October 16, 2008 - Shooting Photos

October 11, 2008 – “The Gesture”

            Catherine called me today, which she is becoming increasingly reluctant to do.

            It was about a complaint that she received from another driver on the road.  Earlier I approached a car (Car A) that was sitting at a red light.  I needed to make a right turn.  It appeared if Car A was just sitting there, waiting for the light to turn so that he could proceed through the intersection.  I saw an unused parking lane on the right side, which I have to admit, was slim.  But there was enough room to squeeze by on the side – so I did so.  As I was passing the stopped car the man began to shout in his car.  I couldn’t see what he was saying, but it was apparent that he was mad.  For what, I have no idea.  I gave him the finger and went on my way.

            Ring, Ring…

            Me: Hello

            Catherine: Hi -----

            Me: Yes

            Catherine: It’s Catherine.

            For those of you who haven’t been reading my blog, every single time Catherine calls me the conversation starts out like this.  It’s strange.

            Me: Yes

            Catherine: Do you know what this is about?

            Me: Nope

                        Why would I offer something up that she might not know?  This is exactly how detectives talk to suspects.

            Catherine: Were you driving the taxi earlier?

            Me: Yes (As she knew I was, she was dispatching)

            Catherine: Do you know what this is about?

            Me: No

            Catherine: Were you at 6^th and Main earlier.

            Me: I’m sure I was at some point.

            Catherine: (A condescending laugh)

            Me: ------

            Catherine: Do you remember an altercation at 6^th and Main.

            Me: Oh yeah, that guy that threw a fit in his car for no reason.  Now I remember.

            Catherine: Yes **** (My name, which I won’t reveal) that man.  He said that you snuck past him when there wasn’t any room.  He said that he was trying to make a right turn and you cut him off.

            Me: Well if there wasn’t any room then I wouldn’t have been able to get past him.  If he was wrong about that it’s likely that he was mistaken about everything else.

            Catherine: Yes ****, he said that you cut him off and wouldn’t let him make  his right turn.

            Me: If he wanted to make a right turn he could have used his signal to alert me, but he didn’t, and if that was his intention I would have had no way of knowing.

            Catherine: Yes **** , and he was a little confused about the gesture.

            Me:----

            Catherine:------

            Catherine: ****, do you see what the problem here is?

            Me: That the man wanted to make a right turn without using his signal, and realized after I was in position to take mine?  There were no oncoming cars. I’m not sure why he didn’t.  He was just sitting there.

            Catherine: (Another condescending laugh)

            Me: Well, I don’t know what to tell you, I don’t see what I did wrong.  I used my signal, and he didn’t.  I can’t read his mind.

            Me: I can’t talk right now, I’m driving.

            Catherine: Ok

            I don’t know why the other driver would have been “confused” about me giving him the finger.  There’s not much room for interpretation on that one.  Catherine talks to me like she is painting a picture for the jury.  Recreating the scene.  Building a case.  Trying to obtain a conviction.

September 7, 2008 – Mostafa

             Today Mostafa, another one of our Iraqi drivers, had a funny interaction with Catherine on the radio.  This was shortly after one of his fellow drivers called him out on the radio for stealing a ride.

            Driver C: Hey Mostafa, you just took my ride.  I was sent here for the people who you just  picked up.

            Mostafa: No, they didn’t call.

            Driver C: Yeah, they did.  And I was the one that they sent, not you.

            Mostafa: No, they’re different.

            Mostafa happened to be closer to the call and just decided to pick up the people who were waiting.  This happens all the time, and us honest drivers (all 4 of us) don’t much like it.  We’ve tried to talk to the offenders personally, and went through the office to no avail.  There’s no punishment handed down for this sort of thing.  Not by the office at least.  That didn’t prevent Franco from getting his nose broken though.  An informal punishment.

            This quickly escalated between Mostafa and the fellow drivers to the point where Catherine decided to intervene.  Not for the sake of the driver whom had his ride stolen though, but for the sake of keeping the radio quiet.  Catherine is under the impression that if customers in the cabs hear any bickering between the drivers that they will be outraged and refuse to ride with the company, or call the city, which is what scares Catherine most.  She thinks that these supposedly disenfranchised passengers are going to come to city council meetings and complain about the service.  Unfathomable, simply unfathomable…

            Catherine: Cab 18 (Mostafa)

            Mostafa: Cab 18 go ahead.

