March to the regulators office

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The circus America is in Swords ending this week.

It will cost some money to move them trucks.-


Monday is often a busy day, I work it,but today I should have stayed in bed.
After 4 hours I had e26 taken in. Less expenses I suppose I broke even.
I had a call to bring one of my regulars to the dentist, only for that I was lost.
Coming back across the city I got on to the Dawson St rank and got a fare to Shrewsbury Rd one of the most expensive roads in Dublin.
I often wondered what the people who lived in those multi million euro houses were like,,Guess what? She was a really nice person, some of the same problems as us all.
On turning the car on her road I saw a Rolls Royce, a Jag XX with the top down, a Bently coupe and a Messariti all at the same house.. I did say there was money on that road.

I dropped a girl off at the back of Connelly train station and promptly picked up a guy going to Brookwood. He had a box that could only contain pigeons.
In Blackpool last week the pigeons fanciers had their big weekend, thousands of them flock to the Winter Gardens where they have bird shows and buy and sell birds. Dealers come over to sell tonics and birds.
He had not been there but had ordered these birds and they were delivered by courier to the station.
The guys who go there save up all year for the event,this week they start saving for next year.

At the last weekend in February the Magicians take over Blackpool.
Thousands of them, with hundreds of magic dealers in the halls, it is their weekend.
Look here
I won't be going this year but it is interesting to say the least.

Magic for me is the best fun you can have without taking your clothes off...Paul Daniels.

This guy will be there.

A very easy trick! All in the presentation.
He sells his videos on L&L http://www.llpub.com/

On the Sunday night they have a gala show where tax expert Ken Dodd OBE gives the prizes to the competition winners.
If you go there mind out, a lot of pickpocets work the conventions.

The Mayfair on Vance Rd is a good place to stay 01253 623798 cheap too.

This line up would be more to my liking.

David Williamson is a very funny guy and Paul has a lot of talent.

Just while I am on the subject of magic. FISM is on this year in Beijing China.
I know someone who is selling a ticket to the event e300, Thats e80 off any takers?

leave you details in the comment box.

While I am at it is there any way to make the taxi regulator vanish?

There will be a march to the regulators office on Monday at 8.30 AM...Its not a strike as such, its a protest march.

So be there or be square.

新年好

A poster in Dublin



On St.Patricks day everyone is Irish




Yes folks it is now the year of the Ox

新年好

I hope this is right.

Every time I write a cheque I keep forgetting.
I write down the 26/1/rat, instead of OX

So 新年好

Chinese people are very clever.

They don't tear around at Christmas and New Year,
when you can't get into pubs etc.

THEY CARRY ON WORKING

They have the secret antidote to alcohol...
a 26..meal with rice.

When we are broke and the pubs empty they kick off...

Good luck to you all.

On a serious note .

TAXI DRIVERS TAKE NOTE

If your back goes into spasm, go to a Chinese acupuncturist...

Better that very day, what could be better than that!

Fantastic.

Windy day

This is the new Garda speed detector van.
Working at night.Phone photo

A neighbor of mine with his beautiful E type Jaguar.



This is the new Garda station in Irishtown.

Saturday night and the wind is blowing a gale outside. Just getting myself ready (In my head) to go outside and work all night.
Last week G.W.Bush slept soundly in his bed knowing he at last did not have the worry on his shoulders of leading the free world.
The free world breathed a sigh of relief and slept soundly too.

I am a bit like an actor. "resting" they call it.
Crying shame I seem to be almost unemployed. But I still have ing things to do, clean ing shopp ing paint ing and I hope loads of taxi drivers will join me on the 2nd of Feb at 8.30 am to do a bit of protest ing and march ing to the regulators office.

If you don't you will only have yourselves to blame when things get worse.
Dublin has a population of 2 million and we have more taxis than New York.
There will be traffic jams of taxis out there when I go out.

There are hundreds of guys driving taxis who have never done the taxi test, they hire cars and drive with no licence or a fake ID, never checked or stopped.
City Cabs (a taxi co.)have loads of stories of taxis hired out and coming back 2 months later with 50,000 miles extra on the clock. Others have stories of taxi drivers running away when stopped by the Garda....The owner then rings up "I had me car stolen"
what can they do? Give it back until it happens again.

