Thursdays are so slow

I am not a fan of working Thursdays.  They are typically slow and not fun at all.  Nothing really exciting happened.  Even my ride to the airport was uneventful.  I much prefer a busy, busy night but they cannot all be exciting and fun.  I am hoping the weather will be good this weekend so people will want to go out and do things.  We were suppose to have a heat wave, starting Tuesday, get worse on Wednesday and cool down a little bit on Thursday and Friday with a nice weekend.  As normal in San Francisco the weather doesn’t follow what is predicted.  The past few days haven’t been very warm but they are still nice.  Karl the Fog came in pretty early last night, at about 5:00 pm, makes people not want to go out as much at night.

Thank you again for reading my blog!  I know some days are not very exciting but I do love my job!  Well, it is off to bed for me.

As always, I love you very much!  Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love reading the comments made too!  Thank you so much!

Traffic, traffic, TRAFFIC!

Sunny Saturday in San Francisco = So much traffic and no way to get around it!!!!  I guess I shouldn’t complain much but when a ride should take only about 20 minutes and it turns into 1 hour, that is WAY too much traffic!  I don’t mind being in traffic when I am not working but I always feel bad about people being in my taxi and paying to sit.  I often will look on a GPS app for different ways to get to their destination.  Sometimes they are better but not always.  A few times the GPS app has taken me WAY out of the way, even if there wasn’t traffic.  I try and look at the streets the GPS app is taking me and make a decision to see if there is even a better way to go too.  Do you use a GPS app?  Do you have a favorite one?  

I know I was talking about a futbol match in the Bay Area yesterday, I found out it was the  International Cup Championship.  Do not know how long they are going for but if you look up their schedule it looks to be a few fun matches.  I wish I could watch a few but even if I had the channels I would not even understand what is going on.  The match is only shown on channels that speak in Spanish.  I am not a real fan but I do enjoy watching sporting events.  I call myself a “peripheral” fan.  Meaning I know really nothing about the teams, I do not have really any favorite team but I really enjoy watching most sports.  

During the early part of my shift, when it was still light outside, I watched a motorcycle CHP go down a one way street going the wrong way.  He seemed a little confused on his way past everyone but ended up turning down another street with his lights and sirens on.  Maybe he knew what he was doing.  Only he knows.

At least once or twice a night I am asked if I ever get scared driving a taxi in the middle of the night or even scared of the people I pick up.  I use my female intuition when picking up people plus I feel I am a really nice person so they treat me like a nice person. I have had very few problems with people that get in my taxi and when I have had problems with them, it was really just small things. I try and not pick up in certain areas of the city but sometimes I find myself in those areas dropping off people.  I do drop them off quickly and not stop until I get back to a safe area.  I sometimes wish there was a way to only unlock one door in the car at a time.  Like only unlocking the back passenger door or the front passenger door.  That would make things safer for many, many people, if you could unlock a door, multiple doors or all doors.  Don’t you think?

July 28

Tonight I picked up mostly men tonight.  They also didn’t want to talk at all, which I guess shouldn’t be unusual but it is in San Francisco.  Most people in the city just want to chat a little bit.  Sometimes I am a little bit uncomfortable when that happens but I deal with it as best as I can.  With a smile and a friendly thank you very much.  Happy most tip very nicely too!

Have you ever been in SF when it was over 70 at 10:00 pm?  Well, there are so many people out and about it is wonderful in the city!  People are happy and excited to be able to spend time outside without a jacket that the parks and bars are packed! People are happy to take a taxi home.  Love hot days in the city!

I picked up a very nice and quiet man at the ballpark and he needed to go to Tiburon.  I have never been to Tiburon.  Very nice views from there!  I want to go during the day to see what it looks like in daylight!  I think where I dropped off the guy was the very end of the peninsula but since it was so dark, I am not really sure.  While my customer was paying another guy was waiting outside of my taxi.  At first I wasn’t sure why he was standing around but he asked if I could take him back to his hotel.  He had been waiting for a taxi for over an hour.  I told him I was not suppose to pick up any other place than the city or the airport.  Since he had been waiting an hour to go back to his hotel, I said, I guess I could take him back to his hotel.  He got in and away we went, chatting the whole time.  Very nice man.  Happy I could help him out.  I don’t know if I would be happy waiting over an hour for a taxi.  I know it happens everywhere but it doesn’t make it right.

So I was driving down the freeway going over the speed limit, but not too much over it, in the fast lane because there was much slower drivers in the other lanes when the car behind me starts flashing their lights at me.  Why do people do this??  I was driving faster than the lanes to the right of me.  I had every right to be in the lane I was in.  I shouldn’t have to move over just because the person behind me feels they are better than me?  There was plenty of space for the person behind me to wiggle his way between cars that were going slower than I was.  The only people that have the right to make me move over is the police.  I know me not moving over for the guy behind me flashing their lights may not make everyone happy but it is my view.  My dad always said, if two cars to the right of me was going faster, move over.  I do that (okay, sometimes I daydream and mess up).  I feel it is only right.  

July 25

I watched a very young lady walking two dogs.  She bent over to pet one of the dogs and something fell out of her shirt, then something else fell out of her shirt.  It looked like the fake foam boobs that fell out of her shirt!  She quickly picked them up and stuffed them back into her shirt.  Then tried to walk away quickly from the area.  I just had to giggle.  I had never seen that before!

