Lost In The Travel Section

The same thing as a Sunday morning with a cup of Joe?

     On the way to the airport I asked my fare if they were reading their emails on their cell phone. They said they were reading a book on an Amazon Kindle. They also said they could read the morning newspaper formated perfectly for the screen. I looked down at the newspaper I had bought out of a rack for 50 cents and wondered if I was Fred Flintstone for not being up with the latest gadgets. What price we are really paying for this new tech?  
     The modern world looks no different from the one I grew up in as a little kid in the ‘60s. I see houses, cars, telephone poles, and electrical wires strung aloft in the neighborhoods; styles have changed, but that is just fashion. What I do see are brick and mortar retail stores beginning to vanish along with newspapers because people can simply go online to buy whatever they want, and get a better price. I know I buy almost every book from Amazon. They always have better price, and consistent delivery and essentially every title known to man.
      I am sort of angry at myself for doing it this way, but I still like to enjoy a Saturday afternoon at the local bookstore with a fresh cup of coffee while I browse and look for the books that I will eventually purchase somewhere else.  I still find it very relaxing and there is something tactile about holding a physical book in your hand and thumbing thru it, instead of just reading a brief synopsis of it and a photo.  I had no idea that people would start getting their news this way.
     Can you really find everything you want and need on a website?  How can it be easier or more efficient to navigate than a newspaper with sections that proceed in a linear fashion?  I do not know, but apparently, millions do.
      We will one day live in a world where people will have no idea what its like to curl up on an easy chair on a Sunday morning with that ubiquitous cup of fresh coffee and slowly read and spend time with yourself, without the time pressure you have been under the previous part of the week.
      Does that make us a better society?
      Does that improve our humanity?
      Are we robbing ourselves of a synergetic connection with the world while we are lost in the Travel Section? Once things are gone, they can never be experienced again.
      They say Britain’s undeniably most significant contribution to Western Civilization was afternoon tea.  Is it just the caffeine or is it sitting down to drink tea that we enjoy. Relaxation and contemplation nuance the rewards of life and your humanity in many ways.  That is how I feel about the vanishing of newspapers and perhaps books.    

Changes To Tampa Taxi Shots And Bob Buckhorn Wins Tampa Mayor Race

I have decided to use Blogger as my host for Tampa Taxi Shots.  The software is just more attractive to me, and the options they offer are better than Typepad (which I have to pay for). Typepad does have some advantages, such as unlimited pages, and that's really about it. I still keep my account for timfasano.typepad.com because I have over 1,000 post since 2005 and that is a considerable amount of stuff that I do not want to lose by closing the account. For now, Tampa Taxi Shots will be hosted by Blogger. I will keep the typepad account to maintain my archives.

I voted for Bob Buckhorn today for mayor. I'm sorry, but a vote for Rose Ferlita would be like a vote for your Grandmother or Aunt Bee. My information of the Tampa mayor results tells me that Bob Buckhorn has won the Tampa Mayor race by a huge landslide, about 60% to 40% of the vote to Rose. Nobody saw this coming but it should have not been a surprise. Combining the votes of Dick Greco and Bob Buckhorn would crush Rose. It seems Tampa wants a responsible Mayor who knows how this is done.

The System Finally Seems To Be Working

It was a very busy day today and all of my calls came off of the BlackBerry. I know some guys don't like this system, like Big Mike but it seems to be doing its job. I am not a stunt or junk driver. I just post up and roll. It only takes me a few minutes now to get a call. I can't wait till next holiday season to win back some of the cab business we lost last  year. Life moves on, so will we.

Where Does The Tampa Taxi Business Go From Here?

December 16th, 2010 The Taxi Strike

I am referring to the drivers, not the owners. The people that own the businesses are doing very well. The drivers have been struggling for the last four years as we have shouldered the load. What we need is a healthy economy to make real money, but none seems to be in sight. There is a glimmer of hope, however.

United Cab Of Tampa has finally got the digital dispatch system up and running. Today I received a software update and my rate 2 and rate 3 on the taxi meter for the minimum and flat rate airport zones. The system is working for me but I have heard many complaints from drivers. I stated before that this system will put the hood stretchers and the sandbaggers and the guys used to being fed out of business. Those seem to be the ones complaining.

Mr. Rob Searcy (seen in the video below at the taxi protest) was the one that implemented the new computer system. The old management would never have done that. I really believe in the long run good times will come back to the taxi business, only at United Cab, however. The other companies are to dysfunctional and not on the ball. United will rule the day and their drivers will make a ton. Just wait for a healthy economy.

Before I had met Rob Searcy I shot this YouTube video of him addressing the taxi drivers at the "strike" last December. I knew we were dealing with a strong man.