            Catherine: Landline the office. (Call the office)

            Mostafa: No thanks.

            Catherine: Landline the office.

            Mostafa: No, I’m not doing that.  Maybe later I will

            Catherine: (Not realizing that she still had her finger keying the mic) Boy, he’s got a mouth on him.

            This is just another example of Catherine’s lack of control over the employees.  Truthfully the employees run the show.  They could probably run the company better too.  Hell, they might even incorporate technology… Perhaps they would even use a computer?  Catherine probably has a series of stone tablets that she carves notes onto.

August 30, 2008 – A Funny Story From Robert Pervantes

            You remember Robert right?  You know, the creepy guy that wants you to drive around the block in circles while he stalks his sister’s boyfriend.   This time was no different but I kept the stalking (as directed by Robert) to a minimum.  Anyways, Robert told me a funny story.

            About a week ago one of our drivers “Nick” picked up Robert and drove him to Starbucks so that Robert could get some coffee.  Robert is disabled, possibly in a number of ways, but most noticeably by the fact that he walks with a crutch.  I’m not exactly sure what ails Robert.  Robert asked Nick if he could go inside and get some coffee.  Nick wasn’t interested and told Robert that he would need to do that himself.  Sure, it would have been a nice gesture to get Robert coffee, but in all fairness, it was a little forward for him to ask directly.  Robert is able to walk, albeit with the aid of a crutch.  Were taxi drivers, not errand runners.

            At any rate about 10 minutes later as Robert is walking out he trips and falls and gets stuck right in the swinging door in front of Starbucks.  Nick just sat there and watched as Robert flailed away like a fish on the beach.  An employee of Starbucks came and helped Robert to his feet and back into the taxi.  I could only imagine the awkwardness on the ride back.

             I had heard nothing about this until Robert brought it up.

            Robert:  I went to the Starbucks the other day and tripped and fell as I was walking out.  The      driver saw the whole thing.  He just sat in his taxi and stared.

            Me: Oh, yeah.

            Robert: Yeah, and then when he dropped me off he told me his name was “Gomez.”  I know Gomez, and that wasn’t Gomez.

            This is actually a game that a number of us drivers play.  Whenever we get a fare that we don’t much care for, we tell our passenger that our name is something else.  This is typically a driver that we really don’t care for.  Me, well, I say my name is “Kirk.”  He’s probably the biggest piece of shit out here, so I try to pass all of the crappy rides on to him.  Kirk’s not as stupid as he looks though.  He’s caught onto this, and now refuses to take personal requests from people he’s not familiar with.

            Gomez, well Gomez actually likes to pick up Robert, although I can’t imagine why… 

August 24, 2008 – More About Catherine’s Credit Card Swindle

            So there has been growing discontent amongst the drivers on the topic of credit cards.  Or perhaps more specifically the forcing of drivers to take credit cards.  Catherine put out the word that this is something that we must comply with as it is something that is regulated and necessitated by the City of Cortez.  A few days ago one of our drivers talked with one of the higher-ups within the city government and asked point blank whether or not the city required taxi drivers to accept credit cards.  An answer was received – an unequivocal NO.  Catherine had told a lie.

            Shortly afterwards the driver went to the office and asked Catherine whether or not we are required to take credit cards.  Catherine told him “sometimes we need to take the iniative and step up and do things before the city requires us to do so.”  Apparently Catherine had forgotten that only a week or so prior she had explicitly stated that taking credits was a citywide requirement.

            And recently I heard something that really angered me.  Supposedly Catherine has a mission down in Mexico that she contributes too.  The fact that she operates a mission, or that it is in Mexico,  is not the issue.  What is an issue is that she obviously has a surplus of money, enough so that she is able to donate to nonessential causes such as this but refuses to outfit her company with clean, safe, dependable vehicles.  That should be priority number one.  All too often myself and other drivers have had to lose a days pay because our cab has broken down.

