Not much is happening.
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Posted:May 23, 2016 10:30 pm
Last Updated:May 26, 2024 10:57 pm
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I heard this Sunday was Bay To Breakers. I am not working so I am not going to be involved with the crazy race. There is a pre expo on Friday and Saturday. Maybe that will make it busy. I am hoping since it will be busy since it has been a little slow lately. I have had a few interesting passengers but nothing too exciting. I feel all the exciting people are all waiting out there to get into my taxi but haven’t found me yet. Hahaha.
The week before Mother’s Day was a great week in tips for me, especially when I mentioned visiting or seeing Mom. Sometimes using holidays in conversation can help with getting good tips. I don’t use it as a reason for getting better tips, I use it more to connect with my passengers. It seems a lot of people who live in SF’s parents do not live close so a lot of people spent the day with friends. The day was perfect so I hope they had a fun day.
I really think I am watching too much tv, I don’t seem to have much time to write my blog. I need to stop watching tv, I think. Downside, I think there are so many amazing tv shows out there now. Game of Thrones is AMAZING and I cannot wait for the next episode. I also like all the old standbys of Big Bang Theory, The Fixer Upper and Awkward as well.
Thank you again for reading my blog.
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Happy night
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Posted:May 4, 2016 4:07 am
Last Updated:May 15, 2016 6:04 pm
5548 Views
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Today didn’t really start great for me. After taking my to the park, she threw up several times during the morning and wasn’t acting herself. Happy after she took a long nap she was better, eating and acting like normal. I don’t think she ate anything at the park, I tend to watch her very closely especially since there was another dog. She does well with other dogs but I like to know she is safe and happy at all times.
After getting home I was able to sleep, which is a great thing since I didn’t sleep good the night before. I am struggling with sleep right now. I sleep great during the day but not so much at night. Working nights is really messing with my sleep patterns.
The airport tonight was moving! Not real fast but much faster than it had before. I was able to get a good ride into the city and make it back to the airport to get another great ride into the city. After then I seemed to have someone in my taxi about every 20-30 minutes. That is slow and steady for a Tuesday night.
I did talk to a waitress about what was happening in the city. We shared views about the cost of living in the city. We both agreed you have to work way to hard to be able to afford to live in the city. She thought you have to have an amazing paying job to really be able to afford and to enjoy the city the way it can and should be enjoyed. I think those people that make enough to afford to live in the city and maybe enjoy the city do not actually go out as much as they had before since the cost of living in SF is outrageous. I do think people still go out but not like they did, maybe 2-5 years ago. Now they pick and choose what days they go out instead of going out every night.
On Friday night I picked up this young man on Mission and 17th St and he wanted to go to 24th St and Bryant. I turned right onto 18th so I could turn to the left on Valencia since you can no longer make a left turn off of Mission St. He wasn’t happy about me not being able to make that left but seemed to understand. I asked him how his night went and he said he just got off of work then went for a few drinks with friends. I asked him what kind of work he did, he said he was a chef for the bourgeoisie. He then said he didn’t carry cash because normal people no longer have too (I thought that was a bourgeoisie statement). He only takes Uber because the taxi business was gone because they suck. I said, you are in a taxi (I thought you are very bourgeoisie). He said, I really meant to get into an Uber because that is the best way around the city. I said, you flagged a taxi (I again thought you are very bourgeoisie). He said, well, you were there when I needed to get food. He asked me why I didn’t drive for Uber since the taxi is almost gone. I told him I much prefer the options that driving a taxi gives me as well as i am making more money than an Uber driver does. I didn’t argue or make a big deal about his attitude but I really did want to toss him out of my taxi. He ended up giving me a $5.00 tip. Guess he didn’t really mind slumming in a taxi plus maybe I changed his mind about taking a taxi next time.
Happy my next ride was an awesome guy who gave me free tickets to see the USS Pampanito. He said he was helping to restore this amazing submarine. I am always excited to meet people who have cool jobs in the city. I guess I never thought that the submarine still needed work. I figured it was restored once and that was it, little did I know something is always getting broken on the sub. Tourist do not always stay where they are supposed to stay. Sad, we need to keep our National Treasures safe.
Often in the past I have heard how much of an awesome driver I am. I hate to brag (I also hate it when people say that!! Sorry!) but I have often received 100%+ for a tip. That means that I not only do my job the way I should, letting them tell me the way they would like to go, talking to them about many topics, letting them know about all the cool things to do in the city and just being plain friendly. I love almost every passenger that sits in my taxi.
