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Tim Fasano

From the GALAXY Phone I just got.

A fantastic sunrise

This morning I noticed a cloud cover over Tampa. That was strange considering there was a 0% chance of rain. I continued on taking my fate to her appointment on the east side. While I was waiting, I noticed people taking photos in the parking lot. I then noticed the bright color of a typical Winter Sunset.


It only lasted for a few minutes.

posted from Bloggeroid

Tampa bans Uber from operating as taxi company

The HCPT and Hillsborough County public commission today affirmed Uber is an illegal taxi company and bared them from operating in the Tampa area. This is wonderful news to longtime drivers like me.

An Uber attorney asked Hillsborough County to make new rules to fit the trendy ridesharing movement pioneered by his company and Lyft, but was told flatly on Wednesday that Uber is an illegal taxi service.

The county's Public Transportation Commission unanimously affirmed that an appointed officer had enough evidence to fine Uber, based in San Francisco, for providing hiring and public taxi services without proper licensing.

Uber attorney Drew Sorrell held to the company's argument that it isn't in transportation. As a technology company, it doesn't need to follow transportation regulations as they are written.

"There's a perfectly good way to do this, and that is to write the rules so that they fit," said Sorrell, of the Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor and Reed law firm in Orlando. "They just don't fit here."

A county attorney rebutted with Hillsborough's argument that Uber has all the parts of a taxi service except that a phone replaces the traditional taxi meter.

"There is no question they are transporting people in this county and profiting from it," Rob Brazel said.

posted from Bloggeroid

United Cab of Tampa and airport rights

We are now on the new system where both United Cab and Yellow cab are on the same side of the airport. We are on the west quad and we will be for the next three years because of construction. It is a major project that will result in a larger and more efficient airport. In fact, the Marriott Hotel will be torn down and converted into a shopping mall. This project will allow more people to move easily through the airport. The economy is getting better and we are ready to rock and roll.

posted from Bloggeroid

Watch out for this scam

Women often receive warnings about protecting themselves at the mall and in dark parking lots, etc. This is the first warning I have seen for men. I wanted to pass it on in case you haven’t heard about it. A ‘heads up’ for those men who may be regular customers at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Costco, or even Wal-Mart. This one caught me totally by surprise. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.

Here’s how the scam works; Two nice looking, college-age girls will come over to your car or truck as you are packing your purchases into your vehicle. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. (It’s impossible not to look). When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say ‘No’ but instead ask for a ride to McDonald’s.

You agree and they climb into the vehicle. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen Aug. 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, again on the 17th, 20th, 24th, and the 29th. Also Sept. 1st, 4th, 8th, twice on the 10th &11th, and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful. What a horrible way to take advantage of us older men. Warn your friends to be vigilant.

Wal-Mart has wallets on sale for $2.99 each. I found even cheaper ones for $.99 at the Dollar Store and bought them out in three of their stores.

Also, you never get to eat at McDonald’s. I’ve already lost 11 pounds just running back and forth from Lowe’s, to Home Depot, to Wal-Mart.

So please, send this on to all the older men that you know and warn them to be on the lookout for this scam. (The best times are just before lunch and around 4:30 in the afternoon.)

FUCK UBER

Listen, you Uber fuckers, you screwheads. You are stealing my shit. I tried to be rational (What's that?). But not now. I am a man who will not take it anymore. A man who stands up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. I am a man who stands up. Look at it this way. A man takes a job, you know? And that job - I mean, like that - That becomes what he is. You know, like - You do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a cabbie for nineteen years. Ten years at night. I still don't own my own cab. You know why? Because I don't want to. That must be what I want. To be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. You understand? I mean, you become - You get a job, you become the job. One guy lives in a shit hole, another lives on drugs. You pick up a lawyer. Another guy's a doctor. Another guy dies. Another guy gets well. People are born, y'know? Why do you want to drive Uber? You think you can avoid your destiny? You'll be a Fuck up fucking whores and taking blowjobs for fares. The spiral of your life brings you to Uber, you perverts. You think its just moonlighting? What the Fuck is that? Your cclinging to that is just you jerking off. Do you want to be a hack? You talking to me now. Then the life comes with it. You are just a bunch of pussies scared to give in. Go on, get laid, get drunk. Do anything. You got no choice, anyway. I mean, we're all fucked. More or less, ya know. I don't know. Uber and lyft drivers can avoid being fucked? That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard.

