I am a 24 year former cab driver from Tampa Florida. Retired and looking forward to the future.
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My new blog about Vegas taxi There is a rule of the jungle "adapt or perish." I try to live by that in how I approach taxi driving. Dynamics change and you must be attuned to that and work in different ways. Uber presents something, however, that I can't adjust to. They have taken just too much from us. I don't know if I want to continue living in Tampa now. In the service industry, you can only make real money four months out of the year. The good news is today is the beginning of that four month run. The airport will be my only hope. I don't have it in me to keep going on after that, especially in the face of Uber. They have devastated the good street business we have had. This is a secret I did not want to revel to my readers. I will now. Its over. White people who do not want blacks to pick them up, have won. Uber riders can now get their Lilly white guy or girl to pick them up. Have fun. Uber will take that cease and desist letter from PTC and wipe their ...
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I don't like being robbed at Tampa International Airport The real reason Joseph W. Lopano let Uber and Lyft into TPA was he projected an increase in fees collected to be 5.2 million in the next two years. He seemed to view this as a revenue generating opportunity when the taxi companies were only able to come up with about 1.2 million a year. This was more than a reason to violate existing law. Joe Lopano (head of TPA) had a long range plan to soak the public and make a GIANT BONUS for himself. I wonder why he was fired in New York and flamed out in Dallas? Just wondering. The Tampa Bay Business Journal confirmed this fact the other day on their website. I knew he was corrupt and this proves it. Lopano stated that reason he let Uber and Lyft into the airport (violating the contract he had with the taxi companies) is he wanted to provide transportation alternatives to the traveling public. That was pure Bullshit. He simply saw how they could increase revenue long term by bilk...
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I found this article on the Daily Press website. It will mean nothing to anyone but it means a lot to me. This article wad written in 1993 when the possibility of closing Ivy Farms pool was real. I hear in 2010 it was demolished by the city. Just another nail in my coffin. I always wanted to get up there and swim one more lap. That will never happen July 22, 1993|By VIRGINIA BIGGINS Daily Press NEWPORT NEWS — Three decades ago when the Ivy Farms swimming pool was new, people of all ages came early and stayed late to swim, sunbathe and chat with friends. DAILY PRESS: Neighborhood kids campaigned to get their families to become members of the pool, which they saw as the only place to be on a hot summer day. Many joined the Ivy Farms swim team. posted from Bloggeroid Now the pool, one of the oldest in the city, may have to close because its membership has dropped from an all-time high of 300 families in the 1960s to 50 families today. A combination of economics, shifting popu...
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The image below is a 2005 TBT article I still have about the Tampa blogger scene. The big boy was Tommy Duncan. He stopped blogging around 2008, and was never seen again. Here is what Creative Loafing said about that era: "The 40-something blogger founded the most-often-cited independent Tampa Bay news blog, Sticks of Fire, in Feb. 2004, and the site, without much financial assistance from advertising, is still going strong today with a stable of more than a dozen regular contributors. In 2005, Duncan was featured in a tbt* story about the young lions of the local Internet. Today, about half of them have fallen by the wayside or (in the case of famous sexy blogger Rachel Moran) moved to New Jersey. Duncan keeps on posting. The local digital scene has grown, but he's not sure it has improved in quality."
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Paul in his office Paul is our shop foreman. Paul was with United Cab of Tampa a few years back, then went off to Alaska to hunt big game. He is a crack mechanic and a very nice guy. He is married with three children. Not only does he make out taxi's run good, he has some good stories to tell about Alaska. In his office is a trophy of a a moose. Not too bad. They are very large animals and not for the faint of heart to hunt. I have heard that many first time hunters are afraid to shoot one because they think all they will do is piss it off. They may be right. Sarah Palin shot one when she was a girl with her father. On the wall next to the mount are photos of the hunt. Alaska is a sportsman's paradise with fishing, hunting and camping unlike anything you will find in Florida. Our boss, Mr. Rob Searcy is a deer hunter but even he will go up to Alabama and Georgia to hunt. I like to camp and hike, so the big game part of Florida does not interest me.
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I may have found the escape hatch Regulated Taxi driving is now dead. Uber has taken over. The current situation is no longer tenable for drivers who face an old model of cab leasing, and can no longer continue paying a Pre-Uber lease. Today was the tipping point. This time of year we should be very busy...EXTREMLY BUSY. We are not. It is dead as a doornail with drivers at the airport waiting up to 5 hours to a ride. It should be off the hook. It is for Uber. They pay no fee to the airport, yet they are allowed to operate. I made a good living for years. Transportation was regulated in Hillsborough County. This insured uniformity or rates, insurance, and accountability. But no more. The HCPTC has now allowed a gypsy cab company take over. Uber has not only taken some or part of our business - they have taken it all. This is because they are low balling the market in an attempt to establish a monopoly. They are well on their way to doing that with the compl...
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I was up late last night watching the season premier of FINDING BIGFOOT. Turtle Man and Neil were on and I knew it would be fun. What is not so fun is how much the summer taxi business has dropped off. I just got home and I'm tired. I have to use an android phone to do this post because my laptop died a few months ago and I don't have the money to replace it Maybe Christmas layaway at Walmart will help me get one. Anyway, doing some tweaking of this blog design and I'm ready to roll. Just need to get to a library. posted from Bloggeroid
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I took delivery of a new taxi cab with only 70,000 miles. Its a former police car, and only three years old. It is the newest cab I've ever had in nineteen years of driving. I have been in some real junk before. My understanding is the company is going to all late model vehicles. That would cut down on maintenance cost. Just another sign things are looking up. This was taken from the front seat when I got in for the first time. I am cab number 474. If you are down on vacation, don't call Lyft. Call Tim Fasano in his new, clean cab. The trend in the industry is to get away from clunkers. I ran into Rob Searcy and he asked me how I liked it. I shook his hand and thanked him. I need to get Joe to clean it every Friday. Joe does a good job. posted from Bloggeroid
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I took a hike today in Pam Callahan Memorial Park and enjoyed this cool air. She was an environmental advocate who fought to protect this nature preserve from development. If you have a couple hours you can have a relaxing hike, and explore the new loop trail. What's cool is you will never know you are so close to civilization. I had fun.
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