Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Watch out for this scam!

Can we ride?
Women often receive warnings about protecting themselves at the mall and in dark parking lots, etc. This is the first warning I have seen for men. I wanted to pass it on in case you haven’t heard about it. A ‘heads up’ for those men who may be regular customers at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Costco, or even Wal-Mart. This one caught me totally by surprise. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.
Here’s how the scam works; Two nice looking, college-age girls will come over to your car or truck as you are packing your purchases into your vehicle. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. (It’s impossible not to look). When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say ‘No’ but instead ask for a ride to McDonald’s.
You agree and they climb into the vehicle. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.
I had my wallet stolen Aug. 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, again on the 17th, 20th, 24th, and the 29th. Also Sept. 1st, 4th, 8th, twice on the 10th &11th, and very likely again this upcoming weekend.
So tell your friends to be careful. What a horrible way to take advantage of us older men. Warn your friends to be vigilant.
Wal-Mart has wallets on sale for $2.99 each. I found even cheaper ones for $.99 at the Dollar Store and bought them out in three of their stores.
Also, you never get to eat at McDonald’s. I’ve already lost 11 pounds just running back and forth from Lowe’s, to Home Depot, to Wal-Mart.
So please, send this on to all the older men that you know and warn them to be on the lookout for this scam. (The best times are just before lunch and around 4:30 in the afternoon

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

HCPTC and their shake down fees

NOTE: this was posted in 2009 when I did not like these guys. Now, they are going after Uber and Lyft and hitting them with $800 fines and impounding their hipster cars. Good for them.

"This is a ticket for $30 written by Joe Halberstran (sic) of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission. It was for having a shirt on without a collar. Can you Believe that! With all the services I provide this community and the aid and help I give to tourist, the only thing this prick is interested in is a shirt collar. What a cocksucker.
I have received E-mails from people who say that HCPTC has no legal authority to write dress code tickets. Hence, they are acting illegal"

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

RNC Documentary film by Tim Fasano

This was my first attempt to be a documentary film maker. It was shot during the Republican National Convention in Tampa 2012. It was a challenging task but I worked hard at it. My friend Kevin (who works in TV production) helped me film and edit this. But it was mostly my work. Please watch and let me know. I hope to cover a wide variety of topics.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Darra Torres swimmer and hot babe


Dara Grace Torres (born in 1967) is the first American swimmer to compete in 5 Olympic Games!: 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008. She qualified Friday night by winning the gold at Nationals and last night set an American Record in the Womens 50 Freestyle. During her career Dara has won 9 Olympic medals including 4 golds. In Sydney 2000 she won 5 medals being the eldest team member (in 2000 Dara was 33 years old). She began a comeback 2 years ago after having a baby (I am not the father) she will become the oldest female Olympic athlete at the age of 41.

Having finished her swimming career, Dara begun has career on television as a sport speaker. At the moment she is working with such companies as NBC, ESPN, TNT, OLN and Fox News Channel. Dara is the host of the gulf show “The Clubhouse” on the Resort Sports Network. Many of you will remember her more for the info commercial with Tae Bo martial arts expert Billy Blank...She was the blonde spokesperson for the commercial.

Being a beautiful women, Dara Torres has always been the object of adoration. Many famous photographers took the pictures of hers, and quite a number of top men’s magazines placed the images of Dara on cover.

Take a close look at this photo. Does this look like a women on Performance Inhancement drugs or HGH? Does not look that way.

Torres is Jewish on her father's side. She converted to Judaism before marrying her second husband, Israeli surgeon Itzhak Shasha, and in 2005 was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

photo, photography, digital photography, images, pictures, cameras, shots, Olympic athletes, Olympic speakers, sports speakers, athlete appearances

Welcome to Cypress Point Park Tampa


There is a nice little beach park on the extreme west end of Cypress Boulevard in Tampa. There is actually a beach with sand dunes. Those things you don't often see in Florida.


I was dropping off a fare at the office center near Reno and Cypress, and pulled in here to take a little nap. It was very quit and peaceful and I really don't know if I had ever been here before.