It is time for bed for me. It is getting late and tomorrow is another long and exciting day for me! Plus my kitty Loki is purring and walking all over my keyboard making it hard to type. Haha! Love her!
Thank you very much for reading my blog! It makes me feel so great knowing others enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!
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Depression again
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Posted:May 2, 2016 3:38 pm
Last Updated:May 4, 2016 2:39 am
4272 Views
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I haven’t written in a while because I have been very depressed. Life here is wonderful and I am trying to do things to help me get out of this depression. I am eating a little bit better, trying to get out of the house a little bit more and thinking about the positive things in my life. I have an outward appearance of being happy but inside I am very sad and really just want to sleep and stay in bed. I am even struggling with writing this blog post, which I love doing. I love my job and I love to share things with you but when I feel like this, I just do not have the “time” to write my blog. It makes me sad and the depression keeps coming back no matter what I do. Such a horrible cycle. Summer is coming so the tourists will be here and I will be busy again. That normally helps with the depression. I am still keeping track of things that happen to be during my nights via voice memo on my phone. Much easier than trying to remember them after I get home and I am super tired.
So I am doing what I can to survive and make every day count but it is tough. I know it will be over soon. Summer is coming.
Thank you again for reading my blog.
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Couldn't wait to tell you about tonight!
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Posted:Apr 3, 2016 6:12 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2016 10:31 pm
6440 Views
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I couldn’t wait to come home and write this blog tonight! I have had the best Saturday night EVER!! Every passenger was fun and or interesting! I am so excited to tell you everything I can remember.
I picked up 3 men and a lady at Fisherman’s Wharf and they were from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They were here for 4 days but only had today and tomorrow to see the city. They did say tonight was very cold and windy. It is very hot in Rio right now. We talked about what they had seen and if I knew how they could get 12 people in one vehicle to Napa tomorrow. I suggested they ask the concierge at their hotel. We get almost to their hotel and the lady says “not many humans driving taxis”. At first I thought I had heard her incorrectly because of her accent but one of the other guys burst out laughing! I knew I hear her correctly. She really meant to say female. They whole car was laughing and then I changed to subject to the self driving cars. That was better. Nice group of people, great laugh of the night!
While at the Castro taxi stand I caught a glimpse of an amazing glittery flowing dress. I couldn’t get my phone up quick enough to take a picture. Made me sad. A few minutes later a lady got into my taxi. She worked a show at the Midnight Sun with the lady in the glittery flowing dress. I asked if she knew where the other lady bought her dresses and she told me, that the lady actually made her dresses. I was very much impressed. I found out my passenger had stopped performing for about 8 years and she was just getting back into it. In my taxi she was very hoarse but you could tell her voice was actually amazing. She played a video from tonight's performance and her voice was AMAZING!! I would love to see her perform!
Have you seen the SoloWheels yet? They are crazy! It seems they are all over the city. Much more than those Hover Boards who do not really hover.
I picked up a guy who lives in Napa. He gave me a few great places to go to in wine country. Try Domaine Carneros for champagne and Castello di Amorosa because it looks like a castle. I guess I need to find a driver so I can go to Napa and try wine!! Who will come with me?
Have you ever thought about taking a month off and hike over 300 miles? Well I picked up a guy tonight who is planning on doing that this July. He said he wants to walk all of the Pacific Trail but over a few years. He started last year after a bad break up. He walked off all of the stress of that break up. This year he is going to do another 300 miles this year. I wanted to know if he was going to video blog this one but he said he wanted to keep it just him but he would think about it. He said if he changes his mind, he would email me. I think that would be an awesome video blog about what happens on a long hike like that.
I stopped to get pizza in the Haight instead of my normal place in the Castro. There was a guy standing on the sidewalk looking at his phone so I figured he was looking for his Uber so I just parallel parked. He kind of had a very confused look on his face but he didn’t say anything to me. I went in and got my pizza. I was just going to sit in my taxi and eat my pizza but the guy stopped me and asked if that was my taxi. I said yes, he asked if I could drive it. I said yes but I was going to eat. He still had a dazed look on his face. I said, I guess I can take you home. We got into the taxi and I drove him to his house but he was sound asleep within 3 blocks of getting in the taxi. We got to his home and after he paid, he stumbled out and really had a hard time with the door. Another gentleman asked him if he needed help with the door. All I know is my passenger almost forgot his pizza and the guy made sure he got into his building. I think the guy who helped him lived in the same building. He was the one who unlocked the door and the building had a few doormen who were checking ID tags.
