Evil walks amongst us.

This week in County Cavan a father killed his wife, his three children before killing himself.
He left a note, but it will never explain why he could put his wife and children through such horror.
They were both school teachers.
Everyone is numb with shock.

Sadly this kind of thing is becoming more frequent.

In New Mexico there was the most horrific murder I ever came across a 9 year old girl on the eve of her 10th birthday was injected with crystal meth raped killed and dismembered, her mother and the mothers boyfriend are accused.

We have to be more aware of the evil that stalks our land.

Say a prayer as you wait for the green light for the innocent lives taken from us.

A job out of the blue

    Youghall

     Flower display at the Westbury hotel

   Christmas is coming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 A photo of the Lyons estate.

I am not a patient man, if the rank is not moving I move instead.
Sometimes straight to a job right on the street.
So it was the other day on the street "Celbridge, the Lyons estate".
I drove off knowing that my breakfast would have to wait for another hour.
That is a horrible photo above of a really kick ass house Click here

So one night years ago a guy was pushing an E class Merc in Fitzwilliam Sq.
I had a man in the taxi and I told the guy that we should help the poor man.
We pushed the car into the curb. I said what a really fantastic car while my passenger looked at him like a rabbit would look at a fox. I looked inside it and it was luxury to the highest standard.
"What a beautiful car" I said
Give me you keys and you can have it. It is a load of crap.
Three times it has broken down and I am leaving it here for them to take away.
They won't just take it back you know I said.
They will take that heap of crap back from me I can assure you.

So the moment came. "Will you take me home?"
I had a passenger on board so I foolishly said I was occupied.
20 yards down the road the passenger said. 
"That was Tony Ryan"
Tony invented aircraft leasing, there is a book about his first downfall called "crash landing"
Its well worth reading.
But then he rose from the ashes to become "Ryanair" Europe's biggest airline.

Still opportunities come and sometimes you hit them spot on. 
Chuck Feeney  once got into my taxi and who he was and what he had done in his life has inspired me ever since then.
Imagine inventing  Duty Free Shopping

Then that magical meeting with Stephen Spielberg.
When I asked him why his face was familiar all he said was "No I am no one famous, but I have that kind of face."  Then he came on TV to say Hi John !
"Thanks for looking after me, I look forward to meeting you again"

Who will be next?
A junkie?
A robber?
A film star?

Or perhaps it will be you??
I hope so, you seem like an interesting person. 

A really big day out is coming

    The box my newest toy came in

      A picture to show the view front and back

                 Dublin bay from the South wall.

        Where did I hear that name before ? click here Yes and the office is opposite HailOs office

Once upon a time in Australia a Palliative nurse wrote a blog and then a book.

At the moment you are going to die. What do you regret?
The book was called "Regrets I've had a few"

No one wished they had worked more.
How do you think it worked out.
So at the bottom of the page I will give you a link to click on.

I visited my tax accountant and soon in the click of a mouse he will say "You owe the IRS !!"
I didn't know I was so successful.
I had this blonde in the car who talked all the way through the journey to her phone, she hardly told me where she was going. Then in Marino a car cut out from in front of a bus. You could see on the camera that he was looking the other way. 
The look on her face is priceless. 
But I won't show it to you. 
  
If I crash and die the chip will be my witness, my unblinking witness.

Boys and girls...The big day is coming for the big day out for taxi drivers, 1,000 + taxis bring special needs kids out for the day.
13th September from around 10am.
You know the drill  The Garda band and a big parade through town off to Leapordstown for a big party. 
Book your place to take part  087 1213344 and 086 3701215
This year we will not leave behind little Tommy sitting in his wheelchair. All the kids will be brought.
Its a great thing to do !




Regrets ??? Click here 

EXAM RESULTS

Exam results are out.
If you did good Hooray if not don't worry.
Could we judge Picassos inability to do maths to measure him a complete failure.
Or perhaps Vivaldi might not have been good at maths.

Some people who could not read or write went on to found multi million pound businesses.
Other people were excellent at school work and just never progressed.
I knew a guy who was fluent in 16 languages and never did much with his talent.

Still that is life, I chose to fight.His wish was to stand still.

Wonderful people in my taxi at the moment, 2 girls off to Croatia for the weekend.
One got food poising on the day of departure,
That happened me in New York from a deli close to the Empire State..I was dying and at 3am I hobbled out of my bed in the Wellington hotel to an all night shop where a Vietnamese shop keeper gave me medication and told me not to go to places like that ever again.
We talked for 20 minutes and on the way back to the hotel a lady of the night spent some time joking with me. She was not at all pushy, but business was slow and I was funny to her.
We had a good laugh and she asked me to send her a Leprechaun fairy when I got home.
Fair play she was really a good kid.
I went on to a radio show when I was in NY. A show run by John McDonagh an Irish American cab driver.
Here he is ...But note he doesn't use his real name here


I think I gave him 1/2 of my old taxi sign which now hangs in his "Italian" club

The other side hangs in a bar in Boston.

I'm rambling,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and I'm not even dressed for it.

HERE IS ANOTHER PIECE NOW OUTDATED.



UBER MOVED INTO NEW YORK MAKING TAXI MEDALLIONS WORTHLESS

One super confident girl about to buy her first house.
Can you remember that?When you clinched your first deal ?

It is as easy to find a partner as to get the right house.
All the very best of luck to her.

To everyone that is PAYE I wish you well.

But tax for the self employed is one big pain in the ass.

Iron man coming

 Divers wait their turn to jump into the Liffey from the Sam Beckett bridge

 Nelsons Pillar looking over Trafalgar Square. We had one but we blew it up.

