Happy 20 10

Christmas is a time for Circus.
This is really good if not a bit "Arty"
The guy (A Clown) who owns the Cirque went into space this year at a cost of $18 mill or so.



Still Chris Bliss does well with only 3 balls, not many people sitting down after he finished his act.



Here we are again at the arrival of a new year.

It seems like no time at all since we entered the new millennium,all of 10 years ago.

Remember the big computer bug? This time around it's "Swine Flu"

The old radio is blasting out "The Island" by Paul Brady
(featured on the blog a while back).
Well who could ever have thought that we would ever have a cessation of violence in the Island of Ireland.
A lot of lessons have been learned in the last 10 years for sure, and a load of miles covered in that time. Hundreds of people met, some mean,some bad, some others were fantastic and one or two superstars.
Good tippers,bad tippers and rude gobshites, this year I deal with them better than the year before.
I do still like people in spite of all I have been through and I am amazed by the awnser I get when I ask the question. "Where are you from?" Brazil,Philippines,Hungary,Latvia,Russia,Poland,Checz republic,Wales, all today, I also had a good few Irish.
You have to realize that the people who come over here in the main are the people with ambition,many of them work at jobs where there education and training goes to waste.Most of the foreign people I have spoken to have been through university and need a few €uro to do their PHDs. Many of the others are great people too.

I was born in 1949, At the time when I left school there was no work in Ireland for my school year, we went to England, USA, Australia etc.
(Those times are back again now)

Many of the "get up and go folks" have gone over to London to help with their Olympic effort.

Most of the next Irish generation Irish are heading off.

I can see the decent Irish taxi drivers heading off now too.

The stories I hear on a daily basis about the goings on in taxis would make you ashamed to be a taxi driver.

When I write to the regulator I get a "letter" full of cliches which do not remotely relate to the question which was asked.
Look HERE to see what I mean. I know this is in the UK, but it seems that no matter what you do or say falls on deaf ears.

The other day on the Westbury mall a driver jumped another car when the driver went to the toilet. A few words were exchanged and the driver refused to back into his own place in the queue. Well the gazumped driver pulled in front of the other car when he reached the front of the queue. More words were exchanged.
What no one that witnessed this knew was that someone had called the Garda.
The guy was furious and when he got his own passinger the customer wanted to let the front seat back, only to be met with loads of abuse!
The customer got out (wise man) and he got into the car behind, just as the Garda arrived. The driver as it turned out after investigation had a forged PSV licence.

After a big row they took away his roof sign!

"When you can provide us with valid papers you can have your taxi sign back" the Garda said.

Well one of the lads who had not seen the row told me that he was back on the rank around 1 1/2 hours later with A roof sign(perhaps a stolen one).

Imagine a drunk girl getting into a taxi where the driver has never been checked out.

Your sons and daughters are in danger for sure, and it is all beyond the remit of the taxi regulator.(Or so she says)

9.45 at the Heuston station the rank turns foreign!.
Just like that, 80% of the drivers are now foreign, I have been told that the regulator is go off duty at 9pm.

A few years ago we had a case where a guy was involved in a high profile child rape case,("C" case I think) some taxi drivers reported that the same guy was now driving a taxi, while the Garda were investigating he raped a girl. He was caught when the girl took note of his PSV number. He was caught and locked up..The Garda said that he had given them "A different address from the address he was living at when he committed the previous offence"

Well boys and girls that was a hell of a thorough background check!.

Its a hell of a lot easier for the Garda to give a guy a ticket while he is trying to get on a rank for sure! That's how you protect the public.

Rather than do a proper background check.

Have a look at the Anderson shelter and weep!, this is what is coming for us now.

I met a guy from Phoenix Arizona USA he told me that a taxi company there is owned by a Somali guy. He told me he got into a taxi being driven by a maniac. "You show I go" It was a drive from hell he said.
"How long have you been in the States?" he said. "I came here on Wednesday" came the reply.

It was Friday.

