Sunday, March 31, 2013

What is Easter about ?

 A video interlude


 The voices were recorded around 1960 in a national school on Sean McDermott St. in the inner city.
The teachers name was Miss Clarke. Then RTE got the tapes and they became "Give up yer auld sins"

Then it was made into a cartoon.


Some people when they get into a car loose their good manners.
Think of this old lady the next time you see an asshole driving



Slick parking


A prisoner of their own making


Just click here to see some really super driving. At the very end he is spinning around on the wheel rims !

Monday, March 25, 2013

A lady of the twilight

                     Seapoint
                       Near Portabello

                         Financial services center

I saw her on the other side of the road with blue jeans so tight that they must be painted on, she was crossing the road. I was waiting for the lights to change.
Then when she was right in front of me she signaled to me to see if I was free.
So I was off to Ballymun, near Ikea, She gave me her phone to show me the exact address It was on her phone along with the agreed price for her services !
She came from Romania young and very pretty,we made small talk as we went on. Then when I spoke about my children her personality lit up, She was 20 years old the same age as my youngest son.
Her Mother was from the Ukraine and her Mother and her sister spoke Russian.
But she didn't. Her English was good though.
The sex trade ubli has moved off the streets and onto the Internet. You can buy a woman, or a man or a transgender, transvestite as easily as a DVD.
The changes in the law making it an offense to pay for sex has been delayed as it passed through the parliament, so business is booming at present.
Still I would not send my 20 year old daughter off to a foreign land into the hands of criminals to be exploited,no matter how badly I needed the money.
Still I have highlighted one or 2 sites at the right hand side of my blog. If you take a look it might help you to put some understanding into your mindset.
In Thailand people traffickers buy young children as young as 8 years old to work in factory's. They can be further exploited in other ways when they get a little older,
 EVERYTHING HAS A HIDDEN PRICE.
On that subject a Chinese lady once confided that she worked as an agent for the sex trade and she said that the girls do very well and often marry well when they are in their 30s.
I jsut said that I hoped her own children might have the same wonderful chance in life.
End of conversation

So as we came up to the Travelodge hotel I told her to ring again and got final directions. He told me where to go. then "Is she pretty?" Very. I said.
We arrived at the apartment and she was gone.

So to the young lady I wish you luck,  You will need it.

Perhaps the next time we meet I will find the words you need to hear.

GOD BLESS YOU IN THIS SEASON OF EASTER

To all the people who were putting in comments I must say sorry.
You see some people were sending SPAM disguised as comments, one of my kids put on a comments filter  without telling me.
Then the other day I was told that I have over 800 comments waiting for clarification.
When I looked through them there are loads of them selling Viagra and offering massages etc.
So I deleted around 100 and it will take a while to go through the other 700.
So if your comment had a link attached its gone !
Sorry.
Some of your gems of wisdom went out with "Where to get new shinny bicycle"

STILL THE INTERNET IS GREAT.
I get at least one email from Nigeria every month offering me
"As a fine Christian man"
the chance of taking care of $1.8 million dollars US, or some other amount.

So you will be glad to know I sent them YOUR bank details to them,
your mothers maiden name and a copy of your driving licence as well..

ENJOY

You should have the money tomorrow.

 Euromillions draw has crossed the €110 million mark,
If you won that amount you could buy Cyprus.

When I was there a couple of years ago a guy who owned an Internet cafe told me this.
"What will they do?
They can't  lock us all up !
They sent me 11 credit cards and now they are all maxed out, they never asked me if I could pay
I CAN'T PAY AND I WON'T PAY.
What will they do???? lock us all up?"
I just told him that he knew when he took the credit cards that he was borrowing money and it will have to be paid back.
He didn't care.



If you work in advertising you have to look for new jingles, catchy ideas all the time.
Here is one that the Canadians thought up. 



Good eh?



Just like a taxi driver ?

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Panel beating !


I must give thanks to David Kenny and the great skill he has with hammer, welder, sander and spray gun.
A fantastic repair job on my wife's car and the price was great, really great, Thank you.
So you will find his workshop in the lane that runs up from the Clontarf Rd at the Yacht pub.
Mick Kenny Motors, 01 8338540 or 087 7963603. Tell him I sent you.
He can repair a plastic bumper as well !

It is very hard to find good tradesmen.