Well Its 6.20 and I am home again, the ferry is at least an hour late coming in. There was winds of 125 KPH last night and 12 or so people killed in France and Spain.
So putting a positive spin on it it was good for taxis.

One old guy,(rich enough)stopped me at Jurys hotel. How much to get me to e8/10 says I but the price will be on the meter, I looked him in his drunken eye and said.How many drinks did you negotiate the price for? He looked at me and said I don't want to be robbed.
Look says I, just wait here for another taxi to arrive if you won't pay whats on the meter. So he got in and when we arrived at his house there was e11.20 on the clock.
Now,he said I would only pay e10. There he sat with a fist full of money flicking a e10 note to see if it was 2 stuck together.
Its no wonder you have it, pass it over.
He got really aggressive and said don't be cheeky.

So I did what all good taxi drivers do.

I took my e10 and said thank you.
Or as Alf Townsend in his taxi book "Just wipe your mouth"

He annoyed me because he could have bought me out without having to borrow a penny.

Well maybe not.

Sean Quinn Ireland's richest man it is reckoned has lost a billion euro from his investments in Anglo Irish bank.

That's one thousand million. A lot of green.

On the radio today they said that 3,000 Polish people are leaving Ireland every month.
I see a lot of Polish transit vans loading up.
The building industry is picking up in Poland and signs are appearing on building sites.

Work available "No Irish need apply"

You see they were not being paid the proper wage and pension payments which were taken from wage packets were never passed on to the government.

I guess the party is over.

On the other side we have a mother who got 7 years for neglect cruelty and incest with her children.It has caused great concern because the first time the health board tried to have the children taken into care a right wing group of the Catholic church funded a legal challenge. The HSE had not the funds to fight the case and the abuse continued for a further 4 years.

Now everyone concerned are getting their cards marked.
Perhaps changes will come around in the legal system.

Lets hope that this kind of thing is a thing of the past soon.

Look its getting bright and I must go to bed like a good vampire.
What I should is write a bit through the week and then polish it off in the end.

Tomorrow is a new day

The swearing in this evening went so well, all inclusive, a new day of hope and promise.

I have a good feeling all this is going to go well.

I was looking again at the 100 Best restaurants guide and its really crap!
It is only good if someone asks you where some place is.

Education does not come cheap.

There was an interview on the radio with the famous restaurant critic Egon Roney he had a tough enough life and started to write critique of establishments when he went into a restaurant in London.
He looked at the menu which was bad and asked for a cup of tea which was all he could take.
When the water came he asked for a spoon to put some sugar into the tea. The waiter pointed to a spoon which hung from the ceiling on a piece of string. "Can you imagine there was only one spoon"
He spoke about how he wrote that the food served in terminal two at Heathrow was only fit for the bin.
Forte threatened to sue him, he said "go ahead".
But Forte then withdrew at the last minute.
He seems like a very wise man now in his 90s if he eats somewhere he still chats to the matre'd and suggests how things might be improved.
Improving things is all he ever wanted to do in the first place.
There was a story of a celebrated Italian restaurant where on hearing that there was a critic from the Michelin guide in the place promptly gave him the bums rush and refused the star. "My public are my critics and no one else"

The Irish Timeshas come up with an idea to beat the recession. 6 restaurants are offering a 2 course meal with a glass of wine for e20. Monday to Thursday. 26/29 Jan 2/5 February.

These establishments are considered to be top class.

L'Ecrivan....01 6611919

Chapter one....01 8732266

Bentleys oyster bar and grill..01 6383939

Town bar and grill 01 6624724

The Cellar....01 6030600

Chinasichuan...012935100

The conditions are that it only for Mon to Thurs at the times advertised and you must have a copy of the Irish Times with you when you arrive for your meal and you are requested to make a donation to the Hospice in Harold's cross.

To hell with the recession, dress up and see how the quality live.