Happy new year boys and girls, enjoy the circus.

Wisdom for the new year

Here is a piece of wisdom sent to me from Mike. Thanks.

Starting off the new year there has to be a moment of wisdom.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.

And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, "Why did you just do that? That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

That's when my taxi driver taught me what I now call,

"The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks.
They run around full of garbage, frustration, anger and disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you.

Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.

Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Love the people who treat you right.

Pray for the ones who don't.

All the best for 20 10

12 days of christmas

Happy Christmas

Lets start off by wishing you all a merry Christmas. We are here now and the next big thing will be 20 10...
If you are any religion you can celebrate the new year.!

Execpt if you were a time traveler..
One thing that happens in this job is that you hear one part of a story and you never find out how the situation worked out.
I had a girl in the car a few weeks ago who had just been for an eye test. The guy said "There is something here, I want you to take this letter to the hospital,now"
In the Eye and ear Hospital they X rayd her and told her not to eat but to pack her bags and come back in and here she was.
I told her not to worry, if she was going blind or getting violent fits this thing would have been too far advanced,It was early days now, so don't worry, and off she went.

Shit ! she said I am not ready for this, its all too sudden!

Well I heard her on the radio the other day, Singing the praises of the medics,the operation was a total success, problem caught in its very early stage.
Everything A OK !
Great to find out it all worked out.

Problem at the rank last night, one of the guys went off to the toilet and the driver behind him jumped in front of him as the cars moved up. When the gazumped driver came back there was words. As the cars moved closer to the front the second car jumped in front of the car and was now first.
More words were exchanged!
Then the correct first car moved off with his fare.
When the next customer came over he hopped into the taxi and asked the driver if he could move the seat back a bit. The driver still in a temper told him to leave the f******g thing alone. Wise guy he got out of the taxi and into the one behind.
The "mad"driver got out of his car and gave out yards!
Someone had phoned the garda and 3 of them arrived and asked questions....he had no PSV licence, or should I say his PSV licence did not check out......
Then came the big stand off with loads of aggression.
But in the end they took away his roof sign, telling him when his paperwork would be up to date and correct he could get it back.

If I was in charge I would confiscate the car as well.

A voice inside me is saying that he will steal a sign from a parked taxi tonight and carry on working. The signs are held on by magnets so can be lifted off in a second.

On Aston quay there was a bit of aggro one night, same thing, a driver was double parked and another car drove into the space when the cars moved up. After a few words with the driver about queue jumping the driver realized he was getting nowhere with this nut case, so he quietly unplugged his roof sign and threw it in the river and then he drove off. The smart ass driver was now off duty !
These dodgy drivers are putting lives at risk as they are not insured.

A diplomat from Singapore told me about an aunt of hers who has a bit of a problem with mobility, the aunt got in to a taxi one day and the driver started off with, "I can't understand qwhy every spastic and cripple in Dublin wants to get into my taxi this week, I am fucking sick of it".
The lady was very upset about it. I would have asked him to drive me to the nearest Garda station, "I have to sign on"..Still you are often not brave or quick enough to think of a plan.

That diplomat was full of woe about the way we treat the students who come here to work. Polish people who have gone home tell of tales of woe.
signs appear "Workers wanted, no Irish"
Still for myself I have only met good people from Poland.


Good old Bob Dylan has a hit for Christmas.



This has been a hit for ever, merry Christmas to George O'Reilly.

"Your work is of no interest"

Ah the beautiful doors of Dublin and there are a good few tourists around.
A Scottish couple were amazed at the prices being charged here.
They are right we are being robbed blind,
Just as well the taxis are still good value I said.

Prime time investigates had an expose about government ministers who were granted loans without checks, fast tracked loans of over 100% at special rates....Then My taxes were used to shore up the black holes while no one was held to blame.. Not held to blame they were paid a bonus and a boosted pension, no wonder my arse is sore. Look at www.rte.ie
Well what was going on?

