51st Dublin taxi drivers big day out

Were these empty seats there because drivers did not turn up?
I doubt it.
But if you are a taxi driver in Dublin sign up for the 52nd year.

Hurling Final day

Canpers heading off to the electric picnic in Stradbally.


This is from the Butterfly farm of course.












They were building the estate when the great event took place.
You must remember. 1969 the Apollo space craft landed on the sea of tranquility and man walked on the moon.
30 years later we put wheels on suitcases !

Well here I am at home on a Saturday night, my Mojo is not working.
For some reason people stand while my taxi drives only to hail the car coming behind.
I stopped for a Chinese guy who was just standing there and he got in. "Why didn't you hold your hand out?" I asked him.
"Because I knew you saw me" was his answer.
Maybe I am tired.

I was on the rank at Foster place and 3 guys jumped in, reeking of drink and I got one of those jobs that every taxi driver hates.
"Hey mister go here, then over there."
Then they paid me e20 and a mobile phone to act as security until they came back.
Then over to the general post office where they tried to cash a cheque.
Tony Blair was going to sign copies of his book and half of O'Connell St was closed off "Whats goin on?".
"Tony Blair is signing his book" The guy in the back must have been the dumbest in his class.
What he said next was classic.
"Wasn't he the fella in the white helmet who was James Bond, and he drove the racing cars?"
Well no he was not the Stig he was the British prime minister that's who he was.
Well when they went off and left me to wait for them I hid my money in the boot and armed myself with my big flashlight. Then I plugged in my seat belt so that I could jump out if I needed to and the car would not be beeping because the seat belt was not plugged in.
It all came to a calm end when they decided that they would wait for their dealer in the stairwell of an apartment block.

It was hard to figure out whether they were dealers or addicts.

If a fight had kicked off I would have 3 times the strength of any one of them, I am well built and I get very angry when anyone tries to rob me.
Still you don't need that kind of shit.



Tomorrow is another day.

Tomorrow will be the hurling final in Croke Park where Tipperary take on Kilkenny
Kilkenny who are nicknamed the cats are going for 5 all Ireland's in a row.
Taking the video of that mad woman who put the cat in the wheelie bin, the Tipperary people are putting out their wheelie bins.(for a joke)

My oldest friend

There is more to life than driving a taxi.
Mabel is my oldest friend she is 100 years and 7 months old.
She is very much on the ball, lives alone, cooks cleans for herself and reads the paper for me every day. Then she passes on the highlights to me!

So now that the last of the good weather is here we went off to the butterfly farm in Straffin Co. Kildare.

A very special thank you to our hosts who made us feel so welcome, nothing was too much trouble for them and a vast array of animals were taken out of their cabinets to greet Mabel.
It was a really great day out.
We went on the last day of the season.

Mabel asked when they would be opening again. When she was told it would be in May she said "I will come back again in May"

I have absolutely no doubt that we will return.

So what else is new John?

This dance troupe from Brazil stole the show at the Edinburgh festival.
Its not Riverdance for sure. Look at how subtle the dancers body's are,like rubber.

Well I liked it anyhow.

Perhaps this dance routine would help to loosen up the bad backs of the Dublin taxi drivers.

Go on beat yourselves up..

Where did that Celtic Tiger go?
Here is the Super Hoofer.

Tuesday 7th Sept

Remember this at the point?



Now its your chance to be there.

Or be square!

Ring 086 1581111, tell them you want to join in on the great taxi drivers special day out.

I often wonder, we bring 1,000 kids + out for the day and the media ignore the whole thing.

So sod the media join me and hundreds of other taxi drivers and we will have a ball of a day.

A big hand for the fantastic Johnny Walker without whos efforts all this would have ended long ago.


Yes you did hear right that was last year,77 now and still going strong.
That Scouse girl has a great laugh.

Sunday into Monday

Free hugs !!

Herbert park from the Herbert hotel

Mr Spud aka Mr.Tayto

Dublins oldest fish and chip shop Werburg St

Dream catchers for sale.