I picked up three wonderful ladies outside of the ballpark.  I hustled them into the taxi and off we went.  So much traffic!  What should have taken 15 minutes took almost an hour!  We chatted about a lot of things.  There were here visiting the area for the weekend, to go to the game, eat and enjoy themselves!  The ladies lived in the LA area and were Giants fans but their families are Dodgers fans so the families were not happy they came up for the game.  (My guess, is the family was okay with the visit but didn’t really “like” them going to the game).  Two of the ladies lived in the SF area at one time but had not been to SF in about 20 years.  It was great to chat with them about the changes they saw.  When I dropped them off at Pier 39 they asked to see if I would pick them up later so I gave them my card and said I would be happy to pick them up again.  I received a call about 3 hours later and they asked for a ride back to their hotel.  I was a little bit far away and said, if they wanted to take another taxi, it would be okay.  They said, no, they would wait for me.  I was able to get to them pretty quickly!  Happy in SF we have roads with timed lights.  Happy to be able to pick them up and take them to their hotel after their evening of dinner and shopping!  When I dropped them at their hotel, I was given lots of hugs and hope that they call me again when they are in the area!

Well, I think that is all I have for right now.  Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love you very  much!

Water... Really!

Friday nights lately are a mix of busy and extremely slow lately and last night was no exception.  I was happy to find out that my taxi was fixed by the time I started my shift.  It was the battery!  It made me feel better knowing that it was actually something wrong with my taxi.  I know nothing about cars so I am never sure what I think is wrong is really something wrong.  I guess a taxi last night caught on fire because of the battery.  Hybrid cars are a trip!  I guess the catch on fire because of the battery often, if they are not nicely maintained.  Good thing I caught it when I did!

I stopped for dinner at my favorite pizza place in the city last night.  It was empty when I got there.  I got my pizza and sat down at a table, put my headphones in to listen to my podcasts and ate my pizza.  Hawaiian is what I like!  While I was eating, the place filled up very and was very, very full!  I had just predicted it to the people that work there too!  Funny how that happens.  Well, I was taking my garbage to the trash and a young black man said excuse me.  I looked at him, smiled and said I am sorry and moved away.  I left and walked out of the building.  I stopped to put something else I had in my pocket in a trash receptacle on the street and the same guy with another guy stopped me.  They said I spilled my water on one of the guys, I let them know I didn’t have water. He said, no you spilled my water.  I said, sorry, I didn’t know, I apologize. They really didn’t seem to want to take my apology.  I said again that I was sorry and moved away.  I could hear them talking to others about me spilling water on the guy.  I was a little freaked out at that time.  First off, he didn’t look wet and second, it was WATER!  Oh, my gosh!  Freaking water. I was happy I was approached by two wonderful men who had just gotten married.  We chatted for a time and then I went into the drugstore to pick up a few things before I went back to work.  Happy those boys didn’t follow me and were not around when I came back out.  Back to work I went.  I did see the young boys a little later in the evening. I drove right past them.  Also I do not remember touching anyone when I was in the restaurant.  Maybe the boy spilled the water on himself.

In San Jose the Premier League (or something like that, sorry!) is playing each other and I guess some of the MLS teams.  At the St Regis Hotel in SF, there are tons of screams fans waiting for the teams to arrive every night for the past week or so.  It is so fun to see!  I wish the US was a bigger fan of futbol.  When the World Cup was in Brazil, SF went crazy watching the matches. I really enjoyed them too and I cannot wait for the next set of matches in, what 3 years.  Go Futbol!

Have you ever heard of tomato water?  I had not until I picked up a sous chef.  This nice young guy and I chatted about the new restaurant in the Mission District and he was talking about the foods they served.  One of the things he mentioned was salmon with tomato water.  I had never heard of such a thing.  I asked how you made tomato water and I was even more shocked!  It is much easier than I thought and so many things you can do with it!  I guess I will try and make it sometime.  Sounds interesting!  Do you have any favorite recipes that use tomato water?

I know life is full of surprises, I try and take each with a smile and a positive attitude.  Sometimes the surprises are wonderful and sometimes they suck so bad.  I am ready to have more of the wonderful surprises in my life.  I guess I will keep trying to be a good person and do the right thing.  I am not unhappy right now.  I have a good life and a wonderful family.  Just sometimes the outside world bites you in the butt.

Okay, enough for that now.  Hope tonight there are some exciting and blog worthy things happen.  Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love you very much!

Day from H#!!

Day from H#!!  Car problems so I tried to make arrangements but nothing was working.  I had to wait for my daughter to get home from work so I could go to work.  I was suppose to start work at 4 but didn’t get there until 7.  Okay fine, I can move past this and make a lot of money in a short amount of time.  Okay, don’t laugh it can happen.  

I was able to get a couple of longer rides so I was so close to getting my gate.  When I started I thought something smelled in my taxi but I wasn’t sure.  There are places in the city that are a little smelly so I thought maybe it that.  After a few pick ups I asked a lady who wanted to go to the airport if it smelled in the taxi and she said it smelled like gas.  Not just regular gas but maybe gas like.  On the way to the airport I had to stop a stoplight, it looked like a small amount of smoke came out from under the hood.  I had no alarm lights or nothing out of the ordinary.  I was able to drive the lady to the airport with no problems.  I then called the owner of the taxi to see what he wanted me to do.  He told me to take it back to the yard to see what they can see or smell.  No problems getting back to the yard.   I talked to one of the guys at the yard and he thought the battery smelled like it was melting so he “shopped” it.  I called the owner of the taxi to let him know what was going on.  I could get a spare taxi but since I had already had such a horrible day I let him know I was going to go home instead. He said he understood and said I could just pay half gate.  At least that was nice!  

Okay, so on my way home I chatted with my daughter about all the things that had happened and we decided to go to the store and get cake.  Great ending to my long, long day.  

So after all that has happened I am happy to be home and ready to start having a wonderful day tomorrow!  Or is it tomorrow already?  

Thank you very much for reading and I love you very much!