On the other hand the recession hits some people very hard.
A billionaire killed himself yesterday, faced with terrible losses in the property and banking section he faced ruin so he killed himself.

His wife found the body after bring the kids to school.

His wife and children are totally deviated.

Young children asking for Daddy.

He would have never done such a thing if he had thought it through.

If you can't talk to your spouse ring the Samaritans 1850 609090

Things can be worked out with the right help.

Today I had a lucky morning, great people tips on every trip then I got a e20 tip on a e30 fare.

Meeting people who have just arrived here from Australia and Irish people just back.

God its a small world.

A Great Moment In History

Today is a great day.

The first black president takes the helm of the most powerful country in the world after China.

It will be no easy task, but I feel that he will tackle some of the thorny problems in the world and within America.

He is a man you can believe in.

At last Bush is gone now and you have a president who knows something!

It will not be an easy trip he will put the united back into USA.

Yo Do know he had Irish relations from Moneygall....

Goo luck to you all.

Now back to basics.

How did we let all this happen?
Police against the public.

Over the past few nights there is a police van parked at the bottom of Belgrovre Rd Clontarf. It is busy taking photos of passing cars.
Penalty points and hefty fines to follow.

Garda booking taxis en mass.
It gives the Garda an easy quota of fines for the month.
This is a revenue gathering exercise, nothing more.

If you loose your job you can buy a taxi plate and join the thousands of other taxis on the streets.
It dosen't matter that there are no ranks to hold the number of taxis which are on the street,or that there is not enough work to go round,morality does not come into it.
You pay and they take your money....There is no refund scheme.

I know a thing or two about taxi driving.
I also know that this business is dead.

Honest guys with 20 years behind the wheel are giving up. "If the standard of today means that a driver does not know where Temple St hospital, or Crumlin hospital is. The game is up.

There are no standards.

When the guy driving you home is not the guy on the ID on the dash, when he has no idea whether Raheny is Northside or Southside.. Something is very wrong.

So if you feel that a change should happen join the protest.



Here are the details. (Straight from Roys blog.)

Taxi Protest

Monday 8.30am 2 Feb 2009 Start in Parnell SQ, pass by the Dail proceeding to the Regulators Office.

Demands:

* Taxi regulator needs to acknowledge there are enough taxis and a moratorium should be put on licences.

* Government have to stop giving incentives encouraging people into business.

* Give incentives to keep drivers in the business

* Create more taxi ranks

Old Volks

Hows that! The car is a bit of a cheat parts were imported from Mexico, but the van is really genuine, owned by Ballsbridge motors and on show in the AXA HQ.

Hows about this..Noel Dempsey the minister of transport has no plans to cap the number of taxis on the Irish roads. Last night I drove around for hours for one fare,then I went home.

It is completely mad.
Well this time of the year is bad normally now is is incredible.

So the powers that be are calling a strike for Monday 2 Feb!

There are enough guys who do not care who will work, but if you care anything about your future you should down tools.
This will be followed by "hassle" from the Garda for sure.
This situation would not be allowed to happen in France or Spain.

It is one rule for our rulers another rule for the thousands of workers who are being put on the scrap heap every week.
Our leaders have not come out of their offices for a long time, we seem to have no voice.
The politicians seem to think that they belong to the old Soviet system,responsible to no one and not liable for anything.
They guaranteed the banks at the stroke of a pen putting the nation into debt.
Then they allowed bank officials to "Resign" with pension, perks and golden parachutes to boot. They "borrowed" over 100 million euro from their bank and did not even get quizzed by the fraud squad!

Then the government nationalized the bank...The shareholders now find that their shares are now worthless.
The small people get hit, they pick off one section at a time. Farmers. Fishermen, health workers... then they bring in "Yellow pack workers"
They get less pay or benefits while they are working,then they are laid off when they qualify for any perks.

Big Business has no heart,"you do it or there a thousand others who will do it and for less money".

TAXI DRIVERS HAVE VOTES TOO.

NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCO TENT.
(As the bard said)


Here is a link for the taxi survey, at least if you take part you will have been heard by someone.

