Part time job!!!

I have a new (part time for now) job!  I will be working for a passenger train company!  I am super excited.  It is only part time and I am not sure how much taxi driving I will be able to do since the hours I will be working will be in the middle of the day 5 days a week.  I am also looking for another part time job to fill in the rest of the time.

I think I am going to stop blogging for a little bit.  Starting a new job is much more intense than I remember it being.  I have been working very hard learning all the new stuff.  It is fun and exciting and I hope to retain as much new knowledge as I can.  

Thank you all for being faithful readers!  I have loved writing every posted blog, every question asked of me, all the support everyone has given me.  Thank you so much!  You mean the world to me.

I am saddened

I am really not sure how much longer I can be a taxi driver.  I really enjoy driving in San Francisco and meeting all the cool interesting people but I am not making as much money as I was in the past.  In fact the two really big days this past year, I barely made any money.  This is very sad.  I don’t know if it is the cost of living in the city or the competition with Uber and Lyft.  

I haven’t been posting many stories because I am just not picking up that many people.  The few people I do pick up are still wonderful amazing people and I should still tell their stories but it makes it very difficult too when it is so slow.

I really want to continue driving taxi because I love it but if I cannot make any money doing so, I need to find work elsewhere.  I am in the process of looking at other places to work.  That is a big struggle as well.  Fun times in my life.  

Thank you very much for sticking with me.  I know I haven’t been around as much as I really would love to be.

I cried a lot tonight

Last night I had the best night!!  Okay, I did cry at least 3 times after dropping off passengers or with passengers.  It was the night of the best passengers ever!!  My first ride I picked up at the international airport was 3 young adults (1 female and 2 males).  This was their first time in America from Switzerland, and they were super excited.  They were going to be in the US for only 14 days, 3 days in San Francisco, drive down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), LA for 3 days, San Diego for 3 days and Vegas for 3 days.  Plus time in between to travel places. On Sunday they were going to Alcatraz, take a hop-on-hop-off bus tour plus a few other things.  I gave them a few more suggestions, like take the California Street Cable Car versus the other ones because there is always a long line to get on the other lines unless you go earlier in the day or later in the night.  I told them we have 4,400 restaurants in the city, with so much variety, I only told them because they seemed to get excited about McD’s.  I also told them about In’N’Out, hope they try the burgers somewhere on their travels.  They were very excited about having “comfort food” while they were here.  I kind of giggled and asked what was their “comfort food”.  They said it was burgers, fries and pizza.  Haha!  I guess it is the same everywhere!  Too funny. One of the guys spotted a much older pickup truck that had been modified and given a “muscle car” feel.  I guess on the guys was an auto mechanic, one a carpenter and the girl was studying to be a nurse.  They were super sweet and I really enjoyed the ride and I gave them my card, just in cast.  They said they enjoyed all the tips I gave them. Great ride!  So much fun!  I hope they find so much to do here in the US and come again, over and over!

My second ride I picked up two girls in the Castro who were visiting San Francisco.  It was there first day here and they wanted to see if they could go to Twin Peaks also if they could get a ride back down.  I let them know I would wait for them while they took a look around. It was a clear and beautiful day outside so they were able to see all the way to across the bay, even the Golden Gate Bridge.  They were so excited and happy they were able to see the city from above so it would put it all in perspective.  While I was waiting for them to finish taking pictures another couple came and asked if I could take them back down the hill. I let them know I had passengers but I would try and get someone.  A sent a message to my taxi buddies but all seemed to be too far away to pick them up, I also called dispatch and I was the only taxi close.  My passengers came back and suggested the other couple take the ride back down the hill with them.  I let the other couple know.  They were very happy and excited to have a ride back down.  On the way, we talked about other places they (both sets of passengers) were planning on going and it warmed my heart to know these young ladies felt good about helping out fellow tourists. It was great chatting with all in the taxi.  The older couple from the top of the hill were here from Belgium and had hiked from Powell Street all the way to the top of Twin Peak.  It took them about 9 hours to walk that far.  Everyone in the taxi was so impressed!  I dropped everyone off on Market Street close to both of their hotels. My original passengers paid for the ride quickly and got out. One of the other passenger tried to give them money but I saw the girls say, no to them.  I love people!!  These young ladies were amazing.  Not everyone would have helped other people out like this.

I stopped on the side of the road to text a taxi friend about something that had happened earlier (just silly work stuff) at the airport and while I wasn’t paying attention, a couple tapped on my window and startled me!  I apologized to them for not being ready but they were okay.  They were here for their 30th Anniversary and they have been coming to SF every year since they got married.  It is their “I love you forever” weekend.  I think that was so sweet.  He held her hand and kissed her cheek every once in awhile.  When we got to the restaurant they have always gone to, he helped her out of the taxi and kissed her. I was so happy to see this!  Made my night.

I picked up a few more people who had just quick little rides but I needed a few minutes break. I stopped off at the Opera House to see if I could find out what time the Opera let out but Bill, the amazing Usher, came out and said if I came back just before 11:30 I could come in and see a little bit of the end.  Don Carlo is there.  I don’t know what the opera is about but I love to see the little bit at the end.  I finished texting a few people and I took off to go to the Castro but I was stopped at a restaurant just past the Opera House.

Picking up 4 people in captain hats. They were going to see a group that wears captain hats and mustaches on stage.  They were here here on a Friend’s Weekend.  Two were married but then there was 2 other ladies.  They asked me where I came from only to find out one lady came from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and another from Chicago.  It is always great to meet others from Michigan. We talked about how awesome we think California is and happy we are here but miss the seasons.  They noticed that City Hall was very colorfully lit in preparation for Pride Week.  The girls started talking about times they came to Pride.  So funny!  Then one of the girls said a coworker pulled her aside and said he was not sure how to treat another coworker who had just come out.  The girl said treat them the same as you treat me.  Apparently he didn’t know she was a lesbian.  He also omitted to her that his son had just come out to him and his wife. He talked to my passenger for a long time.  I guess it changed how he felt about his son coming out.  He thanked her the next time he saw her.  Their conversation changed how he felt about his son coming out.  This moved me so much!  With all the sadness that is happening in the world right now, it is great to hear stories about people doing good.  I tried to tell them the ride was free since their conversation moved me so much but they wouldn’t hear it.  They even gave me a very good tip on top of the cost of the ride.  I had to drive away quickly because I started to cry.  I am so impressed with my passenger’s hearts.

