Charles and Betsy
Friday it all came together and we swapped the patched-up Charles* for renewed Betsy. I got to drive her first shift as a reborn cab, just like I drove her first shift as a new cab last year.
Not my best Friday
On Friday night I went through a red light near Parliament House on the mistaken perception that the green turn arrow was my green go light. You don’t muck about in the taxi game on the way to the airport, so I hit the gas and halfway across the intersection collected someone innocently turning right,
A lonely hunter
The last houses disappeared and then we were on the Cotter Road and soon on Lady Denman Drive, past horse paddocks, bushland, the zoo and the dam. Not quite your howling wilderness, but neither was it a busy road. I started wondering about someone printing a name on a bit of paper and luring an innocent cabbie out into a deserted layby.
Rude on the roads
Someone observed the other day, “People in general are just rude.” They were talking about walking the dog down their street, smiling at other people, and receiving back nothing but blank stares. You know, I don’t think people are rude. As a taxidriver, I meet a LOT of people (one of the reasons someone who [...]
Soundtrip
Isn’t that the dream? The everyday world is behind you, there’s a long road ahead, rising and curving to a far destination. Days and night stretch out, diners, service stations, motels, bridges, toilet blocks and a growing litter of wrappers and empty bottles in the back seat.
Hit the play button and let’s get this show on the road!
Foursquare follies
We’ve got a new game, my day driver and I. A game where cabbies shine.
Foursquare, funking off the iPhone’s GPS and social networking. It’s a scavenger hunt, it’s a map of your day, it’s a point-scoring exercise, it’s gathering facts and sharing info.
Wasted
I’m disgusted. I’m a night cabbie, and for the past year or two, ever since the last Commonwealth election, I’ve been driving home public servants, drunk and exhausted. I pick them up from Parliament, from government offices, from hotels. Long after midnight.
Penalties
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said, announcing tougher laws, “We are sending a clear message to the community that Canberra’s culture of dangerous driving will not be tolerated.”
Himalayas
The Himalayan Mountains have moved to Canberra. Yup. Speed humps at Canberra Airport. In particular the last one when exiting the airport. For the life of me I can’t understand why they built that thing so friggin high. My taxi full of passengers and luggage has absolutely no way of clearing this obstacle without scraping the bottom of the car out. Once again it is quite obvious that Steve Byron does not have a clue.
Come Saturday Morning
Saturday is the day when I go out there and give 1.10 percent.
After a long week of long shifts, Saturday is my day for not caring. I do random stuff, maybe go shopping with my wife, a little housework, a lot of napping, reading the papers, drinking tea and just winding waaaaay down.