Gay Pride

A man looks in wonder as 2 Queens pass by.

Isn't that your ex boyfriend there in that spotted dress?

There are still a few people willing to get married.
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A wonderful portrait from davidnixon.com.
Is that me on the left hand side with the camera?

Well the week of celebrations for the gay community has passed, with a huge parade on Saturday. The theme was Horror, Ghouls etc.It was awesome, hardly a heterosexual in sight..Next year it will be compulsory to be gay.
I will be heading out of town.
I have been in a bad mood all week, someone stole the cherry from my bun (as my Dad would say) I will get myself focused again in a few days.
The weather has been fantastic and the farmers must be delighted with themselves. They are cutting grass for the winter months and conditions could not be better.
But in the City when the sun shines the beautiful girls come out to promenade !
Being Heterosexual I appreciate their beauty.
A colleague of mine remarked that you don't see them when the weather is bad because they are solar powered. Nice one.
She got into the taxi in Rathgar..Where to? East wall, just get me to hell out of here" She spoke of the party about how she came from East wall and they were so posh. I said how Harry Crosbie cane from Shirreff st., and Enyas manager came from East Wall and they are both multi millionaires. "Don't let where you come from stop you getting to where you are going to"".
Se asked me 20 times why I was going this way? but could offer no alternative route. Then the hiccups started, then the laughing hysterical laughing, "You must have had Champagne"I said. "I did.Why do you say that ?" "Girls who were drinking Champagne always laugh."
Then when we were crossing the new Sam Beckett bridge she started bawling and crying.
"Me boyfriend left me after 3 feckin' years he went"

What could I say?

I always carry a camera in the taxi and I think I got a photo of him, when we stop I will show you.
That's him there! in the blue dress I think.

Happy as the days of May she danced off, but not before she gave me a Euro tip.

I often wish I was braver when it comes to languages,I meet a French person for example that I don't try to use my few words, I would l think that if I had a few words in Polish, Spanish, Russian etc would expand my day, make it more fun. But when that French girl from Google got in I was so tongue tied that I didn't even turn on the meter. When I said I had been blinded by her great beauty she said "I wish", but she is pretty.
Google is here in Dublin in case you are looking for it. It is in Barrow St.
Really, loads of bright kids have come to work from all over the world!

Dublin is evolving all the time. I had an Australian girl in the car once who thought Dublin was a small fishing port. Not since 1642 said I.

International taxi party..

Ladies in wating, each waiting for different things.


I an glad I decided to stop and take theese, it was much darker than it looks here, but it was really calm
Well if you took the time to look around last night you would have seen the most beautiful moon. Th clouds had a metallic Gray edge to them. Sometimes when you take time to look at mother nature she takes your breath away.
I was doing my duty working through the night, but you can't find a place to join a rank any more. Still I don't do depression so sod that.
I went for my cuppa and on the way there I saw a guy asleep on the pavement, it was a mild night and he was like the dead as all the people stepped over him.
Later on he was standing by an ATM machine sleeping on his feet.Horses can do this but people can't.
Later on he wandered over to the taxi just as 3 girls came over giggling to themselves..and you know who won! He said his destination."Churchtown" and passed out..
On arrival at the "Bottle Tower" pub I woke him up. He just got out and paid me, even though I just wanted a street..Remember in Chicago when a lady got out of a taxi and froze to death ? The poor taxi driver was blamed for her death.
Well he was obliged to see her safely home.

But reality is stranger than fiction.
The driver was let off, she had been given the wrong coat by the cloakroom attendant. Her fur coat was in the cloakroom with her front door keys in the pocket.
Makes you think. I always turn the car and light up the drive for ladies heading in, I wait until the door opens. Even if they don't tip.

Now I am eating breakfast at 10.00 am listening to Rana FM Kandahar radio from Afghanistan..the music has a really strong beat like Indian music.
We bought an Internet radio a few months ago and when I am doing the dishes at night I listen to Caribbean radio stations...But you can get all those stations on your computer too.
Taxi driving is another way of travelling the world, except the world comes to you.. Good ..Bad ..Sad..and sometimes even Mad.

Here is an example of a bad taxi driver. Just in case you don't know what that is!



Today I met an English Gypsy.
Built like a tank he had Gold teeth, so I suppose he could have been a pirate !


Thanks for all the comments, don't forget to jump into my taxi sometime..OK

Going the extra mile

The roads are built and I suppose the banks have taken away theese mining tippers, they are huge and very new.

Mini Cooper.


