New Management At United Cab Tampa Doing A Great Job So Far

Paul and Rick on the 'back lot'

The new managers that Gulf Coast Transportation inc have put in place are doing a great job. One of the hallmarks of good management is to bring in and know that you have good people working for you, and not be up their ass all day.

The old shop manager Paul is back, Joe is back, Big Scott is back detailing the taxi cabs. Rick has been given more responsibility (this is Rick and Paul moving across the lot). You can tell by the overall demeanor and relaxed attitude of the employees that things are getting better.

I do not think it is a coincidence that things are turning the corner as soon as the very bad manager we had was fired.

The new team has modern ideas about everything from the new technologies to marketing. It will be great to get back to making money again. I have not been this excited about driving a cab in years. That is a fact. Life may be great again.

Urban Scare Tissue For Obama In Tampa

The Great Stimulus Plan  For Tampa

The day after the State Of the Union Address last January Barack Obama and Joe Biden came to Tampa., Obama mentioned in his speech, the night before, that a new high speed rail system was going to be built in Florida, and he wanted to come here and take the credit for this great project.  It was part of the stimulus package and the train would go from Tampa to Orlando (eventually Miami too). He said it would employ 20,000 people over 4 years, and retain 800 workers to operate it after completion.

The photo here shows the land downtown Tampa that will be the terminal. It was taken two days ago. As you can see, 20,000 people are working hard. I think the reason the President is dropping in his poll numbers is because he does not get the urgency people feel when they are out of work. They need jobs, and they need them now.

Do you really think this train will ever be built. Was the President just wrong, or is he a lying sack of shit?

Things Are Getting Better

CC Sabathia Bring it on!

Are things better off then they were two years ago?  Yes.  No doubt about it. In 2008 all hope was gone. It could not have been worse.  We had no calls, we had no riders, we had no nothing.

Now, we have conferences, meetings, business travelers, conventions, tourist and so forth. I don't know if the President is the reason. However, if you are going to blame him when it is bad, you have to give him the credit when it is good.

I know many people are without a job but you would not know it by how much activity there is now in Tampa. I am coming out of my depression and I feel like living life again. My jaded cab driver friends say I am just getting used to misery. I don't think so. If you tossed a baseball my way - I would knock it out of the park!  GO RANGERS!

MLB Playoffs Not Much Help For Taxi Drivers

Most people seem to use their cars to go to Tropicania Field to watch the ALDS between the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays.  It was hard to get near the stadium and people seemed only to want to go over to Central Ave to hit a sports bar.  I guess they wanted to drown their sorrows about the Rays getting creamed by the Rangers.  If this game had been at night, it might have had a different outcome.