Fun City Motel - the corner of seedy and charming

Where the Griswalds got married

This is where I stayed when I lived in Las Vegas. A rather charming place with an awesome location. You can see the Stratosphere looming overhead. Vegas World was there when I called Fun City home. Cab drivers called it "Vagrants World" because it was in a seedy part of town. Not everything in Vegas is glitter.

I had forgotten about this place until I saw the Chevy Chase movie "Vegas Vacation" and at the end they got remarried at the wedding chapel that is built into the motel.

At night, this part of the strip (it is on the world famous Vegas Strip) lights up like a Christmas tree. However, every place has a backside and Vegas is not immune.

The back of the motel

I stayed in room 222 I could not believe someone took a picture of it. I was glad to be upstairs for the view faced west. I could see Mr. Charleston in the distance, and with the dry climate, you got amazing sunsets with lots of color. But you always had to remember where you were at. One night when the Las Vegas SWAT team did a drug raid on one of the bottom floors. I was really afraid lead would fly.

top left door was home

My room had a view of the pool and Mr. Charleston

The place is dirt cheap and favorite spot for strippers who have flown in from L.A. to work the clubs for the weekend, stay here. One of the girls was a regular that I got to meet and a total pro. She was not into drugs, porn or prostitution. She was doing it for the money. I mean to stockpile money in a short period of time. Capitalism is a wonderful thing. She would always use my cab. I only regret I never saw her naked.

Sort of a Film Noir look to it

I hear you can still rent rooms for $165 a week - with a kitchen! and be just feet from the strip. How can you beat that!?

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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."

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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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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.

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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

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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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Tim Now Drives for LYFT...and loving it!

After 24 years of driving taxi for United Cab of Tampa, I am now driving for LYFT. Good call, I think. Ride share has taken over and the taxi companies are going the way of the pay phone and the corner video store.

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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

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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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Change for a twenty

It seems most customers will give you a twenty dollar bill no matter what the amount of the fare. The first two fares I had today went short, and they did not let me down. They gave me twenties for 5-6 dollar fares. Yikes! That wipes out all of my change (cab drivers do not begin their day with thousands of dollars on us). I went on my third fare. He is going from Albany and North B to Howard and Mississippi (I could only spell this because of the jingle I learned in 5th grade). I ask him if he has exact change. He says no, he was going to give me a twenty. So we stop at the convenience store at Howard and Morrison. He goes inside, gets some cigs, and comes back. We are set. When I get him to his house, he hands me a twenty dollar bill! What! We just went to the store. He was a little drunk and said just keep it. I was not trying to rip him off. When he got out of the cab I looked at it and it was a 1928 twenty gold backed bill. You don't see many of th...

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National Taxi strike called for October 26, 2014 against Uber & Lyft

Following the crowd is the opposite of the Uber Man...They want your mind...don't let them have it! There is more at stake then a ride to work. The battle for man's mind has begun. The Internet has made many things possible and reacting with incomplete information has had a debilitating effect on peoples behaviour and mental acuity. The ability to assess facts accurately has been diminished. When wide swaths of hipsters chose to use a ride share company because it has a slick app, without considering the consequences to society, then harm is being done. Ignoring that modern society is structured by law - they proceed anyway. This course must be redirected Back in the dark ages, villagers and townspeople would often react to a rumor and then take action swiftly to bring justice upon the presumed guilty party without waiting for the authorities to resolve it. The more emotionally attached people were to the crime, the less real or confirmed information they needed to follow...

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Tampa Taxi Shots

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