from the building society, but our loan was only 20,000 quid.
There should be a moratorium on evictions for at least 4 years, we have been told to bail out the banks,so they should not be allowed to throw us out now.

I am clearing things out..Bank statements and phone bills from 1984 !
Diaries newspapers all have to be thrown out.

It is hard work but I have to get my house back from the clutter.

Perhaps I should get those old Biddies from the TV program "How Clean Is Your House?"

Still if I do it now I won't have to do it when it is busy at the ranks.

Tomorrow is a new day.

My Birthday present for you all

Breaking news courtesy of Sam in Sydney


Linda is the proprietor of a bar in Cork . In order to increase sales, she
decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed
alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks
consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into
Linda's bar.

Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment
constraints, Linda increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed
beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes
these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Linda's
borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics
as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these
customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities
are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these
abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as
their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager
(subsequently of course fired due to his negativity) of the bank decides
that the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the
drinkers at Linda's bar.

However they cannot pay back the debts.

Linda cannot fulfil her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95 %. PUKEBOND performs better,
stabilizing in price after dropping by 80 %.

The suppliers of Linda's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates
and having invested in the securities are faced with a new situation. Her
wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a
competitor. The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic
round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political
parties (and vested interests).

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the
non-drinkers.

Finally an explanation I understand...

Significant Birthday

If you don't know what it is Then it must be art.

American school bus in Clarendon St

Launch day at Clontarf Yacht club


Well around NOW I am SIXTY.

I remember 18 and 21. 30 was there sometime.
40 came along and then 50 arrived.

So when this milestone came I wondered where all the time went.

I held a few dinners with close friends and am doing a sailing started course, later I plan on going to Donnington Park in the UK to drive that Firrari.

So I don't plan on buying a rocking chair very soon.

I have been laying back and doing the old "ing"things. Painting, cleaning and relaxing.

There's more to life than work.

Took the weekend off and spent some time getting around this big event, but as Paul Daniels said when I asked him how old he was he said "12, yes I'm 12 inside and I have never changed but my body got a bit older".

Well I suppose I am 17, you can't drive at 12!

I am moving the radio away from RTE and over to Lyric FM more and more. Every time I listen to the news I hear something bad that drives me crazy.

Worst part is that all the tings they report on are beyond my control.

The worst example of what I mean was the report on the Monagear murder suicide report which came out last week.
For those outside the loop the father went to an undertaker and made arrangements for a funeral for the family, he told the undertaker that it was in case they were all killed in a car crash.

The undertaker rang all the alarm bells and the only thing that happened was that a priest called to the house.
Social services were not alerted but in any case we don't have a 24/7 service, (but we do have a government jet and our prime minister gets more pay than Barrack Obama)

So the father kills the wife and the kids then himself.

One theory is that because the husband was almost blind he would have had to have an accomplice.

Nevertheless the report came with pages and pages of censored material.

An official said at the press briefing "Even if we had sent help to the house they would more than likely have not been able to prevent the tragedy."

That is the biggest load of crap I ever heard.
People are talked down from buildings and bridges every day, children are taken into protective care all the time.

That guy needs to have his job taken from him and given to someone with a bit more cop on.

We would never build dams to prevent flooding, fix the roof to stop the rain coming in if we all had that attitude.

It would be the end of the world for me If I knowingly did nothing to save the life of a mother and 2 small children from dying.

Change is very hard, but sometimes worth fighting for.

I wish we could do something to change our government, but alas the opposition seem to be as daft as a flock of sheep.

So I will try to change what I can and ignore what I can't.

Had a messy one first thing today, going to Sandymount over the east link toll bridge, It cost e10.60 he gave me a e50 and I gave him back e40.People would often give you the extra change,in coin, not him, then I realized I had not charged for the toll bridge e1.80 so I had done myself e2.40 !.

After that the day just got better!!

Last week I picked up a Traveller on the Clontarf Rd. Tallagh he said as he got in.
I'll let you hold e50 till we get there.
He was rough as rough as can be and started talking to someone on the mobile phone, yes he had the "Stuff" and he had some gold chains and rings."Mary will love the pendant I have for her" The next call was "No I didn't get a chance t get ta de prison"

On and on it went "I swear on me dead brothers grave I will and on the lives of me childer"
Trouble all the way then he rang his wife who happened to be in McDonalds in O'Connell St and we diverted and he was gone at last.

The rest of the people that day were great.



Some travelers have started drug dealing in a big way,as they move across Europe and across borders all the time no one knows where they are at any time.

But today the news came in about a BMW which had been stopped by the police a few minutes earlier crashed into a wall on Dunsink lane..When the boys in blue went to investigate they found a body in the boot..

So as I say as tough as nails.

A traveler goes into a sports shop and asks for a baseball bat.

The shop keeper asks if he wants a white one or a black one.

"Whats the difference?" asks the traveler.

"DO you want one for a wedding or a funeral?"Sir.


Sign of the death of the Celtic Tiger too was a couple heading to Fairview, near the end of the trip they said they should make a move on as they had to go to the airport soon.
He was going back to America to work, its just like the time when hundreds of Irish were working in London and Manchester just to keep bread on the table.

I never expected to see those days again and so suddenly too.