My first fare of the day rode with me all day !
I couldn't get her out of my mind.
(No not that )
A Polish girl, I picked her up on the Clontarf Rd and after I had said my few words she told me how she was being bullied at work, the bullying is so bad that it has,effected her health and now she has heart problems.
I told her to write down what happened, dates and times and who saw it and go to her HR department.
She said that she had done this and her employer did nothing.
I Googled Bullying in the workplace and got lots of information there.I hope it works.www.citizensinformation.ie › Employment › Equality in work
I really felt like giving her a hug, it is awful.
She is a really shy gentle girl..Imagine coming here from your family and being bullied so badly that you are ill..Then you have no folks to go home to.

I gave her my phone number and if she rings me I found someone today who are looking for staff..
I just thought I would pitch that now..



I was told a taxi story today which was heard on BBC radio 4 today.
After the tube bombings in London a lady had come to identify the body of her daughter.
After she had done this she wanted to get home to recover from the horror of the event, there was not a taxi in sight and as she searched one pulled up to let out a passenger. She ran up an jumped in. "Sorry love I'm booked "said the driver.

He saw the state of her face and just said, "stay there"

When the driver heard that she had just come from doing he told her to relax and tell him where she lived.
He then drove her to Reading and refused any money.

"I just had to do this for you to let you know that there are still plenty of people in the world who care."

She never forgot his kindness.

Back to basics

Badgers in the Natural history museum

Sign on the Cork Waterford border.


A big arrest. The one in the track suit facing the camera is under arrest, the one with her back to the camera is saying "I love you Mary and if you hurt her I'll kill ya.. The one in the white hat is threatening the Garda.
The Garda car came up Eden quay against the traffic, turned into O'Connell St and drove up it against the traffic to do this arrest..I thought at least a hostage situation..He also blocked the Luas in the process.

I am doing so little in the taxi that I might as well sign on to the "Brew" for welfare.
This morning I had to bring my wife to buy a sofa bed, I hate shopping for furniture, but it is in the contract, "Thou shalt shop when asked"

Today I made a connection which I hope will bear fruit.
Fr.Peter McVerry runs a shelter for homeless boys who are on drugs, It is in Sherrard st. beside the new apartment block. Well I loaded up around 8 boxes of cereal that my kids wouldn't eat. Its good but they are picky and won't eat store branded goods.Anyhow there is a homeless boy who frequents the Grafton St. area, he has started on the Heroin now and he is sinking fast, so I gained some strategy about bringing him over to see him. I hope he goes as his days on the streets are numbered for sure. Fr.McVery should be given a few million to help the kids he helps, but he is like a kid with a water pistol trying to stop a forest fire.
Still he is a hero with his efforts, keep up the good work.

Here is one for the guys who are going to buy Toyota Prius hybrid cars when the big change comes next year.The Prius has a very small battery, the reason for this is that it is just needed to keep the computer system going.. The power comes from the big battery under the back seat. Now sticking on Meter, printer and roof light might drain your battery in a short time.You come out in the morning and you have to get the key out to unlock it. Then for the boost, the battery is way down in the boot and the boot release is electronic so you can't open it..I won't go into it but a Polish guy told me where the booster point is.
Pop the bonnet and the fuse box is on the right hand side.
Now do you see that nut with the copper connector coming off it?
That is your positive and your negative is any part of the bodywork.


Now next time turn off your roof light before you go to bed.

The Prius is the best ever car for a taxi. I really get 63 MPG I save e50 per week on fuel from my Avensis 2 Litre.
Timing chain, not a belt.. Don't take a test drive in one unless you have the money to buy it, you won't want to give it back.


Oh I am still thinking of that girl with the faulty Boxter, dirty fuel, faulty thermostat, faulty fan It could be little else.
It is great when you learn about fault finding on cars.

Here is one. You are driving along in your E class Merc, suddenly she dies and will not start again..What could you do?

1 Pop the bonnet
2 leave the drivers door open.
3 disconnect the battery.
4 Say the Lords Prayer.
5 Reconnect the battery.
and away you go !

Why does that work ?
Nothing to do with religion. When you disconnect the battery the system which controls the engine needs time to re set. When you put the battery back on the doors lock themselves so that's why you have the door open.. the Citroen C6 had this problem as well and the proper cure is a new chip !

