A good laugh

Today is a very important day if you are a member of the Russian orthodox church.
So the lady told me as she gave me directions to the church which is at Mount Jarome cemetery in Harolds cross. This is the day when we pray for the departed souls x days after Easter Sunday.Radinissia Day.
She was a wealth of knowledge, Russian Orthodox is the oldest church. Much older than the Catholic church. Hundreds of Russian Orthodox people came here when China occupied some land where they lived, you can go round the back and see their graves, but come inside its a beautiful church. 6 people were there and the priest could be herd but not seen as he chanted from behind a screen. No seats, the parishioners walked about praying.
She was a pensioner but buzzing like a bee with activity.
Sunday brought home the people who had been away, Spain , S. France raining! New York snowing, here if was lovely.
One couple were back from Morocco where they had bought a beautiful leather bag for around e50. A steal!
They had a car under cover when we arrived at the house. What car is that? Ford Mustang she said. Its his toy.
I had a book at home about Lee Iaccocca the guy who had the vision to build the car so I threw it into my car and gave it to them. When I went back the covers were off. It is the new model Mustang. I wish them good look with such a beautiful car.

Today I had 3 people in the car from Mauritius, they are becoming quite common and they were talking in Creole French..the accents on the words made the language sound so strange, like Cork or Scouse English I suppose.
On O'Connell St I met a guy who drives a taxi in Sydney Adelade and Dublin. He feels most at home here and we do a damn sight better here than in Sydney. The heat there would kill you.
How does he do it?

I brought another girl from Cork out to the airport really bright girl and she said something really profound.
Ireland for the first time in recent history has immigration. Young eager people bringing their own experiences, dreams and hopes to the country, perhaps the Irish should not be so afraid and try to live up to their expectations.
She was colored, but that will never hold her back. Not for a second.

Eco taxis made their debut yesterday and the're free !

Now here is a candid camera thing. First is Tommy Gorman head of the taxi union NTDU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Vha2VFEeE&NR=1
Cut and paste.
Its a pity the "links" thing wont work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmRCWb393yE&mode=related&search=

I laughed so much the tears were running down my legs.
Hope it worked for you .
The other one Is George Hook a radio presenter.

Detour

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Last Sunday I got a run down to Celbridge from the airport. Down the M50 I went and when I went to take the exit at Liffey valley He said no its the next turn off. When we got to the Red Cow exit he directed me towards Naas. After a few minutes he said I was going the wrong way!
Ever the diplomat I just said I was following his directions. When on a dual carriageway it can be hard to turn around.
Look I will turn off the meter & bring you there cross country, so we cut through the Kildare countryside in the morning sun, with the grumbling passenger giving out stink.
Look I said the only looser here is me. you gave me directions and even when I told you it was the other way you insisted on going the opposite way.
Just give me e25 and we will call it quits. He gave me 30 but saying he was wrong was not on the cards. Perhaps I will be more forceful in the future. Hindsight they say is 20/20 vision.
I noticed signs pointing to a sale of Vintage and classic cars at the City West hotel.
I had the camera so enjoy the photos. There was 20 men there to every woman.
So the rest is for the boys only.

Boys only

more boys toys

Easy days

The photos are from Bray where once these magnificent hotels played host to people from Scotland, grand red brick buildings which would be at home in Brighton or Blackpool.
The other is in City West the building is a great landmark!

Strange customs around. Up in Cavan we celebrate Easter with a Cludug, everyone gathers around the bonfire, and drops their egg into the bucket of boiling water. When they are cooled down they are painted.
Then everyone goes to the top of the hill and rolls their egg to the bottom. First one down wins.
Plenty of cracked eggs and heads at the bottom.
There was around 36 relations and neigbors there this time. Cousins from Scotland Cork and Belfast. Plus ourselves from Dublin.
I was reading the blog Taxi Tales and they have that custom in Cumbria too. They don't have it Munster or even in other parts of Ulster. It is the one excuse we have for getting together so I hope it keeps going for another few years.

On the taxi front traffic is a breeze as the builders, courts and schools are off.
Today I saw 2 of the new carriage office enforcement officers. There is 9 to cover 50,000 + taxis.
I expect to see great things!

I have been working mornings only and cutting the grass etc.

When things pick up I want to be well rested, that trip to Kerry then up to Cavan took more out of me than I expected, mabie I am getting old.

Today everyone tipped really well..e38 fare,,give me a receipt for e50.
e6 e10 keep the change.
I can never fathom this tipping thing!

You help someone, give them maps, carry their cases up the steps and let them use your restaurant guide and they wait for 20c change.

You pick up someone in a wheelchair and they give you e3 tip.

I really hope those guys who were buying property in Dublin 4 (and gave me a lousy 50c tip get really toasted)

It is a strange thing that people who stay in 4 star don't tip and the working classes do tip well.

Someone put it really well.

