Fan, not a fan? :(

A couple of weeks ago I receive a text message from a passenger that I had taken to his home a few weeks before.  He just texted asking if I was working that night.  I said yes but not until 4:00 pm and wanted to know if he needed a ride tonight but instead he asked me to hang out after I was finished working but it was a Friday night and I would be working until about 3:00 am.  Too long of a night so I said, I was sorry but I wouldn’t be able to go out that night.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I remembered who this gentleman was.  I asked him what his name was and it was a little unusual so you would think it would jog a memory.  It didn’t.  I really didn’t want to say that I didn’t remember him.  I pride myself in remembering a lot of my passengers.  

This gentleman would text me every once in awhile asking if I was working or if I wanted to hang out after work.  He also texted me a few times after 3:00 am asking to hang out.  Needless to say, I still gently turned him down.  I am not sure why I was so nice but that is really in my nature, I guess.  I was also trying to ask hints about who he was, it was driving me crazy not knowing who this guy was.  He never really answered my questions but seemed harmless.

So a few days ago I was again asked to hang out in the city but I was planning on spending time with my kids.  I let him know and he seemed surprised that I had a child, let alone two.  He then asked how old I was.  I of course said I was almost 50.  He asked if my daughter drove taxi in the city.  I said, no. He said he had received a business card from this cool young, white skinny taxi driver.  I said the business card was from me (he said my name) and that I was cool and white but that was about it.  I asked him if he remembered me or had looked at my facebook page but he said no.  He did ask if I remembered him and I couldn’t lie, I told him I didn’t remember who he was and I tried asking for hints but he wouldn’t give me any.  He then stopped texting me and I sent him a text saying that I enjoyed our chats and I was sorry to have him go.  

I am not sure if I should feel bad for not knowing who he was.  I really tried to remember who he was.  I love picking up the same person in the city over and over again.  It makes me feel connected to them in some strange way.  

I am not sure if I should feel guilty for “leading him on” but I was never inappropriate just polite and professional.  

I am not sure if I should feel bad for him because he wasted all that time talking to someone who wasn’t who he thought I was.

I am not sure if I should feel hurt because I wasn’t what he really wanted.  

After all is said and done.  I am still okay.  I love my life, well most of it, as it is.  I am a busy, busy mom and taxi driver.  What more could I want?

Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love you very much!

Taxi pains

This past weekend was not as busy or fun as I thought it was going to be.  It was like a normal week and weekend.  Oh, well.  Plus I really do not have any funny or interesting stories from the week.  Just wonderful and normal working people in my taxi all week.  It happens and I always am hoping there will be good stories coming up.

I was asked by a passenger about all the aches and pains of driving all the time. Well, there are so many things that happen when you drive all the time.

Back hurts.  Typically the lower back hurts.  I have problems with my lumbar and siactica.  Other drivers complain about the same thing.  I try and get out of my taxi to stretch but when it is busy I barely have time to go to the bathroom.  I do what I can.

Legs go numb.  I try to jiggle them and adjust them when I am driving.  Moving around helps a lot too.  I sometimes miss the days when I was able to walk all the time.  Going up and down the ladders, downstocking and walking quickly to help people.

Hip hurt.  Like the back and leg getting out and walk is the best way to make it not hurt as much.

Thumb pain.  Yep, I didn’t know that I steered with my thumbs so much until I started driving a taxi.  I have to make an effort to not use my thumbs so much to drive.  Crazy as that sounds.  

Big Toe pain.  I also use my big toe to drive WAY too much.  I have to remember to use my foot and not my toe to drive.  It is really just my right big toe that hurts.  I heard a driver had to take a week off because her big toe hurt so badly.

I imagine a few other taxi drivers have other physical problems.  It is hard being behind the wheel for 7 to 12 hours at a time.  

Well, this next week is Fleet Week.  I am so excited to see all the people in uniform.  Dress whites are best!  Cannot wait!

I also want to thank all of my other taxi driver friends.  I have a group of taxi drivers who help each other.  We chat about hot spots in the city, how the airport is moving and just general things going on.  It has made a whole of difference in where I go and what I do during my driving at night.  I found that where I thought was going to be a big area to pick up people even though there are tons of rideshare vehicles as well as tons of other taxis, all it did was make me irritated and sit in traffic.  Now I go where I really thought where people really want to take taxis.  It makes life so much easier with the help of taxi drivers who really know what is going on in the city.  I still end up on the opposite side of the city of all the “happening” places most of the time but sometimes it is me telling everyone what is going on.  I am so grateful for all of their help.  It has made making money driving a taxi a real thing.  Hope things continue this way through the slow times.

Thank you again for reading my blog.  I really enjoy writing it.  It is kind of relaxing and cathartic.

Before during and after sick

Okay, I have had a little rough patch with writing my blog.  I haven’t been able to stay awake for any longer than I have too.  Being sick has really kicked my bottom this time.  I am on the way to feeling better now so maybe I will have more time for writing my blog.  I am hoping.  I do love writing it and sharing my stories from the nights driving a taxi.  I do take notes while I am driving so I can remember what happened.  I have started taking voice memos instead of just using notes app on my phone.  Sometimes I cannot remember what my note even says or means on that app.  Maybe voice memos will capture how I feel more than just using the words during the night.  

