Saturday, May 26, 2018

Evil comes to Ireland


This is the quiet village where the Filipino girl was kidnapped.

A 14 year old girl went missing and was found murdered a few days later.
A 13 year old boy has been charged with her murder.

A wonderful 24 year old Filipino girl was abducted while getting on to a bus in Eniskerry.
A woman who saw it happen phoned the police.
She had the presence of mind to get the registration number of the car which had abducted her.
Still it took the Garda a further 12 hours to broadcast the make model and registration number of the car.
The driver was shot dead while sitting at the wheel of his car later on.
The girls body was found hours later.

We as taxi drivers have information apps to tell us where the Garda are hiding etc.
We could have found that car in one hour as we have a huge network of eyes..

Evil comes in many forms.
The internet provides a platform for warped minds to meet innocent people who are gullible.
It is the playground for the deviant.
The Garda are going through computers and mobiles as I write.
There are chatrooms to cater for everyone, every twisted mind catered for.

May God bring some peace to the familys  affected

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Wedding bells


Looking for a Taxi to America ??

This IS Google

Photo shoot over they return

Off to the garden center

A big big day in the UK everywhere was buzzing about the Royal Wedding.
I had no interest in it at all I live in a republic and tip my hat to no Queen or Kyser.
Anyhow it was my birthday !!!!

We had The Rolling Stones and Ed Sheeran giving concerts here in Dublin, the Stones did not sell out and Ed Sheerans concert was herd in a public park with complaints about bad sound and not being able to even see the stage.
There were tickets available for the Stones and for a brief moment I asked my son if he wanted to go.  The answer was no which saved me around €300. Hotels and guest houses were charging €300 to €400for B&B for one night.
If it was me I would park my car somewhere and walk back to it. sleep for a couple of hours and drive home.  Daylight Robbery is the only word for that kind of carry on.

I had a really clever guy in the taxi 60 next year and he sold his company.
They want him to stay on for a year to "bed in" the company for them.
But now he is not the boss and they do not understand how he made the company the success it became. They give orders, they don't talk to the staff. My best designer has handed in his notice.
He talked to him and said he would be getting €2000 a month more but would not stay with the company even if he got €5000 more.
This guy is a problem solver with buckets of experience. The new guys will get a young graduate for little or no payment, its all going to turn out badly.
"It is as bad as that"
He told me that he would buy breakfast for all the workers every Friday morning. It cost him €4.20 per person.
The rules were
No mobile phones, laptops or tablets at the table and you had to be at the table by 8.30 am.
This got the staff meeting each other and small problems got sorted out., in a social setting.
It was terrific value to me.
The new company cancelled the breakfast.They only arrive in at 9.30 on Fridays

Morale is very low.

He said that around half of the staff are moving on, and the owners of my company want me to stay on for another year.
But its time for me to go for sure.
I drove him to the trade show.
The new people will be introduced to a lot of his clients today, they will not really care who they are or the significance of them, they will be more interested in their own Rolex watches and their shiny suits..

So he went to the meeting, he was a very clever guy I hope he enjoys his retirement.
He was born in Finglas a real working class area and knew the value loyalty and skill, I find that people who work their way up they appreciate these things more.

There was a story about a guy who once let his company go public. The  "Experts" came in an ruined the business. When the shares fell through the floor he bought them all  back and sacked every one of the experts, then he re-built the company and sold it.

I had a runner the other day up to Darndale. I took a photo from the footage of the dashcam. I put it on social media and got his name in less than 1/2 hour. So back to the cop shop where I was asked 30 questions then I had to provide footage of the entire incident. Which I did.
Watch this space.

Another customer who uses a Moroccan taxi driver told me that the driver picked up a drunk man who assaulted him. He got the mans name and the man had a criminal record. The judge told the man that he had to present €1500 to the court this week to compensate the driver he hit or he would be put in prison that very day.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Darkness into light

A traditional wagon for travelers, great brushwork

Adventure branding where they decorate cars vans and buses

A torch which can act as a cosh.
 The torch shown above can light as a torch or become a flashing strobe light to dazzle your attacker.