I had to sit in front of a hotel for about 10 minutes crying my eyes out.  There went all the makeup I had on.  Hahaha.  I guess it was time for a good cry.  At about the time I was done, someone tapped on my window.  They needed a ride to their hotel.  I was again startled but was happy to give them a ride.  I apologized for not being prepared for them but they seemed to be okay.  Chatting with them only to find out they are here visiting and having a great time.  They were surprised to find out that there was so many cool things to do in San Francisco and their driver (me) could suggest awesome things for them to do.  Great couple and great conversation.

My night couldn’t go any better, right…  Well, you would be wrong, it got better and better.  Plus I cried a couple of more times.

The next amazing passenger I had was a guy who was in the Castro with friends visiting the memorial for the Orlando shooting victims that has popped up.  We started talking about how horrible it was. It was such a shame that happened. We talked about how hard this tragedy is to get over. It is so senseless.  As soon as I dropped him off, I cried a little bit more.  

Driving through the Castro a little bit later and I picked up a lady who was out with her friends.  My passenger got into the taxi and really sobbed.  I asked if everything was alright.  She said that she had just broken up with her partner.  I am happy we have tissue in the taxi for these nights.  She really was in love with her partner and didn’t want to break up with her.  It happened about 2 weeks ago and the partner had to move back in because of the cost to live in San Francisco.  She was a beautiful lady and I hope everything works out for her. I cried and we hugged as she left the taxi.  I really hope all works out for her.

Tonight there was a major 5 alarm fire in the Mission District.  45 people were displaced from their homes but no one lost their lives.  Many neighborhood business were lost as well.  This is not what San Francisco needs right now.  There are no places for anyone to go that are reasonably priced.  I am sending good thought and prayers to all those who were affected by this fire.  I am hoping the city of San Francisco helps all of these families and business out.

Driving around the Mission was a little different tonight with Mission Street being closed for about 6 blocks.  I was lucky to have understanding passengers plus driving past all the blocked streets and seeing all the firetrucks.  

Thank you very much for reading my blog!  I love knowing others enjoy reading it as much as I like to write it.  Thank you again.

Just wow! Why?

Passengers of hell night!  My first passenger I picked up from the airport he had an extremely heavy bag, happy he helped me put it into the back of the taxi.  When he got into the taxi, he said Marriott.  Just Marriott, when I asked which Marriott since there are 7 in the city and much more in the surrounding area, he said Marriott Union Square after looking at his paperwork.  He then asked me if I knew where that was.  Okay, that I can do.  On the way I start doing my normal chit chat but he doesn’t seem to want to talk but he did answer a few questions.  My normal questions, is he here for work or pleasure?  Just work.  Had he been to San Francisco before?  Yes.  He then received a phone call.  He started out okay talking to the person on the other end (in Spanish?  Portuguese?)  then started YELLING, almost screaming into the phone.  He did this most of the ride the other times he would stare at me or look out the window and sing along with the music of the radio.  This is one time, I would have loved to know a different language.  We got to his hotel and he gave me a .70¢ tip. Nice.  

I picked up a great guy on Sutter who looks like George Lucas!  I didn’t mention this but I have picked him up before and thought the same thing.  His plans for the weekend were to go to the ocean and drink a large chocolate shake.  Interesting combination.  I hope he has a wonderful time!  We also talked about driving up the cool hills in the city.  I said that is what I do when I am stressed in the city is to drive up or down the steep streets in the city.  They are great stress relievers.  All of your concentration goes into making sure you don’t go too fast or too slow.  So much fun!

Went back to the airport and played frisbee with a few other drivers!  It was so much fun and I was hot and sweaty after that.  

I struggled to get my meter to turn on.  It happens often in the airport because we are under a lot of concrete.  I made it all the way to pick up the passenger and my meter still wouldn’t turn on.  I was very frustrated but I let the passenger know I was having troubles with the meter.  He said, well I guess the ride is free.  I said, sorry I cannot really afford to do that but the ride is about $48 to his destination.  I was able to get the meter to go a few minutes outside of the airport.  He did ask why Uber wasn’t allowed at the airport, I let him know that Uber was allowed at the airport.  The ride on the meter ended up being about $38 and he tipped nicely but not to make up for what the ride should have been.  He was dropped off in front of a very expensive home.  Guess he needs the money more than I did.  

After dropping the wanting a ride for free guy, I was flagged by an older lady with cute yellow pants.  She said she forgot her money and wanted me to take her home so she could get her money.  I said no problem but could she please leave me something when she goes inside to get her money.  She at first she said, no problem but the closer we got to she asked why I didn’t trust her.  That makes me trust a person even more.  At her home she said, I am afraid to leave anything for you because you will leave with them.  I said, here is my business card, I will not leave without you.  She said, I don’t want your business card, we don’t trust each other.  That is not good.  That is what I thought.  She goes inside, leaving the passenger back door open with her purse on the seat.  She comes back a few minutes later and says “why the meter still on?  You are cheating me”.  I said, I am still working and the meter is on because I am waiting for you.  She said, she wanted to go to Geary but she was going to walk and not take a cheating non trusting taxi driver.  I still said, I hoped she had a great night.  I can understand why she thought I may be cheating her but I had to wait for her, that is money I am losing if my meter is not on.  At this time it is only charging for time, not miles.  

I really needed to change my night.  Too many cranky people making me feel bad about myself.  I just needed a great passenger to change I feel and the rest of the night went SO much better!  Thankfully!

