September 25, 2008 - Shooting Photos

Some more photos from Balboa Park.  I believe most of these are on my flickr account as well if you're interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marquis60060/

September 24, 2008 – Another Stalking Mission

             Julie (one of the obese dispatchers) just sent me to pick up Robert Pervantes again.  It shouldn’t have been my call but the first 3 drivers refused to pick him up.  They told Julie that they already had picked up a passenger, or that they were taking fares only from the other side of town, or that they were waiting on a passenger.  All lies.  It doesn’t take much to fool Julie though.  She’s like a dinosaur - big body, little brain.  A modern day Brontosaurus if you will.  It was slow so I agreed to retrieve him.

            I agreed to drive him once around the block so that he could attempt to peer into the window of his sister’s house and lust after her boyfriend.  From the sounds of it they don’t allow him over at all anymore.  Then he wanted to talk about his camera.  Robert has this crappy little point and shoot that he uses.  He tried showing me all of the pictures that he had shot in the last week of his day-to-day activities.  I told him that I had to concentrate on driving.

            Robert: Could we sit down by the water?

            Me: No, the car has to be moving.  I don’t care where we go, but we have to be             driving.

            Robert: Oh…

            Me: Yeah, sorry, it’s a new company policy.

            Robert: I see.

            As you might expect, this simply isn’t true.  I can’t imagine many things that I might enjoy less than getting paid peanuts to sit by the water in the dark and talk with Robert about who knows what.  Nope, were not doing that.  From the sounds of it Robert just needs a friend more than anything.  Surely they have services that offer such a thing.  Me, my services entail picking people up and driving them.  Turns out Robert is actually the one who is driving – driving me insane…

September 19, 2008 – Are We Losing Parts?

            Today one of our drivers cabs broke down.  Well, it wasn’t a routine breakdown, although a routine one for this company.

            “Quincy” picked up young lady who was going out to South San Diego.  This is one of the better rides that we get – typically $35 - $40.  If were lucky we get one of these rides every day or two, although we would get quite a few more if Catherine wasn’t sending her liveries to pick up our rides.  Lining her grubby little pockets.

            It’s only fair that I say a little about the livery scheme, as a premise to the story.  Truthfully it’s a rather dry topic, but an important one for a cabbie.  There are two competing services at “Cortez Cab.”  A livery service, and a taxi service.  A clear conflict of interest. 

             A taxi can be hailed/called for on the spot.  A livery/charter vehicle cannot.  Liveries/charters have a set of guidelines regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission that states the legal requirements.  Namely they are that a prior reservation must be made, and that a set fare must be established.  I believe the fare is established by distance and number of riders in most cases.  Taxis have a metered rate that is set by the city.  The meter is calibrated according to time and distance.

            Anyways, what Catherine often does is take people that call and ask for a taxi and talk them into a livery.  The liveries are paid hourly and only keep tips.  Catherine pays for their gas and maintenance, and keeps the rate that is charged.  Sometimes she just makes up the rate, or the livery driver tells the office that they picked up 3 passengers when they really picked up 5 -and charged them for 5 people I might add.  This isn’t speculation.

            Point is we cherish these long rides, nowadays more than ever.  When Quincy picked up his passenger, “Anna”, he knew from the get go that the car was performing at an even lower level than normal.  There was a certain jerkiness in the steering wheel.  That didn’t stop Quincy.  That wouldn’t stop me.

            So as Quincy and Anna are coming out of Cortez there is suddenly a loud clanking.

            Anna:  Do you hear that?

            Quincy: Yeah, I’m not sure what that is.

            Anna: Do you think that’s ok?

            Quincy: Yeah, but I should probably take a look at it next chance we get to stop.

            Anna: Ok

            Just a few minutes later the steering wheel suddenly jerked to the left side.  Quincy had to quickly compensate and jerk the wheel to the right.  The taxi careened left and nearly did a nosedive into the ground.

            Anna: Uh, are we losing parts?

            Quincy: Yeah, I think so.

