3/30/09

Funniest cab driver in Vegas

Babo is my night driver on Mondays. I used him after work to take me to the mechanic. He is funny and drives like a controlled maniac including yelling out the window just like this video.

9/26/08

Hawaii House

My brother and I got back some estimates on things needed to be done to the house to get it up to par versus comparable rental houses. The list is long and quite expensive and thus very intimidating.

Demo-Removal $3500
Materials $4500
Plumbing Fixtures $750
Plumbing Labor $3200
Electrical Fixtures $1200
Electrical Labor $12600
Electrical Permit $750
Appliances $4500
Drywall $3500
Roofing $19750
Carpentry Labor $22000
Windows $18750
Floor Covering $8000
Painting $10000

WTF? The house is so f*cked up, a flippers dream. So I ask you, my friends, since I have nothing keeping me in Las Vegas, except my job, should I move back to Hawaii and try and fix up my childhood home? You guys would be welcome to come out and stay for a week or so.

9/20/08

Peter Schiff on Anderson Cooper

The shit hit the fan this week my friends. Is the Greatest Depression coming? 15% unemployment? Hyper-Inflation?

9/18/08

TAXI NEWS

This dude died last week. I would see him around the yard from time to time... one of the old timers.

FOTD XL - Roxanne S.

Most weekdays, coming out of the yard at 345-405, I'm able to pick up an open call. I'm willing to go to any part of the county, except the east side, for a ride. Yesterday was the first day in awhile there wasn't any open calls. blah blah blah anyways... I drive towards the strip and here a 'call out' (a call where anyone can respond, and the closest usually gets it) at the Tahiti Village for a van and I was only 5 minutes away and I go an grab it real quick. Knowing they're going to the airport , I hear another call at flamingo & durango ... so I ring in and get that real quick .. so anyways .. I get $50 on the book in the first hour ...

It would be 3 1/2 hours before I get another ride. I took 3 rides however they were all no go's. I'm very flippity floppity, when things are going well and I'm getting rides it's great, but when there's just a little bit adversity I get down quick... feeling like I want to quit working for the day. LOL

Which brings us to Roxanne, I got her call around 845, coming right after 3 consecutive no go's ... I call her cell and it's voice mail ... I call again, leave a message .. same thing. So I call dispatch and tell her no way I'm going down there... Anyway this lady doesn't call back for over 2+ hours, wondering where her cab is.

I've picked her up once before. She was at the Seven Hills Surgery Center in Henderson, she was out there to get her cataracts removed? and to be able to see again. She was really depressed, yo - she went there thinking that they'd cut her up real quick and that she would be able to see again. The Doc declined to do the surgery due to her blood sugar count and she was sent home blind as a bat. And then she has to wait 150 minutes for a ride!

UPDATE: So the point of this story is that up until I gave this chick a ride I was feeling like crap. But there's not much worse than going into the doctors assuming that when you get out you'll be able to see again after many months and years --- only to be told that you're still going to be blind. Imagine getting your hopes up like that!!!!!!!! AND THEN having to wait for a fucking cab for near three hours.
So after chit chatting with her I began to feel better. :( = :)

9/13/08

Overslept

My one day off became two when I woke up 9 minutes after I'm supposed to start. My friends, this is pathetic, watched 8 movies, ate 2.25 lbs shrimp, 1 steak, whopper combo, 4 candy bars, 12 cans coke, bagel & lox, and about to get some chicken nuggets... what a waste. FYI

Rambo (2008)
Baby's Mama
Fool's Gold
Definitely, Maybe
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
There Will Be Blood
August
The Forbidden Kingdom

The surprise of the weekend was that Rambo kicked some serious ass.

9/11/08

FOTD XXXIX - Handi Van III

"This guys is in a wheelchair and he has tons of crap and I don't feel like helping him move." I pull up and this guy in a motorized wheelchair is waiting for me by the street. I stop and park and he says that he has some stuff to put in the van and he points near the front door. There is so much shit I was like WTF WTF WTF WTF. Easily six plastic storage bins, a dresser, plus three duffel bags plus untold other shit that I can't see. I'm like, "yo, I am not in the mood to carry all of your shit and load it into my van for you." And he's like, "there's really not that much stuff" and I'm like "yo, I can see the shit right there in front of the door, son, and I ain't moving it" and he's like "I can walk a little bit" (LOL) and I'm like "hold on" so I called it into dispatch and asked for permission to leave this moFo "Hi&Dry".