Every car has its little problems, but very often to guys working in garages its just a job.
Here is a great example of what I mean.
Remember the Citroen 2CV, Diane, and Dolly?
I had a 2CV Van one of only 40 R/H drive ever made.. and it is still on the go 2125 ID is the reg.
Well it had its first service and it wouldn't start and the headlights were dipping to the right, so you couldn't see into the left hand side of the road and you were blinding oncoming traffic. I brought it back twice to no avail.
So I looked around and found a guy from the Lebanon who was an aircraft mechanic at the airport.Contact made I got a shopping list of parts and drove out to his house in Stepaside,
when I got there he had injured his hand (I am getting a deja vous feeling, hope I haven't written this before) So he coached me on how to do a complete service, when it came to the spark plugs the garage had put the wrong plugs in.
With the correct plus she started first time, always without fail..
It had a 2 cylinder air cooled engine and the spark plugs fired together, but the cylinders would only fire every second time as one cylinder was on exhaust stroke each time...a really great car I had a good few of them.
I was looking at a spark plug comparison chart a few years later and what they had done was when they compared the Marcell plug to the Champion one the dropped down a line, they never corrected the error.
The headlight problem?
Take out the bulb and push the bulb tilter the other way and put the bulb back in, as I say garages don't care

Here is something that is like PORN to me, sorry to disapoint the league of decency.

World cup.

Look we are getting a Big Wheel, just like London !!!!!

Theres always one bouncer to spoil your day

The HQ for Brazil the Odion beside the embassy

Remember the Herald AM?
Well many of the boys and girls went on to be paper sellers for the Evening Herald... all from Brazil..

How is the World cup going for you?

I don't like sport much, but I wanted to support a team with a chance so I supported Brazil, Why?
Well the girls are better looking ,that's for sure, but they have style and panache.

So in a moment of weakness I bought 2 Brazil football shirts in Aldi and then gave them to 2 girls free...Well I like to make people happy and I would never pass for a Brazilian myself.
I wonder how things are going in Gort which is the capital of Brazil in Ireland..The town is 1/3 or more Brazilian, one of the best players in the junior team hails from Brazil..I hope to hear that it has once again returned to a harmonious place to live in..There was a bit of friction for a while when the economy took a dive..
I will be taking some time off, I do hope the taxis who remain on duty will be able to cope with the extra work.

Fathers day

This is the mother of all cruise ships it brought in thousands of visitors on Friday and Saturday.

Grafton St. This guy is not moving.

World stree performance championships in Merrion Sq


This got published before it was finished.

It is turning out to be a good weekend, but as Iwrite it is 3.00am and I have stopped.
I will have to pace myself better, sleep more during the day when I am working nights.

Today I met a remarkable lady, I had a bit of information for her and I meant to tell her for 6 months or more.
I was coming along the Clontarf sea front and a lady flagged me down, her car had broken down again.
As we were passing a black Porsche she said "Thats it there its a heap of shit" Charming indeed..Still I do understand good mechanics who take real pride in their work are hard to find.
She was going out to Sutton close to the graveyard.
So I decided I would try to find my woman and 20 minutes later I was talking to Philomena Lynott mother of Phil Lynott of Tin Lizzy fame.
She once gave poetry that Phil wrote to a friend of mine, so I gave her the number of the person in question and she is going to rec kindle their old friendship.
The we spoke about Phil and kids and drugs.
Phil died from a drugs mishap, just like our Katie French, didn't mean to die, but...

"I go to his grave every day and clean the tombstone, then I talk to him and if there are fans there I talk to them as well. Before I go I kick the tombstone and tell him that he broke my heart"
She has been out to Wheatfield where she spoke to the druggies and she told them what drugs did for her in killing the wonderful talent that was philo.
I would say I was there for an hour, she will be 80 this year and I look much older than her,she really looks very well.

We both had a great laugh when I said I could see where he got his feisty attitude from.

God bless you Philomena.

I didn't have a camera but there are photos of her on the net.
I hope she gets the poems back.

So I worked on and at 3.20am I was stopped by a Russian girl who wanted me to come back at 4.20 to bring her to the airport, so i figured I should suspend normal work and go for tea and come back.."We are number 40 ant room 4".
I came back and I noticed that she had gone back into was 24, so I checked along the street,there was no no Nr. 40
So at 4.20 I rang the bell on Nr.24 and around 6 girls came crying goodbye and kissing and hugging, it was like a lesbian love fest,I loaded the luggage and waited at the car. The birds were singing their little hearts out.
One girl was Russian and was impressed that I guessed from her accent where she was from ,the other girl was Italian from Milano.
So I aske her what was the house number was 40 came the awnser..Think again 24 is twenty four !
"Still my Russian is much worse than your English. for sure".
Both girls loved Ireland and wanted to come back again soon.
I dropped them off at departures and sped off to meet the boat.