While waiting at the taxi stand in the Castro there were 2 guys fighting across the street. One of the guys was choking the guy and holding him up high. At first I thought maybe they were horseplaying but it got worse than that! Punching and yelling. I tried to call 911 but I was put on hold for about 5 minutes! I hung up, that is frustrating! The policeman who drives around the Castro drove by and I tried to wave him down but he just drove by me. I kept an eye out on the guys. I received a phone call back from 911 and I let them know what was going on. A few minutes later a policeman walked around the corner and the guys were still fighting but they had moved farther down the street. More police showed up a few minutes later and I never found out what happened. Hope it all worked out.
After a few minutes I saw two really cute guys hugging and giggling together. They walked up to my taxi, got in so excited to have a perfect female driver. They asked if I could take them to Richmond. They gave me the address and I put it in my gps. They have been together for 1 month and they are so much in love. You could tell, they had a real light between them. Off we went and they kissed for a few minutes and then I heard nothing. I wasn’t sure what had happened but I figured I would speak up if I heard things I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t have too, they both started to snore. I was very relieved! Happy I had their address in my gps so I just drove to their house. They slept all the way to their home. I even had to wake them up, well one of them woke up. After he paid (tried to pay me less than ½ of what the meter was but we worked it out) me he asked if I would take them home. I said, I thought this was your home. He looked around and apologized, saying he was home. He struggled to wake his partner up but was finally able to wake him up. They both said what an amazing person I was and that they were happy I took them home. Cute guys. Just before I pulled away a car stopped in front of me and a young couple came out of the building and asked if that was the car they called. My guess is it was because she got in quickly and he walked back to building slowly. My guess is it was a booty call  Sorry. Just a thought that came to me at that time.
Picked up a guy who was visiting from London and he said San Francisco was lame. I asked him why he thought that. His answer “the bars close at 2:00 am” I said there are many after hour clubs, did he want me to take him to one of them. He said yes. I tried to get him to tell me what else he thought was lame here but he really couldn’t answer. When I got to the after hours club I hoped he enjoys the after hour club and it changes his mind about San Francisco.
Well, that was my night! So much fun! I was busy but not super busy. Lots of little rides but everyone of them was perfect.
Hope you enjoyed my blog! Please comment and come back again! Love you all!
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Before and after Easter
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Posted:Apr 1, 2016 2:33 pm
Last Updated:Apr 3, 2016 4:34 am
6317 Views
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After such a wonderful Friday night, Saturday was so boring and slow! I didn’t do my normal and go to the airport another driver suggested that the Golden Gate Bridge was a great place to start. To get there, drive through all the hot spots, like the Mission, Hayes Valley, Union Street and Chestnut Street. He said he normally doesn’t even make it to the the GGB. I not only made it to the GGB, I sat at the GGB for 45 minutes and didn’t pick anyone up. I had to leave the area because a bus beeped me out of my space. There is no “legal” place for taxis to park there so we cannot stay there too long. I came back to watch another taxi had taken my space and was loading passengers. Darn. Oh, well what can you do. I sat again for another 30 minutes and nothing, so l left. To go back to Union Street and then back to North Beach. It took me 2 ½ hours to actually pick someone up. After that it was really slow going. Not many rides after that but I did make a little money. Oh well. That is the business plus the next day was Easter. Went home after a very long and tiring night knowing that I would be spending time with my in the morning.
I don’t normally talk about what I do with my family but we had an AMAZING fun time! My and I left early in the morning (after me only sleeping 4 hours) to go to the Pinnacles National Park. We talked and chatted the whole time. It is wonderful having us together having fun. Stopping along the way to take pictures or just to get out of the car. Since this year has been very rainy this country side was so beautiful! So lush and green! We saw some amazing looking farms. Wow! So much food growing in the Central Valley. When we got to the park there was a very long line going into the park. Not really moving at all. There was a picnic area next to the road and it seemed packed with tons of cars and people. After talking about what we should do with my , we decided to just turn around and find someplace else to go. Not really know what was out there because we didn’t have cell service at the time so when we got back to the main road we went the opposite way instead of the way we came. We drove past so many more farms with horses, cows and lots of fields of food (we tried to figure out what food was being grown. Most of the time we didn’t know) We came to a fork in the road and took the one going back to highway 101. Thought it would be great to see where James Dean died in Paso Robles. My had been there but not myself and my . Driving down a long and winding road we would pass cars every once in awhile or I would have to pull over because the car behind me was very close behind, common courtesy in the winding California roads. One time we pulled off the road at a really cool looking spot and there were cows in the pasture across the street. They kept looking at us. It was so cool to have them just standing there and staring at us. Our dogs didn’t seem to mind the much bigger dogs so after a few minutes for potty break and water break we left those cows alone. We made it to the highway and my said, where is my hat and headphones. He had left them on the top of the car when we had stopped. We didn’t remember to take them off. My ’s mood really changed at that time. He wears his headphones ALL THE TIME. I think he was more sad because his girlfriend likes to wear them too. They were actually expensive headphones too, so the loss was bigger than it really should have been. We thought about going back to get them but I am not sure we would have ever found the same spot that we lost them at. Oh, well, life will go on. We did end up going and buying a new pair for him but they were much cheaper and not as cool as the ones he had.
