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

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."

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.

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.

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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.

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.

I almost ran over a skater

I 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.