Picking up in the Tenderloin is always scary, but I was flagged by the police station on Turk and Jones.  He got into my taxi and said he was happy to get out of work.  I asked him what kind of work he did, he said he was a police officer.  I said, YEAH!  He said, yay.  I said, no you need to say YEAH!  You do important work.  He agreed and kind of laughed at me.  He has been a police officer for about 15 years and works mostly in a car driving around the Tenderloin.  He was fun to chat with for his ride home.  I drove like I normally do, well maybe a little bit better.  We got to his home and he suggested that I pull into the open space.  I let him know that another policeman just yelled at me for double parking but I had not seen the open space that was about 4 cars ahead of me.  I did pull over as far as I could (the other time) to get out of the way.  He said, he tells the Ubers to move all the time but rarely has to tell a taxi, since they drop off quickly.  I hope I can pick him up again sometime!  He was fun to chat with.  No, we didn’t talk about police stuff the whole time.  

Thank you very much for reading my blog!  Hope you have enjoyed it.  

HOT weekend and cranky people

This past week has been very strange, almost like it was a full moon Friday EVERY night.  So crazy!  Not that what I saw was crazy but the people in my taxi were crazy.  Plus it was very warm (85°/29°), for San Francisco, during the day but super cold (60°/15°) at night.  It brings a lot of people who are not normally in the city to the city but they forget to wear their layers.  Always amusing.  Just a suggestion if you go to San Francisco make sure you wear or bring layers.  It gets cold here without warning.

Friday night was my worse night for cranky passengers. 4 out of my first 5 rides, I just really didn’t know what was going on. I started off at the airport, like normal.  The airport was moving okay for a Friday night, it took me about 1 ½ hours to go through.  Not bad.

Picked up 3 kids who were visiting the US from Italy.  They were all super sweet and asked many questions of places to go in San Francisco.  The place that they had rented for their stay in on States Street. States Street is the longest block (no interruptions) in San Francisco. They were planning on being here for 7 full days!  Very exciting.  They already had their tickets to Alcatraz and a city tour. They were excited to try all the 4,400 restaurants in the city, except the ones in the Italian District, haha.  They also came with a total group of 6 and a ton of luggage so they had to take 2 taxis.  I don’t want to brag but going the speed limit, I still beat the other taxi.   

Picked up a guy tonight who floats between Uber and taxis.  He likes to take a taxi when he is in a hurry or on a time limit for where he needs to go. He takes an Uber when he doesn’t care how long it takes to get someplace or what directions they take.  I don’t understand this.  He can take a ride that will cost less in a taxi because they will take the shorter route but he will take an Uber because they are cheaper…  Really?  How is it cheaper?  When did your time become less than what something is actually worth?  Are these the same people who drive all around looking for that $1 deal?  I know that I will not drive all over the city just to save $1, my time is worth more than that.

Saw people with lightsabers and Star Wars stuff on!  So cool.  There is a place in SF that caters to the Furry/Cosplay Community. You never know what you are going to see in that area!  

Watched 2 couples walking down the street.  They were all dressed up, guys wearing suits and girls wearing nice dresses.  I couldn’t figure out why the girls had black feet and the guys were carrying heeled shoes.  I got a little closer to the couples and the girls had on black socks!!!  Black socks!  Those guys are such gentlemen!  They were sockless and carrying the girls shoes.  Wish more would do things like that!  Priceless.

Thank you very much for reading my blog!  I really enjoy sharing my “stories” with you!

Trouble with Routes

I actually started on time today!  I was so excited to start work today since it could be a great night.  It is a Thursday before a long holiday (we get a lot of tourist come to see our amazing city over long weekends), the Warriors are playing at home for the semi finals, Hillary Clinton is in the city and I am feeling well rested and eager to pick up amazing people!

Tonight started with the airport, like always.  My first ride was a short but my passenger made the ride awesome.  He was here to put in new exercise equipment at the Ritz.  He said it was more updated computer system that will track your progress no matter where you are.  Very cool.  We also talked about how he moved into a new place and was suppose to built a shelving unit he bought at IKEA but the shelves were not the correct size for where he needed to put them.  He was all excited about buying a router and wood to make his own shelves.  I asked if he had actually made shelves before and he said no but he couldn’t wait to try.  That really inspired me to use the knowledge I received at HD to create something soon.  Maybe on Sunday, since I have the day off.  

After dropping him off I quickly went back to the airport for the short (a ride than can take me back to the airport in less than 30 minutes).  I picked up a mother and daughter who were coming just for the weekend to SF.  Mom had been but daughter had not yet.  The daughter was excited to see SF but was really interested in what was going on with her friends back home (her Mom asked).  I asked what their plans were for the weekend and Mom said they were not going to do the normal “tourist” things except the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, shopping and maybe the cable cars.  I suggested the cable car on California Street since it really isn’t a “tourist” cable car and it pretty awesome ride at night with the lights.  I also let them know about the whales that have been spotted in the Bay over the past few weeks so they might still want to go to Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39 area.  Hope they enjoy themselves and find a lot to do so they come back again and again.

I picked up 4 people from the hotel I dropped of the mother and daughter.  The people were not going really that far but with the one way roads and traffic it took a bit of time.  They were okay with both.  Actually they told me about a time they were with their boss and he flag a taxi to take them about 100 feet.  They taxi driver almost laughed at them but took them anyway.  They all laughed and asked if I have done that.  I said, yes I have but most of the time it is up a hill.  I let them know I didn’t mind.  Happy their other taxi driver didn’t mind either.  Also the lady with the Chewbacca mask came up as well.  It was so funny!  Only about half of the passengers knew what he was talking about.  Last week I had a passenger say I looked kind of like that Chewbacca lady.  I took it as a compliment.  She seems happy and extremely friendly.

I dropped off a passenger at 14th and Anza so I thought I would stop off at the California Academy of Science.  On Thursday nights they have adult nights, so adults can enjoy the museum without children in site as well service alcohol.  I heard it is an amazing night.  I got a little turned around when finding the museum and came “at it” from a different way than I expected.  That should have been okay but I sat there surrounded by people who were looking for their Uber/Lyfts.  What I saw just made me wonder what these young people are thinking.  Most waited and waited for their car to come (at least 6-10 taxis waited there as well) then had to ask 3-5 cars if this was their car.  Crazy!  I even watched a couple ask 3 cars if it was their car in about 5 minutes, waited on the steps for another 10 minutes then run and check another 5 cars finally finding their car.  Does this sound like something smart?  I don’t think so.  How is that more convenient?  I don’t know and I don’t get it.  