On Saturday night they had an anti suicide walk "Darkness into light" to raise money for anti suicide group. It is hitting so many people here in Ireland especially young men between 16 and 25.
On our street we lost a young lad. A fine strong fit kid.
We will never know why?
Perhaps a kind word at the right moment would have helped.
MyTaxi have trained a group of drivers to become Councillors and by God we need them.
Social media is playing a big part in the bullying that goes on and I hope you saw the look on the face of a bully who was sentenced to jail in America for her relentless bullying of her victim who took his own life.

We should have a social personal day.
All internet and phones turned off for a whole day !!!

Today I met people from Switzerland, Brazil, Boston and other parts of America.
Plus plenty of Irish.
There are cruise ships coming in, last week there were 5 ships in at the same time.
If everyone who came off the ship spent €20 (Which is nothing) 5 ships X 3000people X€20=€300,000
But I would say more like €5 million spent.

 One lady I remembered from the past got into the taxi. I met her again. I found her fone once and brought it back to her. She has Italian blood and said that her family came from Sardinia her fatners name name was Maloney.. "No Its Italian, its Meloni. A Melon with an i at the end" I told her that I knew someone whose name was Slaughter.
When someone would look surprised he would say
"Its laughter with an S at the beginning"

On the GPS used by the Hailo system it has been giving wrong locations today.
One guy told once me that would be because there is a large military operation taking place somewhere in the world.
They turn the public access off by a bit to confuse their enemies. The last 2 times it happened it turned out that he was right. What was going on today ?

Just found out that the American embassy is opening in Jerusalem a city once taken from the Palestinians, more than 50 people got shot today. More riots to follow.

There was a drop dead gorgeous girl in the taxi, (Just because they are pretty doesn't mean that you shouldn't talk to them) I thought that she must be Polish, but she was as Dublin as Dublin Coddle.
She told me that she was a clothing shop manager and dressed to model the clothes for the store, plus they used her as a photographic model to advertise the store. She had charm in Spades.
She will go far God bless her.

 Today I had another drugs run, a really nice couple. They paid up front.
Looking back at the footage on the dashcam their lives are as tragic as the saddest movie.

The as I had just done some shopping I got a runner


Its feckers like him that give travelers a bad name

Sunday, May 06, 2018

Wedding bells


The two cranes from the Harland and Wolfe shipyard named Samson and Goliath

The Titanic center

Posters from inside the Titanic hotel

As I start to write this we are getting ready to go to a wedding in Belfast.
The reception is to be held in the Titanic hotel.
I hope it all goes down well.
By the time I finish the posting all the dust will have settled.

All went well, the bride and groom are still together as far as I know.

There is a lot of history of shipbuilding in Belfast and like Newcastle and Glasgow it is all history now. It is very sad to see the void that happens when an industry collapses or moves to another cheaper country. Take Detroit for an example.

A lady waved me down frantic to go to the Kilkenny shop as she was going on a tour of Ireland.
In future I will not join in the panic as had I used my common sense I would have known that she was going to the wrong place. She should have gone to the Dubarry shop on College Green.
Traffic is completely mad in the mornings. When someone is in a mad panic it is natural to join in it yourself.
Two ladys had come all the way from Chile and were going to see the cliffs of Mohar.
They insisted that the bus was going from the tourist office on O'Connell St.
Nothing I could say could convince them otherwise.
I even pointed out that there were no other people waiting, I offered to bring them at no extra charge and If I was wrong they would get the ride for nothing. Could you get a better offer?
Yes I was right, I drove over to double check.

Rape and what happens next?
Someone has to be there to help.
Your mother, sister, daughter or girlfriend.
There is a  sale of paintings to raise funds this week click here for details

Take Heart Pop Up Art Sale 10th May, Bagots Hutton, Ormond Quay, 6pm-8pm 

Once I had a wonderful girl from Brazil going to St.Johns Rd As she got out of the car she hugged me and told me that she was going to be a model and all the alarm bells rang. 

I asked her to ring me and I would find help for her. She never rang.

It just stayed in my mind and I tried to get help. The first place I rang was Store St Garda station.

"The likes of that girl should be deported" was what I was told.