Then there was this woman dancing down the Malahide Rd at 5am. I stopped and she got in and continued dancing! She had bare legs, a short skirt and a blouse, no phone or keys, nothing else.
"Where to?"
"Donnycarney"
"This is Donnycarney"
"Then go left"
We drove to Killester "Where to now?, we are in Killester"
"Turn left, No the other way, and turn again"
This brought us back on to Collins Ave back to where we started.
What you do in situations like this is to drive to a well lit garage forecourt with plenty of video cameras and tell them to get out, being very careful not to assault them. But before I turned the wheel she said "Straight ahead"
This time she was less vague but she was still dancing and looking up at the sky.
Then it all ended as quickly as it started.
"My house"and out she hopped out to get the money, she rang the doorbell and a grumpy chap came out and gave her the money.
"How much?" "Its €8 "so she hands me a €20 "Just give me back €12, I think I might be in a spot of trouble here" She was right on there. Imagine out all night and coming home half dressed, no phone calls and her as high as a kite.

When I made it to the ferry the first 3 cars had sleeping beauties at the wheel.
I was talking to another driver and he had a plan. When the passengers disembarked he ushered them past the sleeping drivers, then one of them woke up, but the leading car had missed 4 fares when one of the other drivers blew his horn and woke up the number one driver. "If you snooze you loose" he said.
Well I believe what you sow you reap. I wouldn't do that and I would hate anyone to do it to me. He did wake up and got off the rank though.
I got a chap from Chester heading for Crumlin. when the meter read 21 he said "That will be 27 right?"
I had to think for a while, what he was doing was converting Pounds Stg to Eure but hr had the difference the wrong way round 21 euro is less than 17 Pounds Stg.
He also gave me a street I didn't know, so I put it into the Sat nav it was a small street off Rafters Rd.I must either get a new Garmin or an update as the new estates of 3 years ago are not on it yet.
But I am waiting for the postal codes to arrive. Did you notice the new street signs starting around Rathfarnham "R167" etc. thats for the postal codes..

Don't forget Gay Pride week.
Or the bicycle race.

So boys and girls its Fathers Day, that greeting card holiday!

I know you kids are thinking of us all the time, still not too lake for a hug though..

Money up front

Micheal Jacksons clothes
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Modern house near the KCR
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Grangegorman, can you read the date?

Paparazzi,they really are scumbags.

On Monday I was upset, I had lost something of no cash value, but it was something which I had treasured very dearly.
It is often the way, things of great value have no price tag.

So I was cruising around for a fare, headed through Donnybrook and turned off for Ailesbury Rd. As you cross over into that road the traffic from your left has right of way, it is clearly marked. There was a girl on a bicycle in front of me and she went straight through the junction causing a taxi to brake sharply, He blew his horn and threw his hands up to the air. she ignored him.
I crossed over and drove along beside her.
"You don't have right of way there you know"
She pointed at her earphones and said "I can't hear you" and rode on.
So I drove ahead to see if there was a Garda at any of the embassies and I was out of luck, then through the next junction and there was a train coming.2 minutes later she was at the level crossing. There she was adjusting the songs on her Ipod.
I was going to get out and try to confront her, She is young and stupid I thought why bother.
Then the Dart came and the gates lifted up and off we went..But she turned into Park Avenue where she wandered well over to the right hand side of the road. So I blasted the horn and went past her.

I was really angry.

This is not like me to get angry at all.
One doesn't like to come on to people like some kind of a Nazi, but she was some stupid cheeky bitch, with no respect.
I would love ask her to think for s second and to imagine what it might be like to hold someones hand while they were dying, while you at the same time try to get them help.
In the end you know that this happened because they were talking on their phone or were listening to music in the middle of traffic.
She got away with it today, we will see about tomorrow.
Sean O'Connell a neighbour was telling me that a chap in London had been taken to task a few times by the Police for breaking through traffic lights etc.on his bicycle. Well a truck clipped him which landed him under the wheels where he was killed, at the inquest his cycling record was produced. the judge said it was an accident waiting to happen, so be it with her.

I was at the ferry the other where I met a few of the older drivers, Tony came over so I asked him what he meant the last time we had spoken about my old mate. ."Remember Mike Farrell you and him were always talking at Connelly, didn't you hear he was killed a while back"?
Mike Farrell lived in Coalraine St near N.King St.He was 5 ft 6 or so and had a cowboy type beard,
Well he picked up 4 lads going to Wicklow and when he asked for his money they beat him up and a few days later he died..
As Tony said if you saw him you would know him, but I do remember him well.
We come and go in this business like fog, first names I use very seldom, but faces yes I remember them and its a pity that anyone can kill someone for €50 or so.
A long journey its cash up front.
He used to drink in that pub on the r/h side before Benburb St.I often saw him having an early pint as I was heading down to Heuston.