I did get a ride out of the California Academy of Science but it took about 30 minutes of wait outside.  When I did get a ride I made it out of Golden Gate Park with no problem but didn’t turn right just after leaving the park.  I knew as soon as I crossed Fulton I was going the wrong way.  I apologized to the passenger and turned off the meter until we got back to the correct route.  He said, his Lyft driver earlier got so lost in Golden Gate Park, it took him 30 minutes just to figure out how to get to the right place!  His ride wasn’t even 30 minutes away from the museum.  I did feel bad but he seemed okay with it.  

My next passenger was a guy I have picked up before, according to him.  Nothing we talked about made me remember him, I hate when that happens.  We get almost to his place and for some reason I wasn’t sure where I was going again.  Lucky I was in the right area and it all worked out.  

Happy I spent the rest of the night, not thinking about where I was going, not having any problems with rides.  Sometimes if I think of a route, I cannot imagine where I am suppose to go but if I just go on instinct it is really easy.  I guess I just need to have a little bit more faith on my knowledge.

Thank you again for reading my blog!  Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing and living it!

Late start

I have been starting late or not working at all on Wednesdays because of a family matter.  I love to spend as much time as I can with family but this has been a stressful time.

Today I went straight to the airport, picked up a lady who didn’t seem happy at all.  I tried to chit chat a bit but her answers were short and sweet so I left her alone.  I just let her know about a change of routes because of high traffic.  I was polite when she was finishing with paying me and wished her a wonderful trip and flight home.

Not much else was happening in the city tonight. The San Jose Sharks are now in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  They have never made it this far and I am very excited for them!  Even though I am a Detroit Red Wings fan.  Golden State Warriors are also in the playoffs, so it is a very exciting time in our area!  The Warriors have to win tonight and the next 2(?) games in order to go to the finals.  Hope they do!  I also hope the Sharks win Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Well, I need to go to bed now!  Thanks again for reading my blog.  I hope this weekend there are fun things to report!  I may have to finish writing about past days of excitement, haha.  Well, I should still do that, soon.

Full Moon Saturday!

It was a full moon Saturday and it was AMAZING!  The moon was beautiful and orange.  Every amazing passenger got into my taxi!  I was super busy but each ride were pretty short.  That is okay, it was a wonderful night!

I started at the airport with a very nice lady who was going to a SID convention starting on Sunday.  She was from India but had lived in Japan for the past 15 years.  She was so excited to visit SF again and do things she was not able to do the last time she was here.  She will not have much time during her stay but she will have next weekend to do something.  She was thinking Yosemite but didn’t want to drive since she had never driven in the US before.  In Japan and India they drive on the opposite side of the road.  She will check out to see if she can find a tour company that can actually take her to Yosemite or maybe someplace a little farther out of the city.

Flagged in the Fisherman's Wharf area doesn’t happen often but I picked up 3 people, I am assuming they were Grandparents with a preteen granddaughter.  They wanted to go to Pac Heights area for pizza and thought it might be in walking distance of their hotel on Mission.  I said, it was a very long walk but doable.  He said, well maybe we will go to closer to the hotel since they were a little tired.  The lady suggested we go down Lombard Street.  They were so excited and happy to go down the curvy street.  I also suggested that they go down the steepest street in the city since it was just a few blocks away and they were thrilled!  If you have not gone down Filbert Street off of Hyde you are missing a great view and amazing fun ride.  I finally took them to the restaurant they were asking about.  They said I was the best driver they had ever had!  I had a bit of knowledge that they had not received from the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour they had been on earlier in the day.  I am always happy to tell something awesome about my city.

Picked up my Giggling couple again!  They are such a cute couple and I love chatting with them about everything.  One is now working a place that helps addicted people find places to live.  He loves his job and is trying to make a difference in SF.  We did talk about politics, which I try to steer clear of except the silly Trump stuff.  I also love that I know where they live without any help, except maybe their actual door.  

When you hang out in the same area you often pick up the same people over and over again.  Tonight it was the smoke shop guy.  I have picked up not only him but his partner, makes every ride even better!  He had also even got a new tattoo on his back.  He was sitting kind of strange so I asked if he was okay.  His back was still very sensitive so sitting back would hurt.  Poor guy but he showed me a photo of his new tattoo and it is awesome!  I hope I can see it again when it is finished.

I picked up a great guy who is interning to become a hair stylist.  He went to beauty school already but to work at this salon he needs to intern there for a year and a half plus pass “testing” for the salon.  He has about 6 more months and he is on his hair cutting part of the testing.  He asked me if I needed a haircut but I am really not ready to get my hair cut but I said my daughter is really in need of a hair cut. (Sorry I still love you!)  We exchanged business cards and maybe my daughter will call him.  So exciting!

Uber is on everyone's minds these days even my passengers.  I got into a conversation with a male passenger who wanted to know why I wasn’t an Uber driver.  I let him know my feelings about driving with them, non regulations, little to no background checks, so many of them out there that a driver can no longer make much money during a shift, they have to pay up to 30% to Uber and a few more things.  We ended up talking about why people switched to Uber/Lyft which is always fun.  I do think the taxi industry needed a kick in it's pants.  I still hear about smelly taxis, drivers not wanting to take credit cards, drivers who drive like maniacs, drivers who do not want to drive out of the “hot” areas, or not take passengers short distances.  My passenger agreed with me.  He prefers taking taxis but where he lives, it is hard for him to get a taxi to pick him up, it is also hard for a taxi to take him back home or even take a credit card.  I explained to him about the new Arro app, where the passenger can pay while in the taxi and the driver cannot say anything.  Sounds a little underhanded but if it makes the passenger happy, I am all for it!  He was so excited to have me as a driver and said he wished I could teach more drivers to be like me.  That made me feel real good!  Plus after dropping him off, I stopped for donuts.  

My last ride of the night I was driving down Mission Street and a male flagged me but a female was being hugged by another male, she was the one who got into my taxi.  I said, that looked like fun.  She said it was very complicated, she is a manager of a Latin club/restaurant.  I told her I understood since I liked to drive in the Mission.  We talked about her night, she had 8 shots tonight.  I asked if that was normal for her and apparently it is. She does try to eat healthy, drinks tons of water and hikes a lot.   