The James Dean monument was a kind of big let down after what I had imagined it in my mind. I guess I had thought to see something really cool. Like maybe a bronze statue of James Dean or the car he was driving. Oh, well, I have been there now. After the monument we thought it was a good time to go home. It was a great ride home as well. We played the letter game, kind of the game where you find a word with the letter of the last word. Normally you do it on a specific subject but we didn’t have a subject at all, just finding words. Wow! Do you know how many words end with an “e” or “n”? Way too many! Not as many words start with those letters when you are driving down a freeway and have to think of them quickly. So much fun! We all helped each other and laughed a lot when we ended the word with one of those letters.
When we got home, fed and walked the dogs, we went out to dinner and shopping for new headphones. Fun times.
Well, this week has been kind of blah. I had heard we have a gaming convention in the city but I only saw people in the city with the passes around their necks. I never picked them up. Oh well. They will be gone today or tomorrow. I heard this weekends temperatures will be in the 80’s which is high for the city. Great temps makes for more people out and about but sometimes they just walk home. I am hoping people will still be out and about in the city. Maybe even some tourist out here because of their being on Spring Break. Great place to be for Spring Break. Have you been here? Please come! It is so amazing here.
Okay, off to get ready for work tonight! Hoping for a fun, fun night!
Thank you very much for reading my blog! I love reading your comments! Keep them coming!
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Oh my gosh! What a weekend!
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Posted:Apr 1, 2016 1:57 am
Last Updated:Apr 6, 2016 12:14 am
6430 Views
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So last week was AMAZING! So much fun and I actually made a lot of money. Which is the goal for anyone with a job, right? Driving taxi is all about where you are, what time you get there and just plain dumb luck. Some will drive around all night saying how slow it, while others will say it is very busy. Strange that they are in the same area and seeing two different things. I love when I hear others are busy and try to go into those areas too, sometimes it works and sometimes I fall flat.
It started with a ride to Campbell. I actually wrote about that on March 23rd but basicly it was an awesome ride! On Wednesday I picked up a lady at the airport and took her to the middle of Oakland. We had a wonderful conversation all the way there. We talked about plans for the Easter weekend. She is Jewish and her husband is agnostic, so they do not celebrate many holidays. His parents are very Catholic so they send all kinds of holiday goodies to her younger . The enjoy them but do not really understand the holidays, yet. She had thought maybe they would take a ride to the Ocean and maybe get a little wet. I let her know my family had plans of maybe going south to Pinnacles National Park. Hope it is a very warm day.
After the ride to Oakland, I went back to the airport and went through in about an hour and had a quick ride to the city. The couple just talked amongst themselves so I just drove to their destination. They talked nonstop about another coworker. It was actually interesting to hear. They were in advertising and were here for one night and needed to be in LA the next day at 5:00 pm.
Friday started out with the airport (like normal now, right?) but I got a ride just into Oakland again! The gentleman was an “old sailor” (his words not mine). We chatted about his life as a sailor and his family. He had been off of work for the past 4 months so he took a few tech classes and spent time with his 6 year old granddaughter playing hockey. He is a hockey fan but has no allegiance to a team. Go Red Wings. He was friendly and easy to laugh so it was a wonderful ride! Plus he was a great tipper!
Ride back into the city was uneventful but beautiful over the Bay Bridge as always. If you get a chance, drive both ways over this bridge, it is spectacular. The Golden Gate Bridge is a beautiful day bridge but the Bay Bridge is a perfect night bridge with all its lights!