posted from Bloggeroid

Uber will not serve the poor and minorities

The CEO of Tampa's finest taxi company, Rob Searchy went to Tallahassee two weeks ago to deliberate against a bill that would deregulate "transportation on demand" in Hillsborough county. This bill will allow anyone with a car (and unclear intent) to pick up anyone from an app on their phone. This would allow these drivers to only work hipster areas, and ignore the general population as a whole. The ramifications of this are now being felt in San Francisco and Seattle which is being cherry picked. This movement must be stopped, as well as, Marco Rubio's concept of free enterprise.
While Rob Searcy was in the Florida state capital they played a clip of Ashton Kuthcer of all people. It seems he and the owners of Uber are very tight. This is what was said about that:

Ashton Kutcher made an unplanned cameo during a Florida Senate Transportation Committee meeting two weeks ago. Uber representatives presented a clip of theTwo and Half Men star and Uber investor on Jimmy Kimmel Live blasting Miami for not changing longstanding laws to accommodate the upstart car service.
 "Basically, it's like mafioso, like village mentality of like we're not gonna let the new guy in," the actor said. "Like in Miami."
Diego Feliciano might be considered one of those mafiosi. Feliciano is the president of the South Florida Taxicab Association. A man who got his start more than 30 years ago as a cab driver, Feliciano says Uber seeks to skim the top off taxis' business while potentially threatening service to those who can't afford the app...Read More

And that's my major point about this entire concept. When you have a commission, it makes sure the general public is served, and picked up. The commission can also act on complaints about drivers. This is not just rating a driver on a website. This is controlling who drives and running background investigations to ensure the drivers are not criminals and have good driving records. By having drivers regulated, the HCPTC can make sure adequate insurance and upper limits of liability are at play. If not, the driver could be considered a threat to the public and not allowed to operate.
More on this coming up.

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Taxi regulation protects the public

Ressurection from the dead

My laptop computer has been sitting in the corner for almost a year because it was dead. I just could not get it to turn on anymore. The other day, I had an idea.

I plugged it in. Of course the computer would not except the change. I ended up going to bed and forgot to unplug the old unit. In the morning, all the lights were on and the unit fired up!!!

Are you kidding me! I still may have some use out of this. I downloaded many of the important files and photos I wanted. I hope I can get it going again.

posted from Bloggeroid

A look at Dr Meldrum's cell phone

How often do you get to see the phone research images from Dr. Meldrum? It was a good night at the Skunk Ape Conference. All this wad at the social. Wait until the main event Saturday.

Stacy and Bill have took off for the store and I am back at the suite in Disney World posting video.

posted from Bloggeroid

Is ISIS the start of World War 3s

Dr. John Coleman Ex. British Intelligence
By fabricating a bogus war between Islamic fundamentalism and the West, the globalists are able to attack their real enemy, humanity. Pulling the strings, they will ensure that both Western and Muslim states are degraded and finally completely subjugated to their odious rule.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bunny Rabbits and a Chinese restaurant

Most mornings I see this hurd of rabbits outside a Chinese restaurant. I'm not sure what it means. Do they have rabbit on the menu? I told the lady I picked up down the road not to leave her cat out at night anymore. Are these stores really true?
posted from Bloggeroid

Who's driving you?

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 its revenue every six months.None of this is good news for taxi companies. In May, drivers protested outside Uber’s Boston offices calling for stricter regulations for ride-sharing companies. In London, an estimated 12,000 black cab drivers clogged the city’s to protest Uber’s presence. It backfired spectacularly, with London Uber sign-ups surging 850 percent in a week, according to the company. If the protests haven’t gained much traction, taxi industry advocates are hoping that safety concerns might. Their argument: By managing drivers as independent contractors and thereby sidestepping the costly training, background checks, and insurance regulations that taxi drivers are subject to, Uber is putting passengers at greater risk.“When we talk about public safety, talking about the passengers in the vehicle, the driver, but also people on the street,” says Dave Sutton, spokesman for the “Who’s Driving You?” campaign, based in Washington. Launched last year, “Who’s Driving You” is a marketing effort funded by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, which counts 1,100 licensed transportation companies among its members. “The insurance that Uber is providing has serious gaps that only move into the general awareness when something bad happens,” he says.The problem, Mr. Sutton notes, is that Uber drivers aren’t covered by an expansive commercial liability insurance that protects them while off the clock. Though the company expanded its insurance coverage earlier this year, Uber drivers still don’t have the round-the-clock coverage required for a commercial cab.“Who’s Driving You?” has also taken aim at Uber’s background checks, charging that the company’s screening easily allows convicted felons to slip through the cracks. “Uber does not submit to regulations, so they cannot use background checks that use FBI fingerprinting,” Sutton says. “They use private companies and cheaper background checks that are not as comprehensive.”But Uber spokesman Lane Kasselman calls such accusations “scare tactics,” by rich, multinational corporations. “Instead of improving customer service they’re complaining about opposition,” he says. “The taxi industry has decided to play dirty politics instead of compete.”Uber’s criminal background checks, Mr. Kasselman says, are as comprehensive as the law allows for business purposes. On the insurance end, he says that perceived gaps are due more to the fact that insurance regulations weren’t written with a company like Uber or Lyft in mind: "Insurance companies have obviously been around for decades, and they aren’t quick to adjust their products.”Requiring the round-the-clock insurance that Uber’s critics are demanding, he says, would be like “trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”Still, concerns about coverage expand beyond the taxicab lobby. Since Uber drivers are independent contractors, rather direct employees, the company is not responsible for incidents that occur when a driver is off the clock, and what “on the clock” means has been a point of contention. After a San Francisco Uber driver en route to pick up a rider struck and killed a young girl last year, the company expanded its coverage to include the time between when a driver accepted a ride and when an actual passenger entered the vehicle.Some states want more: California has proposed a rule that would require ride share companies to cover drivers anytime the ride-share app is on. Uber has come out against such a rule, but is “for regulations, we just want them to be sensible and reflective of an evolving industry,” Kasselman says.Ride-share customers might have some complaints –  Uber’s Boston Yelp! page has its fair share of bad reviews, mostly about high prices during peak times and drivers who occasionally get lost  – but insurance liability and safety concerns are “not really” a priority, says Ms. Nation, the Uber user from Providence. She’s never felt uncomfortable or unsafe using the service, “and I’m a scaredy-cat.” Still, the Cambridge meeting raised concerns about Uber's more hands-off administration of its drivers. Sassy Outwater, a blind Cambridge resident, told the committee that app-driven transportation services like Uber are in many ways more convenient for the disabled community, but noted that she had been refused Uber rides on several occasions because of her seeing eye dog (which is illegal under the Americans with Disabilites Act)." 