Well that is about all for tonight!  Getting a little sleepy.  My wonderful daughter set me up with a nice desktop computer and screen so it is so much easier than using the tablet we thought would work for me.  I love the tablet and will be sad it is gone but I love that I am not struggling with so many things.  I have the best kids!!

Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love writing it and hope you enjoy it.  Mistakes and all.  :)

Almost a full moon... You can tell

Last night my first ride was coming out of the airport (like normal) going to the Buena Park area.  The guy was coming to visit his nephew for a night and then going on a yearly birthday trip to warm springs.  This year they are going to a Buddhist warm spring.  His only concern was there was no wifi and no alcohol.  He said it was for only 4 days and he could manage because of the company he would be in.  He has taken the same kind of vacation with friends for the past 10 years.  Always having a wonderful time.  Plus he had this amazing bag that was a carry on but looked almost like a medical bag.  It was this amazing reddish soft leather bag.  Super cute.

I was surprised that I actually made the short back to the airport!  I don’t drive fast going either way but this time there was little to no traffic going there and back so it was easy!!  I was able to go the “front” of the line :)

My next ride was super excited to get home to his 3 year old little boy.  He had been gone for 10 days and couldn’t wait to spend time with him.  My passenger used facetime to keep in touch but it just isn’t the same.  He had many plans over the weekend with his son and family.

Since my last ride was just a few minutes outside of the airport so I went back to the airport.  This time I picked up two women.  The first lady seemed very nice and polite but the second lady….  She dropped off her suitcase outside of the taxi on the curb with the handle up and just got into the back of the taxi.  The other nice lady helped me put her carry on in the back and she said thank you very much.  I asked where they are going and the nice lady gave me cross streets and the rude lady said “no it is this exact address”.  At this point, I figured she was not someone who took questions nicely.  After leaving the airport there is a little dip in the road and the rude lady said it felt like they were still on the bumpy airplane.  The nice lady said she thought it was lots of fun, like a small rollercoaster.  They chated about work and the rude girl kept complaining about co workers and the nice lady would say something nice about that co worker.  The nice lady got all excited about a story on the tv in the back of the taxi about a lion cub.  She even got more excited when it came back on again and asked the rude lady if she could get one (no, they were not together just co workers).  The rude lady said, no, you cannot have a lion in the city.  The nice lady said, I know but look how cute they are!  Oh, and while we were driving the rude girl kept reading her text message from someone else.  The message were things like, “why are you ditching me”, “you need to drop your friend off and get here” and more like that.  The rude lady kept saying, “aren't’ these funny?”.  I didn’t think so.  So when I dropped them off and took their suitcases the nice lady was really nice and thanked me for getting her suitcase out for her.  The rude lady tried to turn the whole ride around with a nice thank you.  Just thinking if she had been polite the whole time, it would have been a great ride into the city.

Picked up a lady who looked really pissed outside of a dance club on 11th Street.  She got into my taxi to go to the Clift Hotel.  I asked how her night was going and she said terrible and then called someone.  I am assuming it was the person that didn’t help make her night nicer.  She kept saying things like, “why are you doing this to me?”, “why are you playing with me?”,  “You are suppose to be there for me this weekend since you know how hard it will be”, “I thought you loved me, why are you doing this?” and “baby do you love me as much as I love you?”  I think she was over 30 and should have been someone who didn’t need this male's support.  After a few minutes of talking to him like this, she started calling him Baby and Boo because he had turned the conversation around on her and made her the bad guy.  I was really embarrassed for her and him too.  When we got to her stop and she paid, I told her, I hoped she had a better night.

I dropped off an awesome couple in the area around where Candlestick Park used to be and after they got out of my taxi a crow, caw, cawed, very loudly!  I jumped!  I am not sure if the passengers heard it or not but I left really quickly.  All I could think of was the movie “The Birds”.  If you haven’t seen it, I would suggest seeing it!  Pretty amazing movie but a scary ton of birds.

Sounds like a super fun night of almost full moon?  It was!  I have the best passengers even if some of them make me a little crazy.

Hope you have enjoyed my night as much as I did.  Thank you again for reading.  I love telling my stories.

Not much is happening.

I heard this Sunday was Bay To Breakers.  I am not working so I am not going to be involved with the crazy race.  There is a pre expo on Friday and Saturday.  Maybe that will make it busy.  I am hoping since it will be busy since it has been a little slow lately.  I have had a few interesting passengers but nothing too exciting.  I feel all the exciting people are all waiting out there to get into my taxi but haven’t found me yet.  Hahaha.  

The week before Mother’s Day was a great week in tips for me, especially when I mentioned visiting or seeing Mom.  Sometimes using holidays in conversation can help with getting good tips.  I don’t use it as a reason for getting better tips, I use it more to connect with my passengers.  It seems a lot of people who live in SF’s parents do not live close so a lot of people spent the day with friends.  The day was perfect so I hope they had a fun day.

I really think I am watching too much tv, I don’t seem to have much time to write my blog.  I need to stop watching tv, I think.  Downside, I think there are so many amazing tv shows out there now.  Game of Thrones is AMAZING and I cannot wait for the next episode.  I also like all the old standbys of Big Bang Theory, The Fixer Upper and Awkward as well.

Thank you again for reading my blog.  

Happy night

Today didn’t really start great for me.  After taking my dog to the dog park, she threw up several times during the morning and wasn’t acting herself.  Happy after she took a long nap she was better, eating and acting like normal.  I don’t think she ate anything at the dog park, I tend to watch her very closely especially since there was another dog.  She does well with other dogs but I like to know she is safe and happy at all times.

After getting home I was able to sleep, which is a great thing since I didn’t sleep good the night before.  I am struggling with sleep right now.  I sleep great during the day but not so much at night.  Working nights is really messing with my sleep patterns.   

The airport tonight was moving!  Not real fast but much faster than it had before.  I was able to get a good ride into the city and make it back to the airport to get another great ride into the city.  After then I seemed to have someone in my taxi about every 20-30 minutes.  That is slow and steady for a Tuesday night.