While I am at it I suppose I should take a moment to introduce to 2 famous Cork people Jimmy McCarthy died last year and the other one Jack Doyle a boxer who rose to stardom.. Married Movita who was a suprtstar in her own way. Known a the Gorgeous Geal he spent his money on fast women slow horses and drink, until he died homeless in London. Later he was dug up from a paupers grave and re buried in Cobh by his boxing promoter.
Thank God you have friends and family to steady you.



A great song .

Next week I hope to review the links on the R/H side. A lot of guys have stopped blogging and there is loads of good things out there.

250 years

250 years.
If one is good think of what twocan do.
Roy has stolen my thunder. I had taken this photo before it was published on his site honest.


Full marks if you know where this bar is.

Guinness is 250 years old this year 1759 (one minute to 6) to 2009.
Kidding to one side The brewery is the most visited tourist site in Ireland.

Coca-cola. Gillette and Guinness are the top 3 brands in the world, no mean feat.

While we suffer the waves of the storm which is caused by the economics which prevail at present. out government are in Japan.

I do business in Japan too.

My account was down ,so I contacted Julie,

She had left the company....Not all lost I got reply..

Dear John

How are you doing today?

Thank you for your email and for the trouble that your undermentioned concern brought up for you then we are very sorry. Moreover, you may review and try your log in details below as what registered in your account and if you still have other concerns just flag me up.

(details taken out)

We want you to always remember that we are here to serve you with unrelenting passion to meet your expectations with our services. Please feel free to give me a call at (81) xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, or send me an email using my personal email address below, and I will take good care of the rest for you.

Thank you so much for choosing xxxx Japan. We truly treasure your business and hope this experience has been a great one!

Warm regards,
Kirby
Account Manager


Well how could I ignore unrelenting passion!!!!!!!!!!!

Surly the Irish Better Business Board could learn from this.

Kirby I would be happy if you knew what I was talking about.

"Driver I want to go home"
"What dy ya mean ya don't knoe where I live, I'm going to tell the regulator about you....."

Job opportunity

New job prospect on the horizon.
We head off to Canada next month to start training, then off to Alaska..



Just thought I would share this with you as things are slack
.
Here is something I have on my computer, listen to this.It is a good show.
How they arrived at this point I do not understand,but the NY cab driver is the nail. Struck on the head by all sides.
GPS tracking,trip sheets and the TLC always on their case.
Melissa is the original NY Hack blogger, have a look hereShe wrote a book and went away.


Here is Tina Lenert who took this simple act right around the world,Paris Las Vegas you name it.
With no words it works anywhere.

A little bit of Magic to keep you amused.



Well it looks like the taxi regulator is playing silly buggers at the airport.
Posing as customers at the departures area they engage a taxi to go to Swords (A short trip) then they ask him to pull in at the garage where he is confronted with a summons for picking up at an unapproved area. Thing is that even the guys who Marshall the taxis at the departure area send people up who want to make short trips.
The taxi that picks them up is happy with a short bonus trip where the taxi which has been through the queueing system would not be one bit happy.
The DAA would be better off catching people who are jumping the queue at the "kesh".
One guy holds back creating a gap to allow 2 or 3 of his pals to slip in. You hardly thought that the delays in going up were an accident did you?
One of my friends told me he was approached by an English girl this morning and offered e40 to take her to Swords,(well over the rate)He told her to go downstairs, lucky boy.
There are laws on entrapment you know.

If the regulator came out at night and pounced on blocks of taxis, checking their papers perhaps they would not prove me wrong.
I think that there are a lot of guys driving who have no licence whatsoever never mind PSV licence. I bought the Evening Herald to look at the taxis for sale page. There was 23 ads. for taxis to rent. How is anyone to know who is driving it after the rented taxi is taken away?.
Public safety is at stake here, no one wants ALL taxi drivers to be taken as rapists robbers or murderers, just because one guy does something who was not driving a taxi legally in the first place..


I had a rotten morning I couldn't get on to any ranks, had to drive past Heuston 3 times, annoying thing was that if the drivers were moving up instead of reading their paper I would have had space to pull on to the rank.
Well at least I can go home to do the dishes !