September 15

My last ride of the night….  I was stopping to get pizza at my favorite place in the Castro but it was really late, much later than I normally would go and eat but I wanted pizza.  As I was getting out of my taxi a young man approached two taxis in the BofA taxi stand but neither of the taxis had a driver who wanted to take the young man home.  I do not know why.  As I was getting out of my taxi he then approached me to see if I would take him home.  I said I was just going to get a piece of pizza but I would take him home.  He said, I would love to get pizza with you, so we walked over to my favorite pizza place but they didn’t have any of the “good” pizza left so we went to another pizza place.  They at least had pizza that I would eat.  We bought our pizza and stood outside of the taxi for a few minutes.  That pizza was okay but I prefer thin pizza and this pizza was a thick crust pizza.  After we were done eating pizza I drove him home.  He was so happy to have pizza with his taxi driver and then be taken home.  I have made a new friend.

I have a suggestion if you like to use those ridesharing apps.  Do not “flag” your driver.  I thought that is what your phone is suppose to do!  Also if you do feel the need to “flag” your driver do not sneer or make horrible comments to the taxi that is trained to watch for flags.  It makes things easier for everyone if you use the phone app the way it was meant to be used.  

September 18

On Market Street there is an ATM that had a bunch of young men just hanging out around it.  Not an ATM I would use but a guy crossed the street and approached the ATM and used it.  He didn’t look like he had any troubles but the young men didn’t go too far away from him.  

Still not a fan of having females in my taxi.  They are not all bad or when they are in the taxi with a male, they tend to pay more attention to the male they are with.  Females tend to not be polite or tip well or even at all.  I try and be as polite and professional as I can.  I do not need to change the radio station for a 2-10 block ride.  I do not need to turn up the music so you can talk louder so you can have a conversation.  I do not need to close all my windows because you are cold, you wear too much perfume, eat smelly food or smell of alcohol.  I do not need to wait for you to get to your door if you treat me like crap and do not tip me.  Not a fan of females.  Some males can be jerks as well but there are WAY less of them.

September 19

When it is warm out in the Castro we have a few naked men who walk around.  They cannot be fully naked they need to wear a cover on their…. private part.  Plus if they sit on something they need to cover it.  It seems that when these guys are out and about they get so much attention they must feel like celebrities!  Often they are standing and getting their picture taken with very clothed women and their friends.  Very cute.  Men tend to let them pass and then turn and stare.  

Is there a full moon tonight?  People are driving like there is!  I know a full moon is coming though.  Please slow down and be respectful of other drivers.  

September 20

A extremely thin tall male all dressed in white was walking down the street!  He must have been, without his heels over 6 feet tall and with his mono color and 6 inch heels he looked about 9 feet tall!  I was going to stop and see if he needed a ride just because I wanted to chat with him but I was flagged and wasn’t able to turn around to talk to him.  I did see the man a few minutes later and he had taken off his high heels and was wearing black tennis shoes.  He still looked tall but just not as tall.

September 23

Driving down Mission Street in the middle of the night is always interesting.  This time is was a firework that was lit off on the sidewalk.  It was the kind that makes a big boom and flies high up in the air.  It scared me so bad I shrieked!  Then I laughed at myself.  Crazy!

I am a drug taker person now…  Not something I have ever thought I would do.  Not something I really want to do again.  It was a slow night and I picked him up on Mission Street and he wanted to go to Larkin and Broadway.  We started to chat about how his night was going and he said he was off for the next few days and wanted to score some pot tonight and then be taken back to his home.  Not really a fan or really want to do something like this but he gave me $60 to “hold” so I would take him there and back.  We ended up at Larkin and O’Farrell and we had to drive around the block slowly so he could “yell” something out of the window so the people who had the pot would know we were not police.  First off, isn’t pot legal or medical use now here?  Why is it still being sold on the street?  I guess his job he cannot have a medical marijuana card so he still has to buy it on the street.  Okay, what did he yell out the window… I couldn’t understand him at all.  It sounded like something that sounded like pico or something with a p.  Apparently we passed and were able to get a female to come over the taxi and give him what he wanted.  We drove back to his place and the meter said about $35 and he gave me $50.  Great ride.  I didn’t smell anything.  Not that I could smell because my nose is still plugged.  He also asked to smoke in my taxi.  I said I am sorry but it is illegal to burn anything in a taxi.  He was okay with that.  Not a smoker normally so happy people are okay not smoking in my taxi.  Makes the taxi smell better too!

September 24

Airport to Menlo Park, nice meter and half ride, right!  Well, at first the guy was chatty then all of a sudden he stopped talking.  I do not know why but he did.  Okay, so we kept driving and then I had to try again asking questions and getting him to chat.  I asked if his children were ready for Halloween and he said no but we still chatted about my kids and what they plan on wearing.  We arrived at his home and there was a whole lot of kids and adults sitting in the street chatting and playing.  He had a welcoming committee!  So cute!  The guy didn’t seem as thrilled as he should have been or what I thought should have happened.  I used Square to process his payment and he made a scoffing sound when he was applying the tip.  Maybe my percentages are set a little high but you can also create a custom tip.  Whatever.  He did give me a 30% tip.  Driving back to the city was long!  So much traffic on Hwy 101 that I ended up taking Hwy 280, which can take longer but sometimes has less traffic on it.

Beat Box is still happening in the city!  I watched two young men on the corner of Valencia and 18th just beat boxing.  Cute!  I couldn’t hear what they sounded like but it looked good!  Plus they were more the tech kind of guys than the 80’s rapper guys.

Love picking up people in the Castro!  I picked up a lady on 16th and Market and took her to California and maybe 20th Ave.  We chatted about all different kinds of things and at the end I gave her my card and a flywheel card.  Hope she downloads the flywheel app and uses it.  Also hope she calls me for a taxi ride again.  

Flywheel cards in my taxi are a mix of all the drivers who drive my taxi.  I figure just giving them out helps someone driving our taxi.  I think I named him Bert but I keep forgetting to call him that.  I guess I need to start calling him that again.  haha!  Bert is awesome!