I once told a girl about this blog, she said "That's pointless,who could find anything remotely interesting about driving a stupid taxi?"
Fairly put me in my box. Still I knew the place she was going is closed Mondays.
Guess she has to learn. (I would have told her ,but)

Well the guy I picked up was a businessman from Kerry,He loved sailing and was cox of the local life boat. A brick of a person, he was going to the "Gold Exchange" on Bolton St. and wait for me. Selling the family gold for cash to stay afloat. "If I only knew this would end in 3 months I might not do this, its bad, business is fucked."
I did get a smile when I told him "Its so bad that even the guys that never pay me aren't buying anything"
He decided to cut the rest of the trip short,he would walk through the Ilac center, hope things improve for him.

Picked up a young guy at the Bar Code. Buzzing he was...He was going to be a daddy, spoke to his intended and told her how happy he was, talked about how he had only told ONE person the news....Etc etc. "Congratulations Daddy" says I when he hung up the phone.
Jesus its great! I lost 2 mates this year, one was shot about 20 times. He did a little bit of drug dealing, but he was a good guy. The other lad was mowed down by a stolen car just a week before his wedding. I thought this was a shit year, but I feel great now.

Blond bombshell from Coolock with a buggy, jumped in at the lights.
This girl is bright and attractive and could lead this country to be the best in the world. She was just as bright as a 400 watt bulb !
She had been away in Greece,Japan and Canada working while all this tiger business was going on and she told it as it is.
People who work in shops have no manners, talking across the counter to someone else while they serve you, no THANKS OR PLEASE.
The foreign girls in Aldi and Lidl are so polite in comparison.
You can see where this is going if you live here?
Conversation turned to that terrible drunk driving murder(can't call it anything else) on the Malahide Rd.a few weeks ago.
"I managed a bar in Greece where the drugs squad used to drink, the set up there allowed me to close the place and leave the bar locked up, the guys would just let themselves out and the alarm would come on by itself. There was a CCTV system which the cops didn't know about. My boss was worried about the cops breaking into the bar area, that never happened. But we had footage of them carrying each other out and driving home... Some countries are really bad.
She was a great girl Northsider!!!

Paramedic from Poland, told me that Polish girls really like the wit of the Irish boys, really, I am not kidding.
He is working on a project involving those shock things defibrillators they use in heart attack.
The shock must be delivered within 3 Min's of the heart attack.3/4 attacks per day in Dublin he reckons.



Its hard to believe that these photos were taken in 2009 of the new"state of the art" toilet which has to cater for hundreds of taxi drivers at Dublin airport.
The thing is that the drivers paid 3.4 million euro for the right to work at the airport and this is what they put up with!
Now don't say that the drivers wreck the toilets, they are not cleaned. When I drop off I often drive over to see things then I have to walk through a puddle to get the urine offf my shoes.

For the season that's in it. Here a message from George Carlin,he passed over very recently.
He would have made a great taxi driver. He had an opinion on everythiing.

Black Eye Friday

A detail from outside Doyles pub Fleet St.

This fierce lady can be found behind the Mesbil hotel
..She has realllly long legs


My son asked me if I had survived Black Eye Friday intact ?
You know the last Friday before Christmas when the bosses pay a double week and the workers go off to have a pint before going home for the weekend.
Problem is that it turns into a drinking and fighting session.

Mist say it was hopping, I had to go home to sleep at 5am and punters were still at the ranks. People were well behaved and no Pukers or runners,they kinda spoil your night they do.
So the same advice as last year. Don't wait at the rank, walk towards home facing the oncoming traffic. You will not be as cold walking and the taxis will stop when they see you are sober.. Try not to stand in the middle of the road shaking your fist shouting FUCKING TAXIS. That is a no no..

There is a total gridlock of taxis around St Stephens Green as I write but I will throw out my nets and trawl the streets in another hour, should work out.

From the second of January until the 14th Feb(St.Valentines day) there is no work for taxi drivers, then around the 16th March St Patricks day things come back to life.
This year I expect things to be very lean.
These times in the London taxi drivers language are called "Herring Days".
A time when you couldn't afford meat.