The Price Of Gas Could Kill The Taxi Business

Gas In Tampa March 10, 2010

The price of gas is rising. We are dealing with unstable political regimes (or no regime) in North Africa and the Middle East. Unfortunately, drilling our own domestic oil which is plentiful, is not popular. There must be, and will be, a breaking point. That is when the people will demand action. In the meantime, I pay out the nose.

Most people I talk to have no idea that taxi drivers buy their own gas. They think the company supplies that for us. There may be a subsidy on the horizon.

The Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission will allow drivers to charge an additional dollar for the gas. I don't see that working out very well. How do you tell someone that has already given you a tip that they owe you one more dollar?

I understand many drivers are having trouble with the new computer dispatch system. I think in the long run it will be to our advantage. It is too bad that the drivers had to shoulder the load during the best months in Florida for the cab business. Maybe next year will be better.

United Cab Is Raising Leases On Taxi Drivers

This was posted on the window at United Cab today

I would love to think that the recession is over; I would love to think that the events in the Middle East are not happening: I would love to think that the introduction of this new computer system has not destroyed our customer base. I would love to think that Lady Ga Ga is my girlfriend. Not so. Sometimes you have to deal with reality.

The reality is my expenses to run my little business are reaching the breaking point. Now that United Cab of Tampa is raising the lease they charge their independent contractors to run the taxis, now that gas may go to five dollars a gallon by summer, and now that our call count is at a historical low level for this time of year, the situation is becoming unmanageable. Like Carley Sheen says "you have to accept what you can't control."

It should be the good time of year to make money - it is not. I guess I am just an independent contractor with no control. Did you notice the 24 hour driver lease  of $102 is PAYABLE BY 8 AM. Talk about hard ball.

I hope in the long run this makes me a better cab driver. This guy Rob Searcy is one tough guy. I do respect him. He told me that this new computer system should raise my production by over 30%. If that is true in the long run, I love this guy. None of this will mean anything because I will be making money. He will run this business and make money for the owners and drivers in the long term....I really hope. In that capacity, he is an awesome manager. I just wish he and Ft., Lauderdale would read the newspapers more often...Perhaps in six months I will be doing well and not care about any of this. Stay tuned.

Upper Hillsborough Preserve

I hike for exercise. I love hiking. What I do is find an exotic area in Central Florida, load up my backpack with supplies, and hit the trail. Sunday I was in the Upper Hillsborough Tract of the Zephyrhills Nature Preserve. There is a long series of trails that would take days to complete with much effort. What is great is the area is closed to hunting which helps photographers because the wildlife moves in here to avoid being shot! Can you blame them! This video is when I was taking a break in this early heat in the year. Earlier, I had found a human type foot print (bare print) 300 feet off trail in a cypress swamp. Unless there are feral people or a Florida skunk ape in the area, I don't know what left that print. I do want to get a photo of that creature.

Rose Ferlita And Bob Buckhorn In Tampa Mayor Runoff

Bob Buckhorn And Family at reception

Is Dick Greco now out of politics?  Is Bob Buckhorn playing games with Christian values?  Why am I getting Google searches for Rose Ferlita being gay? Does anyone really care? I don't. She is a good Italian girl and a Republican (She is a product of Tampa's Italian Camelot). Ferlita and Buckhorn will face each other in a Tampa Mayor runoff on March 23 2011.  It is an important election, and that is what I care about. Tampa now belongs to a new generation, I think (Ferlita is 65 years old).

I was a Greco supporter, and voted for him. I believed in his old school message. He had experience, he is a business man, and he knows Tampa like nobodies business, but he was rejected by a new generation.  I guess the world has changed, but I have not.

If you are new to Tampa did you know that Bob Buckhorn once prevented straight men from getting within 6 feet from a naked women by imposing a law in strip bars that prohibited that from happening. However, Buckhorn is having his campaign party tonight at JJ's  in Ybor city - a sort of edgy, eclectic, gay kind of bar (Bay News 9 showed his supporters and it looked like a gay crowd). They were in a part of Ybor city called Gaybor. I am all in favor of that because of the increase in tourism and taxi rides this area has promoted. Gay people, as a demographic, are some of the best tippers you will find.

This may be the reason that Bob Buckhorn should be elected mayor. He appeased the religious right by going after Jew Redner and has brought tourism (and MONEY) to Tampa by supporting the growth of Gaybor. He has (for political reasons) had to do this under the radar. What this shows is that Buckhorn knows how the game is played. He is already making things happen for Tampa Florida.

I am getting Google searches about Rose Ferlita being gay. We have a gay Police Chief, why not a gay mayor? A gay fire chief, a gay cab driver, a gay dog catcher, a gay this, a gay that...Jesus Christ folks what the fuck is going on in this world. If you are straight, you are a freak?...NO..Straight people don't care anymore about sex orientation,. Can we move past this?