I hear back, "we're not a moving company, if he wants someone to help him move he can call U-Haul", and with those words, I got out the cab, told this young man to call "A-Cab", after all they specialize in "West" Vegas and they too have handi vans... but there was no way in hell that I was helping him move.

The End.

9/10/08

FOTD XXXVIII - "We Make It Rain"

Maybe I'm bored, but it is definitely rare that I come across three somewhat memorable fares in one day. Today was the day. Coming out of the airport I took a call at Pecos and Wigwam, in Henderson. I'm looking to snag a ride either back to the strip or the airport. I get over there quick and he is indeed going to the "strip", but first by WaMu first. He gets back in the car and he's like "ok, I have bad news for you". I'm like "let's hear it, friend" and he says he wants to go to the Rhino but that he's a VIP so I need to drop him off in the back.

He goes on to say that he's somehow associated with Harrah's "upper-management" and that he's meeting his boss and a client over there for drinks. He tries to drop some names of the GM's and bouncers at some of the strip clubs around town but they don't mean anything to me and all I can do is say "really" or "oh". In response to him saying that he's a VIP, I remark that he's must of had "a few" dances over the years .. and to my surprise he says that he's not into it and that he treats these clubs like other clubs (drinking and meeting gUrls).

"You see in Las Vegas you go to these clubs like Tao, or Pure and you have to pay a lot of money to the bouncer outside just to get in, and these fucking bouncers have such an ego and an attitude, then you have to pay $18 for a drink or thousands to get a table and bottle service. You buy women drinks and it's too noisy to talk to them, you end up spending a lot of money and going home alone. You see at these strip clubs (in the afternoon when it's not busy), you can hang out get some drinks, it's not crowded and the women come up to you. They sit down and you can bullshit with them and have some laughs... now don't get me wrong I've had sex with strippers before but I don't go there trying to pick up on them, I just go there to hang out and entertain clients. Now personally I don't like to get lap dances, they don't do anything for me, but I will always buy some dances for my clients... think about it, how many memorable dances have you had?"

me: "I can think of one, she had like triple F's"
"so you ever go sit down by the stage and throw some dollars at them?"

"Oh, we make it rain, yeah we make it rain"

-Anyway this guy has me drop him off on the side of the building, which is neither the back "vip" entrance or the front. He did pay $55 for a $42 ride, however something tells me he just didn't want to pay the $30 cover for arriving in a taxi. Not quite sure though.

FOTD XXXVII - "Burnt over 95% of his body"

My second call of the day was to pick up a company charge and take them to the airport. I get out there early and meet up with a young kid (in a wheelchair) and his grandmother. They are flying to Reno to go to the Shriner's Hospital. This young eight year old kid was burnt over 95% of his body in an apartment fire when he was three years old. He was such a delight to give a ride to. He has no right hand, no toes and the scars from those severe burns all over his face and body.

Imagine the pain he has felt over the years, yet this dude was laughing and interacting with me along the way. He likes to sit by the window in the airplane. A quick story his grandmother told was that when this guy woke from a medically induced coma (immediately after the fire), the first thing he said (three years old) "can I have some water please.", "thank you" -Imagine a three year old saying that in their adorable voice (as mimicked by his grandma) saying that shit to you yo... It'll make one cry... so she said that the nurses there have taken great care of him ever since.

They were going up to Reno to get his new leg braces.

FOTD XXXVI - Triplets From Poland

Yes. It is true. Today I gave a ride to triplets from Poland. I haven't felt inspired recently to write these ... it takes something like this to "wake me up", something truly inspirational. With 15-25 fares a day, six days a week, each and every week ... all these fares kind of melt together and become a blur. NOT THIS ONE FRIENDS.

It's funny, I got the call to go out there, I called them up to confirm and see what their destination is, and 'Alexandra' answered and told me the airport. I tell em like 12 minutes, and get there in 15. When I arrive, I call again to have her come out and she doesn't answer. So I go knock on the door (which I rarely do) and the door opens and KApOw! A true knockout..Tall, racked, blonde, beautiful, I grab her bag and she follows me to the car, I put her bag in the trunk and she says two others are coming out also .. "We're triplets"

"WHAT????? REALLY?????"


