Blackpool magic

 Just back from the worlds biggest magic convention.

No one missed me

This act closed the final Gala show, his name is Marko Karvo, when I plyed it back it did not play properly. Perhaps you can catch it better on Youtube

Just look at this for skill....Then have a look at Channing Pollock on youtube.
He is the cool dude of dove magic

Does magic get any better?

Good public relations

                                              Adventure branding,,Wise to advertise

              From the other side of the river the bank that nearly sank the nation

How do you conduct your business?
Do you give that extra bit of value to help your customers on their way?

A friend of mine went out for a special meal, the bill came and they paid it and went home.
Then they thought that it was too reasonable at €94.
So after counting it up they went back in the next day and spoke to the manager.

The bill should have been €194  Which they paid.

Now as a business person what would you do next?

If they had not pointed out the error you had lost €100, It was a cash sale.

So how would you turn the situation into a winning one for both sides ?

I don't know if I mentioned that the Sushi restaurant in the Dundrum shopping center is very good.
I have been there twice. But never again.
I bought 2 x €4 bowls the last time I was there and the bill came to €9 , I thought it might be service charge.
No it was for a glass of water from the tap at the counter !
That is sharp practice, which is bad business.
There is a really good Sushi in Ranelagh.(I wonder what the waters like)

The last one big gripe I have is a really big company "Specsavers"
This is really hard to believe !
I went in got measured up and got the glasses, with a spare pair around €400 for the lot.
Take care of your eyes as they say.

The glasses were wrong, so I went back.
"No you have to give them time  to get used to them"
A week later I went back again where he checked the lenses against the prescription.
"NO they are not wrong"
I had lost my old pair so I went into another opticians and got a new prescription.
I brought that into the  first guy but  his answer was so bad.
"Look if you have bought a new pair the problem is solved"
No refund ! And no Specsavers promise either.

A few months later I made a complaint through Specsavers in the GPO arcade, no joy.
I was in Blackpool and went into Specsavers there
They said that some one from head office would contact me. It didn't happen.
I found the address of head office...Still no joy.

So a customer in the taxi told me to write it all down and send it all in with a check to the small claims court.
Then I made 2 mistakes, I sent a copy of the letter to Specsavers in Guernsey saying I was were going to the small claims court.
The guy who had caused me all the grief rang me and said." Whats going on? This has  all been looked after"
The second mistake was to go back in for 1 (Free) pair of glasses, remember I had paid for 2.
During the eye test the optician declared that "the angle of astigmatism had chanced from left to right to the opposite and the glasses were right at the time of fitting but my eyes had changed"

I should have left the shop then and proceeded with my claim

You know Specsavers spend many Millions on advertising and yet they never followed up any of my letters and they did not at that time provide an e mail or a complaints contact on their website.

By the way if this is not all true they can sue me!

A business man told me that a complaint when dealt with properly is an opportunity to get a loyal customer for life.
Once as a junior car salesman he took back a car with a persistent fault back and replaced it with a new car. Before he left that garage he had sold the extended family 12 new cars over the years. Each time he made a sale he reminded his boss that these people were coming back because I had replaced their problem car, the boss eventually told him he had done the right thing.

So how would you turn the repayment of €100 to your best advantage?

Normal Monday.

     St Thresas gardens, now boarded up where my story hit mid stream

     Huge big containers being taken from a ship in Dun Laoighre. I hope they are not Scud Missiles.

He stopped me on Dame St. I'm going on a trip which costs €11 OK.?
A guy in his 40s with long 60s hair. Ok so we will go with that....No meter?.
Up to Dinore avenue my friend then off to the James Joyce bridge.
When we arrived in Cork St the quick call was made. "Be there in 5"
Into St.Thresas gardens to wait while he buys his Heroin.
He is in good form when he gets back into the taxi.
A computer annalist he tells me he is thinking of applying for a taxi license. "Look mate there are 3 times the cars that should be on the road"
But he had a plan....Some plan
When we arrive in Benburb St at the hostel he declares that he only has €7,
I'll go in and get you the rest. Sure enough he goes in and I wait.
But I know this "Wet "hostel. I tell the porter that my hippy friend owes me €4, so he goes into the hostel and drags him out. Then I get paid.