Pizza friend is a concierge for Four Seasons!  Yes, I was able to drive him home again.  This time we didn’t stop for pizza because he needed to get home because he was leaving the city to visit his family in Colorado.  Wishing him so much fun with his family!  Hope to have pizza again with him soon!  He did have a concern about looking “too gay” when he went to visit friends in Colorado but I didn’t think he looked “too gay”.  Not really sure what that meant but I said, I wouldn’t even know you were gay unless you told me.  There are some really straight guys who look and act more gay than some of the “gay” gay guys.  Who knows.

September 25

This is the second time in about 2 weeks that I have driven a family who just dropped their job in whatever city they were living in to move to the Bay Area in California.  Tonight it was a young Asian man and his (I think) wife with 5 large suitcases and tons of dreams!  I guess he had a job interview next week but he figures he wouldn’t have troubles getting a job since he writes code.  His wife didn’t seem to mind either.  Neither had been to California but had been living in Chicago and New York for the past year.  I didn’t get more information than that.  I wish them luck and I hope he finds a job quickly!

If you have smelly feet please do not take your shoes off in my taxi!  I picked up a very attractive young woman who was wearing very high heels with bare feet. I could tell how quickly she removed her shoes.  Smell….  YUCK.  She also really made herself comfortable by almost laying on the back seat.  I am not complaining (except about her feet) but just saying.  Many people will sit and put their feet up on the back seat if they are riding in the taxi for any length of time.  Please do not take your shoes off if you are not nor do not like to wear socks.  Gross.

September 26

I picked up 4 burly men from AT&T Ballpark.  They were here visiting from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.  They were all super sweet and very nice!  I loved hearing their Canadian accent.  They even said “eh” for me.  They were here for the weekend to see AC/DC concert, go to a preseason Sharks vs Ducks hockey game and watch the A’s play the Giants on Sunday and then they are going home.  Very sad.  They were all very attractive and fun to listen too!  When I dropped them off the ride was about $15 and one paid with a $20 and said to keep it then another one gave me another $20 for a tip.  I tried to give the second $20 back but they all said, you were so nice to pick us up, chat with us and take us to our hotel safely that I deserved that plus more that night!  So super sweet!  I hope they come back to our fun city again soon.

The manager of the Midnight Sun is so awesome!  I have now picked him up 12 times!  The most I have ever picked up one person.  I try and learn a little bit more about him every time I drive him home.  One of these nights I will take off and join him for a Drag Show.  His father just passed away a couple of months ago so he spent a little time with his mom after the passing.  His parents were married for 67 years!  He is the youngest of 6 kids with about 25 nieces and nephews and 8 grand nieces and nephews.  I have really enjoyed our little chats when he is in my taxi.  I know almost where he lives, not sure which building until I get there.  

I am the best taxi driver in the city according to a passenger I have driven a few times.  He said he takes rideshare as well as taxis all the time and he has had troubles with both.  They treat him rudely because he takes rideshare or takes taxi by the driver.  He said, I have never been rude to him and I always know where he lives and let him tell me stories without complaining.  He suggested I teach a class on how to treat a passenger for both taxi and rideshare drivers.  How to be nice and make passengers feel special.  I thought that might be a good thing to do.  I do notice that if the passenger wants to continue a conversation even after they have paid, I will sit and chat with them.  I try never to make someone feel like I am in a rush to get to my next ride.  I will wait while people find their keys, make sure they have their wallet and even sit and watch them get to their door (unless they are terribly rude, I just cannot do that). I guess I can start a YouTube channel and maybe other drivers will go and watch how to be an awesome driver.  Maybe…  

September 27

Today was my night for Paratransit rides!  So interesting.  Loved chatting with both of the ladies.  Strange that both of them were about 87 years old but looked to be about 60.  Both lived within a block of each other and both had bags of groceries.  One of the ladies lived in senior housing and when we got to her place there was fireman and police in front of it.  She said she didn’t think there was a fire but some of the seniors smoke a little drugs (which she whispered to me) and set off the fire alarms.  Made me giggle a bit.  She was such a cute lady!

I thought the Folsom Street Fair was both Saturday and Sunday but it was just Sunday.  I didn’t see any interesting dressed people on Saturday.

Sacramento is a great place to live (for others!) I pick up a lot of people that come into the city to visit for a night or two.

Okay, if a pedestrian wants to cross the street not in a crosswalk do not be alarmed or glare at the speeding cars coming toward you.  Also do not start off walking quickly and then almost stop walking when a car is coming close to you.  Really?  Cars are much heavier than you are and do not stop as quickly as you think they should.  Please remember what (I hope most) parents teach you as a kid.  Stop, look both ways, do a double check and then cross the street.  Crossing in the crosswalk is much better but isn’t always convenient.  I understand that I do not always cross in the crosswalk but I try and look for cars.  I also will walk where ever in a parking lot because you should always expect people walking around a parking lot.

Four young men in street clothes were walking down Castro Street wearing shiny capes, tiaras and high heels.  They were so cute!  All of them were making their cape look like butterfly wings.  Saw them later that night in a conga line making butterfly wings.  It was very pretty!  I wish I could have taken a picture of them or even a video!  I love the Castro