I did talk to a waitress about what was happening in the city.  We shared views about the cost of living in the city.  We both agreed you have to work way to hard to be able to afford to live in the city.  She thought you have to have an amazing paying job to really be able to afford and to enjoy the city the way it can and should be enjoyed.  I think those people that make enough to afford to live in the city and maybe enjoy the city do not actually go out as much as they had before since the cost of living in SF is outrageous.  I do think people still go out but not like they did, maybe 2-5 years ago.  Now they pick and choose what days they go out instead of going out every night.  

On Friday night I picked up this young man on Mission and 17th St and he wanted to go to 24th St and Bryant.  I turned right onto 18th so I could turn to the left on Valencia since you can no longer make a left turn off of Mission St.  He wasn’t happy about me not being able to make that left but seemed to understand.  I asked him how his night went and he said he just got off of work then went for a few drinks with friends.  I asked him what kind of work he did, he said he was a chef for the bourgeoisie.  He then said he didn’t carry cash because normal people no longer have too (I thought that was a bourgeoisie statement).  He only takes Uber because the taxi business was gone because they suck.  I said, you are in a taxi (I thought you are very bourgeoisie).  He said, I really meant to get into an Uber because that is the best way around the city.  I said, you flagged a taxi (I again thought you are very bourgeoisie).  He said, well, you were there when I needed to get food.  He asked me why I didn’t drive for Uber since the taxi is almost gone.  I told him I much prefer the options that driving a taxi gives me as well as i am making more money than an Uber driver does.  I didn’t argue or make a big deal about his attitude but I really did want to toss him out of my taxi.  He ended up giving me a $5.00 tip.  Guess he didn’t really mind slumming in a taxi plus maybe I changed his mind about taking a taxi next time.

Happy my next ride was an awesome guy who gave me free tickets to see the USS Pampanito.  He said he was helping to restore this amazing submarine.  I am always excited to meet people who have cool jobs in the city.  I guess I never thought that the submarine still needed work.  I figured it was restored once and that was it, little did I know something is always getting broken on the sub.  Tourist do not always stay where they are supposed to stay.  Sad, we need to keep our National Treasures safe.

Often in the past I have heard how much of an awesome driver I am.  I hate to brag (I also hate it when people say that!!  Sorry!) but I have often received 100%+ for a tip.  That means that I not only do my job the way I should, letting them tell me the way they would like to go, talking to them about many topics, letting them know about all the cool things to do in the city and just being plain friendly.  I love almost every passenger that sits in my taxi.  

It is time for bed for me.  It is getting late and tomorrow is another long and exciting day for me!  Plus my kitty Loki is purring and walking all over my keyboard making it hard to type.  Haha!  Love her!

Thank you very much for reading my blog!  It makes me feel so great knowing others enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!

Depression again

I haven’t written in a while because I have been very depressed.  Life here is wonderful and I am trying to do things to help me get out of this depression.  I am eating a little bit better, trying to get out of the house a little bit more and thinking about the positive things in my life.  I have an outward appearance of being happy but inside I am very sad and really just want to sleep and stay in bed.  I am even struggling with writing this blog post, which I love doing.  I love my job and I love to share things with you but when I feel like this, I just do not have the “time” to write my blog.  It makes me sad and the depression keeps coming back no matter what I do.  Such a horrible cycle.  Summer is coming so the tourists will be here and I will be busy again.  That normally helps with the depression.  I am still keeping track of things that happen to be during my nights via voice memo on my phone.  Much easier than trying to remember them after I get home and I am super tired.  

So I am doing what I can to survive and make every day count but it is tough.  I know it will be over soon.  Summer is coming.

Thank you again for reading my blog.

New website

I have a new website!  I hope you will continue to read my blog at my new website!  Clink the link and enjoy!

https://debbies-taxi-service.squarespace.com/

Some of the back stories I have missed...

September 26, 2015

I picked up an elderly lady outside of a grocery store.  We chatted all the way to her place in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco.  She said she does most of her shopping during the week but she actually forgot to buy meat when she had gone earlier in the week.  She didn’t know that this week was Folsom Street Fair.  She said she wouldn’t have gone out if she knew it was.  When we got to her place there was a bunch of fireman outside of her apartment.  She said they are there often, way too often.  She said, they are not suppose to smoke in the building but many people so it sets off the smoke alarm.  She hates the smell of any kind of smoke.  She was so cute when she whispered all this to me.  Haha.

Folsom Street Fair seemed a little tame compared to the previous year.  Last year I saw so many naked buttocks it was crazy.  This year…  No so many.  

If you walk across the street not in a crosswalk, please be aware that there could be a car coming at you.  Hopefully the person driving the car is paying attention more than you are.  Also hurry across the road that you really need to get across since you cannot use the crosswalk.  Do not glare at the driver of this car trying to avoid hitting you.  Please be safe out there!

Four young men in normal jeans and t-shirts were skipping arm-in-arm along Castro Street but they were wearing shiny silver capes, tiaras and shiny high heeled shoes.  Very, very cool.  I love the Castro.

Okay, so I spend a lot of time in the Castro.  You never know who you will meet and what you will see.  

Picking up extremely drunk men you never know what they are going to say.  This guy that I picked up kept saying to me “you know girl, I love you but….”.  He told me he was out with his boyfriend tonight.  His boyfriend is married but they boyfriend’s wife loves him too.  The boyfriend pays all his bills and they all spend a lot of time together, him, boyfriend, wife and kids.  Everyone loves each other, according to my passenger.  He was a little upset tonight because his boyfriend wanted to go home and spend time with his wife.  He said his boyfriend didn’t want a divorce because he is deeply religious.  (I am not here to judge, really I am not.) The passenger kept saying that I needed to be nice to him or he would do something.  I didn’t feel threatened but I wasn't sure what he was going to do. When we got to his house he didn’t have any money in his wallet and his credit card kept getting declined.  He said he had money upstairs but I convinced him to leave me his backpack, because I wasn’t sure he would actually come back down.  He said that was okay but when he went to get out of the taxi he said, this isn’t my house or even my street.  I said, this is the address you gave me.  He kept saying I am leaving him off someplace he doesn’t know and that isn’t right.  I said we are on 27nd Ave and this is your address, right.  He said yes but he couldn’t find his house.  So I turned the taxi around and went back down the street and he said, stop this is my house!  I stopped and he tried to get in through the front door but it wouldn’t unlock for him but he was able to get the garage door to open for him.  He came back down after a few minutes and gave me the cost of the ride plus another $20 for dealing with him nicely.  He then turned around to leave the taxi and pulled his pants down to urinate into the street away from the taxi but the taxi door was still open.  I guess he really needed to pee.  Happy that was the last ride of my night!  