            Quincy pulled over and another driver with the company brought Anna to her destination.  Quincy wasn’t happy.  Not only did he miss out on the $40, but he lost two hours of his time and had to speak with the office.  He was immediately blamed for the incident.  This is typical – a default reaction by the office.  Sometimes drivers do neglect their cars, lord knows I do, but often times things just break.   A little jerkiness in the steering wheel could just as easily have been chalked up to a power steering leak, a misalignment, or in this case, a shitty old taxi.  Quincy had every reason to think that everything was, well, routine…

September 11, 2008 – On The Can

             I spoke with one of the drivers on the cab stand today.   A driver who I won’t name.  A few days he had to stop by the office, which he dreads as well, to pay his cab lease.  He thought that he would stop by the bathroom while he was there.

            We’ve spoke at length about the office, and the lunacy that surrounds it.  Saturating it.  Particularly the religious stuff.   Particularly the stuff in the bathroom.  It seems that Catherine is under the impression that people enjoy reading passages from the bible while they pee and poop.  Well the driver in question, who we’ll call "Elmer", gave his take on the subject.  An expression of his own.

And look at the faucet, does that thing even turn on?  How will people wash away their sins?

September 9, 2008 - My Audience

             I like to check my stats for my blog periodically.  I'm curious to see who is reading my blog, or perhaps better yet, what they are looking for when they come across my blog.  These were the top 10 searches that led people to my blog this week.

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 10, 2008 – Credit Cards

           Recently the office has instituted a policy of accepting credit cards.  Forcing cab drivers to take credit cards against their will.  There’s a few reasons that none of the drivers like to deal with credit cards.

1.     It takes time.  Time is of the essence.  Lost time = lost wages.

2.     If they bounce then the driver is left holding the bag, not the company.  I know what you’re thinking – credit cards don’t bounce, checks bounce.  Well, that’s true, but if you have a credit card slip where you simply make an imprint of the card and a signature, well you don’t really have anything to back that when the office gets around to running them a week or so later.

3.     We have to stop in to the office, making an extra trip sometimes, to drop off our credit card slips.  We also have to see cab management, which many of the drivers don’t like all that much.  Then when the drivers redeem their credit card receipts (if you’re lucky enough to get ones from the Navy that don’t bounce) the office charges 10% to run them.  I asked the office why they charge us such a high rate when it probably only costs them 15-20% of that.  They gave me a number of explanations that simply were not true.

4.     The office will not pay the fees to set up a credit card terminal or service it.  That is expected to be done by the driver.

5.     Despite their antiquated system the office refuses to let the drivers call in the credit card over the phone so that it could be run almost instantaneously.  Although the office would have to use technology for that – the telephone.

None of this is a problem for me however because I just refuse to take them.  Every once in a while someone calls and complains, but the office is easily fooled with a good story.  Something shiny or creme filled helps too.

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 29, 2008 - Shooting Photos

Just shot a few photos the other night.  Wasn't sure which one I liked better.

July 28, 2008 – DUI Stop

            Every night at around 10:30 Cortez beefs up it’s police presence.  Looking for drunk drivers mostly – something that I agree with.  San Diego is ranked number one in the country for DUI convictions.  I don’t know whether that is figured in terms of sheer number or per capita.  It’s a fairly common site, but much more common in Cortez.  Surely a number of these stops are involving people who are legitimately drunk, but from what I have seen that is often not the case.  Many of the people who ride in the taxi have been harassed at some point or another by the local police.  The other day I got to see it first hand.  At 3:00 a.m…

            Officer Bert: Do you know why I stopped you?

            Me: No

            Officer Bert: You have a headlight out.

            Me: Oh.

            Officer Bert: License, Registration, and Insurance please.

            Me: Here you go.

            Officer Bert: Where you coming from?

            Me: I park over by the Albertsons.  I drive a taxi in Cortez.

            Officer Bert: Oh.

            So Officer Bert goes out to his car for a few minutes and does whatever paperwork needs to be done. 

            Officer Bert:  How much have you had to drink tonight?           

            Me: I haven’t been drinking, I drive a cab.

            Officer Bert:  You could tell me, have you had a few beers?

            Me: No, I haven’t

            Officer Bert: Well it smells like beer in your car.

            Me: No it doesn’t.

            Officer Bert: Can you step out and do a few tests for me?

            Me: Can we just skip that if I take a breathalyzer?

            Officer Bert: No, we have to do a few tests.