Picking up very drunk men in the Castro is always a pleasure.  Except when they are not sure where they live at the end of the ride.  He reminded me of a YouTube video of a little 4 year old boy who wanted a cupcake and was arguing with his mother.  He kept saying things like “Linda listen to me”, “you are not listening to me Linda”, “Linda, Linda, Linda” and so many more things.  It is so cute!  This guy was chatting about his boyfriend wasn’t home until tomorrow.  He said he boyfriend was married but his wife really liked him more than her husband.  They go on family trips but this time he had to work so he couldn’t go.  We get the cross streets he gave me and kept saying it was 360 California but that would put us back into the financial district. So I drove down the street and he said, right here.  So I told him how much the ride was and he looked into his wallet to give me cash.  He kept saying he loved me and thought I was cute.  He said he was going to give me a big fat tip.  There was no cash in his wallet, pockets or backpack.  So he tried to use his credit card but it was declined.  We tried it 3 times, he insisted.  He asked me to wait so he could go inside and get me cash.  I was afraid he was going to fall asleep once he went inside.  I convinced him to leave something so he would have to come back and get it from me.  At first he kept saying, trust me, but I wasn’t at this time.  He finally said okay but then he started grabbing his crotch and saying I am going to pee soon.  I need to go and get your money and pee.  He was acting like a 5 year old.  Crazy!!  He just barely got out of the taxi and peed right there just outside of the door.  When he was finally done he tried to get back into the taxi and shake my hand!  I said, no, it is okay.  Just go and get the money.  He ran around the taxi and across the street but I am not sure he really knew where he was.  He kept looking bewildered.  I kind of tried to follow him so I would know what place he went into.  He started to go farther down the street but I went to follow him and he jumped back into the taxi.  I then figured out the street address thing and we found his building.  He jumped out and tried his key in the front door but nothing happened.  He went to the garage door and opened that.  He went upstair for a few minutes and came right back down.  He gave me what the meter said and a $10 tip.  He got out and said how much he appreciated me being so nice and helpful.  He still was in love with me and I am so beautiful.  I counted the money after I drove away.  He gave me a $40 tip instead.  I am not sure how I feel.  Should I feel like I took something from him or should I feel like I was owed it?  

All in all it was a wonderful weekend.  I did drive on Sunday and had a good night but nothing but many naked butts were out that night.  Folsom Street Fair.  I didn’t drive any body who was naked or partially dressed.  I did take a few home who went to the fair but that was about it.  Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed it very much.

So much stuff if planned for next weekend!  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass at Golden Gate Park and the Castro Street Fair also Fleet week starts on Sunday.  Oh, my gosh!  I thought last weekend was busy with the Folsom Street Fair but this coming weekend….  I better get my rest before it happens!

Time to go!  Need a little sleep tonight.  I am still not feeling as good as good as I should be.  Good night and thank you very much for reading my blog!

Sooooooooo Sleepy!

Not getting much sleep these days.  It is not good but what can I do?  I can always hope I can get more sleep tomorrow.  I doubt it but I can hope.  Right?

Okay this has been a crazy, crazy week!  I received a call on Tuesday saying my tire willnot be here until Thursday.  Okay, tried to see if I could borrow a car for the next few days but that didn’t work out.  Okay, I can manage just fine.  I made arrangements with my day driver to get a ride from the train on Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe Thursday as well.  So I called a PA taxi service and was able to get a taxi to the train station.  Great!  Nice clean taxi and friendly driver.  I asked if he could pick me up on Wednesday as well.  He seemed to be excited to do so.  The train ride was uneventful and kept my day driver in the loop to where I was the whole ride.  I kind of liked not having to worry about anything on the ride into work!  I just wish the train left the city after midnight.  CalTrain only is available from 4:30 am to midnight or something like that.  I guess I can take the train when it gets a little slower during the week since I normally do not work past midnight.  It might work.  The cost to take a taxi and a train daily is much more than driving though.  Driving for the week my gas costs me between $30 and $40 and taking the taxi/train costs me about $37 a day.  I do not live close enough to walk but maybe I will look into bus times….  Mmmmmmm  That is the next step!  I have never really had to take public transportation much so I am not sure how to find times but I am smart enough to figure it out.  

This past week SalesForce had their big convention.  So many nice wonderful people in the city!  Most drive cars at home so do not normally use a rideshare company so the taxis in the city were BUSY!  I had such a wonderful week!  Most tip very well.  I had many $5 rides and they gave me $20!!  I am good but am I that good.  Yep!  Haha

On Thursday I ended up calling to find out about my tire.  At first no one seemed to know what was going on but then they called me back.  The rim was in!!!!  I guess it was delivered to the Target next door on Wednesday but made its way back to WW on Thursday afternoon.  Awesome.  Okay so they found out the tire had a slash in it so I would have to buy a new tire.  Yet again I didn’t care if they matched just a tire that works correctly.  I really needed to buy all 4 tires but I do not have the money to do that right now.  So I had to do with one right now.  Tire was put on the rim and I went to have them put the new tire and rim on my car.  I ended up going to work pretty late, at about 6:00.  I should have gone to the airport but I went straight into the city.  I did okay but at about 10:00 a migraine hit me.  I do not get them often but with all the stress I have been under I guess that is what set it off. So I went home to go to sleep.  Happy I woke up with it gone.

During the week not only did we have DreamForce we had, SF Opera, SF Jazz, many music venues (we have so many in the city that are always busy!  American Music Hall, Bill Graham, Fillmore, Warfield, Masonic ), Orpheum Theater (Phantom of the Opera is here now), Giants home games, many people out on date night and it was a very warm evenings!  We did get rain on Wednesday night and some of Thursday but that didn’t seem to bother anyone!

Friday was a fun night!  Straight to the airport and it was taking less than 1 hour which really hasn’t happened for about a year.  So great!  I got a ride into the city, actually picked someone up in the city was taken close to the freeway so I went back to the airport.  Got another ride into the city.  Even though the reports were that the airport was moving less than 1 hour I stayed in the city.  It was very busy!

Saturday was another warm day in SF!  If you have never been to our beautiful city, I would suggest it but do not come in summer.  It can be very chilly!  We are on a peninsula that funnels the ocean breezes and marine layer.  If you go down the peninsula the temperature raises about 20° on most days.