Tipping is like wiping your arse when you go to the toilet !.
If you don't do it right at the time it will be very messy when you go back there.

I do know that people who have worked up through the ranks will understand how the system works, they remember how the tips were more than their basic pay.
Just think ASSHOLES.
Sometimes I feel like saying 20c is your change not a tip. But then I would be showing bad manners.

My dad YEARS ago gave a dockhand a half a crown, "here buy yourself a drink" he replied "Jesus mister you must take me drinking with you if you think I can buy a drink with that"
Dad gave him 2/ more for his quickness. You could buy a pint for 2/6 then Old money.Nothing wrong with it..Why change it ?

Still if I keep my ears open and my mouth shut you would never know what you might hear in the back of a taxi. Perhaps a winner for the Grand National!

It was a charmed morning and I thank you all.

It seems like a lot of taxi bloggers are giving up the ghost and moving on to other things.

I hope that mad DC cabby keeps up the good work, he wrote some good stuff. Go to his link and have a read.

The New York hack seems to have run out of steam since she wrote a book.

The Tango Taxi driver from Argentina who teaches tango and drives his taxi by day is getting better and better.
He is a regular Micheal Flatley!
Look him up in you tube!. He has about 4 clips of his show.

Sydney, Perth, still looking good!

That guy from Canada . Federicton taxi, it is such a pity what happened to his daughter, take a look see.

The London cabby still working away and being scammed. We are prime targets for every type of con and trick artist

Jump from one link to the next don't forget NY taxi shots and Maui paradise driver in Hawaii.

Go see the world from a taxi blog!

Goodnight see you next week.

Dublin to Dingle

The photos I published one shows the taxi fare from Dublin to Dingle Start 2.50pm
Finish 9.38 360.15 Kilometers (2 Breaks) total e637.20

My Mothers grandfather came from the Blasket islands, It was a place famed for its writers and poets.( I wonder where I went wrong.) After many losses of life at sea the island was evacuated in the late 50's.
That ruin was where my folks came from.
Funny thing is that a Belgium couple had a map which pinpointed the house. We had not a clue where to look.
Those black whale like objects are Curraghs which can skip through the Atlantic waves like a knife through butter. The square holes in the bottom are for outboard motors, you should row. Thats cheating.

Great trip, happy to be away for 36 hours.
Tomorrow up to Cavan to visit the other folks.

I know that I go on like a broken record about the need for speed that the young folk have. Well guess what, when we were coming home we met the biggest funeral I ever saw. Three young people were killed. A car coming down a steep Kerry hill (18 year old driver)crossed over the road missing a car on the overtaking lane and demolished a car coming up on the climbing lane. 2 young men in that car killed. You could not even guess that the wrecks were once cars.
Kerry and Donegal have the highest young driver fatalities.

Slow down!

To the Blasket Islands

Spring has sprung

I was in Mountjoy Prison the other day and there is the original "Auld triangle" all along the banks of the Royal canal. But that story will be for another day.
A novel form of transport, there was 2 kids in the sidecar with little leather helmets. So cute.
In Japan they drive out to the country to view the cherry blossom,they sit and wonder at its beauty, just now it is at its very best.
The weather has turned and we are having fantastic sunshine.
March, they say if it comes in like a Lion it goes out like a lamb and visa versa.

I am off to Kerry for 2 nights and 3 days, so no worries for me about the traffic jams on the M50 for a while.

I service my car myself the last garage I used let me down in a manner that has come in with the Celtic tiger.
I pulled up on a Friday afternoon and filled up my Diesel car with petrol a mile down the road she conks out. I cruse in to the hard shoulder and phone for a break down truck.
While I am waiting I phone the garage. Paul its John here I am getting a tow up to your place I need you to siphon out petrol.
Listen to me , he said. When I finish working on this car I will be dropping the bonnet and I will not be working on anything the second of Jan.
What about me?

There's more than one garage in Dublin.

Christmas day was on a Wed. that year and this was on Friday afternoon, so I siphoned her out and poured the petrol into my diesel central heating tank and gave it a bit of a mix with a stick.Cleaned the fuel filter bowl out and pumped up fresh diesel through the fuel line, a new filter.
Bingo I was back for the night shift.

I went to one other garage. The first service took overnight and up to 2.pm the next day.
Then a crafty old bugger told me to leave the roof sign at home next time, hey presto the next service took 2 hours. The fecker had been working my taxi all night.
Now if he had done something wrong there would have been all hell to pay.

There are so many taxis now that it is hardly worth anyones while to go out.
Oh for the good old days.

I met Paul in the motor factors a few years later. How are you getting on ? Did you give up the taxi? I haven't seen you in a while.
Well its like this Paul, theres more than one garage in Dublin.
He turned scarlet and walked out.

The guy in the motor factors nodded when I told him what it was all about.
He won't be the first or last to be bitten by this Celtic tiger.

So this time tomorrow I will be heading out for the Balsket islands..Next parish...New York