            Now we start a series of the generic DUI tests – Touching your nose with your head tilted back and closing your eyes, walking in a straight line with one foot right in front of the other, the pen test, and so on.

            Officer Bert: Now I need you to follow this pen with your eyes, but don’t move your head, just follow it with your eyes.

            Officer Bert: (After the test) Your eyes are really big and jerky.  What have you been doing?

            Me: I’ve been driving a cab all night, and I had a few energy drinks, and its late, and I’m tired.

            Officer Bert: Energy drinks won’t make your eyes do that.  Only alcohol and Narcotics will do that.

            Me: Well, I don’t know what to say, I haven’t done any of that.

            Officer Bert:  It’s ok, you can tell me if you had a few beers.

            At this point I have nothing else to say.  It doesn’t appear that Officer Bert is believing my story.  Now another police car shows up – containing Officer Ernie.

            Officer Bert: Look at his eyes.

            Officer Ernie: Wow.  What have you been doing?

            So I do the rest of the tests.  I fail all of them – or so I’m led to believe… Eventually the breathalyzer comes out.  It’s a pivotal moment.  Bert and Ernie have big shit eating grins on their face, and probably a big hard on in their pants.

            Officer Bert: Alright, I’m going to need you to blow into this.

            A few moments pass…

            Officer Bert: (With a bewildered look on his face) Ok, get out of here.

            Get out of here?  I most certainly think an apology is in order.  This whole ordeal was totally uncalled for.  What really made me mad was that they needlessly prolonged this whole thing.  It was pretty obvious from the get go, and this should have taken 4 minutes not 40.  I am not happy.

And what a bunch of A-holes anyways.  Ford Mustangs?  I'm sure all that extra horsepower really comes in handy on those densely packed 25mph streets...

         

July 24, 2008 – Business Travelers

             Picked up a few business travelers earlier tonight.  These are pretty routing, especially during Convention season (Summer months).  They’re a pretty good crowd for the most part, and when they realize that you don’t smell and speak fluent English they are much more apt to ride with you.  I get a lot of return fares, and most of them tip well.  They all just write it off as a business expense.

            They also love the strip clubs, although not as much as the Navy does.  Business travelers often cleverly try to segue into the topic.  It’s obvious where they want to go, and it doesn’t make one bit of difference to me.  I like to bring people to the strip club, they’re all quite far.  They’re all a good ride.

            The travelers often ask me to recommend a good club.  I tell them that they’re all pretty much the same, just that you don’t want to go to one in a shitty part of town.  Me, well I never really saw the appeal of strip clubs.  Paying all of that money to get your dick teased.  Doesn’t strike me as much fun…

            Often I pick up repeat customers, some of them frequent the clubs several times per week to visit “Luscious”, “Candy”, “Fantasia”, or some other typical stripper name.  Now that I think of it, Randy’s favorite girl at the club was named “Candy.”  And what was that strip club called – The Body Shop.  How appropriate.  It looks so glamorous, so elegant, right in the middle of an industrial park in Point Loma.

"World Famous?"

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 13, 2008 – Kevin and Linda

            We have a few new drivers that have started recently – Kevin and Linda are their names.

            Kevin is a pretty normal guy.  He lives a pretty simple life.  He has an affinity towards small planes, remote control ones mostly.  He’s shown me some pictures, they’re really nice – the planes.  It’s an expensive hobby by the sounds of it, but Kevin’s a hard worker, and with all of the hours he puts in he seems to make decent money.

            And Linda, well Linda’s a little different.  Linda is SIGNIFICANTLY OVERWEIGHT, has teeth that are as yellow as corn kernels, and showers once every four days, similar to Randy actually.  She comes home, eats dinner (at least one), and goes to bed in her clothes.  The problem occurs when she wears them to work the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that…  You get the picture.

            One of the drivers cabs broke down the other day and since Linda wasn’t working they let them use it for the day.  The driver, Tom, said that it smelled so bad that several customers either refused to ride in it or voiced their displeasure about the smell.