Feeling GREAT!

I am feeling so much better now!  I just wanted to let you know that if I was so dizzy and off balance I would never have gotten behind the wheel.  I was a little “off” more nauseated than anything else after the first day.  I also called and talked to my doctor and he suggested that I do these movements to move the blockage from the inner ear.  It took a few days of doing this movement to get rid of the blockage.  I will keep doing these movements just to keep the blockage gone.  The movements they told me about I found online by Dr. Foster.  Works wonders!  Happy it is gone and I hope to keep it at bay as well.

Have you ever seen a young man riding a bicycle at night wearing dark clothes and sunglasses?  Well, I have.  I really don’t think it is a good idea to ride a bicycle in the dark with sunglasses on. The guy almost rode his bike straight into me while I was stopped at a stop light.  Happy he saw me at the last moment.  Made me chuckle a little bit.  Hope he was able to make it where he was going without too much troubles.

I am always asked why I do not drive for a rideshare company.  I let them know that I didn’t drive taxi before I they were around so I do not know what it was like before.  I do just fine driving a taxi.  I am not sure why they think driving for Uber or Lyft would be any better than driving a taxi. I only have the cost of gate or “rent” for taxi and the cost of gas.  I do not have to pay to wash, maintain my vehicle (oil changes, brakes, or anything else cars need to stay working), not only their regular insurance but now commercial insurance, nor do I have to make sure I have water or snacks. Those are extra costs they have that I do not have.  For a $20 ride how much do you think the Uber or Lyft driver will actually come back home with?  On average they will only take home about $6 to $7 for that ride and not make a tip.  On that same ride, after taking out gate, gas and maybe lunch, I will take home about $15.  So which is the better deal?  I am still going to drive a taxi.  I am struggling but I talk to many waiters/waitress, bartenders and people in retail and they are saying the same thing.  It is not as busy as it was 2-3 years ago.  The cost to rent/buy/own property in the city is so high that people are now choosing to only go out one night a week or if they are going out more than one night they go to friend’s places.  I am hoping things change soon in the city.

I am happy I am back in my old taxi.  It was hard driving a spare while ours was being fixed.  Spares are older taxis that are used when all the other taxis are in working order.  Spares are not always the cleanest of taxis but I spent a lot of time cleaning when I got into a new spare.

Well, tonight is another night.  Hoping it will be an exciting a fun Thursday night.  Thursdays are normally kind of slow but I heard there is a big race that is coming into town this weekend.  Not sure what the big race is but they are already posting that roads will be closed on Sunday.

Also as a heads up starting August 1st only buses and taxis will be able to turn onto Market St.  Also BART will be not running for a few days from SF to Oakland.  So, if you need a ride…

I think that is all I have for today!  Thank you very much for reading my blog!  It makes me happy that someone enjoys my stories!  I love you very much!

EARTHQUAKE and a trying nights.

EARTHQUAKE!!!  Did you feel it last night?  I did!  I always get so excited when I feel them!  It was only about 4.2 a couple of miles from where I live so it was just a little shake. We don’t actually get them often so when one happens it is always fun.

Tonight my first ride was a family of 3 with TONS of suitcases.  Only 3 large ones fit in my trunk of the taxi and 4 of the mid size suitcases were in the front seat with me.  They wanted to go to Pleasanton, which is meter and a half ride about a $177 ride.  They were okay with it, so I added their address in my gps and off we went.  The ride was uneventful expect the young man wanted to be home for the start of the Manchester United futbal game.  Manchester United was playing in the Avaya Stadium, according to the young man.  We made it to their home about about 20 minutes after the match started.  He seemed very happy.  

Driving down Dubose I noticed a bunch of people moving around in the middle of the street. I wasn’t sure what was going on until one of the people fell down and the others started to kick and hit that person.  At this time there was 4 cars coming up to the fight and the males jumped into a car.  The girl jumped up and started looking for something on the road.  I pulled alongside her and asked her if she was okay and she yelled “where’s my f$%*ing phone”.  I guess she was not interested in my help so I moved on.  I always feel bad when I do but some people do not want or need my help.  

July 18

Every night I think “I have seen everything” or even “nothing surprises me anymore” then something does.  A guy in a large white Escalade was yelling something out his window.  At first I wasn’t sure what he was saying or even asking me a question.  We were sitting at a stop light and the guy kept saying something out his window, I didn’t have my window open and I was chatting with people in my taxi. Our conversation waned so I heard the guy asking me if I knew where to get crack cocaine.  I have never wanted to needed to know where you can get any drugs so I didn’t answer him.  After the light turned green his car started to drive off a little faster than I was but the guy was hanging out of the window with a stack of $100 bills!  I hope he didn’t lose them out the window or someone try and take the money from him.  I did see him ask a guy in another car.  The other guy seem to wave him to follow him but the Escalade didn’t follow them.  Is it bad that I hoped the guy lost his money on the street or had someone take it from him so he couldn’t buy any cocaine?  

Driving down Franklin St with a few passengers and we stopped at a red light at California.  In the car next to us was 2 older men and one of men yelled “You are beautiful” to a young lady crossing the street.  Needless to say the lady who was crossing the street started to walk quickly.  Would you feel uncomfortable if you were catcalled in the middle of the night?

