Computers are stupid or is it me?
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I had a video loaded and now its gone.
I love magic and magicians meet at magic conventions all over the world from Las Vegas to Beijing to Blackpool.
The Blackpool magicians convention is the biggest in the world !!
Dealers come from all over the planet to sell books, DVDs, and props Blackpool will have 150 stalls.
The comedians in the shows are fantastic.
So take it up as a hobby, after all it's a disappearing art.
Tonight in our neck of the world the clocks go back and hour tonight.
Tomorrow Sunday its the marathon.
This is the kind of thing that goes on at magic conventions, they carry on into the wee small hours
Look up this movie. Its based in Blackpool and is in my top 10 movies of all time
This beautiful garden is 400 meters from my front door and it must be 3 years since I last went in
A few weeks ago I got a job out to the square on Tallagh.
Called in by her job and the journey would be paid by the boss.
So I turned around and got another job around 3 miles away,
Dropping her off I heard someone whistling and this guy with short cropped blonde hair asked me
"How much back to the square?" I said €5 and he jumped in.
Some people will hardly say hello, others will hardly tell you their destination,
But boy did this guy have a story to tell me.
When he was 15 he was walking along in Crumlin when someone ran up behind him and hit him full force on the head with a hammer.
He was in a coma with severe brain damage, for 3 years he remained in a coma.
Then one day he just woke up.
"I was 5 stone weight and couldn't talk or walk or eat.
I had to learn everything again, like new born child".
But look at me now I can't shut up ! He was really great, not looking for sympathy or pity. I asked him if he remembered anything about the time that he was in the coma 3 years is a long time. "Just at the time I was knocked out I met my mother, she died when I was 12 years old, I said Mammy I am coming up to be with you. She held up her hand and said No son, go back its not your time yet"
You know it is a real privilege to meet people like him. He works for a brain injury charity. One of the good guys for sure. Today I met a nurse who works woth brain trauma patients. She told me that my guy was one of the very lucky ones. She has a patient who was attacked by persons unknown , beaten and kicked on the ground and left for dead. A completely unprovoked attack. 32 years of age and a brilliant electrician. He sits in the nursing home looking out the window, he cannot speak. For stimulus I often read him the children's story of the naughty fox, and he becomes animated at the point where the fox is getting chased.
Boys and girls, say a prayer for the fallen ones. (Even if you don't have a God)
Today I went to the Coombe and picked up a lady with a cello! She also had a big teddy bear. I put the cello on the front seat and put on its safety belt as you do. She got into the back and she was talking to her teddy bear ? I was reminded of Mr.Bean! So we arrived at St. Stephens Green. She was going to the concert hall, but said that she would walk from the corner of the Green. So I took out the cello and as she turned for me to put it on her back I saw the face of the teddy bear.. It was a baby in a teddy bear suit. Off to work with the baby.
Driver we are late!
So they are putting the pressure back on to you.
What do you do?
So the call was to Clontarf Castle hotel and they were off to Dundrum for a funeral.
"We are very late"
I started the meter and then had to explain how the charges were mounted up on the meter.
So I headed for the East Link bridge letting the sat nav take over and at points in the journey I was doing over 70 kph.
We arrived at the church in Dundrum before the hearse arrived.
So she handed me a €50 and then took all her change!
Even a thank you would have been nice. Some people !
Then I realized that I hadn't put on the €1.40 for the toll bridge.
So I crossed back over the city and got a job in Clontarf with a doctor from Soudan going to Beaumount hospital, God she had a wonderful manner and was so polite.
I think I am in love again.
Its a pity I am not 50 years younger or at least as rich as Trump.
Often I think that some people are not people at all
The way people drive is making me mad.
I saw a car have a blowout on the M1 in front of us the other day. he did 360o spin then another 90o and hit the dividing barrier, then yesterday coming back down a police car passed me sirens blaring, then he braked blocking off the fast lane of the motorway.
I turned on my hazard warning lights and then an asshole tried to overtake me on the inside.
He did not know if there were people standing or lying on the road. So I sat on the horn and cut across him until we had passed a 3 car pile up.
He was on my inside and could not even see the crashed cars.
The keyless car system ?
You walk to the car with the key in your pocket, put your hand on the handle and the car unlocks, then you press a button and then simply drive off Danger! The signal can be picked up and cloned with a Car Relay Attack Unit. They pick up the radio signal and then drive off and thieves are having a field day! So what do I do John? When you stop your car. Put the key fob into a RF blocker pouch which you can buy from Amazon. You get out of the car and put on a steering wheel lock which can also be used as a weapon of last resort. Also from Amazon Then you step out of the car and press lock on the door handle. Holding the handle out you close the door. Now the car is locked without the key signal escaping.