October 1, 2015

I picked up a very soft spoken Indian man that was hitting on me the whole ride.  He kept asking about my personal life and if I wanted to meet up sometime.  I really just brushed him off because I found out he was going home to his wife and 2 kids.  It was a little creepy.

I was flagged by a lady who was with a very upset man.  She asked me how much it would cost to go to Napa.  I gave them a quote and she asked the male if he had the money to get home.  He said yes and got into my taxi.  I asked him for his address or if he wanted to tell me how to get there.  He gave me his address but he at first wanted to drive through the Castro to see if he could find his partner.  They just had a very bad fight and his partner hit him.  He said they both had been drinking and he just really wanted to go home quickly and that his partner was so mad at him.  I drove around the Castro and trying to get this guy to calm down a little bit.  I felt so bad for him.  He had bad scratches on him and wasn’t calming down much.  He tried to call his partner but he wouldn’t pick up.  So we drove over by where he thought he left his car.  He wanted to stab the tires of his car so his partner wouldn’t be able to drive back to their home in Napa.  He finally said he wouldn’t stab his tires but he would get a few things he needed out of it.  He spent a lot of time around his tires, emptying out his glove box and backseat.  His partner came around the corner and my passenger came to my window and said he wanted to try fix what was going on between them.  I let him know I would still take him wherever he needed to go.  I didn’t want him to be hurt.  His partner called him to tell him to let the stupid taxi driver go.  My passenger said he wouldn’t go anywhere with him and just wanted to talk about what happened.   I let him go, he didn’t pay for the ride.  After I left him, I turned the corner and stopped to call the police about what had and might still happen.  While telling 911 what had occurred they asked if the partner had a purple shirt and my passenger had a pink shirt. I said yes, the operator said the police were looking for them because they had a big fight in one of the bars in the Castro.  She wanted to know if I knew where they were and I told her where I left them off.  

While I was on the phone with the police a couple got into my taxi and wanted a ride home.  I explained to them what I was doing and they were okay with me talking to the police while I drove them home, which wasn’t far.  They were happy that I wanted to stand up for the guy who was being hurt.  I have driven them home before too, so that was nice.

I did drive back by where the car was as well as where I saw them last but only the car was still there, nothing else.  I haven’t heard from him either.  I just hope he got home safe and sound.

November 7, 2015

I picked up two guys who had been on every cruise that I would consider to be “cool” and then some.  In the past 30 years they have done at least 1-2 cruises every 6 months to 2 years.  They were super nice!  Great tips on places to go on a cruise!  They are going to the Amazon next, it will be their second time doing this cruise.  It was one of their first cruises they did together.

Picked up three women who were here for a convention.  They were from a small town in Texas.  Apparently they were very impressed with a 7 floor Macy’s and a 3 floor H&M.  It was fun listening to them get so excited about so many things city people take for granted.  They made me giggle.

Two guys and a girl were talking in the back of my taxi and she said she was going to hook up one of the guys up with her hot girlfriend.  He said her friend had better be hot and asked what her name was.  It was Annie.  He asked what Annie was short for.  The other two burst out laughing saying Annie.  He said she probably wasn’t really hot since her name was just Annie.  They showed him a few pictures of Annie and he said she was hot.  He then asked if she had any diseases.  The other male said, “you cannot ask people that question!”  I wanted to laugh so badly but I remained cool and calm until they paid and got out of the taxi.  I laughed so loudly!  Haha.

Okay, I think that is enough for now.  Hope you enjoyed them all.  I know I enjoyed the experience of driving all the crazy, amazing people around this city!  

Thank you very much for reading my blog!

Blah.... then Richmond Blah

I started today with very little energy.  I really struggled to sleep last night and just had a hard time waking up.  I hate when the day starts like that.  I just cannot get moving at all.  I am normally in a great mood, which I guess most would think is a little strange.  I got a late start because my day driver got an awesome ride.  I didn’t mind.  I was able to sit in my car and read until she got back to the yard.  

Since I wasn’t feeling like really moving, I thought I would just go to the airport.  I really should have gone into the city because there is a big Gaming conference and the weather was so nice here.  Many people out and about.  Reports from other drivers said that many of the hotels and CalTrain needed taxis.  Instead I sat and read at the airport.  

My first ride from the airport was a guy who had flown into the city for a last minute business trip and he didn’t have a hotel room for the night.  He was making phone calls to hotels and finding they were all booked up.  I let him know that we had a conference in town so maybe if he looked outside of the Union Square/SOMA area he might find something.  I guess he had someone else on a computer looking for a place as well.  He was able to get into a nice big hotel in Union Square area.  He was very happy to have someplace to sleep close to where he was working.  He asked a lot of questions and we chatted about the city and fun things for him to do over his few nights he was here.  

After dropping this passenger off I drove around the city for a little bit and picked up a guy that I drove 3 blocks.  I was driving around for about an hour and heard the airport was moving nicely.  I was still not feeling like moving much so I took off empty (deadheaded) to the airport.  I was able to get in easy and only waited for about 1 ½ hour.  I picked up a guy who wanted to know how much it would cost to go to Richmond and to Petaluma.  I gave his quotes for both.  He said the last time he took a taxi from the airport to Richmond it was only $79 but the sheet that gives us a quote says $96.  I let him know it was metered and he would have to pay for the bridge toll.  He said he was okay with that.  As long as it wasn’t over $100.  He said he would get mad at that but he would still pay.  I put his address into my gps and apparently he put it in his gps as well.  That is okay.  He is welcome to be the one to give me directions anytime but he didn’t actually say anything to me.  Okay.  So he tells me there is something wrong with my taxi, something about a sealed ball bearing is bad and that is why it is so loud in the back of the taxi.  I let him know I would tell the owner.  Maybe he will fix it.  The passenger went on to tell me about all the companies he owns and how awesome he is.  He also tells me he he has to get to Petaluma to help out his sick boss.  Not sure if I owned so many businesses I would also have a job working for someone too.  I was very confused.  Most of the conversation we had was okay and pretty normal until he started to say something about the single mothers in Arizona just having babies for the money.  I was very put off by that comment.  He has never been a single parent and doesn’t know how hard it is to be a single parent.  I don’t think all the people on assistance are baby making for the money.  I think some get on assistance and cannot find a way off of it.  I would have had more babies if I had the chance.  I didn’t say too much during this time.  He quickly changed the subject to something about trains and cars.  At this time I had tuned him out.  He paid me $140 on the $96 meter.  I was happy for that!

