The Contender - Tommy Fleming

 

There is a certain person here in Dublin who is fitting into the slot left by this man Jack Doyle.

Money and fame when it goes to someones head can cause awful destruction. I had a very famous Hollywood star in the taxi, ha was behaving very badly and I told him to be very careful or he would be kicked out. A few years later he was back in the taxi and I had to threaten him with violence. Then he said "You wouldn't talk to me like that if you knew what I am going through.

Another Hollywood star Gabriel Byrne told me about the other guys problems, You or I would not swap places with him. But perhaps a therapist would help a bit. 

 Fame and pressure can ruin the trajectory of the brightest star.

Jack Doyle was a top boxer, his flight was taking him to the stars, he had a beautiful S. American film star wife. He took to the bottle and he lost everything. When he died he was unknown and homeless on a London street. Years later his manager tracked him down and brought him home to Youghal  where he was buried in a proper grave.. 

So if you win the Lotto or you become famous think of what you are doing,you are standing on a slippery slope.

Death and Taxes

 Once upon a time a passenger told me that ongoing problems drain your energy and your priority should be dealing with these issues. My income tax was due in 2 weeks and he told me to go home now and deal with it.

He turned  out to be the most remarkable person I ever met. He made a fortune and gave away $8 billion of his own money, using it to help people. The Irish education system, the Northern Ireland piece process and best of all was building a 200 bed hospital in Vietnam, fitting it out, then he paid for the running of it for a good few years. Barrik Obama had brought out a law that you couldn't give away more than $2000 dollars anomalously. I brought him to the press briefing where he told the world. 

We hit it off really well and NO he never gave me any money, nor did I ask for it.

The billionaire who wasn't by Conor O Cleary is the book about Chuck Feeney and it fills in the gaps in this remarkable mans journey things about him that I did not know. 

Anyhow he died in January and half his ashes are in Glassnevin and the rest of his ashes in America.

So death and taxes there is nothing so certain.

 

A friend of mine who is a really good comedian rang me last week,,"I buried my wife yesterday"

I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't.

She was unwell and went to the doctor, eh examined her and she asked him if it was by any chance sepsis, no he assured her. That evening she collapsed in the kitchen and she was dead in the hospital 12 hours later from sepsis. (Blood poisoning)  

I had an eye infection and it was so bad  that I went to the doctor, but it was getting worse. So the next day I went to the eye and ear hospital. A colored doctor took a look. looking at my coin holder ha said. *You are a taxi driver and you are handling money and then you are rubbing your eye.Your good eye is infected and you are on the point of loosing it".

What followed I will never forget. Wipe your eye with a clean tissue from your eye towards your ear, then with the other clean side of the tissue clean the other eye. Then discard the tissue, wash your hands and face at least 6 times a day,use medicated wipes after you handle money. There was drops and ointments  but a week later I was fine. 

Good doctor for sure