I picked up a couple of people, male and female, in the Marina District I dropped off the female a few blocks away and the male needed to go to SOMA so off we went.  Chatting about ex girlfriends, work, school, family.  He was very drunk.  We were almost to his home and a cellphone started to ring.  I said, I think your phone is ringing.  He said, nope, not his phone.  His phone was dead.  A few minutes later the phone started to ring again and he was fiddling with a backpack. I assumed it was his but I was wrong.  He said he stole a co workers backpack but planned to give it back to the girl at work on Monday. I am not sure what was going on at that time but the phone rang again and he actually answered it. He talked about meeting up with the girl to give her back the backpack.  He couldn’t get her address correct so I talked with the girl. We turned around and went back to the Marina District.  He told me not to wait for him.  After asking a few times, if he was sure.  I drove away.  Crazy.  Not sure how he was getting home.

One of my favorite places to pick up people is always the Castro and tonight wasn’t an exception.  A group of males approached my taxi and one of the guys asked if I could take their friend home.  I said, of course!  The group of males had to talk the guy into the taxi!  He thought he would be able to drive home.  He gave me an address in Burlingame and off we went.  I tried to chat with the guy but he was really, really drunk and wasn’t really wanting to talk.  I figure that was actually better than him to get sick in my taxi.  He would sleep a little bit and then wake up, never saying anything.  I just drove him to his address.  Most of the time getting the address and using gps to get to their home is not a problem but this time…  The address I was given was just off the freeway in a dark ravine.  I saw a light on a house but no driveway to get to it.  I woke the guy up to see if he knew where his house was from here.  He said no this wasn’t where he lived.  I asked if he had a driver's licence with his address on and he said no.  I asked if he had anything with his address on it.  He gave me his wallet and I looked through it.  Nothing!  His licence was from another state and he didn’t have anything else in there!  I asked if he had his address in his phone and he said no.  I asked he could text someone who may know his address but he didn’t know anyone in his phone.  He was very drunk still.  I texted a few people to see if they knew his address, from his phone and saying I was his taxi driver.  No answer.  I wanted to call someone but all his recent phone calls had been erased and he had no favorites.  I didn’t know what to do with this guy.  He did say he had just moved into this place and didn’t remember the address.  I did find out he was a flight attendant so I asked if we went to the airport could he get us back to his home and he said yes.  So I put into the gps how to get to the airport.  On the way back to the airport in the middle of no where the guys says just let me out here.  I said there is nothing here, did you really want to get out.  He said no, so I continued on.  We get close to 101 and the guy starts to tell me how to get to his home.  He at first said, turn right, then turn left but turning left would take me into CalTrain so I asked if he really knew where we were going.  He said no.  I asked again if he remembered his address.  Nope.  He didn’t.  I then thought maybe I should call dispatch to see what they advise.  They suggested I take him to someplace public, police station, fire station or someplace like that. I just didn’t feel right about that.  I asked if I dropped him at the airport would that be okay.  The dispatch said that would be fine.  So I took him to the airport.  He seemed happy that I wanted to help him and was nice to him.  He paid me and gave me a nice tip.  He got out of my taxi after I had given him my business card and then he went into the airport.  I had hoped he would call me and let me know he arrived home but I haven’t heard from him.  I hope nothing bad happened to him.  I gave my business card to his friends as well when I picked up the guy but no one has called.  

July 19

Flagged by 3 ladies on Polk and Pine streets, they wanted to go to Temple in SOMA.  Not only did the 3 ladies get into my taxi but 2 males got in as well, including one with an American flag on a pole.  I told the boys that one of them needed to get out or all of them needed to get out.  Happy the ladies got the guys out of the taxi after yelling at them for a few minutes.  After the boys left the ladies said they didn’t even know the boys and were happy they were not coming along with them.  The ladies were in the US for a 3 week holiday, spending time in LA, Vegas, San Diego and San Francisco.  They were leaving on Monday so they didn’t have a lot of time left in the city. Trying to get in as much as they could in the short time.  They have already done all kinds of things in SF but would have liked to go to Alcatraz but they didn’t get tickets in time.  We almost were to Temple and one of the girls had received a text saying it cost $50 to get into Temple for the after hours club.  They didn’t think that was worth going so they decided to go back to the hotel.  On the way they pasted others that was in their group and that seemed to make the ride to Temple not a complete waste for the ladies.  Hope they had a blast the rest of their visit and they come back again to our wonderful city.

My vertigo is actually not as bad as I thought it was.  I am able to drive and do thing sitting things but as soon as I tip my head a certain way, the world spins.  I do everything to keep the world from spinning but I guess I am going to have to go and find out what is wrong with me soon.

Thank you again for reading!  I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to read what happens in my night!  I love you!

Vertigo

Have you ever had vertigo?  I had not until about a year ago.  I am dealing with it again. Last time it was really bad for only a day or two but this time it has been going on since Thursday.  I didn’t drive Thursday night but did drive on Friday and Saturday.  It was okay. I found this movement you can do to help with vertigo and it helps for a little bit.  Not sure what I have to do to get rid of it forever or at least for another year. It would be amazing if it came back next year and I knew how to get rid of it.

July 7

On most nights you can find a large group of people around either one of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stations in the Mission District.  One group is interesting to watch!  They are there preaching the gospel.  Rapping, singing, yelling and just having a wonderful time!  When this group of young people is there,the police presence is very little, so it is wonderful to see.  I end up driving around that block a few times just to show, in my own way, support for them.  I am not a religious person but I do know and understand others believe and need the support from a religion and others who believe.  I hope they continue to be able to pray in this manner.

July 9

Two older men got into my taxi and kept saying “discard eligible” and “that is not awesome”.  They tried to explain what discard eligible meant but I didn’t understand.  I guess it has something to do with someone you would sleep with but nothing more, or not really because they couldn’t explain it.  Oh, well, somethings are better not explained to me or do you know what that means?