On the Times of London newspaper there is a story of a guy who had his car stolen. He reported it to the police and they uncovered loads of stolen cars..in his possession worth as much as £800,000 All keyless entry high end cars. I bet he wishes he had kept his mouth shut.
I am still having problems loading up the photos.
Perhaps I need a new computer?
Do you not think that they could sell loads of other products in the space taken up with the Christmas goods?
Perhaps it is just me.
I bought a box of screws in Aldi 1,000 assorted screws.
I took a screw out to fix the tumbler drier, them coming back into the kitchen the case opened and out fell 1,000 screws of different sizes. It would be cheaper to throw them in the bin than to sort them out.
Life is full of surprises.
I am working away (Don't tell the tax man) The work is coming and it is not like the bad old days when this moment in time would be a slow time.
Taxi drivers cars are being hit by robbers, they smash the drivers window looking for the float and any spare cash.I have a 24/7 recording system on the front and back garden. The video camera in the taxi activates when the car is shunted so I feel covered.
You have to be on your guard all the time.
Remember the girl from Brazil going to Santry from Northwood?
When we arrived at the bank in Santry she gave me €20 and said that she was going back.
She produced a pile of €20 notes and asked me for 2x€10 notes. So I pointed to the €20 on the dashboard and said "We are all square so ?"
She went into the bank and came back out, I drove her back to Northwood and I asked for €18, "No you have to give me €2 change, I gave you €20"
I said no, I gave you 2x10s for that 20 and I said, and we are all square.
"Lets not argue, I will play back the Video on the camera."I said
Without another word she paid up and got out.
I really don't blame her, Brazil is in a very bad way,why else would so many of them be here. Dishonesty is a fact of life there.
So be careful out there.
My Bandoneon master sent me this from Brazil.
He asked me for my reaction.
"My heart beats faster and she plays well"
You know collecting a debt for a friend creates a bad feeling in my blood.
There are people who jump out of taxis and never pay, other times you have video footage and the name of the guy, with a link to their address and the Garda do nothing for you.
It is frustrating.
So this guy owe around €1800 to my friend and I know people in his line of business, ie. they work with him though not directly.
Next week the word goes out that this guy dosent honor his tab.
I will ask the people I know if this is the right person to do business with?
Then we take the legal route where his name appears on record.
How stupid will he be?
Taxi drivers just know too many people.
My sons car failed the NCT so its €600 of repairs.
But it is a good car and he is my boy.
I wish to thank all the wonderful who have brought me on journeys through this great city over the last few weeks.
You are all great people
Over the last week we lost 2 great preformers Charles Asnavore and Montserrat Caballe
I know Christmas trees.
But it has strted.
I am sure God is enjoying the renunion and a special concert.
This is the driver that is alleged to have knocked down the cyclest
A statue at the Landsdowne hotel"The Line out"
Staff from Brown Thomas return to work after testing the fire evacuation
Its near Grafton St
It must be the season for NUTCASES
I picked up a guy at the Mespil hotel last Friday, other people were waiting and they let him go first.
"Thank God you came. My flight to Toronto takes off in 20 minutes!"
Now you and I and the dog down the road knows that you have to present yourself at the check in desk 2 hours before your flight for long haul flights.
He got a bit of a fright when I got him to the airport in 17 minutes.
I will never tell them to calm down and that they are too late.
Nutter number 2 arrived too late for his flight to Amsterdam.
What did he do?
He ran past the check in desk, kicked open the door downstairs and tried to block the plane.
Now the question has to be asked.
What would have happened if he was a terrorist?
I mean he made it on to the tarmac no bother.
Then the next day he was brought to court and when he came out he dropped his pants and Mooned the press.
Nutter number 3
Was a taxi driver who was having a row with a cyclist on the North Strand. Plenty of shouting and the taxi driver slammed into him knocking him clean off the bike.
Then he drove away with everything on video.`
It is looking bad for the taxi driver.
Nutter number 4
A Cyclist breaks the lights followed by a white taxi, they tear down to Belvadere place and at the bottom of the road the taxi crosses the road to the wrong side and mounts the footpath.
It is said that the cyclist broke one of the mirrors of the taxi.
Still is it worth loosing your license over?
My insurance costs me more that €2,000 for this year
6 years full no claims bonus.