I figured I was done for the night.  I am really sleepy now and I am hoping tomorrow will be better.  Not sure I will be any less sleepy but who knows!

Thank you again for reading my blog!  I love sharing my nights.  I will try and start sharing my “old” stories as soon as I have a few extra minutes.

Wet and Wild Weekend!

Oh my gosh!  We have gotten so much badly needed rain it is AMAZING!  Well, it would be amazing if it fell a little bit at a time but it is falling in buckets at times!  Careful where you drive because of flooded area.  I keep hearing about downed trees too!  I hope none are falling on people.  That would be horrible!  Since it doesn’t rain often in this area people do not know how to drive at all in the rain.  Please slow down and do not tailgate the person in front of you.  Sounds reasonable, right?  You would think but I don’t think all do these things.  Also in California if you need your wipers, you need to have your headlights on for safety.  Makes you more visible, makes sense.  

I do hope the rain continues to fill our reservoirs so we can be out of this drought.  I really like taking showers and seeing lots of green.

Since it was so rainy over the weekend I figured it would be very slow and I was partially correct.  On Friday night when there was the most amount of rain I was the busiest when it was downpouring.  People would run and scramble into the taxi.  It was almost funny in the way they would flag me and then run to get out of the rain.  Everyone seemed to be in a great mood too!  Love it when that happens.

On Saturday night it was also downpouring often and the same things would happen, downpour lots of passengers.  It was also the night of the Prince concert in Oakland at O.Co with the after party at the Great American Music Hall on O’Farrell and Polk.  Most of the concert goers that had taken BART back into San Francisco were looking for taxis to take them either home, parking garage or to the after party.  I picked up a lady who was desperate to get to the after party but her phone had died because at the concert, according to her, Prince had a scrambler to kill all cell phones because he didn’t want anyone recording the concert.  I don’t know if that is true or not.  I let her charge her phone for the 5 blocks to get to the after party at the AMH.  When we got to the corner of O’Farrell and Polk the line was already half way down Polk and it was raining very, very hard.  Most had no jackets and no umbrellas.  It was madness!  I know you want to look good for an after concert but in that rain, still bring a jacket and an umbrella.  I let her out close to her friends but she still didn’t know where they were and would have to run around yelling to look for them in the pouring rain.

I have had 2 Saturdays in a row with the meanest passengers.  I try and start off each ride like they will be the best ride ever and try to chat with them to make my job more exciting and to make them more comfortable.  I picked up a lady at the airport and her home was an easy ride to the city but I still asked her if she had a preferred route to take.  She said “why you not know” so I let her know the route I would take and she said it would be okay.  We chatted a little bit about her trip to LA and visiting a doctor who couldn’t help her this time but she would have to go back in about 3 days.  I really didn’t understand her very much.  We got to the corner close to her place and she started yelling, “SEE IF YOU LOOK THERE YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER!”  I still didn’t know what she was talking about but she kept yelling the same things over and over again.  I was so happy to have her out of my taxi.  She gave me a $2.00 tip.  Great.

My next unpleasant passenger I picked her up in North Beach and she said to the transit.  I wasn’t sure what that meant.  I asked her again and she said the same thing.  I asked her if she wanted to guide me and she said “go Chinatown, you know Chinatown”.  I asked her where in Chinatown, “transit” again came the reply.  She then said to take Stockton but when we got to Powell she said go down Powell.  Powell had a lot of cars on it, she wasn’t happy it was taking so long so asked me to turn left onto Clay.  I did that.  Still it was taking too long and asked me to turn down Stockton.  After getting through the tunnel she asked me to pull over at the bus stop.  Yes, it was a $9.40 ride and she gave me $10.00.  Another happy passenger, well, I was happy she was out of my taxi.  

I did pick up a guy who reminds me of Malcolm McDowell.  I have picked up a few times and he is really nice Irishman. The last time I drove him I said I thought he looked liked an actor but I couldn’t remember at that time what the actors name was.  I also asked to take his picture and he was okay with it.  I posted his picture along side of Malcolm McDowell's and everyone said they looked alike.  I mentioned this to the passenger and he said, I don’t look anything like that, he has facial hair.  I told him he could grow facial hair and he would pass for his double.  He laughed and said he would try it!  We chatted about his construction company and how he does all the maintenance work for a bar so he can drink for free.  He also bought a new “step up” van (I am not sure I know what that is) that he seemed very proud of.  He is happy to have all the tools he needs with him at all time so he doesn’t have to go home for a forgotten tool.  Plus his guys can now ride with him instead of having to get a ride to the job site.  As he was leaving he asked me again who he reminded me of again.  He was saying the name over and over again.  He was going to share with his friends his new doppelganger.  He is such a wonderful man!

This past week has been hit and miss with passengers.  Not a whole lot has been going on in the city.  Everyone has been pleasant and fun.  We are in another El Niño heavy weather pattern so I do not think this week will be any better than last week.  A few of the other drivers were able to get some great rides out of the airport after midnight since so many flights were delayed.  I am always happy to hear of another taxi driver who gets a meter and a half ride (anything out of the city limits 15 miles or out of the airport 15 miles is a meter and a half ride.  The half is to compensate the trip back into the city or airport)

I really need to get some sleep today so I will say goodnight for now!  Thank you again for reading my blog!  I have so many stories in the wings that I will add soon.  I promise.  I have so many more things to tell you!

Thank you again!