It was a tragedy that could happen to any of us, day or night.

I had a red letter day myself yesterday. My last son is doing his leaving cert and his last morning exam has passed...This means that for the rest of his life I will not have to waken him up, make his breakfast, pack his school bag and bring him to school on time.

You are on your own now son....Make yourself late from now on !

You know FIDDLES in this job do happen, having the meter running before the customers stoops you etc, etc.
One thing I had not understood was explained to Me yesterday..
The concierge approaches, "How much to the airport" you say €25.."OK I will give you €30 and €5 for myself" So now the €25 fare is costing €35!

So what do you do?

It works like this, the customer asks that his taxi fare be included in the hotel bill.."No problem sir, I will pay the taxi and put it on the Hotel bill.

But then to my surprise the concierge said.

"If he asks you what it cost say €50" !!!!

I would tell my staff to get a printed receipt when you get there and tell the driver you will need a proper printed receipt before you start.."Inland Revenue"

I bought a book today that cheered me up "S**t My Father said" by Justin Halpern its very good and with fathers day just around the corner...Need I say more.

On My first driving lesson.

"Right Son First things first. A car has 5 gears,
Whats that smell?
Damn! You farted.
The first thing before that other first thing.

NEVER FART IN A STATIONARY CAR

Only a moron does that!"

This weekend in Merrion Sq we have the world champion street performers competition.
So plenty of fun and frolics !

Going to meet an old friend tomorrow. She is a writer and musician from New York, Montreal, and Scotland at present, I have known Nancy Lyon for more than 30 years.
I don't think I will be missed on the rank!

So behave yourselves.

BLOOMSDAY.

Mr Salmon and his daughter have closed up,barbers are now mostly foreign.





What a beautiful day.

Today is "Blooms day" made famous by James Joyce in Ulysses.

But today Irish people will walk with a spring in their step as the people who were killed on "Bloody Sunday" were finally declared innocent people.
The massacre was a watershed in Irish history.
Things got really bad after that time.
Both sides did awful things, this is going on now in Gaza,Iraq and so many places where wars happen.

Take a moment for piece and Love.

As the bumper sticker said."Arms are for hugging"

Once upon a time I had a very wise man in the taxi who said to me.
"If you have good health and no addictions,its a good start. Then if you can live within your means and have a bit of time off that's the best you can have.
If you have an addiction or bad health you very soon won't have any money and If you have loads of money you have to pay people to mind it, than you have to pay more people to check up on the other people. This causes stress and stress can kill you quicker than a bullet"
The conversation was great and he turned out to Be Chuck Feeney the man behind Atlantic philanthropies.
If you google"the billionaire who wasn't" you will learn more.


Education is the key.

The world is a much better place with people like him.

Now take Adam Clayton of U2 for example he is going to law over missing finances.
His housekeeper, his bank and his accountants over €1.8 million going missing.
Well you know how it is, you can't do everything yourself. He alleges that Carol Hawkins withdrew €600 from his account every morning AND evening for 13 months, yes €1200 a day for 13 months. You would think that he would have noticed that his housekeeper was turning up in a better car than his !
Bono had to take someone to law over a missing HAT a while ago, no ordinary hat, this hat was ICONIC and it went to the high court, where he won and got his hat back. well the girl who "took" it would be ruined as a result, court costs are expensive.

"Bono just buy another hat"

You might remember that Dave Fanning had problems when his housekeeper was cashing his checks over a long period too.

MONEY CAN BE AN AWFUL CURSE.
THAT'S WHY I AM BROKE.

On the trip up and down from Kerry last week I came across a few drivers who were driving badly. Driving in the fast lane was getting to me, some of them we even had to undertake in the inside to get past.What could one do when flashing and the horn did not shift them.

But on 3 occasions I saw drivers texting.

Remember I spoke of this before! Go back to Sept 1 09 to see the video!

Now I saw 3 speed traps, but an unmarked garda car with a video camera would save a few lives. One woman was driving with her elbows on the wheel 10 foot behind a truck and her busy writing away 10 foot gap between them.
I don't think just taking a brief message is any harm but talking away 19 to the dozen, eating a sandwich while drinking coffee while filling the dates in your diary is a tad too much.