            I’ve already caught Catherine in a number of mistruths.  For example requiring that we pick up EVERYONE.  Everyone?  How about someone that wants to start a fight, doesn’t have money, doesn’t know where they are going, someone who just shit their pants.  No, we most certainly do not.

August 22, 2008 – Mrs. Wilitz

           Mrs. Wilitz is one of our regular customers.  She has an account with the office.  Whenever Dolores Wilitz takes a cab we just put her pickup point, destination, and a total fare on a business card that is stamped with a payment template on the back.  Most companies would print out receipts for this sort of thing.  Not Cortez Cab.  It might cost them a few extra cents to order stamped business cards, and it would be a lot to ask them to spend money on anything.If you’ve read some of my previous posts you’ve heard about the condition of our cabs.  And if you haven’t, well, they’re pieces of shit.

            So we have to go into the office and manually stamp the back of them.  But we can't stamp to many at once.  We are only rationed out 40 cards at a time.  After that we are supposed to fill out a office log and sign it saying that we only took 40 business cards.  I'm not sure why the office makes us do this, it's beyond silly.  If drivers want to come in every day and grab 40 that would be fine though?  I don't see the advantage of having a stockpile of stamped business cards sitting in my cab, other than the fact that if I do grab a bunch of them at once it minimizes the number of trips that I have to make to the office.  Bizarre that office is...

            Anyways, one of our drivers, who we’ll call “Driver A,” picked her up the other day.  Driver A picked her up from “The Willows” a retirement community in Cortez.  One of the attendants wheeled her vegetative husband out in his wheelchair.  They were going to the Hotel Del Coronado, which is more of a local tourist attraction than anything else.  I spoke with a man who went there for a beer a few days prior.  A $13 beer….  A bottle of Budweiser.

            Driver A and the attendant folded up the wheel chair and helped Mrs. Wilitz and her husband into the taxi.  When they arrived there was a problem.

            Driver A: (Pops the trunk to remove the wheelchair)

            Mrs. Wilitz: What’s that!

            Driver A: It looks like a wheeellllccchhaaaiir…?

            Mrs. Wilitz: How did it get in there?

            Driver A:? 

            Driver A: I put it in there…                       

            Mrs. Wilitz: Well it’s not ours.  That must belong to The Willows.

            Driver A: Ok, I’ll return it.

            As Driver A picked up Mrs. Wilitz and her husband they stood there and watched as the two men (Driver A and the attendant from The Willows) struggled to fold up the rusty old wheelchair for a good minute and put it in the trunk.  It seems as if they had no idea that once it was folded up and placed in there that it would proceed to their final destination as well.

            Driver A works nights, often till 3 a.m.  The next morning one of the office workers, Bertha – the biggest one, called him to verify that the wheelchair had been returned.  At 9 a.m…

            I don’t like to get calls from the office about anything, much less to be woken up by them for such a trivial reason.  Driver A wasn’t happy and I can’t blame him.  Perhaps I’m wrong.  Perhaps Bertha and Mrs. Wilitz knew something that I didn’t.  Perhaps there is a thriving black market for dilapidated old wheelchairs.

August 6, 2008 – Fat Cabbie

            One of my fellow coworkers told me a funny story today.    The previous night Jefferson had been sitting outside of the local Irish bar.   A drunk man came out of the bar and asked to pay with a credit card.  Jefferson said that he didn’t accept credit cards.  An argument ensued.

            Customer: Why not?

            Jefferson: I’m not set up for it.  I’m sorry.

            Customer: NO. I’m paying with credit card.

            Jefferson: We can stop by an ATM if you would like.

            Customer: You’re just a fat cabbie and that’s all you’re going to ever be.

            Jefferson: Perhaps, but you’re acting like a child who doesn’t get his way.

            The man then just stormed off inside the bar.  A few minutes later he came out and apologized and agreed to withdraw funds from the nearest ATM.

August 4, 2008 - More Pictures From The Zoo (Not the one I work at)

Just a few more pictures I shot at the San Diego Zoo the other day.  It's actually pretty hard to get good pictures at the zoo.  But I like to try.