July 3

Why do you go and visit a city when you do not like cities?  I had a couple who was visiting from Florida and they complained there was too many people at the Wharf.  They complained there wasn’t any “chain” restaurants in the city, like Olive Garden, Chili's or Red Lobster.  With 4400 restaurants in our 49 square mile city, why would you want to spend it in a chain restaurant?  Oh, well.  They also complained about how cold it was in July.  They were expecting it to be “hot California” but Karl the Fog was over the city.  I guess they thought Florida was perfect.

July 11

I picked up a drunk mom, a young lady and a 7 year old boy.  As soon as they got into the taxi the mother said she had bought 10 hamburgers, small fries and water to give to homeless people to teach her son how it felt to give to those in need.  It was 11:30 pm.  She didn’t want to go to the Tenderloin area where her son might get into trouble or hurt but someplace where a group of homeless who would be appreciative of her gift.  Her thoughts were nice but she kept repeating how good her son was going to feel after giving this food away, over and over.  I started to doubt why she really was doing this. Plus she kept eating out of the bags of food (really?!?!?!  Wanting to help others?)  The young lady with them (I think she might have been a cousin or nanny) kept agreeing, kind of with the mother.  I was not sure where she wanted to find a group of 10 homeless people who would love her food and maybe call her queen (sorry, I cannot help myself right now)  So she wanted me to stop all the street and look for homeless people, she wanted me to wait.  Her young son was falling asleep and she demanded he go with her so he would feel better.  Also the young son was asked to give his money from the bank to homeless people and he told her no, he had plans for that money.  Plus his mother said she had already doubled it.  He said he was given $4,000 from his aunt and his mom would make it $8,000.  I kept thinking, I wish someone would give me $4,000 them double it to $8,000.  The mom kept saying she spends a lot of time in her town walking the streets and asking what a homeless person needs and giving it to them, except for cash.  She doesn’t give cash because they will only spend it on alcohol and drugs.  She just annoyed me more and more.  I wanted her out of my taxi quickly.  Finally her majesty and family got out at Fisherman’s Wharf.  I know I say that often but there are so many more people I would love to keep in my taxi for so much longer!  I love chatting with people and finding out more about them.

July 12

Flagged by a bunch of young black men, I let them know I could only take 4 and they said okay but 5 got into my taxi.  I said, one of them needed to get out but they said, just take us home.  I replied “no, one of you needs to get out or all of you need to get out”.  They said they wanted me to call and get another taxi that would take all 5 of them but I said you can call the phone number on the side of the taxi.  They wanted to talk to my manager and I said, “you can call the phone number on the side of the taxi”.  They still were not getting out of the taxi (I was starting to stress at this time) but a small moth landed on the face of the guy behind me and he started to freak out.  He got out of the taxi and yelled at the others to get out to.  They at first were not budging but then the small moth landed on the leg and then the face of another guy.  That guy freaked out more than the other kid did!  I wanted to laugh so badly!  A tiny moth got them out of the taxi more than the threat of calling the police.  I drove off laughing!  Made my night!  Happy the moth followed them out of my taxi!

July 10

I watch a lady standing at a corner with a male companion.  It looked like she had something on her foot but I couldn’t figure out what it was.  As she started to walk across the street the thing on her foot moved up and down her leg for a few steps and then fell off and ran back to the side of the road.  I am guessing it was a large cockroach.  She didn’t even notice it!  So gross!

July 11

I received a proposition for sex for money!  Well, they guy I picked up was propped up on a meter when he flagged me and walked over to the taxi with a crooked neck.  He gave me where he wanted to go and we chatted for all the way to his place.  When we got there, the ride was about $6 and he gave me a $20 bill asked for $12 in change but if I came upstairs with him for a bit then I could have it all.  I said, thank you very much but I would have to pass.  The guy said, it will not take very long.  I again said, thank you very much but I would have to pass.  He ended up saying, he had a girlfriend and she wouldn’t be happy if he cheated.  I agreed.  He got out of the taxi with no problems but complained his neck hurt him.  

The next guy I picked up kept asking if I wanted a ride from him but he was joking.  He was a wonderfully nice guy.  He told me he was 28 and asked if I had a daughter.  I do.  He asked if I would give him her phone number because all the ladies in the city were very superficial.  I laughed with him.  We got to his home and he wanted to order pizza in the taxi before he got home.  I was okay with it since his ride was $9 and he gave me a $20!  Great tip!  Nice guy.  

July 18

I watched guy help women and males get into a large suv and then put his hand down his pants for a few seconds, smell his hand and then use that hand to close the door using the window. As I passed by the suv I saw his fingerprints on the window!  So gross!!!  

Okay, I need to get ready for work now!  I am still spinning a little bit but if I take it easy tonight I should be fine.  I guess I will spend most of my night at the airport.  

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

Depression

Depression is horrible.  It is debilitating.  it takes away your life.  I am normally a happy person and take things with stride but right now I am drowning in a sea of misery.  I know lots of people say the same thing about depression but it feels much more than that!  I do not want to raise my head off of the pillow.  I do not want to shower.  I do want to eat, because it is not a stress factor for me but a relief, I don’t want to face people, I don’t want to do anything.  I just want to sit, sleep, eat and breath.  I don’t want to think of things, I don’t want to talk to people, I don’t want to pretend to be happy.  I just want to be left alone.  The horrible downside to my depression is if I do not work, I do not earn a living.  I cannot make myself move today other than to write this.  I am hoping if I write this, I will feel my dark cloud move away from my head.  I am hoping I will feel better in writing this.  I am hoping it will give me strength to move enough to at least take the dogs out to walk so they will not pee or poop in the house.  So far it is not happening.  So far, I just want to cry.  So far I just want to sleep more.  So far I just want to be alone.

