An authentic Cuban Cigar

I picked up a family at the airport that had arived from Cuba (Tampa has direct flights to Havana). The man gave me a gift of a real Cuban Covina cigar. This is the brand that Fidel Castro smoked. It is illegal to sell them in the United States but you can bring in a small amount for personal consumption. I will smoke this on a special occasion. The photo below confirms it is authentic. I got it off a Havana website.

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The Taxi Truman Show

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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Sleeping with the enemy

I sort of stick out in this sea of pink I always seem to get on TV. This is Tim Fasano (in the yellow shirt with camera) sitting in the room full of Lyft and Uber drivers. Did you ever feel really alone? These rideshare people are operating an illegal business that is cutting into my livelyhood, and I wanted the Hillsborough County Commission to know it. The Lyft drivers are a bunch of punks and kids who have never worked a day in their lives. They will get whats coming to them. How do you spell douchebags? You will see me in the video shown on the local news.

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What Lyft and Uber will take from the Tampa taxi business

A lyft car at the Iconic sign on Florida ave downtown Tampa I have been a hack in Tampa Florida since 1995. Unlike the estimated 50% of Americans that hate their jobs, I have never had a day when I did not feel like going to work. Certainly, the last few years have not been fun because the economy fell apart like a three dollar watch. However, economies are like tides and this one is on the rebound, at a snail's pace. I would like to thank Mr. Obama for that but that would not be fair. The economy is recovering despite any fiscal policy of his. That being said - there are challenges. My job is inherently difficult. We face strange and deranged people street level on a daily basis. Taxi companies in Tampa (which are regulated) must serve the general population. We have no choice. Short fares, drunk fares, people going to buy drugs (they don't tell you that) we must pick up. Don't get me wrong, there are business people, beautiful women, great trippers, and long haul...

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Who's picking you up?

She would never make it on the mean streets. She will stay with the craft beer drinkers and poor people suffer. People like the lady above is what is wrong with the rideshare concept. This women will never go into the bad part of town. Poor people in society suffer enough, now, they won't even be able to get rides. The cheery pickers have arrived. Cab driving will now be an exclusive right of passage for hipsters, on the same level of Starbucks coffee, skinny jeans, and alternative rock with craft beers, and the other sacraments of hipsterism. This has to be stopped. Jobs are at stake. "Led by companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, ride-sharing has rocketed into the mainstream in a relatively short time frame. Uber started up in San Francisco four years ago, and has since expanded to 128 cities worldwide. The company's most recent valuation came in at an eye-popping $18 billion. Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick has publicly stated that his company is doubling ...

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Dana Young is a Liar or very confused about Uber

A very bad person with no honor or integrity I attended a meeting at the hockey arena downtown which was attended by all the Tampa Bay area state senators and representatives. In attendance was one Dana Young (R). When it was her time to speak, so told a story about a young women that was being raped. While the college student was being sexually assaulted, the student hit the Uber app on her phone and the police now knew the GPS coordinates of her location. What MS. Young did not disclose was that it happened on the UCLA campus and that it was an UBER DRIVER THAT WAS RAPING HER! "As students prepare to return to college, one thing female students cannot go without is caution. Assaults, especially sexual assaults, are a haunting part of daily life for so many students. Uber has made that nightmare even more of a reality . We tell our students that getting a driver when they’ve had too much to drink is the responsible course of action — it’...

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New Location

My new cool blog works great You can find Tampa Taxi Shots blog now at CigarCityCabbie.com which does not have the link and software issues this one does. In fact, I like the name better and I have the Dot Com. It really pisses me off that Go Daddy wants $2,500 for the Dot Com to Tampa Taxi Shots. Eat shit.

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A Trolly crash on Channelside along with Gasparilla

It was bound to happen. A car hit the trolley on the way to the cruise ship today before the Gasparilla parade. The cross ways are poorly marked, and someone from out of town would not be looking for it, or expect it. Believe me, I have come very close in the past. I always thought those things were a bad idea for nobody rides them, and the conductors come flying through intersections. I wonder who was at fault. We were busy today as the pirate festival kicks off the start of our tourist season. May, 5 will mark the end.You will see me with my Corona beer that day drowning my sorrows for the party is over. That's what really sucks about the seasonal nature of Florida. Today was not a normal Gasparilla day for me. I was working the Westshore area and got three ship runs in a row. They were very nice people from up north that were amazed and loving the beautiful weather we are having. They wondered what all the fuss was about and I explained the pirate heritage of Tamp...

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Jameis Winston - AMERICA'S QUARTERBACK

There should many moments of glory in Tampa Bay Jameis Winston began his run for Super Bowl MVP yesterday in the blinding rain at Buccaneer training camp. You can see from the video below, there is a lot to work on. It was raining and he must have been excited. I am really glad football season is here. Taxi drivers make real money at these games and Uber is not allowed to pick up. There is a taxi and limo area...not an Uber/Lyft area.

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Tampa Bay Downs

I went to the horse races at Tampa Bay Downs Sunday. It had been years since I had been there. Not much had changed except the Daily Racing Form is now 9 bucks. I paid it because I am from the old school, and want more comprehensive information then the track program. It did not seem to do me much good. The horse above was a maiden claiming horse. She had the top jockey and trainer on the track. Even one of the handicappers in the DRF picked the horse. So, I bet her across the board. She came in dead last. I mean I took a photo of her chasing the other horses. They not even in the frame. I actually felt sorry for the horse. Anyway, Tom could not make it, so I only stayed for a few races. I even managed to win a race. As you can see it was a nice day, so I enjoy the sights and sounds of the racetrack. They had a good crowd and most people seemed to be having fun. Of course, at the track, you see the same characters that you find at most tracks. There are the wandering around re...

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Redlining practices of Uber and Lyft exclude Black People

Uber and Lyft are companies formed in Lilly white silicon valley, by Lilly white computer geeks, who would not know what the hood looked like even if they ventured into Oakland. They have put together a business model that is for white people, and excludes blacks, and most poor people. Their intent is to only cheery pick the best, and richest fares in any community, and Redline the hood and poor areas. This is easily done by allowing the drivers to not only choose where they work, but allow them to choose who they will pick up. The driver can rate the customer and, then, nobody will pick them up. If the rider does not tip (which is cultural and common with inner city people), they will get a bad rating and no Uber or Lyft guy will pick them up. I must pick them up even if they don't tip. A typical attitude of a Lyft rider is like the comment left on this site. You have to accept the new and ever changing world of technology and what people are comfortable with. M...

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