What would it be with penalty points and a crash to settle.
Work wise it has been great recently, this happens when the swallows go and the schools and courts start working again. One theory was that the school teachers would work as taxi drivers during the long holidays, then when school started again business would rocket for the regular drivers.
You could get a headache trying to work it out.
I am chasing money on behalf of a friend. He is a film maker and this money was due to him in the summer. Requests for payment have fallen on deaf ears. So today I posted off all the details again.
A good customer of mine who has a wide number of connections googled the name while he was in the car. He knows people who do business with him.
I will put in a word next week.
It will be really embarrassing for him when the word gets out that he dosent pay his tab.
A story from the taxi was that a young college guy worked for Bill Gates as a caddy, the lad said to himself that he would be in for a good tip. He tried to impress him with advice and after the game he paid him the normal amount with no tip.
The young lad cursed him to hell and the next day he got a call from his university to say that Bill Gates had paid all his college fees and that he had wished him good luck in the future.
Another person of interest in the car was Tommy Tiernan. I did not recognise him and asked him what he did for a living. Then I turned around and recognized him and we had a great trip.
He has a 9 year old son who is mad into magic.
So we had the big day out for the less privileged children of Dublin, 200 or so taxis a 20 Garda motorcycle escort and then off to a big party with singing and fun in Leopardstown.
It has been going on for more than 50 years and Johnnie Walker our super taxi driver who started it all off is still on the go. Paddy Drax is another long time attendee.
So I was trying to get the photos up but my computer is acting strange.
I have met a few heroes in my day and last week there was a documentary about one of them.
Orla Tinsley got into my taxi years ago and I never forgot her, she was out of breath and turned out to become one of my super heroes.
"No I haven't got asthma I wish I had but I have CF. Cystic Fibrosis"
She went on to tell me about her condition and that the only cure was for someone to be killed and she might get a new set of lungs.
What was on her mind on that day was that she and others had raised money to build a special ward to isolate CF patients and the hospital that it was attached to had filled it with ordinary sick people.
This in turn would mean that the unit could never be used for the purpose intended.
She told me not to be sad when I told her that she was a wonderful brave person.
"I am a fighter, don't feel sorry for me.I never want anyone who met me to be unhappy."
True to her word I did feel inspired.
I told her that there would be no charge for the journey, the only pity was that it was not longer.
"I would love to give you a big hug as well, but I don't want to kill you?"
She laughed "I couldn't think of a nicer way to go"
And she was gone
That was a good few years ago
She is doing creative writing in New York and she crowd funded a lung transplant.
Tomorrow is the taxi drivers big day out, I will take the morning off and hoover the car to get it nice for my passengers. Then drive out to Palmerstown to collect them and bring them all to Parnell Square where the Garda band will play and then they set off down O'Connell St, then the band will stand to one side and the Garda motorcycle escort will bring us to Leaopardstown race course where further entertainment will follow.
Then around 3. pm they will all head home again and wait for another year.
Last year they had to send off for more taxis and those scumbags charged for the trip while everyone worked for nothing.
So if you can make the effort to join in come on !!
Above is the floor of the entrance to the Clayton hotel in Ballsbridge it used to be a school for the children of Freemasons.
The first 3 photos explain a recent plumbing adventure I had a while ago.
The cold water tank was overflowing, I sent up the "plumber" twice
He didn't fix it and in the dry weather you could see just how much water was being wasted.
So into the attic I went and found the water tank and I saw that the ball of the ballcock was under water, so I went to the plumbers merchants and got the metal plate shown and a new stopcock just to be on the safe side.
The small metal plate stops the plastic tank from bending when pressure is applied.
Bingo the leak is now stopped.
All through my life I have learned that you have to rely on your own instincts to get things done.
Like a carpenter that hung a door and when you opened it it hit the ground.
The solution he said was to take a piece out of the door, I asked him to put a level on the door to see if was hung plumb, then he walked off.
I got a level and took out all the screws bar the top one made it plumb screwed it back up and it swung perfectly.
The next day he was shouting "If you knew so much about it how come you are not doing it?"
The builder overheard him and sent him home for good.
C'est La Vie as they say in Google.
Even my Citroen car had the wrong spark plugs in the manual ?
That really took some figuring out but an Lebanese air frame mechanic helped me through the servicing, he had cut a sinew in his hand and spent 3 or more hours showing how the car worked.
So if you buy a 2CV you must use Champion L87Y spark plugs not the short reach ones in the manual.
Off to bed now and great things will happen tomorrow.