Wow!  I have been sick since I started to write this blog posting.  Sorry it has taken me so long to post it.  I will start the new post in a few minutes.

Thank you very much for reading my blog!   I love you very much!

Friday, slow Friday

Friday didn’t prove to be a much better day.  I got up early to go and get my tire fixed but found out they cannot just fix my tire it is the rim that is broken and not fixable at all!  I am so sick!  I am making okay money right now but I am still behind in paying my bills.  I do what I can with what I have.  I have cut way down on spending so there is little left to cut out except for food, gas or basic things.  Okay, I have to wait until Tuesday for the special order rim to come in.  It will not be a match to all the other rims but it is the same size and is much cheaper, ($89 instead of $207).  They will try to use the old tire but I suspect they will not be able too.  That seems to be my life.

This morning I woke up early and hurried to get dressed so I could take my daughter’s car to get an oil change and found out her oil was not readable.  We didn’t have the money to change the oil for a little bit so it got put off for a bit.  Happy we were able to take care of it today before that was a much larger expenditure!  We do not need anymore of those right now!

Work on Saturday was a slow start but ended okay.  Here are a few things I found interesting.

I was driving down McAllister and noticed a man walking toward traffic and he was roughly rubbing the fount of his pants with his hand and a brown paper bag.  It was a little obvious of what he was doing.  There was a bunch of younger ladies walking toward him but to stop at the buss stop.  He stopped doing what he was doing with the brown paper bag and started to talk to the young ladies.  They didn’t want anything to do with this guy so he started up with the brown paper bag and the rubbing.  That didn’t help them at all!  The young ladies started to move much closer to each other and most turned their backs to him.  I had the green light at this time so I had to move away.  I hope he left those ladies alone.  

Have you ever thought about swimming from Alcatraz to the city?  I have picked up a few who were going to swim this!  Crazy I know but they seem to be excited to do this swim.  I picked up a lady who was going to swim it on Sunday morning at 7:00 am.  She had never swam in our ocean/bay area so she was a little nervous but very excited.  She didn’t want to swim with a wetsuit since she swims outside where she lives and it is very cold water but they politely suggested that she does.  She did say she was going too just because it was a good idea.  I hope she enjoyed the swim!

We have a wonderful historic Cable Car in the city and we have a party bus Cable Car that drives around the city.  It looks like lots of fun!  Saturday night I was behind one of these busses and it had a very large number of people on it.  Every time they passed a couple they would shout KISS, KISS, KISS until the couple would kiss.  Most couples just blew them off so the people on the bus would boo and hiss at them.  They finally came up to a couple who kissed for them, not only did they kiss but the male picked up the female and swung her around.  That made the people on the bus go WILD!  Lots of cheering!  The male put the female back down and they kissed again.  The people on the bus started telling the couple to get a room.  The couple just laughed and moved on.  This happened a few more times along the street in varying degrees.  It was so much fun.  Hope they had a wonderful night!

Saturday night was the opening night of the opera season in San Francisco.  Sweeny Todd was playing!  I went to the entrance to wait for the end of the opera and the doorman asked everyone in line if they wanted to see the end of the opera.  I would have loved too but I was very sleepy and cold so I declined.  I would have loved to see the whole opera but just a quick taste of the end was way too much for me.  I waited for a few minutes and picked up a wonderful women who wanted to go to the curvy part of Lombard St.  I was very excited to chat with her about the opera and where she lived.  I asked her many questions about both.  She was very excited to answer any questions I asked.  She has lived on Lombard Street for 35 years and loves it there.  Most of the time the tourists do not bother her at all.  The only time they have a problem with them is when they are rude or do bad things to her home.  She says they pick things from a vine that she really likes and the trash left is not as bad as in some other places in the city.  City workers do come every day to clean up the street, happy that happens.  I asked about parking but she said she doesn’t drive much, mostly takes public transportation because she cannot park the car in her garage.  Her husband does drive and he pulls out carefully and backs into the parking spot with ease now.  She has one of the spots that has a little landing outside of the garage so it must be easier.  She hasn’t regretted living on such a busy street yet but some days it is a pain.  Happy I met her.

Many, many times I pick up very drunk men who think they are in love with me.  It happens mostly with hispanic males I pick up in the Mission District.  They are super nice and I enjoy trying to chat with them but I know very little Spanish and they tend to know very little English.  Some of the few words I know are ¿Hola, cómo estás?, Aquí, izquierda (I have to think I am ascared of turning left, haha),  derecho (I think it sounds like milk in Spanish) and a few other basic phrases.  I did take Spanish in high school but I was never any good at it, even then.  Okay, I do enjoy the attention and it is fun to hear how much they love me.  Hispanic men are very nice!

I have noticed a trend in my taxi.  It doesn’t me it is the way it is all over the place or even every time in my taxi.  When I have a couple (male and female) one of them tends to be chatty and the other very quite.  When the couple is Caucasian or black, the female does most of the talking and the man is very quite.  Most of the time it is the female that is begging the man to do something or she wants him to do something.  A lot of high pitched talking then.  Also the female is more than likely the one paying for the taxi ride.  When the couple is Hispanic the male does most of the talking or begging.  I do not know why this is the way but it is.  It really happens the later in the evening it is.

There are a few overpasses in San Francisco  that freak me out!  One going from the Glen Park BART station onto Hwy 280 (Monterey and 280 on ramp).  It is very high up and only one lane.  It feels like it is miles above the city and you are all alone.  I have to take deep breaths when I go over it all the time.  I think it is scarier at night.  You are all alone way up in the air.  I tried to find out how high it is but I couldn’t find it.  I did find out that an overpass can be as high as a 12 story building and they can be as low as 20 feet under the ground level.  That is crazy!