After a little nap, I even took a walk on the beach. I did notice some guys out fishing. The beach is not in the best of shape, but there is an awesome view of Tampa Bay. Bring a towel or blanket for the beach does have sea weed on it. The park is on the direct flight line to Tampa International Airport and they will fly overhead by only a few hundred feet.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

The cleanest of my dirty shirts


When your living in a state of semi-homelessness, you have tradeoffs. Consider I pay the cab company $92 a day six days a week, and have to buy the gas, I don't always have money. I have not had the $4.50 a load to clean my clothes.

Some drivers opt to eat Vienna sausage, Raman noodles, dog food, and so forth. I use my laundry money to buy better food (pasta with Ragu). I also buy my generic prescription drugs for blood pressure. So, the laundry gets recycled dirty. There was a country music song "The Cleanest of my dirty shirts."

A fellow cab driver called me aside and told me candidly that my shorts were so dirty it looked like I'd shit in them. He said I also smelled badly. The customers must have noticed as well.

So I broke down and used rent money to do laundry. I literally shorted the motel manager where I live to clean my clothes. Those Raman Noodles are delicious.
posted from Bloggeroid

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Change becomes your unwanted friend

They say as you get older, the less you like change. I would also add uncertainty into the mix and has much to do with why I dread Saturdays. Its going to be long, and at my age, I would really like to have leisure time. You know, on the weekends when 'normal' people are out doing things and spending time with friends and family. I spend time with shoppers, drunks, angry people who call me raciest. Well, you get the picture.

This is just not what I envisioned for myself. Unfortunately, the aspects if this business and the persistently bad economic situation in the Tampa Bay area, has left me between a rock and a hard place. I just don't have the energy to go for the long hauls anymore while loving every second of it.

I would once bound out of bed and look forward to the day. Not so much anymore. The economy has taken; the taxi overloards have taken; the gast compaies have taken; life is taking its place in line looking over the shoulder of everything else while I try to land on the backs of giant birds to carry me to a safe landing. So much has passed; so much has gone away. I have found a real, impenetrable irony about life -- it marches forward with or without you. In the final analysis, change does become the one constant.

I recently told a taxi cab driver friend of mine (I drove with him in Las Vegas twenty years ago) that the reason we get up each day and do this is becasue we are familier with it. Not really for any other reason would you continue to come up short in life.

Uncertainty is always there no matter the structures you erect like the preppers you see on TV prepared to ward off all intruders to their world. Kindness will be replaced by a more base feeling of self interest, which has been there all along. You can have your guns, your compound, your plans, but the unknown will always be an intruder. He will interrupt what is calm and ordered in your life. There is not escaping his arival.

I always had this vision during my life that one day I would find the perfect women and our family would camp at Yosemite National Park. Don't know why. Perhaps its nearly a metaphor that all is right in the world. I never did make it to Yosemite. My friend George and I did, however, visit the Green Swamp. After awaking in the morning I looked out of my tent and George had made his way to camp perimeter. What lay in front of us was one of those beautiful sunrises you dream about. The fog, the mist, the lighting, all was perfect. And for one brief moment, all was right with me.

It would be later in the day after breaking camp that the feeling of foreboding would creep back in. I was headed back to a life where so much had changed. Just eight years ago when I started the original "Tampa Taxi Shots" it was full of images of friends. Now, most of them are dead. I guess saying goodbye is a natural part of life. Security is not found in repeat motions of your ordered life. It is in knowing that is not possible and change will always be there. Smell the roses before there are no more to smell. It sure would be nice to see Yosemite just once.
Sunrise over the Green Swamp

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Tropical rains in Tampa

This photo was taken on Kennedy Blvd in Tampa Florida. I was raining so hard the road flooded in a matter of minutes. That is what happens this time of year. The problem is if you flood out the engine, you just bought it. Nor worth the risk to go thru deep water. "Turn around; don't drown."