Your life is wasting away fast my Hippy friend

My visitors are all gone away, my oldest boy from London with his girlfriend and my middle lad with his wife and son and my youngest who has landed a job of sorts.
I had a dreadful cold and was coughing like a seal. I am on sterriods and an inhailer I hope I will be better by the weekend when I am off to Blackpool.

All back to normal today the schools and colleges are back and the courts after their mid term break..
I have a bad cough and I was wakened at 5am with a coughing fit.
"Best out of bed and face the day" I headed for the ferry and there was no bus there and people were waiting. So I got this young guy from the Congo going to Killarney via Heston station.. He was well traveled and he was impressed that I know so much about the history of the "Belgium Congo" and how the king of Belgium went in to carve out his Empire killing thousands of people as he went.Rodger Casement tried to nail Leopold the 11 over his actions.
Then I drove around and found a Chinese man going to the Casino in Fitzwilliam Street I was lucky, I even got a Hailo job in Sandymount.
Later at the Westbury I got a man heading to the airport and from there to Turkey.
 He had worked as a taxi driver in Amsterdam and we both agreed that taxi driving educates you in double quick time and then I had another job in from near the airport back to town.
I was kidding them that they had taken their time in deciding to elope together
(They were in their late 60s)
Then a regular pre booked call to Norhwood and back to Clontarf for breakfast.
After breakfast I headed out and the HailO system gave me a really interesting job from the Orthopedic hospital in Clontarf to Sandycove. This man had had a charmed life, he was a ships captain, he went all over the world and when Irish Shipping closed down he went to work in Aer Lingus our national airline.
He sails competitively though he has a broken foot at present.
Just after Sandycove you have Joyces tower and the famous house by Scott the architect. Then Bullock harbor out to Dalkey village and Vico road is where the really wealthy people want to live. It was a bit of a holiday to stop off and buy a Magnum before heading back to the North side where I belong.

I pulled into the old harbor and they have an exhibition of Tom Crean the Antarctic explorer.
A huge hero among people who walk to the Poles.

The weather is really sunny and spring is everywhere.

I was looking at Brazil taxi (Link on R/H side) He was robbed at gunpoint and last week a colleague was shot dead and robbed the previous week.(Google Translate )
What a big price to pay for making such a living.
In the taxi business you are 100% dependent on Lady Luck, may she smile on you every day my friends.

The post published itself before I had written it.
It is more or less complete now.

Domestic abuse.

I am very lucky to be living in the age where we are now information comes to us on the
"Super information highway"

I am very fortunate to look at Ted talkes from time to time.

This is well worth looking at.

If it dosen't load up try it again on your PC

England 12 Ireland 6

                                      A view of the Convention center over the bridge

 Will this be next? Covert cameras built onto all  our mirrors? Those things to the right are Cameras one looking to the front, the other into the car.Noel Byrne Limekiln Lane for details


Rugby kept me going this weekend.
I often opt out of the after match madness but this Sunday I hit on a good route to pick up punters.
Instead of coming down Shelbourne Rd where you get locked into traffic I went down Pembroke Rd. where you could do U turns when you picked up a passenger and not be stuck in traffic.
On the fourth or such forray I got a pick up on the Hailo system right at the door of the Aviva stadium.
He didn't show for a good while and he was not awnsering his phone.
I got offers of double the fare, I will give you an extra €20 etc.
Then at last he awnsered his phone. It turned out he was going to Batterstown Co.Meath via Clonee.
I think it was around €70, with an automatic tip!
As I say you never know whats around the corner.

Then home to bed

On Monday came the Chinese new year, so when you are writing a check remember its not Dragon, it's snake.

Sometimes you have to read things twice, just because you cannot believe it the first time.
In Russia a woman who had a young child put the baby in a neighbors barn while she went to the disco. The neighbor heard a baby crying and went out to investigate.
Russia is a very cold place !
He found the baby alive and well with her pet cat snuggled up beside her.
Only for the heat of the cat the baby would be dead.
So the mother is explaining her actions to the police.
It was in Mondays Metro.

Another thing I found out about HailO is that they got a big poke of funding to expand into Asia.
Richard Branson is on board now with $30 million investment.



I am really keeping my head down until the work picks up again.
This weekend we are having a family gathering so tidy up is the order of the day.