On Thursday I drove up to see my grandson in Northern Ireland, 2 hours each way and the weather was stormy. The weather on Friday was far worse with snow in Ulster and flooding in the republic.
Snow brought down power lines , here in the republic we had flooding the roads around Wicklow were completely impassable.The police were warm and snug inside, out of the rain and people were stranded for 3 or more hours in their cars. It would be nice if they would come out and divert traffic instead of letting people just sit there.
On Saturday morning I scouted around for work and found that the EU heads of state have taken over the  Westbury 4* hotel, no room for taxis there.
So I went off to trawl the mean streets. Down through Donnybrook I head over to St.Vincents hospital where my victim was walking out of casualty after being there all night.
His story was strange and disturbing.
He lives on Marlborough Rd and was going into his apartment when his next door neighbor asked him for a few cigarettes. He told him that he didn't smoke and the neighbor slashed him across the arm and back with a knife ! The thug is still being chased by the police. The victim got 11 stitches in the hospital and was starting to show signs of shock when we arrived back at his place, I carry medicated wipes in the car so I gave him a few to clean the blood off his hands.
You would never expect something like this to happen in the leafy suburbs of Donnybrook,but you never know when and where things like this will occur.
I had only turned on the HailO system again when I got the first job of the day from Donnybrook to the bus station.

You know over here things are tough, elderly people are gathering sticks in the park, and doing without.
While the con men  who caused all the bother are swanning around on massive pensions.

I am starting to do income tax, sorting out boxes and bags of receipts (Note to self ! Just do it every month)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The marching bands are all gone away.

                18 jobs none missed!
                Film star taxi man...Filming "Summer in Dublin"
                Even the Hailo app had on a green hat.

                             Snow and hailstones  !!!!

St Patrick's day.!
Most of the public buildings (Worldwide) were floodlit in green and thousands of people have come to celebrate.
If you go to this website  (click it)or perhaps if you click this one Or look for the 6 pm news on the 17th March. Then you will see it all.
One band had over 300 kids. I know what its like to get one teenager up imagine what it would be like to get 300+up and ready.

I went down to meet the 6am ferry.
I got 4 students who are here studying English from Venezuela.
The population of students who come here to learn English is huge, also the number who come to study medicine (mostly from Arabic countries) this props up our system in terms of fees paid and property rentals etc.
One other aspect of the migrant students life here is that they must prove that they are studying all the time.
So for example Zulaine from Brazil and Madhu from Mauritius, they have to sign up to do courses to provide proof for the government that they are indeed students, this money would be better spent on their folks back home.
Such is life.
So it is onward and upwards with the work. You have to keep a lucky monkey and tickle him in the morning before you go out. Then when the monkey is happy you get work ! In Dublin whether you are busy or not depends on luck. HailO is also a huge bonus.
I had a lady in the taxi yesterday who went to Nova Scotia for a special holiday. While they were there they decided to check up on a story about her Grandfather. He told them the story about how he had run away to sea at 15 by forging some documents. He went with a pal who was 16 and they planned to do farm work. They landed in Canada and her grandfathers forged papers were checked out and he was held in detention, while his pal was allowed to travel on.
Then he was put in quarantine for 40 days before being sent back to Cherbourg and from there he was to make his way home alone.
Quite an adventure for a boy of 15 years back in 1913

The other day in Santry I was on the way to the airport stopped at the lights, 4 or 5 ft from the jeep in front when it started rolling back. I jammed on my brakes thinking it was me who was rolling, but no it was her.
Crash !
When she got out I shouted "There you are talking on your fecking fone!"
She said "I was fixing the BABYS CHAIR" as if that excused everything, and she was most indignant that She should be blamed in the wrong. HANDBRAKE was all I could say.
There seemed to be no damage but now I look the spare wheel of the jeep broke a grille above the bumper.

Have to go and buy a new tyre, the one has a bald edge from being driven soft.
NCT coming up soon. I have to go to Drogheda for the test as the Dublin centers cannot see me for 2 months.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Angels wings

the other day I went to Haddington Rd. to a coffee shop which is Argentine.
I wanted to congratulate them on the new Pope .
Well he is from there but the lady she is Mexican. But they are nice people.
What do you know ?
They are both away and the lady in charge is from Venezuela, so I took my coffee and headed for Coolock.
There was a special offer in Aldi.
On the Malahide Rd. before the turn I drained my coffee in one mouthfull and something suddenly got stuck in my throat.
I coughed violently and manged to stop the car.
Getting out I stumbled to the footpath.
Before I passed out the offending thing popped out.
It was a sliver of wood around 1 1/2 inches long.
Just like a fish bone.
It came from the wooden stirrer that so many cafes have now.

I don't know how something so Small can shut down my airwaves,
BUT
It was so close that I feel that the breeze I felt on my cheek must have been a passing Angel, perhaps it was her who dislodged it.
You never know the day or the hour .