August 3, 2008 – The Man Who Didn’t Like Cigarettes

            A few weeks ago myself and a fellow driver were having a chat.  I was sitting in my taxi, in the drivers seat, and one of the other drivers who well call “William” was sitting in the back.  Smoking a cigarette.  William does what most people do when they are finished with their cigarette – throw it on the ground.  Obviously this isn’t the best place to discard spent cigarette butts, but that’s where most of them just end up.  Point is it’s common.

            As William threw his butt out the window a concerned citizen spotted it and came over to intervene.  We’ll call this man “Lawrence.”

            Lawrence: You dropped something.

            William: Yeah

            Lawrence: Yeah, it’s not a garbage can you know (the sidewalk).

            William: I know.

            Lawrence: So are you going to pick it up?

            William: Yeah.

            Lawrence: Are you going to pick that up?

            William: Yeah, I will.

            So Lawrence walks about 100 feet down the block and waits.  Watching to see if William will leave the taxi to pick up his cigarette butt.  Me and William get a good laugh out of this whole thing.  I have never seen someone become so concerned about another person throwing a spent cigarette on the sidewalk.  I probably see it ten times a day.  Surely Lawrence sees the same.  Surely it just makes his blood boil.  After about 3 minutes Lawrence realizes that William has no intentions of picking up the cigarette butt and returns to the scene.

            Lawrence: Here you go (as he picks up that cigarette butt, which still is smoldering on the pavement, and throws it right in the taxi at William).

            William: (Sitting there in awe).  What the fuck?

            Me: What an asshole.

            William: I don’t know what to say.  I’m shocked.

            Me: Unreal.  That guy could have lit the taxi on fire.  Probably not, but it could have happened.  Does this guy always get this worked up about people throwing cigarettes on the ground?  It must be pretty hard for this guy to get through his day.

            A few weeks later I pick up a couple a few blocks from where this happened.  As I tried to leave the alley some A-hole in the alley zooms up in her BMW and blocks me from getting out and honks his horn.  He wants to go first.  So I say whatever and let him pass. We’ll call my passengers “Marty” and “Stephanie.”

            Me: What an asshole.

            Stephanie: Tell me about it.  I can’t stand that guy.

            Me: Why’s that?

            Stephanie: (Laughing) Tell him Marty.           

            Marty: He doesn’t want to hear about that?

            Me: No I do, what’s the deal with that guy?

            Stephanie: He’s our neighbor.  One day I threw a cigarette out in the alley behind my house and a few later he came to our front door to return it.  It was still lit.

            Me: (Laughing) I know that asshole!  (I then proceeded to tell Marty and Stephanie about my experience that I had a few weeks earlier at the Irish pub up the street.

            We all got a good laugh out of this.  Small world.  One of these days this guy is going return a cigarette to someone who really doesn’t want it back.  One of these days Lawrence is going to get socked in the face.

July 20, 2008 – The Taxi Blog Uncovered

            A few days ago Catherine, the company owner, found a fellow drivers blog.  It was pretty tame, especially compared to what I have to write about the company, which is all true I might add.

            Nothing was brought up to the author, but it was clear who was writing it, and what it was about.  Catherine was able to put the pieces together after the blog’s writer went on a rant about how terrible of a roommate that he had (which was also true).  All of the pieces suddenly fit together.  The roommate happened to be a fellow driver with the company and it wasn’t too hard to connect the dots – even for “Catherine.”  After all Randy is quite the standout, although not in the way that most people would use the term.  More in terms of descending than ascending. 

            When Catherine found out she had a little pow-wow with the rest of the obese, bible toting loons and had a “prayer meeting” where they openly sobbed for the blog’s creator.  She prayed for the driver.  I have no idea what they were actually praying for - I can only imagine…  Perhaps something garnished, if not entirely comprised of sugar.  A pastry perhaps.

            Me, well, I think that after reading a few of my posts Catherine will be able to connect the dots here as well.  I’m not worried about that though, she can kiss my ass.  You hear that Catherine?  You can kiss my ass.