Friday, June 7, 2013

Just fix my taxi please

There are some problems going on that I think you should know about. First, things aren't working out so good with my new tablet. After the tablet was installed, it was working fine, but not now. What you see below is the interface, and what it is currently doing. The display is laying on its side! How am I supposed to read that? I can't even log in and get a call most of the time.
IMG_20130606_112425.jpg
At the airport, Anthony helped me get it going but that did not last long (are drivers supposed to be trouble shooting and fixing anything? I got a better idea - have the shop put something in my cab that works).
Paul Hinton was very helpful yesterday and he gave me compensation for the down time. The next day it was working correctly, then it began to tip over like above and the ENTIRE GPS system is malfunctioning. Every time I called the office I was told to "bring it in and see Eddie." That turned out to be a mistake.
I could not even get to the home screen so I could not take any calls and that is costing me money. So, I brought it in. Eddie was busy with another driver that was having similar problems and he seemed agitated. When he came to my cab, all he could talk about was how he was missing lunch. It seems he had ordered food and wanted to go get it so he worked on my car in a flash. It was obvious he wanted to leave. He would not even tell me what he was doing. He said it was now fine and he was on his way to go get his food.
I restarted the cab and guess what...it was not working. I had Eddies assistant look at it and he could not figure it out. I then waited in Paul's office waiting for Eddie to come back.
Eddie came in with his food and went upstairs and Paul called him to see what he was going to do. Eddie said into the phone "I know Tim is listening, its on speaker right Paul?" He then made up some lie and embarrassed me in front of Paul and two other drivers. He said he told me to shop it. He did not. He told me HE WAS HUNGRY AND WANTED HIS LUNCH. That is unacceptable. You've got a job to do and you need to develop a sense of urgency about this business. He was more concerned about his God Damn lunch then he was getting me on the road! That's not how to run any business.
Eddie seems to do what ever he wants. He goes on two hour lunches, and if Paul leaves early,he will split. He seems annoyed at anyone that comes to him with a tech problem, as if you were some schmuck for having a need (I pay $92 a day for this?). He is never around and if you need a battery, he will say shop the cab and look at you sideways
I left the office feeling humiliated and that should not happen. I will wake up in the morning and struggle to get calls. The GPS is useless and this kid needs to apologize to me. Then, I've got a great idea Eddie. FIX MY TAXI CAB!!!!!!! That would be a novel idea. By the way Eddie, I eat most my meals driving to calls. I suggest you adopt that type of approach.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The tablets are working fine

The tablets that are being installed in all United Cabs are working great. They are mounted up front and have three clear advantages over the BlackBerry. You can see the damn things; they update automatically and the GPS navigation will guide you on all calls. This should remarkably increase our efficiency.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Do you believe in angels?

I had enough of the day and decided to go home early. I grabbed some beer at the Indian store and as I was checking out a young guy ask if I'm the cab driver. He said he needed to go to Ybor City. Cool. Not a bad ride. Its moments like that when you are losing faith that something unexpected happens. My confidence and energy levels were rising. Plus, he gave me a pep talk on the way and was inspiring. Compare this to the many dicks I pick up. I took him where he was going and he gave me twenty bucks. That doubled my take for the day. The right person at the right time. It makes me wonder.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

I almost ran over a skater

4I was pulling out of a motel parking lot about four this morning. I look to the left and wait for car to pass. I look to the left...I then start to pull out. There are no cars coming. This is one of the few times on Kennedy blvd that there are not tons of cars and you wait twenty minutes to just make a right. I take my foot off the brake and begin to press the gas. I am now turning my head to the right and there are no cars coming in any direction. All of a sudden my headlights catch the image of a girl on skates streaking in a diagonal directly in front of me...impact is in seconds! No way out of this. I am going to ground this chick into hamburger! I yank the wheel to the left almost flipping the van. I was not going fast. I had just got started but enough to fuck this girls day all to hell.
She just Misses the van and flips me the bird as she goes by. WTF! She is on skates in the middle of the night and crossing like a man person against night traffic and she flips me the bird. She's lucky they did not have to get out the scraper to peal her off the road. THAT would have fucked my day up and perhaps my life. I don't need that, today, or any day. Damn. My heart was racing.
She was gone. I stoppedthe van. Looked around and she was gone. Just like that it was quit and I was wondering if it really happened. I mean, I did not have my morning coffee yet. Perhaps it was a mirage. Yes, that's what it was. I thought I saw something.
I am not out here to kill people. In all the years I have been doing this, I have never even been in a fender bender. OK, one little one years ago a bump-bump in a parking lot. But man I was scared today. The bird? She gave me the bird. Man.
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