Long TIme Coming

OK.  I know it has been way too long since my last actual post.  Between going out of town for helping with my sister's wedding and catching the plague that has been passed around the city recently, I didn't work so much.  I had myself convinced that I hadn't gotten sick this season because being in the cab with all the different people and all their different germs exposed me just enough to build up resistance and I was immune.  Well, I made it through most of the cold season, but then it hit me.  Hard.  It was bad.  I can't remember the last time I felt so horrible.  It was bad enough that I went to the doctor about it, and anyone who knows me, knows how big of a deal that is.  I almost never go to the doctor unless it's serious.

After making a full recovery, I worked last Sunday evening.  I got a car early on, and that was probably where my luck ended.  This car was a nightmare from the beginning.  Before I even left the garage, I had to bring the car into the shop.  The wipers didn't work and the front tire was flat.  And not just a little flat.  All the way flat.  The guys fixed it up quickly and I was on my way.

My car up on the lift before I even got to leave the garage.  This was how my day started, and how it stayed.

 I started at JFK, ready to get going when I got out of my car in the taxi lot.  The tire they had just fixed was going flat again.  I called my garage and they said they were sending someone out to me with a new tire.  By the time he got to me, I had lost my place in line.  Also, he just brought me a new tire and didn't plan on actually helping me.  So i had to leave the lot, giving up on the airport entirely, and head out with my new tire to try and find a tire shop to fix it for me.  By the time I managed to get it all fixed and make it into the city, it was 7pm.  So not only had I lost out on an airport fare, it was now on the later end of the busy time in the city.

After all of that, the city was dead.  And I mean really dead.  There was still enough snow on the ground from the snowstorm that people didn't go out.  Even with Fashion Week going on, there was nobody out.  I struggled just to be able to pay my lease and gas.  I ended up staying out way later than I normally would just to put a few measly bucks in my pocket.  Between how slow it was, dealing with the un-plowed snow on the ground and the beginnings of a migraine, it was just awful.  I haven't had a day this bad since the first day I worked ever.  It almost wasn't even worth it to work at all!

After heading to Brooklyn on a fare, I stopped in a bar to use the restroom.  They had this old timey phone in the bathroom to go along with the antique style, chain flush toilet(not pictured)

Thankfully, I worked this Sunday and Monday, and it more than made up for last week's horribleness.  Sunday night was great.  It was a holiday weekend, so Sunday was almost a bonus Saturday.  Because a lot of people didn;t have work the next day, there were lots more people out and about later in the evening.  Also working in my favor was the weather.  It was cold and windy.  And I mean really cold.  And that there is a good thing for a taxi driver.  When it is cold, but otherwise nice out, people still go out, but they don't want to walk more than a few blocks.

I found that people were pretty friendly overall the whole night.  Had more than a few who took interest in what I do, which is always cool.  I had an Australian rugby player in my car.  His team had just gotten to go to New Orleans where they had their own float at Mardi Gras before they flew up to NYC for a game.  I thought that was really neat.

At one point in the night, I got a fare out to Brooklyn.  As the guy was getting out of the cab, a small group of folks came running over to get in.  They weren't going far(just to DUMBO), but it was a fun ride.  I was offered french fries and had a good laugh with them.  Also, It's always nice to get another fare when you get taken out of the city on a busy night.

Sunset as I headed towards Times Square.  It was much prettier in person...

Last night was decent too.  Nothing too exciting to report.  It was really busy early on which was good because after 11, it got really dead.  I drove around for two hours empty at one point.  Finally I had gotten a fare to Greenpoint.  After that I didn't think it would be worth going all the way back into the city just to cruise around empty again and then have to head back home, so I drove around Greenpoint and Williamsburg for a little bit before catching a group of guys from Australia to go back to their hotel in the Park Slope area.  I took that as a sign that being that close to my garage meant it was time to head home.  Thankfully, because of how busy it was earlier in the night, the slow down of business didn't hurt me too bad, and I still had an above average night.

I have another post brewing.  While driving around yesterday, there was an ad on the radio which played many many times about a spot on the WPIX11 11 o'clock news about cabbies and basically how we try and get over on people.  I have a lot of issues with this, and will get to that a little later.  But I think that needs it's own post.  So, stay tuned.