You remember Randy right?

http://corruptionincortez.blogspot.com/2012/01/july-9-2008-randy.html

Some of you may remember "Ted Martin's" blog as well - "The SoCal Cabbie"

July 17, 2008 – Lois’s Condition

Lois's Lair

          Today I had an interesting conversation with Jefferson about Lois.  You may remember her, the lady with the garbage house.  Jefferson explained how he was dissatisfied with riding with her, as all of the other drivers are, and how much of a pain in the ass Lois was.  Turns out Lois had a pain in her ass as well – which she felt the need to tell Jefferson about.  It wasn’t so much a pain as a condition perhaps.  Lois thought Jefferson would enjoy having her explain her current affliction – the one about her bloody diarrhea.  Surprisingly Jefferson wasn’t interested, or hungry anymore for that matter.

http://corruptionincortez.blogspot.com/2011/12/june-4-2008-garbage-house.html

July 11, 2008 – Another Ride With Pervantes

            I had another ride with Robert Pervantes again today.  Not much different from the last time I had him.  Not much better…

            He kept asking for me to circle the block so that he could see if Todd (his sisters boyfriend), who Robert has a not so secret crush on, was home.  Robert is fully aware of the fact that he is not well liked by Todd, yet he insists on stalking him.

            Robert showed me this point and shoot camera that he had and asked a few questions.  It was a slow night so I offered to show him some of the basic functions.  We went by the bay, found a post to set the camera up on, and took some shots of downtown San Diego.

            Robert seems to like me, although hopefully not as much as he seems to like Todd.  He also told me that he likes riding with me better than riding with Dauf.  Turns out about a week ago Dauf picked up Robert and offered to drive him around town.  More than anything Robert likes to talk, or perhaps reveal…

            Anyways, Dauf picked up Robert and decided to drive him down to Imperial Beach.  Dauf likes to fill up gas in Imperial Beach because it is significantly cheaper down there.  Problem is that it isn’t really feasible to drive all the way to Imperial Beach to get gas because by the time you get there you have probably negating any savings that you would have gained.  It’s just easier to fill up in town where it is more expensive, or just cross the bridge to downtown. 

            Dauf: You want to go to I.B.?

            Robert: I was hoping that we could just drive around?

            Dauf: You’ll like I.B., it’s very nice. (Which simply isn’t true)

            Robert: Um well I wa--------

            Dauf: Ok, we go to I.B.

            Robert: Um

            Dauf: Yeah, you’ll like it.

            So Dauf proceeds to drive (or kidnap) Robert down to Imperial Beach resulting in a $24 fare.  Dauf was nice enough not to charge Robert waiting time while he filled up at the gas station though.  What a sweetheart.  Dauf had no problem charging him the fare for the return trip however, another $24.

In all fairness Imperial Beach has a pretty amazing sandcastle competition.

July 10, 2008 – Do You Know Why I Stopped You

            Of course I do…

            Today I got a speeding ticket.  I wasn’t trying to speed, I was just following the flow of traffic.  We’ve all done it right?  Of course I couldn’t see how fast I was going since my dash lights were still burnt out.  Oh, and because the speedometer doesn’t work.  I didn’t expect any leniency from the CHP.  The shitty part was just before I got pulled over, and before I saw the cop I might add, I thought that I might have been going too fast and was slowing down.  I should send the ticket to Catherine and have her pay it.  I don’t know how many times now I’ve asked her to fix these problems with my cab.

            I didn’t even want to be out in El Cajon.  I was doing a favor for a regular customer by giving his friend a ride home for less than half of what the meter came to.  On top of that his friend was running his mouth for no reason, and saying that I was taking him the long way, although when I asked which way he would like me to take he had no suggestions.

            I enjoy picking up Jake though, he’s one of my “regulars.”  He probably calls every few days, and unlike most of the sailors, he tips.  I even went out and grabbed a beer after work with him once.  Real down to earth guy.  The officer who stopped me, well, he wasn’t so amicable.  Surely I’ll be visiting traffic school again in no time…

July 5, 2008 – Getting Kirk Excited

            Today someone was getting Kirk all excited again.  This seems to happen at least once a week.  Sometimes more.

