Tampa Taxi Shots

I had a very emotional reunion with Lena this morning. She has been away for two weeks having a baby and dealing with some complications. The baby is fine and beautiful. He will be home soon and his mother is doing well. Lena has been a blessing, and a real joy over the summer. She's old enough to be my daughter and I am so glad to have her back in my life. Cab drivers are not allowed to contact charges on a personal level. She sought me out and initiated the contact. If your a people person, this job will put you in contact with people going thru life. Nothing will hit harder then life. You see that first hand from the front seat. I know one day I will lose contact with her. But for now, I just enjoy her amazing spirt. There is Facebook. This is the rampaging neighborhood pitbull that wants to lick everyone to death. I have never seen such a friendly dog. Watch out! posted from Bloggeroid

After Thanksgiving, it can be slow. One of the major indicators is the number of cabs booked in early. When its slow at night, guys don't go home and they crowd the board. The second column is the number of cabs checked in to zones. This morning at 5:39 the board was stacked with no calls. Very sad. The good news is that the airport is smoking and that's how I'm making my money. posted from Bloggeroid

Saturday morning right after sunrise on a cool Tampa day This is me at sunrise right after I successfully sandbagged a Dacco run that will pay my lease for the day. I was feeling pretty good about my self and how I am settling these calls up. One falls off. Another comes along. Success is when preparedness meets opportunity....I found out the next day, I was not so prepared. It seems some other taxi driver is aware of the call, and when I went to park at my "secret spot," he was there! How can that be? I thought I had the place all to myself. The dispatch system said I was second in the zone. He must have been first. And with ten minutes left before the call came out, I was screwed. I move over closer to the call thinking that would give me a tactical advantage but it was not to be. You see, with our system, the first out cab gets priority up to .25 miles from the call. We were only two blocks away. I lost the call to the unknown cab in the dark. Wonderful! No I have...

I dropped this stripper off at a club where her Mercedes was parked. Unspent the whole trip looking at her Boobs in the rearview mirror. I'm not kidding when I say she had the third best body I've ever seen and I can't remember the first two. There must be money in getting naked. As you may know, nude dancing is an industry in Tampa. I need a career change. LOL! In the mean time, $25 for a $20 fare will keep me from taking my clothes off. Most would pay that for me to not! posted from Bloggeroid

I got to spend Thanksgiving as a guest at Kevin and Teri's. A.B. was there showing his old 8 mm film from the Navy, World's Fair, Kudzu Caverns, and other places. I was honored to be their guest. Teri made a wonderful meal and we ate till we could not move.

Uber, the maverick ride-sharing company that has been bending the state’s transportation rules for a month, ceased operations in Nevada late Wednesday, vowing to return when it finds a clear path to operating legally in the state. The decision for the temporary shut-down came after a conference call of Uber management and was announced publicly in a blog post on the company’s website. A company spokeswoman issued an emailed statement just after 10 p.m. “It’s unfortunate that Nevada is the first state in the nation to temporarily suspend Uber,” said spokeswoman Eva Behrend. “That means nearly 1,000 jobs just disappeared overnight and those residents lost their ability to earn a living. On the eve of Thanksgiving, when Nevadans should be celebrating with family, now many are worried about how they’re going to pay their bills.” The San Francisco-based technology company was dealt two legal blows earlier this week, the more lethal one occurring Tuesday when Washoe County District C...

I got soaked in this cold rain today. The temps are dropping and it won'tvget out of the 60° range for the next week. posted from Bloggeroid

For those of you interested in Uber, this is from Joshua Gans: Is Uber really in a fight to the death?: In recent days, since their PR troubles, there has been much discussion as to why Uber seems to be so aggressive. Reasons ranged from being inept, to the challenges of fighting politics against taxi regulations to a claim that Uber’s market has a ‘winner take all’ nature. It is this last one that is of particular interest because it suggests that Uber has to fight hard against competitors like Lyft or it will lose. It also suggests that Uber’s $20 billion odd valuation is based on beliefs that it will win, and win big. I am not sure that this is really the case. Despite the name ‘Uber’ connoting, ‘one Uber to rule them all,’ the theory underlying the notion of winner take all is rather special and is far from being proven in cases like this. … posted from Bloggeroid

Great late night programing with George Noory.

Check out my shadow blog Tampa Taxi After Dark at TimFasano.com it will freak you out. That's Kevin with George Noory at a UFO conference in Nevada

A cold front was moving through Tampa with rain. There should be cold weather coming in but now its hot and humid. The street business is drying up as all the minimum wage Uber drivers steal all our good fares. You know, the south Tampa racists people who want a white driver to pick them up while they donate money to the democrats, with no understanding that this is "Uber right wing capitalism." Travis will ultimately be taken to federal court and his investors will lose money. Why? Making billions off the backs if baristas is wrong. Just read the Sherman Act and the Clayton Anti-Competition Act (Judge Bork was denied confirmation to the supreme court for his denouncement of these acts as "mindless law) Stop supporting illegal Ubet and Lyft. posted from Bloggeroid

Welcome to United Cab. This is the back lot the "cab graveyard." Or convalescence home. Each cab can go for about 3 years before it ends up here.The break room. Snacks and sodas. Oh Yeah! Notice the Weekly Planet on the floor. I love that rag. "Shoe" is our weekend dispatcher. One of the nicest guys I know. He loves animals. Look belowHe started feeding these poor little sparrows and they won't leave the lot. there is a flock of them.Today I got to throw the bread out for them. Wow! They came flying over and dug in!This is a shot I took the other day to support my argument that you don't have to turn downtown into some cheesy Las Vegas show to have art. If your interested I started a web site showing my photography. It's called Tim Fasano.com