Late start on a Monday morning

I was up late last night watching the season premier of FINDING BIGFOOT. Turtle Man and Neil were on and I knew it would be fun. What is not so fun is how much the summer taxi business has dropped off.

I just got home and I'm tired. I have to use an android phone to do this post because my laptop died a few months ago and I don't have the money to replace it
Maybe Christmas layaway at Walmart will help me get one.

Anyway, doing some tweaking of this blog design and I'm ready to roll. Just need to get to a library.

posted from Bloggeroid

St. Petersburg cabbie wars

Looking right at a unlicensed taxi at night

There is a real problem in St Petersburg with unlicensed cabs. This strikes at the heart of why all counties need a regulatory board. With the expansion of the bars hours in that city, it is now open season for all kinds of gypsy cabs.

Camping on the Citrus Trail

I just got back from this expedition and I am beat. George and I went two hours north to enter the Citrus track of the Withlacoochee state Forest. This track is 155,000 acres and you can get lost. Anyway, more later after I get some rest.

Marco Rubio says screw the taxi industry in Florida and embraces Uber

This man has been bought off by venture capital and is as corrupt as the day is long

"Sen. Marco Rubio was looking to score a quick ride in Miami, but when he tapped his white Uber button on his smartphone, the Florida Republican came up empty. “I was bragging to someone about this service in Washington and I clicked onto my app … and up comes a message saying, ‘Sorry we can’t pick you up in Miami because the county commission won’t allow it,’” he recalled.

 That incident was the impetus for Rubio's Monday visit to Uber’s Washington headquarters, where he used the struggle of a growing and fashionable tech company to underscore his case concerning overburdensome regulations.

“We should never allow government power and government regulations to be used to protect an establishment incumbent industry at the expense of an innovative competitor,” he said. Operating in 37 U.S. cities, Uber is a transportation company that allows a customer to order a taxi, town car or SUV to a specific location with just a click of a phone app. All transactions are paperless and tips are included in the fee. The service quickly gained popularity in Washington due to frustration with the lack of available cabs in certain parts of the city and the inability to pay with credit or debit cards."

NOTE: Rubio is wrong because Uber and lift services DO NOT serve the BLACK and poor SPANISH areas (He betrays his own people). Poor people don't have credit cards Rubio. They rely on free money orders from Amscot to pay their bills. Regulatory agencies PROTECT THE POPULATION FROM CRIMINAL DRIVERS. It is a public safety issue. All taxi and limo drivers in Tampa must be cleared by an FBI background check. Your method gets around that. Would you want your wife picked up by a Rapist?

READ MORE...

The sad life of Kim

Kim has been on the streets for at least twenty years. Long time cab drivers know her from Kennedy Blvd where she would work as a prostitute. She is mentally ill and unpredictable. She can also be sweet and nice.

I saw her today for the first time in a year. I was at a gas station and she asked me for money. I just don't have any extra and told her no. She looked sad, and walked off. I genuinely have sorrow for her.