            The reason that no one likes Kirk is because he’s an a-hole.   There was a new guy that started last week and tried to introduce himself.  He walked up to Kirk’s window.  Kirk just ignored him.  He didn’t even flinch.  Jack (the new driver) was in disbelief.

            Jack: I tried to talk to cab 83 (Kirk) earlier and he didn’t say anything.           

            Me: Yeah, that’s Kirk alright.  I wouldn’t bother with that guy.  Nobody here likes him.

            Jack: He didn’t even acknowledge me.  I know he heard me, his window was open.

            Me: Don’t worry, he’s like that to everyone.  He’s crazy, none of us like him.

            Jack: Thanks for letting me know.

            So anyways, like clockwork, one of the drivers began to pick on Kirk.  This usually happens when he comes into work for the day.

            Kirk: Cab 83

            Julie: Cab 83

            Kirk: 10-8, 10-30 (Back in service, send me an assignment)

            Julie: Go to the Vo-----(Click, Click, Click) and pic-------- (Click, Click, Click)

            Kirk: 10-9 (Repeat)

            Julie: Go to th---(Click, Click) and pick u---(Click, Click, Click, Click)

            Kirk: 10-9!

            Julie: Go to th----(Click, Click, Click, Click, Click…)

            Kirk: Some queers playing with the radio again.

            Julie: What’s wrong with you!


            The sad thing about Julie's question is that it wasn't directed at Kirk...  In her eyes Kirk wasn't the problem.

            I was sitting with another driver when this was all happening, waiting for a fare.  We both got a chuckle.  Calling people “queers” is a favorite past time of Kirk’s.  It’s his favorite insult for sure.  Other insults include calling people “Princess,” “Raghead,” “Asshole,” “Coward,” “Their highness” or  “Sissy white people” - just to name a few.  All of our customers and fellow drivers get to hear this as well because it is broadcast throughout our radio network.  This is all ok in Catherine’s eyes since Kurt is a “good worker” because he works 12-hour days EVERY day of the year.  A sociopath, but a “good worker” nevertheless.  But boy, if I forget to wear my black pants, well then, that’s a disaster.

You all remember Kirk right?  

July 4, 2008 – The 4th of July in Cortez

        I have mixed feelings about working on the 4^th of July.  The money is good, but it’s oh so frustrating.  Traffic everywhere, no parking, drunks everywhere, you name it.  Especially here in Cortez.  I hear that 500,000 people come here alone to watch the fireworks.  You get a good view from the bay.  Actually a great view – if you’re lucky enough to get to the front and get a seat.  Sure beats watching them from National City.  Or you may know National City by something else – “Nasty City, “National Tragedy”, “National Shitty”, “Nasty Shitty” and so on, you get the point.  If you’ve been there you know what I’m talking about.  Consequently we get a lot of rif-raf from there, Chula Vista “Chulajuana” too for that matter.  Don’t send me the hate mail, they were nicknamed that long before I moved here.

            It takes a good 30 minutes to get from one side of town to the other (which is only about 2 miles).  It’s a mess.  I had to take a break after a bit today.  For an hour I took a break and shot some photos.  There was absolutely no street parking.  I just parked in an alley.  It was hard to get a good spot but I made due.  Had time to shoot a few photos, not my favorites, but they were fun to shoot.

            After that I was back to work.  Traffic had subsided a bit, but was still a disaster.  When it was all said and done at 2:45 a.m. I had made $370 in fares in about 10 hours.  No one had tried to fight me.  No one had thrown up in my cab.  Everyone had paid the fare, except this super drunk guy who tried to pay with a credit card for a $6 fare.  That one was on me, it’s just not worth the time to mess around with a credit card when it’s that busy, it’s actually better just to pick up another fare believe it or not.

July 3, 2008 - Joshua Tree National Park

            Today I went to Joshua Tree State Park.  I've heard great things over the years, I've just never took time to actually go.  It was a nice drive, about two and a half hours or so.  The park is filled with these spectacular rock formations.  And that the trees that the park is named after.  It's unfortunate, whenever I think of a Joshua Tree I remember that awful U2 album (which was called the Joshua Tree). These were a few of the photos that I shot earlier.