I am asked all the time where the liquor stores are in the city.  I really need to keep an eye out for them because I never know.  I was even sitting eating my pizza and someone asked me where a liquor store.  I had no idea where to tell them except to get beer at a 7eleven.  I guess I need to start paying attention to the things around me.  

Monday starts the DreamForce (for SalesForce) convention.  I am hoping it will be a good week.  DreamForce is such a big convention they have meetings all over town.  They are saying there are 46,000 people coming to San Francisco for this convention according to their website. That is a whole lot of people!  I will be working the city more than the airport next week.  OpenWorld (for  Oracle) will be at the end of October, another 60,000 people for this convention.  Both conventions take over Howard St between 3rd and 4th Street.  Makes driving in SOMA very difficult to do!  It is well worth the trouble in driving for the amount that each ride is.

Okay, I have so much to do tomorrow that I need to go to bed now but I love to tell my story that it is hard to break away!  Thank you again for reading my blog and I love you for it!

Crappy Thursday!

I was awoken to a text from my older sister, she had taken my mom to the clinic because she was not feeling good at all.  I guess she has acute kidney problems.  They are really not sure what is wrong at this time, lots of testing has to be done but she is in a good hospital and in good spirits.  I ended up not working last night because of concern for my mom.  She is 75 years old and is in “good” condition, not the best but better than some her age.  I picked up both of my kids and met my sisters and niece at the hospital last night.  We laughed and giggled with my Mom, lots of fun.  She is feeling a little bit better today but they are still doing more testing to find out what is going on with her.  My sisters said she just wanted to spend time in the hospital for AC, quiet and good food being made for her.  haha!  Yep, we are that family.  The temperatures here have been about 100° or so without any wind.  Horrible and very hot here right now!  She is enjoying all the well wishes from friends and family as well as all the attention the staff gives her.  She is not a person who asks for much but she likes it when people acknowledge her.  Sending her good healing thoughts and prayers to her speedy recovery!

On the way home from visiting my mom at about 10:00 pm I was driving down HWY 101N and getting off on my exit and I ran over, what looked like a 4-6 foot dark pipe in the middle of the road.  My car started to thump but it still moved.  It also didn’t sound like I had a flat tire at that time.  I kept driving until I got home, maybe about ¼ of a mile, not far.  I even had a policeman drive behind me so I do not think anything looked like it was wrong.  I made it into my parking spot and heard a hissing sound, like air was coming out of the tire.  Yep, flat tire.  CRAP!  I really cannot afford this right now!

In the morning I called for someone to come and change my tire, happy he did it because I wouldn’t have been able to get the tire off because it has a locking lug bolt on it.  Why?????  Okay.  I at least had the thing to get the tire off.  Yeah!  The tire and the outside of the rim looked fine but when he got the tire off a large chunk of the rim was broken.  DAMN!  I really wanted to cry at this time but the tow truck guy was really sweet and I was able to make it back into my apartment before I really cried.  I have an appointment tomorrow at a place to replace both tire and rim.  I don’t know much about cars or tires.  I posted on fb about my tire and someone suggested a junkyard for the rim.  Nope.  Not something I can do.  I do not know enough about tires to know if I am getting the right rim or even the right part.  I think these people really do not know me.  

Okay, I need to sleep for a little bit so I can go to work tonight.  I am very, very sleepy right now.  Hope my mind stops and I can sleep even a little bit.

Started good but ended very bad.

Well, I dropped my phone in the dog’s water dish!  I am so pissed at myself!  I was getting ready in the bathroom and I was texting a friend about Sunday, I sat my phone on the edge of the counter and plop it fell into the water dish.  I have thought, maybe a thousand times I should put my phone in a baggie when I am in the shower or when I am getting ready for work.  I will do that from now on!  I often am texted when I am in the shower so having a baggie around it will not make it so I can respond to the text but the drips will not bother it too much.  Well, I have a phone I can use until my 3 day rice “soak” is done.  I have been using my iPad mini while I am at home but I really need a phone at work for many reasons.  

Well, sometimes I use my phone for directions.  I don’t always know where I am going.  I was asked to go to a hotel I had never heard of last night and I was happy I at least knew the street it was on and they could tell me what side of the street it was.  Also I give out my cards to many passengers and I like to be able to respond to them quickly.  Plus in an emergency I would need my phone.

I will tell you about some things that happened in the past week then I will tell you about last night.  Yep, saving the best for last, I guess.

9/1/15

Is it really September?!?!?!?!?!  Crazy, it feels like it still is April or May.  Time flies when you are old.  Also is there a full moon tonight?  People are driving so crazy!  Cutting other cars off and turning into pedestrians.  I have tried to stay calm but sometimes I just want to yell at them!  I want to find out where they learned to drive and how they are able to pass the driving test!  Okay, done with that rant!

I picked up this young lady who didn’t seem to know where she lived.  Just that she lived by the Target off of Geary and the street number and name.  Happy I know where the Target is but I wasn’t sure where her street was.  She was really snippy when I asked for a little help with directions.  I let her just sit in the back quietly and I drove to the Target and she said she wanted to go to the Target instead of her home for food (yep, just the information I needed to know).  She wanted to pay with a credit card but give the tip in cash.  After she was done with the credit card transaction she said she was trying to save money so she couldn't even give me a tip.  She tried to tell me what she was saving for but I cut her off by telling her to have a good night and out she went.  Wonderful, she is saving for whatever and I am trying to pay my rent.  Did I have a right to be unhappy with this customer, no not really but why would she be saving money and not wanting to give a tip?  She works as a server, according to her.  Nice

What or who is Australian Pink Floyd?  They are at the Warfield this weekend and it seems like it will be a big concert!  They are they only group on the marque.  