One am Sunday morning, I am just jotting down a few things and then I have to do the dishes. If men were in charge it would be paper plates.

Sometimes when you listen to the radio or read the paper you have to do a double take, "did I really hear that right?"
Darren Sutherland the boxer who died recently is to be exhumed as the coroner is not happy with the original verdict of suicide.

Why?

Well it turns out that his hands were tied together for one thing.

"Egg and sperm donor payments may be raised to boost supply". Aah what happened to romance?.


A teenager who became a magistrate at 19 called Gareth Derbyshire bought a company(Well he bought it but he didn't pay for it)

Well this young lad had 2 Ferrari's and spent nights in a suite in Clariges hotel at 2,000 pounds a night wearing his 7,500 pound Rolex or his 11, 000 Hubolt watches, he drank Cristal champagne at 400 quid a bottle. While the company went bust leaving debts all over the place.
Well the serious fraud office are on to it....about time too.

Talking about watches Weirs are getting Patek Phillipe to make them a limited addition watch which will sell for mote than 250,000 euro, you can count me out as well.

In sport today Down 1-16 Kildare 1-14

Down have qualified for their first All-Ireland final since 1994 with a two-point victory over Kildare in a gripping contest at Croke Park.

Up Down

Internet hackers are targeting youths abroad.
One young chap was in Columbia when his parents got an e mail from him...Help I am in a prison hellhole, then another guy explains how he had met their son in the prison and he could get him out if the could send money....
It was quite a story, but turned out to be a scam!

Reminds me of Richard Harris the actor who went off on a drinking spree with a friend.
His wife who he loved dearly had told him that if he ever went on a drinking spree she would kick him out.

So here he was coming home the worst for wear, not knowing what to say.
He rang the doorbell and when his wife opened the door he said.

"Why didn't you pay them the Ransom money?"

She kept him for a while longer.

God made Irishmen to rule the World.
The Devil made alcohol to make sure they didn't succeed.

Scary thing happened last night, one of the drivers saw a kid out late at night alone. He pulled up beside her to see if she was OK. She was not distressed and said she was fine..Later on the body of a 12 year old girl was found. A 19 year old is being held. One of the other drivers was bringing a reporter around as he was gathering the information.
It will probably take a month or so to find out what really happened.

"Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command, your old world is rapidly changin..."

Fall, to rise again

Graduates in their gowns take photos.

Making a video om Dame St. Forget it lad,My son is much louder than you.

Clamped !

Gotchya too !


The lighthouse at Howth. How old?


Her it is again, click on it to enlarge the photo.



Time marches on and when it does change happens.

Schools are starting back, trees are turning and life goes on.


My old mate Joe met me the other day.
His grandson who was badly injured in Thyland has been returned to Ireland. He was in Beaumount hospital for a few days, then he was sent to the rehabillition unit in Roachestown Avenue.
His grandson has bad brain damage,plus all the injuries he sustained in his crash.
He will never be the same person again.
Joe wanted to know what kind of a place it was. Well it is heaven and hell together.
It is hell if you keep remembering who you once were and heaven because they will push you to the very limit to make you walk and talk again.
I saw those phisios shouting "One more step, now another, You are great" Then they would support the patient who would be bathed in sweat from the effort.
It is the toughest gigs you could imagine, working there.
Young kids in wheelchairs trying to learn the most basic skills.
The boys and girls who work there are cheerful, they often have to tell parents that they are upsetting their kids by crying, you must smile and be happy.
Many of their patients are from rugby injuries 15 to 20 year olds, the body is not able to take the knocks.Them motorbikes then car accidents then strokes.
My mate Frank went there when he had a stroke and I used to bring him home at weekends when I had a wheelchair taxi.

God help them all it is another world out there.

Another horrific crash near Kallarney on the Mallow rd.
4 Young people killed. 2 brothers and a girl of 15.
One lad survived.
Today the first funeral will take place in Killarney today.
Once again the area is numbed, but how to curb the wild streak which comes with youth is a problem everywhere.




What to do if you find your sterio has been taken

It will be a while before they do that again.