Tampa Taxi Shots

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.

I got a new camera for my arsenal last Christmas. The GoPro Hero 7 Silver will be a huge upgrade to what I am trying to do with my photography. My YouTube channel is taking off and I am now making money with it. I just need to keep putting up fresh content that people will want to watch. This is a video I took and edited as an experiment to see how I could do it.

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

Louis Baltz and Ken Snell of All American Gym I found this photo today of Louis Baltz and Ken Snell on a Lakeland Ledger post about the iconic gym. It really blew my mind. I began working out with weights at the All American Gym in 1980. In fact, I remember working out there the day after John Lennon was murdered (that will show you how old I am). I remember the gym well. It was a "dungeon gym." You know, the kind of place where Arnold and Franco would workout at. Even today, this style is still preferred to serious bodybuilders and power lifters. The reason is the "big five" are promoted here - the squat, the deadlift, the bench press, the military press, and the barbell row. Its as simple as that folks. If you want to get big and strong, you have to lift big and strong. Its hard to find places like this to work out at nowadays because the commercial gyms must cater to the masses and they have too many rules about deadlifting, working o...

Kevin and Terri were married today at their beautiful home in Lakeland. They met a few years ago when Kevin went to a MUFON meeting. They are both into paranormal research and it seems to have been a perfect match. The ceremony and day was just perfect. I am happy for both of them. That is Terri's son Jason on the left, and Kevin's daughter Madison on the right.

I did take some time off to be with family and good friends for the Halloween weekend. I needed the distraction. I am sure you know that the HCPTC has entered into a temporary agreement with Uber. They are not going to get far. What is not known is that United Cab is tired of this illegal shit - the cowardly commission and politicians - who are shaking in their boots because of Uber. We are not. United Cab has a court hearing next week in which we have filed for an injunctive relief under the fairness clause of the Florida Constitution. Under the current plan, Uber will still not follow the laws and regulations, and they will do what they want. Taxi companies will still have to pay exorbitant fees which Uber is not compelled to pay. Yes, we did have fun on the camping trip.

Billy Shuman 2005 Long time dispatcher and driver for United Cab of Tampa Billy Shuman has passed away. He was the last of a vanishing breed of cowboy dispatchers that could pitch 200 calls an hour and laugh at ya' while he did it. They are all gone now, Pirate, Sleepy, Justin, Shu. They were a group of guys from an era that will never be seen again. Sadly. Shu was the ultimate cab driver and dispatcher. He had a real tolerance for the job and I never saw him lose his cool. If you backed me in a corner, I would have to say Shu was the best dispatcher we ever had. He never got so wrapped up in the job that he did not enjoy life. He was a season ticket holder for the Bucs during the glory years. Because of Shu, I was able to attend many games and watched the Super Bowl Bucs play live. I will never forget that. Shu also loved animals. He fed every animal he ever saw. In fact, there was a great blue heron named Buddy that he fed in the backyard of his house on the Hillsborough ...

Elena wanted me to post photos from Gabriel's first birthday party. Sorry I did not take more images but my phone went dead. Here is a stressed out hippy mama. You got to admit, Gabriel is a handsome young man. posted from Bloggeroid

I wrote this on March 5, 2007 when Julliane Lea died: "I lost the love of my life today. I found Julianne's lifeless body this morning in her condo in Hudson. I had not heard from her since last Thursday. She did not call over the weekend. I am very busy on the weekends and she knows this but always calls. Monday morning I had a bad feeling. This was unlike any other feeling I had ever had. At first, I thought she had found a man in a bar and was with him. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When I got there today after work, the condo was the same as I left it. The curtain and blinds had not been moved and the light in the hallway was still on. I was very alarmed. I found the maintenance man of the association and he had a master key for the door. It would only work for the door handle and not the dead lock bolt. I knew she was in trouble and kicked the patio door in and from the sliding glass door you could see her body lying on the living room floor thru a crack in...

Uncle Toby was very proud of what he was cooking up. If you drove cab in Tampa in the late 1990's and early 2000's, you may remember "Uncle Toby's HOT & ALOT" diner. It was home cooked gourmet diner food. I used to eat there because I  like that type of food. Toby would pile it on and I was in my glory. Toby was a retired Navy guy who always wanted to open a restaurant. He found the vacant building three blocks down from United can, and just around the corner from Yellow Cab. The location was ideal for many industrial business were in the area and many lacked a chow hall. Toby would pack them in for breakfast and lunch. The place did well for a long time. Toby had a simple formula. Feed people decent portions without a high price and they will come back. Repeat customers will make or break a business. His claim to fame was meatloaf on Tuesdays. This photo of me is eating his award winning meatloaf with mash potatoes, green beans, and roll. ...