Then on the 22nd its Blackpool magic

Happy birthday Mabel

Today was the birthday of my oldest friend Mabel.
Still going strong at 103

   

Here she is with my grandson 103 year in the difference.

And in case you were wondering,,,,,She blew out all the candles in one puff.

Februrary. Spring is here

                                  
 You might still wonder why some people do not recognize this as a TAXI

  Harlic house, you will never forget the first time you saw these gates

    If you cannot pay.The bold men will take your toys away.



Another Sunday and a new month.
Well up and coming events are the Jameson Dublin film festival. click here for detail
And the silent film festival in Nenagh click here. A special event is to honour Rex Ingrim who came from there and made a big name for himself as himself and later as Alfred Hitchcock (The first)

I see that HailO are sponsoring part of the Jameson film festival. "Blood Rising" and "Get the picture" look interesting.
Though the way things are going people will access all these movies on Netflicks.
No taxi or baby sitter needed.

Talking of taxis, I picked up a Phillipena lady in Blackrock this morning.
When she told me she had been here in Ireland for more than 13 years I remarked that she must have come here when she was five years old.
She was 43! years old and looked like a teenager.
Now I am not pulling your leg, if I was a barman I would have to see ID.
Remarkable and amazing.
She told me how she couldn't get wine in Tesco, or if she went out for a meal she had the same problem.
Not that looking young would be a problem for most people.

But for the next lady. Looks were very important.
She stopped me in Ballsbridge.Tall and  blond lady with a wonderful fur coat, it had a hood..
She was not feeling well and was going to a medical center in Fitzwilliam St.
She was Italian and as glamours as as a spring morning.
But alas she looked like she was suffering from bad facial burns!
Her lips had been treated, so full and lush. (I bet she couldn't whistle)
Once she settled in though and started to talk she was really pleasant lady very good company.
But my God her once beautiful face was totally ruined.
Perhaps it was a reaction to the operation I don't know.
I didn't stare.
There is a type of person who are not secure in themselves the list of operations they feel that they need can go on and on.
In extremes you can get trans sexual people.
It can all become very sad.
Micheal Jackson had such a fixation about his nose that it just became a hole on the front of his face.

So for that beautiful lady who bought the fantastic fur coat in Milano there will be no peace or contentment in her life until she accepts the fact that the clock cannot be turned back forever, the sad part is that she is a really nice person to talk to, she is probably well educated as well.
Real beauty comes from the inside.

For me, getting older is no problem. Staying in good health is the secret..

On that subject I have had a cough for a while. A regular customer of mine told me to go to the doctor.
"I mean it!
Go to the doctor. I am serious, after all you are a senior citizen"

Thanks a  lot.

I was at a function with Paul Daniels that older magician a while back there was a Q and A section at the end.
Then someone asked the big question.
"How old are you now Paul?"
His answer was really brilliant.
"If you really want to know? I am 14 years old.I have been that age forever. I never lost that sense of wonder and adventure that you feel at that age. I waken up and wonder what wonderful things might happen today.
But outside I am 73"
Is this what keeps us young ?.

OK here is his signature piece


People some times ask me what it is like to drive  a taxi?
Here is the best film on the subject.


Here is the best one.


Just to finish on this one. A lady gets into the taxi on the Clontarf Rd going to Knocklyon.
Is there any perticular route you want to go?
Do you not know the way?
Yes I do but I just wanted to know if you have a preference.
Just go the quickest route.
So I headed into Dame St. Down past St.Patricks cathedral, out to Harolds cross. I wanted to veer right but the traffic was backed up, so I went straight to Terenure. I asked to go right, she said no so I went towards the Yellow House and turned down Orchard Rd.
Where are you taking me now?
Not long to go I said.
So I turned into Knocklyon Rd. and she started spluttering where the hell are we? I don't recognise where I am or any roads you took.

This is Knocklyon Rd. you are on now
Oh I know where I am now straight on and its on the right.

13.4 kilometers

Time 31 mins

Cost €25.85

This journey has never cost me more than €20.

Well today it will cost you €25 (I let her off with the 80 cent)

Sometimes I wonder why some people make themselves so unhappy.

Last week the lady who had lost her home before Christmas and her partner left her with 3 small kids to support, she was so happy when I stopped the meter at €20, just to round it down a bit.

Did you ever hear of the power of positive thought ?

Have a happy life!