I know they will go away soon, typically just a day or two I feel like this but I cannot stand to feel this way.  I know my life has so much meaning and I have so much to live for but I just want to sleep and be left alone for a little bit.  I know it is stress of not having or making enough money, it is from not being able to make sure my family has what they need, it is from the loss of the love of my life, it is from the weight I carry on my body, it is from my son being with his dad for the summer, it is because the dogs poop and pee in the house even if they are walked 5 times a day.  I know there are things I can do to get rid of this horrible, horrible feeling but what if I don’t want to right now?  What if I want to feel like crap and not go to work?  What if just taking a day for me to do nothing, nothing at all but sleep, watch tv, surf the web and read?  I do not often do that for myself.  When I do have days off it is spent doing things for my family.  I make sure the house is picked up, dishes are done, laundry is washed, dried, folded and put away. I drive to Sacramento to take or pick up my son from Sacramento.  On the days I do not have to anything my daughter wants to go out and do something but I end up doing all the driving.  I do love to spend time with my daughter and I do love to drive but they feel like work too.

I feel like I am rambling but I am hoping to get everything out that I am thinking or feeling.  I thank you for reading to my thoughts and feelings.

Should I go to work today?  I am really my own boss but sometimes I feel like crap and cannot do what I need to do.  I also know that if I did go to work tonight I wouldn’t do very good.  I would just drive around without a plan.  I might pick up nice friendly people who might brighten up my night but just for a second or two after I see them.  

When I am feeling like this my head floats.  Am I holding my breath?  Is that why it happens?  I don’t know.  Maybe there is really something wrong with me?  I do need to go and talk to someone about this but I cannot afford insurance right now.  I know with ObamaCare I should be able too but I am barely making enough money to pay rent and put food on our table.  Insurance is a luxury.  I did receive insurance earlier this year and started to pay for the first couple of months but I got pneumonia and was off of work for 2 weeks.  I went to the emergency room and had to pay them $250 then I received a bill for $300 for the x rays.  I was able to pay the emergency room but then there was no way I could pay for the x rays or food, rent, gas (to get back and forth to work) or anything else.  I do not spend money I do not have.  My daughter (who has college debt and a great paying job) and I live together because between her college debt and my income neither of us can live alone.  So we help each other out the best we can.  The good thing about my job is I get “paid” almost every day I work.  That has been a plus but we are still on a sinking ship.  If we could move out of this state to someplace cheaper it might help but I have problems with my son’s father.  He would do everything to keep my son and he is only 12.  So we have only 6 more years before we can move.  If my daughter is able to keep her job that long, they might let her work from home so we can move out of the area.  I will have to no longer do what I do but I can find a part time job someplace else.  Here I cannot work 40 to 60 hours then get a part time job.  I am too tired as it is.  I might have been able to do that when I was younger but not now.  Not now.  

All of this has made me sleepy.  I cannot keep my eyes open.  Thank you for reading.

Last night and a blasts from the past!

Last night was busy but kind of boring.  I was flagged by a lady in the Financial District and she asked to go to North Beach.  I asked her how her day was and she said horrible.  I said I am sorry but she just put her headphones and made pissed off sounds all the way there.  Once we were at her stop she paid me, I said I hoped she had a better night, she said nothing, got out and slammed my taxi door HARD!  Wow, something set her off. I tried to be polite. Maybe I said something wrong.  It happens. Happy the taxi door is sometimes hard to close and closing it hard is a good thing, not the best thing but it will actually latch.

June 27

Gay Pride week , court ruling for marriage equality and all heck breaks out!  So many happy drunk people all over the city!  The Mission and the Castro were packed with tons and tons of people celebrating this historic day.  I was driving down 18th St, noticed a police car on the corner and they were using their flashlights to flag me.  I wasn’t sure what was going on but I waited until it was safe to turn around to go back to them.  The police asked if I could take a lady home, she was really drunk and barely could get into the taxi but she did get in.  Her friend also got into the taxi and off we went.  We started moving to their destination and the very drunk lady started to hit the seats and door in the back.  I asked her to please stop. She stopped for a little bit.  I think she also was doing private things to herself but her friend so nicely stopped her.  On our way the really drunk lady asked me to stop by this bar, not only did her friend try and stop her but I also tried to stop her.  I cannot hold people in my taxi so I pulled over and let her go.  She was gone for a few minutes and came back into the taxi so off we went.  We got to their destination without anymore problems.  Happy about that!

I legally can only take 4 additional people in my taxi and often I am asked, no pleaded to take 5+ people but I will not.  It can be a very big fine for me, if I am caught.  I have had 5 young black men get into my taxi and I asked one of them to get out and they argued to stay in.  I asked them nicely to all get out but they really didn’t want to, asking for my manager’s phone number.  They still did not want to get out of my taxi.  A little moth is what actually got them out.  Made me laugh.  A moth.  What is so scary about a little moth?  hahahaha!  I have seen 7 get into a rideshare Prius. 7!!  Where did they all sit?  That is so crazy.  Hope if you do take one of those rideshare cars you make sure your driver follows all rules of the road.  

People watching is even more fun in the middle of the night in a city.  I watched a young man about 9 or 10 at 11:30 pm stomping up and down the street.  My guess, his father was standing watching him.  It made me laugh.  Sometimes kids have way more energy than their parents.  I could see me doing the same with my kids.

June 28

Often other drivers need rides home from the yard so they ask another driver to take them home, yes they pay.  I have taken home, many, many drivers and I always ask things like how long they have been driving, do they still enjoy driving and how they did that night.  This night I took home a driver who had been driving for 48 years!  That is a very long time and he has seen many, many changes.  He now only drives when he wants too, he is not on a schedule.  He seemed very nice.  I have seen him around the city, mostly in the Castro (easy to pick people up there).  