I was driving around Fisherman’s Wharf one afternoon and I noticed a young male about 10 to 12 standing on a very busy corner.  He was looking very nervous and concerned so I pulled over and asked him if he knew where his parents where.  He nodded and turned around to walk off but didn’t go far.  I bet he really didn’t know where his parents were but was afraid to tell me.  I don’t really blame him.  I was a scary lady in a taxi.  Hope he found his parents or who he was with quickly.  When I drove back around the corner he was no longer standing there and I didn’t see him anywhere.

9/2/15

I picked up a young man whose family is from Palestine.  He owns two pizza places, one on Polk and one on Geary but there are like 5 pizza places in his family.  He was super nice!  We chatted about all kinds of things, I will go to his pizza place and try it, if I can find parking!  We talked about how he grew up wanting to follow his religion.  He never dated a female, just his wife.  They met and knew each other, chatted with each other at family parties and gatherings.  They never went out on typical dates but really liked each other.  He asked her to marry him and they were engaged for 3 years before they married.  They have been married now for 2 years and have a baby on the way now.  They are almost traditional Muslim couple.  They didn’t live together before marriage, they didn’t touch before marriage, she wears traditional abaya dress when outside the family and can wear what she wants (within reason) around family or very close female friends, the only thing they are doing different is not having a child right away as well as having as many children as they can have.  He is the 2nd youngest of 12 (I think that is what he said).  He said that was WAY too many children and they were planning on only having a few.  They are expecting their first child in May and he is very excited!  He is happy they waited to get to know his wife before having a child.  So excited for them!  He was so much fun to chat with and I hope to drive him again some time!  I gave him my business card.  Oh!  I forgot, he says he always asks people how they feel about his religion and how he is living his life.  I said, I have a billion questions but not trying to be mean but just to learn stuff and he was happy to teach me more.  I hope he calls for a ride again so I can ask so many more questions!

I picked up a very drunk man who was talking a lot of nonsense things.  I seem to be picking up a lot of them lately.  Why?  I have no idea.  This guy was even preaching to me about rent control apartments in the city!  He asked me to take him home to the Haight area but then remembered he parked his scooter in the street and he needed to move it before the morning or he would be ticketed.  So he told him to take him to 2nd and Brannan and I got him there and he told me to stop but when he got out he said we were on the wrong street, he wanted Bryant instead.  He seemed to think it was all my fault and I wasn’t following his directions.  He was giving them to me by the way.  Oh, well.  I hate the time around a full moon.  People are even more crazy.

Okay so I am back to yesterday.  I think that is all the stupid crazy things that happened to me this past week!  Who knows but I may remember more later.

After my phone dropping in water my world seem to drop out below me.  I am not sure if it was the lack of having a phone or just the stress of regular life but things are not going as good as they should.

I went to the airport and spent 1 ¾ hours there waiting for a passenger!  That is WAY too long to wait at the airport.  The ride out of the airport was just into the city but it was two very nice men.  Nothing special except they were nice.

Most of the night was spent picking up and dropping off very nice people, nothing special or exciting until I was driving down 16th Street about to turn onto Mission.  I was flagged by a guy and I waited for him.  He got into the front seat and laid it completely back.  He closed his eyes and when I asked him where he wanted to go, he said, I just need to get out of this area and to just drive and drive far.  I said, I need to know where you want me to go before I move or he will have to get out.  He said “turn right”, so I did.  He said drive faster “turn right”.  Why are you stopping.  I let him know people were crossing the street so I needed to wait.  He seemed okay with that.  As I was turning right he started chanting…  Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.  I was starting to freak out!  I wasn’t sure if it was because I did not have a real working phone or if he really posted a threat to me.  I asked him again to tell me where to go and he said Motel 6 Millbrae.  He had turned me around the wrong way, since I was very nervous about what was going to happen I actually took the longer more full of people way.  Fortunately by the time I got to the freeway he had passed out.  I was a little stressed at this time so I got onto the freeway and took him to what I thought was the Motel 6 in Millbrae.  Okay what I thought was the Motel 6 was actually a Travelodge and I started to look for the Motel 6 in Millbrae then the guy sat up and started to get out of the taxi.  I asked if this is where he wanted to get out of the taxi and he said, “no, maybe 5 more minutes”.  I drove a little farther and he acted like he wanted out of the taxi again and he said “no, maybe 5 more minutes”.  I asked him again where he wanted to go. This time he asked me where his friends were at, I didn’t pick up anyone else, I let him know.  He said, just take me to Motel 6 in Redwood City with my friends.  I said, I only picked up you.  At this point I was actually getting pissed off!  Again he was telling me to go someplace else.  This time there was a small inn and BART ahead so I told him I wasn’t going to take him any further because he kept changing his mine.  He said he understood and asked how much the ride was and paid me.  Then got out of the taxi but asked where his friends were before he shut the door.  I said, I have no idea.  They were not there when I picked him up.  Hope he found a place to sleep off whatever he was on and found his friends.

I think that is all I missed over the past few days.  I have been struggling to get this all written.  I would start and then doze off, not knowing what I have written.  I guess it has been harder to write lately than in the past.  I am very sleepy all the time.  I need to do something different but what?  I do not know.

Okay, I think that is everything I can think of tonight!  Nothing much happened on Tuesday night.  Kind of slow, my guess is because it was the end of the holiday weekend, kids are back at school and the people that went to Burning Man are still trying to become human again (haha).

Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love you very much!

