A lady talking noncence

 We have a saying here that one good turn deserves another.

And so my story begins in Sandymount after getting a coffee from the girl with the golden smile. I had just stepped up to the taxi when a black lady from the other side of the green started calling me. So I went over and she said "City West". Which way would you like to go?

Oh Jesus Christ the taxi driver don't know the way.(She is talking into her phone) Do you have a particular route to go? Go to the coast and turn right. She directed me along the road until we hit the M50. All the time she is telling the person on the other end of the fone that she will get drinks on arrival and canapes for the 1,000 guests.My mind kind of switched off as we were  taking the most long route ever. Then as we passed the sign for Ballymount she shouted

"My god the fucking eejit has gone the wrong way we just passed a sign for for Ballymun..I slowed way down and said Look at thee sign for Balllymount the next turn is yours. Any more of the bad behavior and you will be walking.

5 minutes later we were driving into City west. I was shaken and went into the hotel to use the toilet. I said hi to reception which is a good tip as they might be needing a taxi. Outside there was a guy struggling with 2 suitcases on wheels. I decided to tell him that you cannot push anything on wheels on gravel, you have to pull it. So I took one case and he pulled the other. On the way over I told him about the mad woman looking for free wine and food for 1,000 people.Some chance that. Catering for large groups leaves very little profit, if you looked at a breakdown of the figures you would understand extra staff etc. What she is looking for would cost around €8,000

As we walked beck to reception I saw a wonderful sight a Rolls Royce and a Hummer. Wow I said that is fantastic, I love the Rolls. "Take it for a drive I will get the keys" No No No I said. I can't do that. I would be mortified if I damaged such a car. You see I would be very nervous as well. God you are a great guy. I didn't think about that.

So as we reached reception he asked me if I had another job lined up. He went inside and asked in reception and then he lined me up with a cup of coffee and a job to the airport.

I asked in reception who the guy was and was told that he was Mr Mansfield who owned the whole place.

Just as I took my second mouthful of coffee the colored lady stormed into reception and ordered me to take her back to Sandymount, 

But she had to make other plans.

Reception told her to wait for the taxi outside for her taxi.

The Windmills of Your Mind - Noel Harrison

This song is like an anthem for taxi drivers doing long night shifts, one moment of time telescoping into the next endlessly.

On Monday morning at 2am the clocks move backwards one hour. An extra hour in bed.

All the technology will move forward all by itself.

Its easy to remember which way the clocks go. Spring forward and Fall back.

Another thing that is changing the taxi meters, we got a raise.

I love this story about a taxi driver who worked hard and was pulled over for overcharging.

The passenger went to the carriage office who measured the journey in another taxi and he was guilty according to them.

Did you check the day? Was it Sunday? No ! 

But it was Christmas day, extra pay that day for him and for me!.

The driver told me that after all the threats no one said sorry.

I do miss going out and meeting all the different people, I met a wonderful girl from Mexico in Aldi, she was only a few hours in Dublin. I hope her life goes well.

Our city is populated with wonderful people from all around the world. Brazil is well represented ,wonderful girls with a heart full of laughter. We are lucky to have a girl from Argentina who comes in to give us a hand. A wonderful artist.

Clearing up and I find old treasures

 I was clearing up and I found a wad of papers from a bank.

Taxi drivers know a lot of people and some of the people we know have power.

I had a mortgage which was paid by direct debit from my bank account, a large payment went through and there was not enough payment for the loan. A little fecker from the bank rang me and gave me hell. It was really rough although once the shortage was brought to our attention the funds were paid. 

Someone said that I should write to the bank with no reply. So I went into the head office and the little girl told me that they do not have a complaints department. Then I handed the letter into my local AIB in Raheny. 10 days later I got a reply to say that they had investigated the matter and found no problem. A customer advised me to write to the banking ombudsman with copies of the letters and times. A few days later I was asked to clarify a few points.

A customer who had been advising me phoned me and said that my case had shone a light into the darkest corners. He had gathered the offenders into his office and had great fun with them.The head manager had not listened to the tape at all.Everyone nearly died to hear how the staff member spoke to me on that day. Then questions were asked for around 20 mins. In the folder that I came across someone had written on a letter.

"This client may have mental issues"

I have made recommendations said my contact and I feel that heads should roll though that is not up to me.

My compensation £1200...

Letting off steam

 ,

Things happen which makes my blood boil, here are a few. 

Two sets of twin boys living in the UK. Neighbors alerted social services that the children were being neglected.They called to the house and the mother would not let the inspectors see the children. After a month or so they dropped the case.

A fire broke out and in the beginning they herd the children calling they then stopped and the 4 bodies were located under the bed upstairs. Unfortunately they were dead.

The mother had gone shopping and locked them in unsupervised.

She got prison for manslaughter. There was a description of the state of the house which was really very bad.

Then there was the nurse Letby in UK again. She is alleged to have killed as many as 15 babies, convicted of killing 7. The manager of her hospital where she worked was afraid of reporting her or the hospital might have been closed down.

And the last one was the Verizon Computer scandal in the British post office.Loads of postmasters were locked up in prison accused of fraud. The computer system was faulty. What did management do?They lied and covered it up. The head of the post office got an honor from the Queen and the saga sails on. The percent Postmaster got a £30,000 bonus which had not been approved, all this while hundreds still have not received compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Something really good to finish on.

I got a big surprise in my bank account €220 in payment  from Amazon for the book.

The steering wheel university 

By Paul Malone.

The author drove a million miles and met thousands of people and they educated him.

You can download it on Kindle as well

(Theirs 3 spelling mistakes)