Skip to main content

Pirate has passed away

Long time taxi dispatcher and driver Tom Rhodes (Pirate) has passed away of natural causes. Tom was afternoon dispatcher when I started 18 years ago and perhaps the best voice guy ever. He would never feed a call even if you were his best friend.

Tom did a lot in his life. Fast living and fast times where no stranger to him. He had lived all over the country and had experienced much. In fact, he told Nancy the night before he died that he could go in peace because he had done everything with his life he had wanted to. Few people can say that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts Last 30 days

What happened to Tommy Duncan and Sticks of Fire blog?

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."

My game against chess master Tom Stroup

Play online chess The game is still in progress but I am playing him even. Tom is rated in the top 2% of all players, so I am happy for such a result so far. He has analyzed the remaining moves and sees this as a possible draw. Don't worry, I can still screw this up. I used the "Donald Trump" opening on him. Since he is a Hillary supporter, he seems befuddled by it. LOL> The game is still in progress but I am playing him even. Tom is rated in the top 2% of all players, so I am happy for such a result so far. He has analyzed the remaining moves and sees this as a possible draw. Don't worry, I can still screw this up. I used the "Donald Trump" opening on him. Since he is a Hillary supporter, he seems befuddled by it. LOL&gt

I was on a radio show

I was on the "Squatch Detective" radio show last night. Steve Kills is the host and the one that blew the lid on the 2008 Bigfoot in the freezer hoax. Steve wanted me in the show because my fame and reputation is spreading. I do more work then the FINDING BIGFOOT show in Animal Planet and I've found more evidence. I will put up the show on this blog when Steve releases the archives. posted from Bloggeroid

A Shit Ticket

Bad news. Jacamino was willing to sir on a call for two hours waiting for it to come out. We call that sand bagging. I call it "a shit ticket." There was so much business going on you couldn't shake a stick at it. Why tie yourself up like this in such a myopic way. Suit yourself dumbass. I made more money during the same time you ran the shit ticket. If Uber is around, you would not have known it today. posted from Bloggeroid

EVIDENCE and CRYPTID FOSSILS in Central Florida

I went back home to Mulberry Florida and went to the Mulberry Phosphate History Museum. It is only about 3 miles from the old family home but never went there. When I was younger, I was not so interested in these matters.

Tony Dungy 1996

This was Tony Dungy after the first practice of his first year as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is crossing the street next to the University of Tampa football field. We did not know much about him and nobody thought we were looking at a future Hall of Fame coach. Wow! Save your photos folks. posted from Bloggeroid

Slain cab driver worked the hood

Working the hood at night is not good for a cab driver. There is a preponderance of short fares, now shows, laundry, no shows, runners, and angry people, to make it unprofitable, and annoying to the driver. You could work it all night, and not make a dime and be treated like shit the whole time. Was it worth it for Mr. Dooley to work the hood? It sucks that with so little street business, and a flood of third world drivers, forces guys pulling s hack to take risk.

Finally some cool weather

It should be very comfortable and dry in Tampa for the next 7 days. This is what I have been waiting for. Time to put some Irish cream in my afternoon coffee. The Tampa Tribune ran a headline article the other day asking what happened to winter. I don't know that but it might make up for it in spades. posted from Bloggeroid

RETIRED..what did you expect?

I have retired from taxi driving for good. I turned the keys in and walked away from 24 years on the streets. In a way, like Ronald Reagan said, the taxi business walked away from me. Anyway, I am home and doing nothing but getting caught up on a bunch of personal stuff. I am loving it. Check out this video about how I spend most mornings now. I have applied to work for Lyft and was approved, of course. I should be getting a new car next week and will be driving for them. Ride share has become the new taxi companies and they deliver what I am looking for. I have two monthly checks coming in which are enough to live off of. So don't worry about me. Its just that I was not exactly ready to retire but the circumstances gave me no choice. It does feel good, by the way.

UBER TRUTH: poor and minorities left stranded

Traditional laws and regulations require transportation companies to serve the entire community regardless of pick up location, whether you pay with cash vs. a credit card, ownership of a “smart phone”, ADA requirements or other socioeconomic conditions.   In fact, the underlying reason for regulations is to ensure EVERYONE receives service. Uber requires customers to own a smartphone  and  a credit card.  Others  “need not apply”.   Remember, Uber only wants to serve who they want, and not be required to serve an entire community.  They want a highly regulated taxi environment, but an entirely unregulated environment when it comes to “their business”. According to the PEW Research and widely reported on major news outlets: Only 56% of American adults own a smart phone; If you are 65 years or older, that number drops to 18%; Only 38% of those making less than $38,000 a year own a smart phone; And only 36% of those people with a high sc...