Her disappearances are from being in jail or rehab. I hope. Perhaps ObamaCare will help her if she goes online and pays the $400 a month. Right.

MUFON meeting with friends

Teri and Kevin are great friends of mine and I do Bigfoot research with them. They are also UFO investigators, and use their objective approach in field research. We should be working Wednesday when a little cold front will be moving across Florida.

A busy night

This first week of April is clearly the busiest week so far this year. A major convention is in town, and cruise ships everyday. They are running out of cabs at the airport and the streets are loaded with calls. It has been years since we had this kind of volume. I did drive 130 miles of concentated business. Unfortunately, in a few weeks, the heat sets in and things slow down. Oh well, for the first time in years, I now have hope.

Bucs add more quarterbacks for camp

I picked up a young man at a hotel and took him to One Buc Place. He said last year he was the third string QB for Jacksonville and he did not throw a pass all season. He should be a "camp body" this summer.

I looked it up and that would be Ricky Stanzi. He's a good looking kid in great shape. Why not give him a look see.

The Bucs must have been waiting for him because security had him on the guest list. I dropped him off and he went inside. Got to wish him all the luck in the world.

The image is One Buc Place in the side view mirror.

Epicurean Hotel Tampa not nice to taxi drovers

The new Epicurean hotel on south Howard in Tampa has quickly developed a bad reputation among cab drivers. They will call for a taxi, and when you arrive, they tell you your fate is already gone. This is happening so much, United Cab dispatch mostly flags the calls.

The hotel prefers to use car services like the illegal Flex Sedans. I have heard they are not charging the required $50 minimum, but charging taxi rates. That violates HCPTC rules.

Here are some photos of the scum loading my fares after I was sent there. They are bad people.

Aztec Snake 1 Bigfoot expedition

We like to give our Skunk Ape expeditions names. This one was at the Wasburn area in the rain and we did launch the Aztec Snake gallons with the video camera. The problem was it did not fly very well. We will need bigger balloons next time. The plan was to usr a 150 foot tether to view above the tree lines.

Citrus County caves (post by George)

Here are some links about the caves of Citrus County. The first one has a map showing all the dry caves knows to caves.org, it's a big document but the map is on page 66, page 77.
http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V68/v68n2-Florea.pdf

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=geog_fac_pub
This one is interesting. Newly discovered bad ass caves, nearby!

I just think it would be neat to find some of these caves. The cave Tim and I visited is actually called Vandal Cave. There are many. I've been in all the Dames caves entrences. Or have I? They are still discovering caves in Citrus.
I am just facinated by this. Any thoughts anyone?
George

Gas going up

They say its the summer grade transition that is making gas prices go up. The only thing I know is there is a breaking point in which I won't be able to operate this taxi cab. That would be somewhere over $4 a gallon. If it reaches $5, that would fundamentally change the taxi business. I hope.

Trying to get the links to work again

This blog had been down for awhile and some of the link functions have not been working. I am working on that.

Me in studio

Remember the Occupy Tampa hippies

The protesters began to show up after the lunch hour. I thought they would be out all day; I thought they would be camping in Gaslight Park. I hear the police will not let them, so they have to leave and return the next day. No problem, this means they can drink in the bars all night.

Most of them seem to be coming from the University of Tampa. Could it be they are just young, bored and looking for a little excitement? They should be studying finance so they can become part of that 1% they are railing about.

Hippy protesters seen from the taxi downtown Tampa

I picked up a fair that wanted to go downtown Tampa and see the protesters. At the time we were there, we really had to look hard to see them. I think for this demonstration to work, they will have to really "Occupy" the downtown area but that would mean they cannot drink, screw and order pizza. Protesting comes with sacrifice.

The movement is new and perhaps it will work, with time. I am already making some money off of this event, so that is cool. I shot a video and put in up on Youtube. You can see it here.

Occupy Tampa movement says "Fuck You Wall Street"

Remember the Occupy Tampa movement? I guess they moved on with life to become part of the one percent.

The University of Tampa

The spires at University of Tampa

I won an award with this image ten years ago. Everyone that shoots pictures just stands back and shoots the spires from a distance. The main thing you want to accomplish is to frame the spires. I had to get behind the bushes and bend way over to get the shot I wanted. It worked.

The Skyway Bridge

This time of year you can get rides out of the airport to Sarasota. The Skyway Bridge seems to be the best way to go. I've always been a little nervous crossing it. Anyway, this is from the southside.

What happened to the Malaysia jet?

We have two pilots that drive taxi, Sam and Larry. Sam believes the plane was hijacked because the ELT devices never activated and they would have in salt water. I believe it went into the ocean and these "pings" are something else. I wonder what Larry thinks. Feel free to comment.