Lost my smile :(

Well, not really but a cap (crown, I don’t know which it is) fell out.  It is my canine tooth so it is visible.  I am not comfortable showing my missing tooth.  I never was comfortable showing a yucky front tooth as well but a wonderful dentist fixed it.  This cap has been re-put a few times so I will have to get a implant.  That costs a lot of money that I do not have right now.  I have thought about doing a “crowd sourcing” kind of thing but I am not sure how to do that or if it is even what I could do.  RIP smile for now.

This past week has been pretty AMAZING for rides.  I have had 2 rides to Marin, one from the airport and one from the city.  The ride from the airport was a fun ride!  We chatted and talked about family, kids and schools.  I love it when you connect with a passenger.  When we were close to his house, I thought I had driven him in the past but we drove right by the area where I had driven that passenger.  It was okay.  Got to his home and you could see San Quentin from his street!  Well it was across the Bay. Awesome view.  The other ride to Marin was a pickup at the ballpark to 29th and Balbo to Marin.  I picked up two guys and a female.  They chatted all the way to the first stop about kids and family stuff, it was interesting and fun to listen to their stories.  After I dropped off one male and one female only a guy was left.  We started to chat about a few things, mostly universities he and his friends went too.  Then the subjects changed almost too quickly for me to keep up!  He then started to chat about all different kinds of things that really didn’t make sense.  I didn’t know what had happened!  I tried to keep up but I he kept talking and changing the subject all on his own.  I was so relieved to drop him off!  Back to the city with no problems.

I saw another shooting star!  I love when that happens!  I was on my way home and saw it just drop down!  I wished as soon as I exclaimed “beautiful!”  I don’t think I have this many shooting stars in the city!  I am always looking up at the sky when I can.  The moon has been amazing lately too!  Love full moons.

I picked up a lady at SFO and she needed to get to the Oakland Children's hospital as quickly as possible but she arrived during rush hour. What could have taken around 30 minutes took us over an hour!  Her daughter had broken her ankle and was going in for surgery while the mother was on the way to the hospital.  I felt so bad being in so much traffic but she understood.  I really wanted to chat with her to take her mind off of not being there but she was nice in answering but she seemed like she really didn’t want to talk so I would just say a little bit at a time.  Hope he daughter’s surgery went okay!  She was in good hands.  The mom gave me an awesome $23 tip too!  I guess I did a good job.

Next after crossing the bridge I turned onto Howard St and was flagged!  He wanted to go to the airport!  Nice ride and wonderful conversation!  So much fun! His kids are 10 years apart and my kids are 13 years apart.  It is great to chat with someone else with the same kinds of issues to deal with.

Didn’t stay at the airport since reports were the airport was really slow so I went back into town and was flagged right away again!  The young guy had bright pink and yellow long hair with glowing pink earings in!  He was really nice and was going to a work bar crawl in the Mission/Castro area.  According to him his company does quarterly bar crawls with 50 to 200 people joining in!  Sounded like a blast!  Oh and this guy…  Apparently has been a hacker since he was 3!  He never was taught how to code but learned all on his own, building his own computers out of spare parts and not being able to touch a computer at school.  Not sure what or any of it is true but you have to believe the passenger, right?

Crossing the street and I was flagged again!!  I LOVE nights like these, when it is one flag after another! I took them to the Haight District.  Wonderful nice couple.

Driving down Haight St, I never get flagged.  Well, not ever, I guess.  I was flagged by a lady and an older man.  She at first wanted to go to CalTrain but then asked how much to Menlo Park.  I said it is meter and a half, about $139.  She wanted to know if I would take her for a deal of $60.  I said that is way less than meter and a half but I would do it for straight meter or about $89.  She was okay with that.  We chatted all the way to Menlo Park, she and her father moved here from Tibet about 20 years ago.  Her dad, chanted almost all the way there, it was interesting to hear.  They were leaving in the morning to go to a “rich” 2nd cousins Tibetan wedding.  She wasn’t sure what color the bride was going to wear (not red, like I thought.  That is saved for special ceremonies.  I didn’t know!).

Love it when my night ends on a note like that!  I went home for a few minutes and then went in to turn my taxi in for the night.

8/22/15

I was taking a very nice couple to the theater and we passed a guy on Hyde Street with his penis all out of his pants!   He then started to pee on cars as they passed by!  Happy I was already driving far enough away from him to not be peed on.  I saw him move into the street to pee on cars too!  The crazy things I see in the city.  Needless to say the couple in the back seat were a little amused about the man.  Not really amused but they were not surprised to see it.

Where is the most creative place you have been to a wedding?  I picked up people who went to a wedding in the Asian Art Museum.  So cool!  They were able to walk around most of the museum as well after the ceremony.  I would really love that!  The Asian Art Museum is on my list of things still to do in San Francisco.

8/23/15

I was dropping a very nice young man off at a gas station in the Mission and just after he got out I was locking doors and turning off my light, all of a sudden an older gentleman came up close to my front passenger door and looked deeply into the taxi!  As soon as he saw me, he looked very startled almost like he wanted to say something then walked away quickly. That was a little creepy.

Is there a game that men play with a dropped and spinning coins?  A group of men at the airport were “playing” this game.  They seemed to be very interested and having a blast playing it.

You could really tell it was a full moon in the city this past weekend.  Driving around the city, you almost took your life into your own hands!  It was crazy!  I tried not to be involved in with it at all but I seemed to be in the middle of it more than I like to be.  I kept a cool head.  I was being cut off for rides, when I was turning they turned on the inside of my turn so they could get around me (I was waiting for people to cross the street), stopping in the middle of the road for no reason or swerving into my lane as I went by.  Happy when I went to taxi school, I was taught to see more than just what is in front of me!  I am always on the look out for people behaving badly.  

Thank you very much for all of your patience and also for reading!  I love you very much!  See you soon!