July 1

Tonight almost every person that got into my taxi tonight was a set of two men!  Since I have been driving I have noticed a pattern in the way things happen in the city.  You will take people to the same out of the way place, to the same hotel, to the same bar, take only $5 bills, take only credit cards, take only cash, pickup only men, pickup only couples, pickup only cranky people or other things.  You can see a pattern in most nights.  It is crazy!  I love my job!

Well that is enough for today!  I am actually almost caught up!  Crazy I know.  I try to find something interesting every night but it doesn't always happen.  

Thank you again for reading and I love you very much!

Missing a few more days. Here they are

Missing a few stories from me?  I know, I owe you like a years worth of stories.  I will do my best in sharing them with you.

June 24th

Watching a bus make a very quick stop, well not really a stop more of a slow down and quick speed up, you know someone will miss their bus.  I watched a young man run at full speed to catch that bus but he got there as soon as it pulled away.  He even hit the bus as it pulled away but the bus did not stop at all. I was having a great night so I stopped to pick up the young man.  I didn’t charge him anything for the ride.  We chatted until I got him home.  He tried to pay me but I said no.  I asked him to help someone when he could.  He promised he would do.  

When I started tonight at the airport I picked up 3 young boys and they wanted to go to Walnut Creek, meter and a half!  At first I thought they might be cousins and one was visiting but the longer they were in the taxi the more I learned about them.  They were all about 15, not one with a driver's license but are to take the test in the next few months.  All of them are obsessed with cars, they kept picking out the expensive fast cars they wanted on the drive. I guess boys are boys at any age so they also talked about video games and a little bit about girls, mostly girls they all knew.  From the way they talked, two of the boys lived here but were good friends and the third one was a friend who had moved away.  What they talked about was very interesting, for young men.  Happy it was not 3 girls because they would have talked loud and asked to change the music, ask to have the music turned up and talk loudly over it.  Always happy to have young men in my taxi.  One of the young men paid with cash and off I went back to airport.

Picked up a girl who was frantically flagging me.  As soon as she got into the taxi she burst into tears.  I asked her if she was okay, she started crying even more loudly.  Apparently she was out with her girlfriends and her boyfriend didn’t like it.  He called her and demanded she meet up with him at BART so they could go home.  He said she needed to be there in less than 10 minutes or he would jump in front of a train.  According to the girl he only does this when he is drinking.  She says he needs help but he will not go and get help.  She will not leave him for anything because she feels she is in love.  I am hoping she will see what he is doing to her and get some help for herself.

When you pick up people you never know how they are going to act in your taxi. This guy got in my taxi and asked to go to Hotel City.  I said I didn’t know where that was but if he gave me an address I could find it.  He said I should know where it is, it is a 5 star hotel and everyone knows where it is.  I still didn’t know where I was taking him so I asked again.  He said Hotel Park City by Union Square don’t you have internet to find it.  I looked it up.  The only Hotel Park City was in Utah, and I asked if he wanted me to take him there.  He said no, You should know where I want to go.  I looked up Park Hotel and it came up on Sutter St, so I took him there.  I am not sure if it was the right hotel or not but at this point I didn’t care.  I know that is not like me but sometimes people are just rude.  On his $49 ride he gave me a $3 tip.  Wonderful.

Driving down Mission St I was flagged by a young black woman, she wanted to go to Larkin and Ellis.  She asked me to wait while a much,much older man got a bag from another much,much older woman and put it in the back of the taxi.  Lazy lady.  She then asked me to wait for her while she got something to eat at a gas station.  She came back with nasty smelling food and ate with so much noise.  I really hate that.  When we were almost to where she needed to go she called someone to come down and take the bag out of the back of the taxi. She asked me to turn left onto Ellis but didn’t tell me to stop until it was past where she needed to stop and asked me to back up.  I did for a few minutes but then another car came up behind me and I said that is as far as I would back up.  It really isn’t safe to back up too far in the city.  People try and “get hit” behind things like taxis and buses.  They think there is lots of money in doing that.  She asked me again to back up and I said that is as far back as I can go unless you want me to go around the block and she said no.  She paid me the exact fare and really didn’t want to get the bag out of the back but she did.  I was very happy she was out of my taxi.  She was a young woman who should have been able to get the bag without any troubles but she didn’t.  That irritated me.  

Okay, that was a few more stories for today.  Hope you enjoy them.  I know they are not as exciting as they can be or have been but you never know what is going to happen in a night!

Thank you very much for reading and I love you very much!

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Just what happened last night.

I have gotten back into Game of Thrones.  I have really missed watching it but some parts I didn’t understand so I am watching again from the first season.  Maybe that is a bad thing since I started watching True Blood and made it through all of the 7 seasons and didn’t do much else than that.  At least I have seen all but the last season so it is more of a refresher before I watch the new season.  Do you watch Game of Thrones?

Starting my tales of the past night makes sense, right?  I went to the airport like normal for my first ride and picked up a young man and his parents.  I don’t think the parents spoke English but the son did.  They were coming from China.  I took them to Redwood City.  The whole ride the older man coughed and coughed, hacking up his lungs.  Horrible!  Then the older lady started in.  When we were unloading their suitcases the older guy could barely stand up.  He was still coughing and spitting into a rag.  I cannot afford to be sick and I hope he hasn’t given me anything. All I could think is he brought SARS or something horrible like that.  I wiped down my taxi when I went back to the airport.