Old cell phone image From May 5, 2007 - original Tampa Taxi Shots Blog PAUL AND TIM I went over to Paul's house today. It is Cinco De Mayo and I had an idea that he would be drinking beer and of course the fridge was full of Corona and other types of beer. Paul has been a long time friend of mine and also knew Julianne Lea for many years. If you read this blog you may remember a character called "Paul The Drunk Guy." I made it sound like I did not know this guy, but the truth is he has been my best friend for many years. He is a retired Air Force NCO and very active in conservative politics. Terry came by and she was very consuling as well. She is kind of like his right hand girl. She does many things for him and he is lucky to have a friend like her. It WAs good to see him, I have not seen him since Julianne died. I have not really been the most pleasant person to be around but I am getting better and things seem to be getting on track. Paul knows what loss i...

Tammy Tammy passed away. I knew Tammy for twenty years. We used to go camping together, an activity she loved. She was a long time cab driver who was looking forward to retirement and spending time with the grandchildren. She never made it. Lung cancer caught up with her. Chain smoking is an affliction that many hacks deal with. Long hours, idle time, boredom, are factors.That is a terrible shame. This unhealthy profession has claimed a lot of good folks. I went to the time machine and tried to pull images off of it of cab drivers I have taken over the years. If they are not on the machine, they will be on a disc somewhere at home. The only picture of Tammy I could find was small. I have others at home. These are many cab drivers I have known over the years. About half of them are gone. Damn. That is why I am working on my health and exercising four days a week. I really don't want to end up like most cab drivers that never seem to make it to 60. The late fifties seem to be the...

This is a photo of Larry from 1999 taken with a Kodak film camera. What was cool was I found the disk that came with the ot have them ten years from now. You won't even  have the phone. Unless you have saved them somehow, they are gone. What a treasure to find this old disc with many forgotten images.photos. That is one of the reasons I still people should shoot film. Those digital images you have on your phone today, will not be on your phone. You won't even have the damn phone.  To see more go to Tampa Taxi Shots

I had a chance to work with Dave Lauer and Stacey Brown Jr, and others on a special edition Bigfoot investigation. There were eight guys going. Some I have worked with before. The area was an enchanted old Indian tribal area. So I knew it was going to be a great weekend. This is the lady that oversees the site. She is pointing out to Stacey where we are to go. The sun was setting and I was stoked. More later. 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.

This very pregnant women flashed me this morning. Her baby is due November 22 and I'm sure she will be glad I took these images. She's had a tough go of it but the important thing is the baby is alright and mom is healthy. Elena is a very special person. posted from Bloggeroid

Kevin and his band getting ready to rock out at Skippers Smoke House. Come have a beer. Check out @TimFasano's Tweet: https://twitter.com/TimFasano/status/494257308667764737 posted from Bloggeroid

At night I stoked the fire to get it going. Teri and Kevin had to leave and it was George and I for the night. What I did not know was the raccoons would raid our camp in the middle of the night. They had raided the trash and even bit open the Irish tea. I guess the decided it was not food and abandoned it on the camp perimeter. I hate those bastards. I was able to salvage some tea and boiled water with the only pan I had. I prefer instant coffee but the tea had enough caffeine to do the trick. Another tradition is a nice photo of an early morning campfire. Its not camping if you don't get the smoke going early. I was also able, before I left, to walk down by the river and found the canoe launch. That is something we need to do more of. Anyway, this is the sign at the entry to Hillsborough River State Park which could be your gateway to a nice camping adventure. We were at campsite ,,#27 which I recommend.

I went camping last week with friends. It was at a commercial site which is a change of pace from our usual primitive/backcountry outings in Florida. You can see the taxi and my tent (I have two tents) and I enjoyed having a bathroom across the way. This is George who brought most of the gear and got us started on chopping wood. He is a guy that will have a gadget for everything. He also happens to be the host of a local TV show about the paranormal. We really had a nice fire going just before sunset and were waiting for Teri and Kevin to show up. They soon did and Kevin became "Children of the Corn" which is a tradition for us. It all went downhill after dinner when we decided to go look for Bigfoot. That is when I got hurt skidding down a limestone rock face. I have been out of commission but I am on the mend.

I was in a lot better shape then After watching the NFL draft, I was thinking about all the fun we use to have at training camp. We had a gang that would go every year. Back then, you could bring a cooler and take photos. Security was light. This is why people should shoot film or get their digital images turned into actual photos. Who knows where your 'photos' will be decades from now. Perhaps, all the technology we use today will be obsolete. I am glad I shot this roll of film at the Buccaneers training camp in 1997. I still have the photos. How cool is that! Bob, Scchuman (shoe), and Dean A different angle