Thank God I had clean underware

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

St. Patricks day

Well it won't be long until the big day, I have noticed groups of teenagers being escorted around town.
The groups range in size from 6 to sixty in number.
They are the marching bands from the good old USA.
I hope it is a good experience for them.
Out tourist board intended to stretch the festival out for a couple of weeks.
Merrion Square is now be closed off for a week days to make room for a giant funfair.

To get all the information click here.

HailO are running a drink aware promotion and some taxis are giving away prizes !
Look here

Back soon

Saturday, March 09, 2013

The French are here







Everyone needs a HailO 11 jobs taken and 1 missed.
All the jobs I would have missed without the HailO system.


The French are here for rugby, a win for us will be nice.
Lets hope my plan from last time works again.

Yesterday a small plane landed on the main runway with its front wheel not deployed.
The landing was OK as far as it went but it seemed to shut down the place for a few hours
Strange to report that the cargo was RATSfor use in medical experaments.
You would think that we could produce rats here without importing them.

A good landing is when you can walk away from the aeroplane
A great landing is when the plane can be used again.

I had to go to Aldi to get water barrells, it seems like rainwater is the new gold.
So I went straight there.before work.
There was an old guy with a flat tyre and he asked me where the jack should slot in.
I told him, and also advised him to loosten the nuts first and to check that his handbrake was on.
I was lucky I went in then as the last of the barrells were being brought into the store.
They were too big to carry around the store so I went back out to the car with them.


What do you know the jack had collapsed and the car was resting on the wheel.

So I lent him my car jack which was well oiled and he was back in business.
He was a very fit bloke for 70.

Aldi had a few trolley jacks for around €30 and some compressors with jump start which are handy for dodgey mornings.




A few years ago when I was in New York I saw this show on TV




But it is a must to see this one as well.

In general our TV is much better than the US version.
Far too many ads.

Got to go work to be done.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Singing Nun

                                                       A singing nun, It must be spring.

                                            A tree in full flower

Well here we are and Joe public has a new toy, its an app called "Driver check"
You can put in the taxi reg or the roof sign number or the driver badge number and hey presto you have their details on your phone.
There is a report button you can press if everything is not Kosher.
Now it will be interesting to see what will happen next. Since the carriage office officials allows rogue cars to drive away and avoid checks, yet it will give some people confidence when things check out.

Its free, so check out Driver Check.

On my mornings work I follow routes where the buses are irregular, The HailO system often clicks in and sends me work as well.
Without the HailO system I would be looking for work in a different field.
It amazes me how many drivers "couldn't be bothered" to sign up.
Its great for drivers and for passengers. As you finish your job you are asked by the system to rate your passenger, the passenger also rates the driver, 0 to 5 stars.
One guy yesterday was upset that his driver only gave him 2 stars, he felt bad about it and wondered how he had offended him his card had a built in tip as well.
As you know Ireland is hosting the EU this year. It is not as bad as it used to be, coaches with outriders and fleets of brand new Audi cars zipping around to great amazement. I say that as what they are governing has turned into a farce, so many countrys are bankrupt, Ireland included.
What seems very obvious is that the people who caused the massive frauds will never be arrested, don't upset yourself by thinking that those people will suffer.
Ireland Greece Italy and Spain cannot rise ever again with massive debts and interest repayments hanging over us for the next 50 years. Raising taxes only pushes business into the black economy.

Anyhew (as they say in Canada) I often think that my job brings me the peoples of the world, soon I will have met people from all over the place. I will never forget the day I met 2 girls from Canada and I asked what ethnic group they were from. They were Inuit ladys. Eskimo to you and me.
As they were drawing their visit to a close I agreed to wave this taxi fare,buy them coffee and then bring them to the airport later just for the chance to learn how they lived in their houses made of snow.
It is a very tough life, but I won't bore you with it all here.
No, I did charge them for the airport trip and we didn't rub noses when we said goodbye.
Perhaps tonight Miss Lotto will smile for me tonight and allow me to travel to all those far off lands and see for myself where they all came from. I met a lady yesterday from "Central Eastern Europe" never heard of that country. Google earth is great for finding countries, bit its just not there,
But I am old guy and many Countries have emerged from the old USSR Ukraine Moldova Latvia Lithuania.
Maps are changing all the time Gaul, Hibernia and Caledonia have all been replaced, like Pounds Shillings and Pence.

Have a look at Amazon.com for a book by Gene Salomon called Confessions of a New York taxi driver.
His blog is called "Cabs are for kissing" the link is on the R/H side of this page.



This act won first prize in FIZM last year the camera work is not great, but it is wonderful to see it done live in Blackpool.
He did it in Circus for a year before he showed it to a magician.
Original and different it really is all that