I wrote another to the Taxi Regulator, she replies in cliches which are dropped into the letter which is the reply, but it it is not relevant to the question.
As they say in Australia
"What the hell has that got to do with the price of tea in China"

It would be a great idea if we as drivers who contact the regulator put our questions and her answers into a book, It could be very funny and the money to go to charity.

For example

The Commission for Taxi Regulation does not have the remit or statutory power under the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 in relation to the control of the number of licences issued.



The Commission undertook an economic review of the industry and one of the recommendations in this review was to fast track both vehicle and driver standards. Following the publication of the review the Commission commenced a public consultation process regarding the recommendations. The process included reviewing submissions, feedback from stakeholder meetings and advice received from the Advisory Council to the Commission.



One of the key reforms announced focuses on the nine year age rule. The fast tracking of the nine year age rule facilitates the Commission's objective of increasing the quality of SPSV services. The original timeframe for the nine year age rule was 2012, however the number of vehicles older than nine years has increased since the vehicle standards were published in 2007. The Commission requires to have consistency in the level of newer vehicles available. Newer vehicles are better and safer for the environment. Newer cars are more environmentally friendly with better fuel efficiency and lower pollutants emitted.



25% of the standard taxi and hackney fleet are now over nine years old compared with 16% in 2007. Fast tracking this will address the age concern.

All existing taxi and hackney vehicles will be required to meet the nine year age requirement set out in the new vehicle standards (announced in November 2007), on renewal of their vehicle licence in 2011.

6 marks if you can guess what the question was...!!!!!!!!!!!

This is for all taxi drivers...

+

New roads and bridges

Now if you are older than me you would know who this guy was.


This is where the Luas goes to and from the point.



The sea was as calm as glass when I took this photo of the "Jonathan Swift" headed out to sea. I had brought a couple with their small son who were from Switzerland out to the Bull Wall, she had a splint on her leg. She said "Hey take a photo of me instead", taking a pose with her backside sticking out....funny gal.


Well the old shopping has taken off and so has business. Not to the same extent as when there was only 3,000 taxis in Dublin, still I am grateful for what I can get.

I had an Irish celeb in the car today Eamonn Dunphy!
He has now given up the drink and he was very a pleasant chap to talk to.
The X footballer,He used to have a good chat show on the radio where he spoke with celebrities, I enjoyed that show and I listened to many of them on podcast.
I just had a look(www.rte.ie) on the net and couldn't find them.


Until I mentioned the taxi regulator.

He got very angry about the suituation.

He really understands what has happened and speaks of the utter disgrace and a sham the industry has become.
Whether it is a plan to take thousands off the dole or to raise millions in revenue he is not sure but many many taxi drivers are going under as they struggle to find the next passenger.
All the regulator had to do was to say that until there is more taxi rank spaces there will be no more new taxis.

Then she says she has no power!!

One of our number was stopped on a loading bay the other day while the car in front changed a flat tyre. A Garda told him to move or he would get a ticket. The taxi driver told the garda to catch a real criminal......The result a e30 fine and a quick trip to the taxi regulators office where he got a e250 fine..
Above all you must hold your tounge and grovel.

These €250 fines are way out of line in proportion to the crime and I as well as every other taxi driver risk getting a fine at least 6 times a day, I have been lucky so far (Touch wood)

One other thing which seems to have backfired is the advertisments for the Samiratins and Aware. It was a good idea but to ask the driver to donate €33 and then carry the stickers was a bad idea, taxi drivers are strapped for cash now. If it was €5 they might have got thousands to carry them, as it is I have only seen 3 cars with them.

Just a thought,

I had a lady in the car today who has just had a premature baby 8 weeks early, tiny as your hand he struggled to live for a while but is now starting to grow, she feels that he will make it now though he won't be home for Christmas.

Remember the good old days of taxi sharing?
Our New York cousins are trying it.
Thanks to Gil.