Spelunking at Dames Caves

George and I found our way to Dames Caves. These are limestone caves formed by water over thousands of years. This photo is me coming out of the cave. I explained to George the conditions inside were too wet and I wanted to return when dry to get way back in the cathedral areas which requires crawling on your stomach thru passage ways. You will get hundreds if feet deep....then...cave-in....cool.

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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.

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Angel The Rescued Kitten

I have a new and wonderful friend. Her name is Angel. George found her on his way home at 3 in the morning running around on the elevated span of highway 19 in Clearwater. He pulled over and pulled out of a storm drain. He took her home and knocked on my door. He has two cats and wanted me to keep her overnight until he could find a neighbor to take her. I fell in love with her. She is now my best friend and keeps me company for I live alone. It's not fair that so much cuteness can be crammed into such a little thing.

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A cheap motel, a white tee shirt, and a twenty dollar bill (classic story)

What a cab driver will do to make a living is beyond what most people can handle or comprehend. One thing we do is go into very bad areas of town and pretend it is normal. At least I still think it is normal. Like the Pakistani store owner who sells smokes, beer, lotto tickets and blunts to the people who walk in his door while all the time hoping he doesn't get shot, you begin to think this is normal. I got this call about 4 in the morning today. Things got a little weird. Not to bad, but not what I was expecting. It was the Downtowner Motel, one of Tampa's swankier joints. Its the kind of place that has "weekly rentals" and calls them apartments; imaine what kind of crowd that will draw. The dude was on the balcony and very anxious to get going, a clear sign that someone wants to buy drugs. I guess his buzz has worn off and he needs to get more. He and some chic with sunken cheeks and a glazed stare get in the backseat. They seem to have a bunch of nervous ene...

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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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Lisa Roberts of Lyft had this to say about cab drivers

From Lyft driver Lisa Roberts FaceBook "Sorry these old cab drivers spent so much money, but people spent a lot of money on 8 tracks and DOS computers, which didn't stop technology or progress.  Riders prefer Lyft because our cars smell better, we don't mind short rides, they don't have to argue with us about payment and most importantly, we don't leave them standing on a street in the middle of the night!" Lisa was wrong on all of her points "OLD" - Your no spring chicken yourself "Stop technology or progress" - Breaking the law is not technology . Killing off industries so Lyft drivers have money for pot is not Progress. "Cars smell better" - you can eat off the floor of my cab. It is just that clean. Wait until the late night hipsters puke in your car and tell me how good it smells.  "Argue about payment" - We except many forms of payment. Lyft only takes your credit card. " Sho...

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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.

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Uber being ticked in Tampa

I heard from our shop supervisor Paul that as of Thursday, the HCPTC was back in action giving tickets to illegal Uber drivers. They said it was in the interest of public safety. So far, no media outlets have picked up on this. Something must have changed to give them clearance, or Victor Crist finally made a bold decision. I am hearing stories that Uber drivers in the Tampa Bay area are not making the money they used to. Uber has saturated the market and that slice if the pie is getting thin. Good. I knew that would happen. posted from Bloggeroid

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The economics of cab driving in Tampa Bay

Taxi Drivers in the holding area at Tampa International Airport The St. Petersburg Times ran an article about the state of taxi cab companies and drivers in Hillsborough County. They quoted me (Tim Fasano) in the article because of this blog. I believe the article hit hard on some very real aspects of the current state of cab driving. Jack Nicas went all over Tampa talking with taxi drivers and cab company owners. He went to the holding area at the airport, the major hotels downtown, the club party areas on the weekends and he saw first hand what goes on in our work. This is what he saw at Tampa International Airport. "For hours under the sun in a lot near Tampa International Airport, a harsh course in economics plays out. Dozens of taxicabs snake into a queue. Men shout and engines start. The line barely budges. Rene Jeune is up front now, having waited two hours for one customer. Farther back, Jean Bourdeau watches birds fight. He has just $25 in his pock...

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St. Petersburg Taxi tells the truth about Uber and ride share

Albert is a cab driver that follows the rules and pays his insurance, license, and operation fees Guest post by Albert Zee: Uber problem in Tampa Bay.....Taxi industry has been under siege since 2007-2008 due to economical collapse of 2008, then surge in new taxi cab start ups between 2010-204 which were still mostly operating according to all the rules and regulations prolonged recovery. Then uber came around with "great solution" to our transportation problems and said, what regulations, what commercial insurance, what background checks and what cars (we don't need to own any and our drivers don't need to be regulated because we are "rideshare" company), we will invade and steal the market by offering rides at half a price, we will put all those law obeying "taxi cartels" out of business by creating bogus press releases about advantages of uber, by lying to public, drivers and politicians, they don't know any better any ways. Curren...

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Black Guy Gets Refused Service at Soho Taxi Stand Tampa

Someone named "Ghetto Fabullus" posted this: "To refuse a fare is already a $100 citation, but the Hillsborough County Public Transportion Commission who runs the taxi service does not bother to police the taxi stand and you never see them after dark. As you can see drivers pretty much behave anyway they want. At this point I imagine drivers from third world countries don't even realize they are doing anything wrong and think this is just a normal way of conducting buisness."

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