ZOMG WTF JGTFO



And out they come. To keep it short and sweet, they're going to San Diego for a corporate gig.. they play the violin. We had plenty to talk about I guess, me being from SD and also liking the violin and as I put it ... "especially when triplets are playing the violin." But obviously they've heard it all. I knew immediately that for once, instead of writing FOTD's filled with hatred and rage I was going to bust it out ... so after a quick google search (triplets violin) I discovered the mysterious trio and am now ready to reveal their identity to the world via this blog... Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you for your viewing pleasure The Alizma Triplets.

On Carson Daly. . .


. . .And them singing their own remix song. . .


Scene from one of my favorite movies, "The Red Violin"


This is Kasper Weiss


Gypsy Scene

9/2/08

FOTD XXXV - Freeway Fatality

I'm cruising down the I-15 just like we did back in the day in San Diego County... EXCEPT this I-15 is in Las Vegas and I'm going to pick up a ride. It's kind of funny cuz I felt nada for this dude (I'm jumping ahead). I guesstimated driving near 35K miles and not seeing different random acts on the road. Back to it, I'm in the fast lane going around 75 when I see a shoe in between the first and second lanes... I say to myself "That's strange. . . a shoe in the middle of the freeway. . .I wonder where that came from HOLY SHIT!!!"

WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IN THE CENTER DIVIDE I SEE A HUMAN BODY. HE'S LYING ON HIS LEFT SIDE WITH HIS LEFT ARM STRETCHED OUT AND HIS HEAD LYING GENTLY ON HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARM. HE'S NOT ALL FUCKED UP AND I DON'T SEE ANY BLOOD SO MAYBE HE'S SLEEPING I THINK.

And then he disappears as I fly by him... for a split second I think of stopping but as I drive by I see other cars that have stopped and are backing up to possibly assist or look through his pockets before the ambulance comes. My first impression was that he was some kind of homeless guy but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how he'd of gotten into the center divide.

I call it into dispatch and go on to pick up my customer. They end up closing most of the freeway down for two plus hours as well as the Tropicana and Flamingo on ramps. I remember remarking that it was a shame that all this traffic was due to some "dead homeless guy". So by the time I get home it's all over the news, that this dude was on a motorcycle, trying to outrun the police, when he crashed off the Tropicana off ramp,falling fifty feet to the freeway below. It's amazing that I came up on him within minutes of him landing on his face. Seeing him flailing through the air is not a visual that I'd like to have for the rest of my life.

Which brings me to my old friend and roommate Russ who too drove off an overpass like this and fell fifty feet to the center divide, shattering every bone in his lower half of his body. Luckily he had the rest of his work truck "surrounding" him to "protect" him from death. Something tells me though that Russ would of survived this one too.

PS: Oh yeah, I forgot the ride I was going to pick up ended up waiting outside of an apartment complex, sitting on some type of utility box, at 930am wearing her club clothes from the night before. She and her bestfriend/girlfriend came out to Las Vegas to meet up with a guy she knew. They were hanging out with him for the last four days and she had sex with the dude multiple times and as she put it "enjoying the total Vegas experience." At 730am the guy asks her friend if she wants to go on the balcony and have a cigarette. Her friend and this dude end up having sex on the balcony! This poor chick all dressed up and feeling like shit with a plane leaving in three hours and having to check out of the Hard Rock in ninety minutes just saw her "bestfriend" and her "man" having sex on the balcony.

I tried to "comfort" her but was DENIED no less than five times.

FOTD XXXIV - JGTFO II

I usually get the cab between 345-410 and I'm out hitting the streets. Usually I hit the radio looking for calls and most days I can pick one up coming out of the yard. On the days that I can't I'll go down to the strip and stage at one of the hotels and 'zone in' that area.

So I'm at the MGM and am 10th up or so when I get there, I go ahead and stage in the 230 (number 2) while I wait for a ride. When I get 4th up I get a call from a new personal named "Sierra", she called and said she and three of her friends are waiting for me at Orleans and they want to go across the street to Seamless (strip club). So I'm like MAN THAT'S THE SHIT! As I get across the strip, I get a call from dispatch that there's a call for me right near the MGM, now at first I decline saying I have a call to go to, but for some reason (being greedy, or never wanting to turn down a call) I take the call and flip a bitch and pick this chick up.