I made around 6 more calls. Then I spoke to the womans rape crisis center, whe directed me to Ruhama a charity which deals with prostitution the lady there directed me to "Operation Quest" located in Store St. under the command of inspector Jim Lorden.

All sorted now? Well no The next day one of the team rang me to tell me that there was no St. Johns Rd in Sandymount.. I kind of blew a fuse then.

Only now is the story of people trafficking hitting the headlines here. 

Click on the link "Stop the traffik" on the right hand side of the page to learn more.






Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Magic in the air.



An optician selling meat ? Double jobbibg

Look at this baby 5 axles each whee able to steer. Dismantling a crane



Just for a second I heard a sound and looked up to see 2 swallows darting across the sky.
It must mean that Summer is here at last.
The weather has been cold and wet for long enough, lets hope the change is here at last.
Because the weather has been so cold the cherry blossom has really come on.
The Japanese people must be really happy to see this.
I told you once before about a woman from Venezuela who came over her with her husband in October. 
"God it was so cold, with bare trees and we even saw snow for the first time in our lives.
Then spring came and I had never seen flowers on trees before, in our country we don't get seasons, Only Summer all the time." 
She likes her new home now but would like a little less rain, wouldn't we all.. 
Today my first job was a girl from Venezuela going to Beaumont hospital the private section. I think she mentioned €180 for the visit ! 
Ouch.The private guys know how to charge foe sure.
My mother would have poured in olive oil, it worked.

We are in the midst of a health scandal here. 
Smear tests taken to detect cervical cancer were checked in a lab in the USA. 
It later turned out that 200+ were misread.
Then those lady's were not informed, one who is terminally ill sued the state and won something like € 1 1/4 million but we all know that she would rather be healthy than dying.
A doctor in Northern Ireland has had all his cases reviewed after missing cancers.
It is not right that we get the cheapest price, we deserve the best service possible.
Remember the guy who looked at the x rays and mistook an elbow for an ankle ?
I mentioned this to an Indian doctor in my taxi and he nearly blew his top.
"He is a friend of mine.
This did not happen and he is taking a suitcase against the newspaper for publishing this lie"

If you go to Rome you will wait in line to see many things like the Vatican and the Cysteine chapel, 
this is what you do Click Here this gets you past the queues and free entry to some of the paying attractions plus free transport on the buses and Metro. 
A fantastic looking Filipino nurse is off there soon and she had to go for visas to the Italian embassy. 
By the way there are similar passes for Paris,Dublin.Venice Etc 

Some days there is great work, you pop from job to job.
Other days you better go home to cut the grass. There are loads of tourists in town a the first of the big cruise liners sailed into town 1,800 people on board was a figure which was quoted. There are bigger ones for sure. Up to 5,000 passengers. This is far too big. Orders lost in translation, 
Panic stations in case of distress. We all remember what happened in Italy with that big cruise ship, still ships take a while to go down unlike planes.`

So 2 pilots were leaving Glasgow for Canada.
The stewardess alerted the police and the pilots were arrested for being drunk !!! 
All the people on the plane 400+ had to be put up for the night while 2 new pilots were brought over.
Also the return leg of that flight was lost as well.
They failed the breath test, blood was taken and an extra sample was given to each man so that they could have in tested independently. 
Well these 2 party boys were locked up in the cells overnight but the blood was not stored in a fridge. The jailer thought that as they were not stored properly that they would be no good.
So they were tossed in the bin.
So the 2 bright boys argued that they were entitled to have independent tests done on their missing samples. 

Guess what? They got off and they could be at the wheel on your next flight.
Last week a pilot was pulled off a plane in Heathrow.  

What would life be without a little bit of magic. I was practicing this once when my customer asked for a demo. I wouldn't normally do something without doing in at least 500 times without a mistake.
He said he would forgive me if I made an error.
He was blown away.
He had just sold his bookmaking business in Ringsend to Ladbrookes and was going home to Bristol.
(Its amazing what things you remember)
So I told him that there was a magic shop in Bristol and the guy would sell him and demonstrate the trick for around £5
The fare was £15 (Old money)
"NO keep the £20, Would you take Sterling?"
At that point he handed me £60 Sterling
"Keep it. That was fantastic"
And to this day it is the biggest tip I ever got.