My next couple was also from the airport.  They were in their 80’s and had been visiting Denmark, Sweden and Germany.  He went for a two day conference and she just went to spend time with him.  I asked about their trip and they seemed to enjoy all the cool things they saw.  After we dropped off the lady, they hugged and I think he tried to kiss her but she seemed embarrassed.  As I drove him to his home, I asked how long he had known his friend.  One and one half year.  I asked how they met.  Online dating site, like Senior Meet. Was this their first time visiting someplace else.  No they had gone places but not for so long or so far away.  They enjoyed going to the museums and historic places together.  He cannot wait to go again but not anytime soon.  Haha!  So very, very cute!

Hotels whistle for you to stop.  It irritates me but I do stop. Tonight it was for two men from South Korea who wanted to go to Larry Flint’s Hustler Club in North Beach.  I chatted with them for the ride.  I asked if they were here for the convention and they were shocked I know so much.  I told them I was psychic and laughed.  I took them to their strip club and waited outside so they could pay and I went in to receive my “money for bringing them”.  I actually had to go into the strip club.  I have never been into one and I was actually creeped out by it.  Not that there is anything wrong with going to a strip club but I wasn’t comfortable.  I have wanted to go to one just to see what it was all about but now I know and I am okay without actually going in.

Sometimes the transit police will check busses to make sure everyone on the bus has actually paid to be on the bus.  Tonight was one of those nights.  As a bus was stopped and a few people were off the bus with the police, a man was riding a bike around the bus yelling “Let the poor people of this city ride the bus for free”, “Let the rich people who pay taxes, pay to let the poor people of the city ride for free” and other things like that.  Downside the people that were standing on the platform with the policeman looked like tourists.  

I saw a man who had almost a fully shaved head.  On both sides of his head he had small crown of hair above each ear and a dangle half moon shaped earring hanging below it.  The things you see in San Francisco.

I am a little tired tonight and will add more stories tomorrow!  The fun never ends driving a taxi in San Francisco!

Thank you very much for reading my blogs and I love you very much!

A few stories from the past couple of months

Here are a few stories to wet the appetite for more!

June 17th

I was driving down Fulton St going toward the capitol building, have you seen it?  So beautiful! It is often lit up with different colors typically representing something, like when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship or when Marriage was made legal for all states.  Well tonight the capitol building was dark except for one tiny light at the top of the dome.  My first thought was the saying “one if my sea and two if by land”.  The British are coming!  The British are coming!  Okay that is an American Revolution history reference, sorry.  I love learning history things!  So interesting.

June 13th

Have you ever been in the Broadway Tunnel?  Well driving through a tunnel where people can walk?  Well, tonight two guys were walking down the side making scary noises!  It was really creepy driving through the tunnel!  My passengers were even creeped out, one of the guy hit the other guy telling him to stop.  Then they laughed about it.  Strange men.

June 10th

I pick up people that I think I know, most of the time they are someone I have picked up before.  It is wonderful to drive someone more than once and remember something about them.  The passengers even like to know you remember them.  I did pick up a couple of guys and thought I knew one of them but they chatted between themselves so I didn’t interrupt them.  We got to the first destination and the guy I thought I knew said “I know you!  You were my customer!”  I thought I knew him but I thought he was my customer but actually I used to go to the SB that he worked at in Sunnyvale all the time.  We didn’t have time to chat for long since I still needed to take his friend home.  Happy I did pick him up a few days later and was able to chat for his whole ride.  I gave him my new business card, hope he calls me for a ride again soon!  He is a very nice guy!  I was sad when he left the SB in Sunnyvale and moved to one in the city.  I guess he is now a wonderful manager.  So happy for him!

June 9th

I had stopped to drop off a passenger and I pulled over as close as I could to the curb but a bus came up behind me (with plenty of space to drive around me) and continued to beep her horn until the passenger had left my taxi.  Why????  I am hoping she was just having a bad day!  There is no reason to keep beeping a horn at anyone for any reason!  Stupid.  I am legally able to stop where I need to, to actively pick up or drop off a passenger.  Just in case you wanted to know.  

Have you ever seen those carts that serve hot dogs or street tacos?  Well a guy has one-uped that!  He has a smoker grill on the back of his bike, where a baby seat would go and he was serving hot dogs!  Really!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of him with his smoker grill bike!  Way too cool!  He is always on the corner of Mission and 6th St so if you want a to try his hot dogs!  Innovation is amazing!

May 28th

Wow was it a very cold day at SFO!  It was only 58F degrees (14C) I thought summer started much sooner than the end of May!  Happy it has gotten warmer since but not by much!  We haven’t had too many warm days this summer.  We have actually gotten some rain, which is not normal in June and July but we can use so much more.  Hope there is still more to come!

May 24th

There was a bicyclist who had a blinker on his back but his jacket would cover it every once in a while.  It was very strange following him.  At first I didn’t know what was blinking so it was humorous to watch it come and go!  He also used hand signals to turn.  That was awesome to see!  That doesn’t happen often in the city!

June 20th

I picked up a lady who looked like a pinup girl, like Rosie the Riveter.  She had very pale skin, ruby red lips, perfectly styled hair and a black mole on the side of her lip.  She was very cute.  I have seen many with the little mole on the side of the lip lately.  Is that becoming fashionable again?  

I was driving down Market St and this very young male walking with only a string kind of bikini on and a hood that had devil horns on it.  He was pulling along a speaker that was playing the same song loud, over and over but it was a very good song (I cannot remember what it was at this time, sorry but it was a good dance song)  He walked with his head held high and a swagger in his step.  People stopped to take pictures of him and were kind of mocking him.  First off, this is the Castro and “you do you” there!  Who cares.  Second, he was very proud of himself and why shouldn’t he be?  He had an amazing body and awesome moves!  I was jealous and happy to see him.  I am hoping to see him again on the streets soon!  Summer is almost here!

That is all for now. More to come soon!