            Kevin currently lives with Linda and her sister Mandy.  Mandy is no prize either, although a gem compared to Linda.  Mandy is dating Kevin, which is a topic that he understandably shies away from.  Kevin has been working a lot more hours lately.  Turns out the other roommates haven’t been paying their fair share towards the rent.  Where has the rent money been going?  Well, it’s been going to Disneyland every week or so.   As always the story gets better…

            Linda, well she’s still a virgin – at 54 years old…  I could just see the personal ad now –

“54 year obese, cab driving, smelly virgin with crusty yellow teeth and bad breath seeks soulmate willing to take weekend trips to Disneyland with me and my obese sister.” 

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 9, 2008 – Randy

            Just when I think I’ve seen it all, I come across a driver like Randy…

            Randy is a sixty something year old man from rural Missouri, or “Missoura” as he calls it.  Randy wears shorts, flip flops, and Hawaiian shirts, Which he swears are part of the company uniform.  They do beautifully accent his mullet and Hyena like cackling though.

            Randy claims he get’s great tips from the Navy, which is doubtful, because he pulls out all the stops – his “Dog and Pony show” if you will.  Perhaps this is done to distract his customers from the fact that he hasn’t showered in 3 days and has been relentlessly chain smoking in the car which now smells like an ashtray.  Some of these dipshits actually smoke CIGARS in the cab.  CIGARS!

            A few years ago Randy got a large inheritance.  I’m not exactly sure what the details were, which really don’t matter.  Something to the tune of  $250,000.  What might you ask did Randy do with this money?  Why he spent it in one year on booze, and hookers at “The Body Shop”, a dilapidated strip club in Point Loma.  His favorite girl is named "Candy".  Real creative right.  For $300 she lets him fill her up with his old wrinkly weiner.  

           I believe he took a several week trip to Brazil as well.   I would say that Randy is a loser.  I don’t think that would be a stretch.  But no, not Randy.  He calls it something else, he calls it “having a good year”. 

            Not much has changed, although since Randy has been driving the taxi he hasn’t been living as lavishly.  He has still however continued to spend the majority of his money on booze and hookers, which often times comes before rent money.  

This was meant to be another one of my caricature's because I don't actually have pictures of most of the drivers, but the more I look at it I think that this might actually be "Randy."

July 6, 2008 – The Awakening

            I had an epiphany, and awakening if you will…

            A movie, one that I’d seen long ago, but recently rediscovered.  A landmark film to say the least.  “Taxi Driver” was it’s title.  For those of you who haven’t seen this, please do, you won’t be disappointed.  It’s one of Martin Scorsese’s earliest films.

            It wasn’t until I started driving a taxi that I realized how spot on the depictions of taxi life were.  Truth be told, there are many differences in driving a taxi in New York as there are here in San Diego, but there are quite a few similarities as well.  There will be no prostitutes, stalking, or murders.

            For example, Travis (Robert Dinero’s character) becomes quickly immersed in the job, rapidly becoming disconnected from his family, and later reality.  I found my conversations becoming more and more infrequent, and were often times about the job, and seemed to be centered on the day to day operations of the business.  I justified things with my income.  It quickly became an obsession.  Day after day, long hours, and great money.  It was never enough.  I would work 10, 12, sometimes 18 hour days. Like Travis, a young man in the prime of his life.

            In the movie you never are able to see the other side of the equation – Travis’s parents, and how they viewed the life he had made for himself.  My parents, well, they were supportive, but disappointed that I hadn’t applied myself more in life, in a career if you will.  Seconds turned into minutes, into hours, into days, into weeks, into months, and now into over a years time with the company.

            I find myself on the outside, looking in at the world.  Becoming bitter, despondent, resentful toward the company and their practices – which are often selfish at best.  Disgusted with the owner and her thievery, naïveté, micromanagement of my work.

            I don’t have the time, or inclination, to be a part of social events, to be amicable, or even upbeat about work here anymore.  I have neglected relationships, and even burned a few bridges, as a result from my growing defeatist attitude.

            What have I gained?  Well I’ve gained plenty I suppose.  I have made friends, with honest, down to earth people.  Friendships that will hopefully continue when, and if, I decide to part ways with the company.  I’ve had conversations with people from all over the world, talked about endless topics.  Talked with people from different backgrounds, professions, races, and social strata.  I’ve gained stories, experiences, and in some cases hard lessons, that I have learned from and made me stronger.

            But as for now, I remain, a taxi driver.

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?