She, as all potential hookers do and say, when you pick them up they say let's get out of here FAST. She's going to Harrah's .. so we head over there and we pull in and the fare is $8.07 ... at the same time Sierra calls and says where are you??? We're waiting ... how long does it take??? ... so this hooker says she's meeting someone by the valet and I quickly realize that this HO might not have money?

DO YOU HAVE MONEY FOR THIS RIDE?
-No, The person I'm meeting is going to pay for it, can I use your phone to call him?
(I hand her my '619' phone and she calls and gets no answer)
WHAT'S THE NUMBER I'LL CALL HIM ALSO?
(I call from the '702' and he does not answer for me also)
LOOK WHAT KIND OF BULL SHIT IS THIS? YOU GOT INTO MY CAB WITH NO MONEY? I HAVE TO GET OF HERE, I'M IN A HURRY? HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU HAVE?
-I don't have anything.

(now i'm calling this chick a hooker cuz i'm still pissed at her, her 'look' was hippy chick that will suck your dick! LOL) anyways...

YOU'RE FUCKING LUCKY I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WAIT OTHERWISE I'D HAVE YOU ARRESTED! JUST GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CAB YOU SLUT!!
-I'm sorry, i'm sorry.
DON'T EVER GET IN ANOTHER CAB WITHOUT MONEY TO PAY THE FARE. JUST GET THE FUCK OUT!

--------------------------------------

Okay friends, in hindsight this is crazy behavior by me. Next time it'll be more controlled.

-I'm sorry that you don't have the money for the fare ma'am. This is your lucky day, I have another pick up that I have to do so the sooner you get out of my cab the quicker I can pick up my next ride. Have a nice day!

ALSO - I call sierra back and the total wait time from when she first called me to when I pick her up is 21 minutes. When it should of been 7 minutes. Plus Sierra is so hot beautiful etc... she just moved into town from Cali. no friends etc.. I picked her up - I gave her good taxi - she called me back and I risked it all. Long story short, I pulled up and she and her friends were waiting where they said they were, they got in she sat in front (and she was smoking!!!!!) I literally drove them 250 feet across the street to seamless, they got out and got in the club and I got $80 for dropping them off.

JGTFO II

8/23/08

FOTD XXXIII - Two to the Penthouse Club

It's about 515am and things are slowing down. Since starting at 4am I have three lame as rides and am now on the nut at the Venetian. I am zoned into zone 230 because a driver, 'Chuck' always takes a cab back to the yard (he calls in at 510 and the call usually hits the board ~530) on the days he works (Sat-Wed). Chuck is the man, it's a $13.39 ride and he ALWAYS gives $20.

On the nut and these two guys come up to the cab, the doorman opens it up and they say "Penthouse". Having never dropped off there before I am not sure if they give the full fifty or twenty (after 4am) but am ready to find out yo. Not two minutes into the ride, Chucks call comes on the board (524am) and since I am str8 up gangSta I try and float the ride by dropping off these dudes and picking up Chuck ASAP. We get to Penthouse and I let these dudes out, now usually after they go in and pay I go in there and collect the DOJO.

These Mother F*ckers take forever at the cashier and over the next ten minutes I poke my head in there a few times and see if they've gone in the club yet. By now it's 541am and I can not wait anymore. I offer to sell the rights to the two guys to a Yellow Cab driver waiting outside for $20 but he hems and haws.. I take one final peek inside and those fools are still by the cashier .. so I say "fuck it" and take off to go pick up Chuck. I get to chuck by 549 (which is as late as I've ever been out there), to make it up to him I tell him his ride is on me today (I've picked him up maybe 15 times in the past and since switching over to the 4-4 shift I'm in better position to get him daily).

I tell him the story, apologize for being late. He basically calls me a dumb ass for not waiting to get the money ... of course I agree. I drop him off he insists on paying at least $15 for the ride .. to which I accept. He also tells me to go back to the club and see if I can get that money. Since it's literally around the corner form the yard, I jet over there .. sweet talk the cashier .. and she confirms that the AZN driver from Yellow came in and claimed it as his ride and he got the $100. Tough break, but I knew it was a long shot anyways. However to salvage the trip out there.. I asked to use the bathroom, which is in the club.. so I saw some nice breasts on the way in and on the way out.

Tits.