  London skyline, plenty of cranes

 This was used by Ernest Walton to crank up the voltage to split the atom.
In these days of safety at work it would never have happened.

Well another week is coming to an end, enjoy the weekend !!!!!!!!!!!!For me it is just another day.

The Iron man race will take place on Sunday click here for road closures.

Did you hear about the motorcycle cop who saw a skanger riding along the quays on a fancy bike.
The Garda was into cycling and noticed that this was a special down hill racing bike. He chased him and the skanger abandoned the bike.. It belonged to 2 German tourists, stolen from the back of their car and was worth more than €12,000, the price of a good second hand car.

Such a move is now on now with the Spanish, Italian, Spanish, French and Brazilian language students heading home after the summer break. They could be seen coming out of Carrolls gift shops with their green bags full of plastic Leprechauns.This time they will remember for all time.
 It will be no time at all until the Swallows gather on the power lines to discuss their flight plans. Swallows from Ireland fly right down through Africa to South Africa while we have our winter.
Nature is wonderful.

The GAA world games were played yesterday in Croke Park. Teams from all over the world competing.
I had 4 girls over to it who had worked in Saudi Arabia and Dubai where they were on GAA teams while they lived there.

Imagine trying to play this game in 40o





I had my first passenger playing Pokemon live..
Take a look at this

The Duke of Westminster RIP

Well I installed the camera and the test run begins tomorrow.



In the paper I read that the second richest man in England has died.

The Duke of Westminster died aged 64 leaving £9 billion behind.

He owns Mayfair in London and a good bit of Oxford St.

But for much of his life he suffered from the "Black Dog"(Depression)

I myself take lithium to keep my moods stable, with it I am fine.
Without it it is like having a bad flu. I just won't function.

You are not so much depressed (Sad) as ill.

But it is comforting to know that billions will not solve the problem.

If you have depression go to your GP before it gets too much on top of you.

Help is there if you look.

Everything on video !

 A stag group dressed as sheep arrive in Dublin

 An Irish hero on a N.Ireland £5 note

 Apollo 10

   Thia is a RR Merlin engine powerhouse of the British air force in WW 2

A friend of mine has a video camera in his taxi, just in case.
Well one day on the Clontarf Rd. a cyclist cut off the footpath in to the bus lane and was hit by the door of a car which had pulled up.
The taxi was coming behind and had it all on tape. He gave the details to the other car driver who duly passed over the details to the cyclist.
On seeing the video evidence the cyclist dropped the claim against the other car as he was clearly at fault.

Cars cycles and buses cut through lights, but if a person gets killed it would help get a dangerous driver or cyclist off the road.

So I have decided to get a dash cam, no point in buying the cheaper one it is something I may need to protect my no claims bonus with in future.
Our insurance is going up between €1000 to €1,500 and that is without a claim on your record.
So lets say you could prove that the other car came through on red, your no claims bonus would be intact instead of 50/50.

 Have a look at some of these Irish drivers...



There has been a lot of single car crashes lately, they think drink is a factor.
But I would say it is fatigue that is the main problem, we all work too hard.
In Spain your taxi meter will only work for 5 days running and you must have 2 days off in 7 days also the meter only works for an 8 hour shift, then it stops.

Two pilots were taken from the flight deck of a plane in Scotland (Click here)
They were drunk, a doctor told me that a surgeon in their hospital was stopped with a scalpel in his hand while operating while he was drunk.

This plane landed with the wheels up, the plane was about to burst into flames.
Listen to hear how long it is before the voice of sanity kicks in.
"Leave your bags alone jump out of the plane."

It burst into flames minutes later.

Human error!!!!!!!!!!!111

 



And now for something completely different.
This is the stat count for the blog last month.

	Russia 1745 United States 470 Norway 443 Germany 274 Ireland 185 France 106 Sweden 79 United Kingdom 31 Ukraine 29 China 25
	It is really strange to have so many Russians on board!

London calling

                     The Tower of London

                                  Tower bridge

                                  Stephensons train "Rocket"

                               Modern London all glass and steel

 The undertaker said "I cater for many religions" as I was taking the photo the man behind me said
"It will be a big surprise to us all when we rise from the dead only to find that there is only one door into heaven"

London is such a great city, so easy to get around in. You get your Oyster travel card and off you go.
Since we were there last 4 years a lot has changed, they were getting ready for the Olympic games, now it is the turn of Rio.

One quote that stays with me at present was in a Japanese restaurant (A chain) The green tea came in a cracked container. I called over the waiter and pointed out the crack.
"Don't worry sir it wont break, its only cracked on one side"
I said that a crack in a cup or plate is packed full of bacteria, no sorry or anything.
He brought me a glass cup with no cracks.
Near our hotel in Canary Wharf a "Greasy spoon place" was serving full English breakfast and it looked really bad.
I asked them if they did cereal and fruit. The look of shock said it all and as I walked out two lady's were walking away from their uneaten breakfast.
How was it I asked.

Greasy soggy and disgusting they said.

Perhaps I am the really stupid one, but I would lay odds that they will not be there next year.

I have to have my tax return done by mid week, it is a pain in the head the whole thing.

It reminds me of a taxi driver who became a comedian, after a few nights out his act took off !
He went everywhere, then he decided that he should contact the revenue.
So you are a comedian now are you?
Did you make any money?
You did!!! 
Good 
This is what you have to do.
Add up all the money you took in.
Deduct expenses, hotels,food, mileage etc.

Then subtract your expenses from your earnings and 
send us a check for that exact amount  

No joke that