July 2, 2008 – Robert Pervantes

             I picked up this real oddball earlier, and to say that he was simply an oddball, well, that would be an understatement.  His name was Robert.  “Robert Pervantes.“

            I was sent to 571 R Street in the alley to pick him up.  In Cortez there are alley addresses and street addresses.  Generally the more well-to-do people have street addresses.  The alleys are reserved for smaller guesthouses and apartments primarily.  Typically younger people who work in the service industry here in Cortez.  Resturants, marinas, hotels, etc.  Not many corporate folk.  And occasionally weirdos…  Today was no exception.

            Me: Hi

            Robert: Um, hello.

            Me: Where are you off to?

            Robert: Um, can we just drive around for a bit?

            Me: Sure, but I have to give the dispatcher a final destination.

            Robert: But could we just drive around.

            Me: Sure whatever.  I’ll just make something up, but you’ll have to pay the meter. 

            Robert: Ok

            This already struck me as a little strange.  Typically people don’t like to pay for cabs, which aren’t cheap by the way, to just drive around.  This guy’s sure seems like a creeper.  It would be exciting to get a fugitive.  I’ve already had several geriatrics, it’s be nice to mix it up.

            Robert: Can you go right here.

            Me: Sure

            Robert: (A block later) Could you take another right?

            Me: Sure

            Robert: (Another block later) Could you take a right here?

            Me: …Ok

            Robert: Slow down.  Is that light on?  Was there anyone in there?

            Me: I don’t know.

            Robert: Do you think he saw me?

            Me: No, it’s dark out.

            Robert: Are you sure?

            Me: Yes

            Then the conversation really started to get weird.  He pulled out this camera with pictures of his sisters boyfriend on it, which appeared to have been taken surreptitiously, and asked for my take on them.

            Robert: So do you think that this guy is hot?

            Me: I wouldn’t know.

            Robert:  Oh, me either.

            Me: ………

            Robert: Can you make a left here?

            Me: Sure

            Robert: Can we make another left, and then the left after that too?

            Me: Sure Robert.

            Robert: Look the lights on in there.  Can you see anyone in there, do you think that’s my sisters         boyfriend?

            Robert: So you don’t think he saw me?

            Me: Well, I have one of my regular customers that I have to pick up, we should probably get heading back.

            Robert: Oh, ok.

            Me: (A few minutes later) $6.80.

            Robert: Ok, I just have $7.00.

            Me: That’s fine.

            That’s quite a coincidence  He had exactly (minus the 20 cents) what the meter was?  What if we just kept driving, as he had requested, and the meter came out to $9.00?  What would he have done then?   Would he have brought exactly $9.00 with him.  I really don't care if people tip me or not.  Many people think that we do.   

            You’re really rolling the dice if you are taking cabs without having enough money to pay the fare.  That’s something that might get you beat up.  I’m pretty well natured, some of the other drivers not so much.  Vincent’s a good example of that.  Vinny probably would have stuck an icepick in him.  After all, that’s his weapon of choice, or so he says…

            From the sounds of things his sister wasn’t too fond of him either.  Could it have been because here old pervy brother Robert keeps hitting on boyfriend?

July 1, 2008 – Just Another Day at Cortez Cab

         Business as usual....

June 30, 2008 – Julie Gets Worked Up

Today Julie got a little worked up on the radio.  Nothing like her usual tantrums though.  Today she had the foresight to turn off the radio and cut her losses.

June 29, 2008 – Camping Urban Style

           I’ve noticed a good number of people out camping.  They have tents and blankets laid out everywhere.  A boisterous croud, shouting aloud, like a jovial lot.  Usually after a few libations…  They seem to congregate with other campers, lining the streets.  Their unity seems to be contagious.  Laying down on their blankets.  Getting ready for a picnic perhaps.   It sure would be nice to have the luxury, and freedom, to camp out every day…  The freedom to not have to shower, to shave, to work.  The freedom to go to the bathroom where ever you please.  Even on the sidewalk.