8/19/08

FOTD XXXII - Gay Flag

A Flag is someone you pick up on the street or other place that is not at a taxi stand. Flags are good and bad. For one you don't have to wait staging in line to pick one up, you just pull over in a safe place off the road and load them up. However it is technically illegal to pick up a flag, in the past it was found that 80% of the assaults / robberies on taxi drivers were a result of drivers picking up flags. As a result of making flags illegal, assaults have dropped off some 90% from their high a few years ago.

Anyways, it's midday and it's slow out.. I'm driving in the service alley that runs behind Flamingo, Imperial Palace & Harrahs when I see this guy with luggage and he's flagging me down. As a rule of thumb, if they aren't drunk, flags are safe to pick up within the resort corridor. So I pull over and he's going to the airport. Before he gets in he yells for this dude to come over by him. The guy doesn't come over and I ask if he wants me to wait and if he's also going to the airport. He says it's cool and we can go.

So I ask him what airline and he tells me Virgin America, I was like yo man I heard good things about that airline (typical small talk bullshit that I engage with every single passenger) and this dudes like, to be honest with you it's like a Gay New York Disco. What do you mean, I say, and he says that the color scheme, the stewards, etc all gave him that impression. blah blha blah blha

So I'm like who was that guy, and he says it was his date for the weekend and that he caught the bus out here from Los Angeles.

"So how did it go?"
-"It was terrible, he was a FOB, and it was hard talking with him."
"Too bad, so you guys going to see each other again?"
-"No way, he thinks we are but there's no way I'm meeting up with him again."
"Man poor guy. He's going to be thinking about you all the way home on that bus and you're not going to think of him at all on the flight back."
-"Ha! You're so right. I'm already making plans for when I get back."

GG FOB

8/14/08

FOTD XXXI - JGTFO

This better be good right? My day shift runs from 4-4 and night from 4-4 so it is important to get the car back to the yard by 355. I took my last radiocall at 318pm. I call to confirm and Lydia answers.

"Hi, this is Jeremy with the taxi for Lydia"
-Ok
"Are you still waiting for the taxi at 625 Shadow Ln?"
-Yes
"Ok, I'm two minutes away, I'll see you soon. Where are you going to"
-Southwest
"Are you in front of the building?"
-I'll tell you when you get here
(click)

I get over there in three minutes and she's waiting in the front entrance. She's an above avg looking slender AZN chick and so I'm ready to chat her up a little... she gets in the front seat and tells me to go the freeway. She tells me the cross streets of Flamingo and El Capitan (~$30 ride that will put me over $400 for the day) and we head out. On the freeway, traffic starts to back up by Spring Mountain so I tell her it's best to get off and head up the road. On the way, I offer to turn on the radio and she agrees, and I tell her to go ahead and tune it to what she likes.

She chooses 90.5 FM which after listening to some of the lyrics is a Christian station. No big deal, my aunt listens to that. Anyways this chick doesn't say shit the entire way. She does have a wedding ring on though, since I picked her up across the street from a hospital and at the county health building, I let her slide a bit cuz something bad could of happened to her. After 22 minutes I reach El Capitan and turn left and cross Flamingo.

"Do I go straight?"
-(silence)
"Look you haven't said a word all ride or given me an address. I'm driving a taxi which means that you give me an address and I drive you there or you give me directions and I follow them, all you have said was Flamingo and El Capitan and we just passed that."
-Turn right at the stop sign.
"Thank you"
-Turn right at the second street and it's the second house on the right.
"Okay"

We get there and the fare is $35.65 and it's 343pm. She reaches in and hands me her credit card..

"I'm sorry we don't accept credit cards, only Desert Cab accepts them"
-All I have is $25.00
"We can go back out to the bank and you can get money"
-Can I give you the number on my card?
"I have no way to get paid with your number"
(she reaches in and pulls out a $20 a $5 and 7 $1's and hands them to me)
"This is only $32.00, you still owe me $3.65"
-I don't have it.
"We can go back to the corner and you can get money at 7-11 or something"
-(silence)
"Look do you have $4 in quarters in your house"
-No
"You still owe me $3.65, we can go to the ATM but I have to leave the meter on so it's going to be more"
-(silence)

BY NOW IT'S 345 AND I HAVE OVER 6 MILES TO GET BACK TO THE YARD.

"Surely you must have change in your house?"
-No
"Just get the fuck out. . . and by the way, I'll go to confession this weekend"

She tries to say something but I was definitely not listening to her anymore. I drive away and make it back to the gas pumps at 402.

JGTFO