I drove through the Financial District and to the Embarcadero with no flags. I drove by Fisherman’s Wharf and was flagged by 4 ladies. I was very excited to find out they were here from Detroit! I asked them why they were visiting San Francisco. They were here for a teachers convention. That was their last night and they were excited to get out a see a little bit of the city. The had a wonderful seafood dinner on Pier 39 and were ready to go back to the hotel, since they had a 10 am flight. One of the ladies asked if I knew where the Golden Gate Bridge was and if we were going by it. I said it isn’t far but no, we were not going by the bridge. I did offer to take them to the bridge if they wanted me too. They were all excited and said yes. So I made the turn and took them to the Golden Gate Bridge. They oohed and aahed over the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is a wonderful day bridge. It is not well lit but it is still amazing. They took selfies and I took a group picture of all of them with each of their phones. So much fun! We all piled back into the taxi and I started asking questions about what else they saw in the city. They mentioned the crooked street. I asked if they wanted me to drive down Lombard Street instead of just seeing Lombard Street. It was kind of in the direction that I would have to go to their hotel and they said yes. They loved going up the “steep” hills. I let them know Lombard Street isn’t really that steep. There are many, many more of them. One of the ladies was video taping the drive down the street as well as down the couple of steep streets that I took to get back to Columbus. I gave them a little bit more history of the areas as we were driving. I got them almost back to their hotel and they said it would have been great if they had met me on their first night they would have seen much more of the city. That made me feel AMAZING! I love to share my love of San Francisco with everyone I meet.
I have many, many more things to share from this weekend but I am a little sleepy and I have been trying to write this blog for the past week. Every night when I have tried to work on it, I have had a horrible time with connecting to the internet! Horrible.
Well, thank you for reading my blog! I love you guys!
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Really?
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Posted:Mar 24, 2016 2:52 pm
Last Updated:Mar 31, 2016 2:13 am
6774 Views
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Last night didn’t start out bad, the airport was moving okay. I picked up a man going to the Mission District. Great conversations. Apparently many people do not know this weekend is Easter. His wife is going to spend time with family out of the country and he is going on a long buddy fishing weekend.
After dropping my passenger off I went back to the airport. My taxi friends were saying it was full but moving. When I pulled into the garage that houses the queue for the taxis, the line was moving very quickly! I was so happy I made that choice. In the queue for taxis there are 4 lots; entry, wiggle, donut and pay lot. It is great to have other drivers let you know how long it takes to get from one lot to another so you know how long it will take to get to the terminals. We also have a TTT (tap to terminal) end time. Makes knowing if the airport is moving or not. Most times your airport time is different than someone who pulled in an hour before you but at least you have some knowledge about what you can do.
In the airport taxi queue you just wait behind the taxi that came in front of you but a few “different” taxis get to move to the front of the queue. These taxis can take more than 4 passengers and or they have a larger trunk space for lots or larger luggage. Tonight I made it all the way to the pay lot and I was actually pulled to go up to the International terminal. That doesn't happen often at all! When I got up to the International terminal, there was no one waiting for a taxi. That was okay but chatting with the starter (airport person who directs taxi traffic) he said he had so many people who needed SUV’s and larger taxis but he only had a few and mostly sedans. Then people came out and wanted to go to a hotel in Redwood City but they wanted me to follow another driver. I asked the mom that got into my taxi if they didn’t want to wait for a larger taxi and she said no. The had gone to school that day and it was a long day of travel to San Francisco from Washington DC. The other driver approached my taxi so I asked if he knew where the hotel was. He said he was and his passenger wanted me to follow him but the other taxi driver said, we know where to go. His passenger was almost insistent that we follow each other but my passenger told the male we would just leave. I took off and started chatting with the family. They were going to Hawaii for 1 ½ weeks. Spending time doing all kinds of fun things. I asked the if they knew they were going to learn things while having fun. The older boy said, “I hate that but yes”. His mom laughed a little at that. We arrived just seconds after the other taxi.
Since it only took me about 13 minutes to get to the hotel I thought I would try for a short ride (any ride that you can drive to and come back to the airport in 30 minutes or less). I made it with about 4 minutes to spare! So excited! I was able to go to the front of the line, another perk the airport gives us.
This ride from the airport was into the city by the ballpark. She immediately was on the phone talking to her mom. So we didn’t chat much.
I picked up a man just around the corner from the last passenger drop off. He was very chatty and we talked about his day and plans for the next week and a half. His plan was meeting a friend who was visiting from the East Coast who had never been to San Francisco. The thing the most they were planning on doing was eating at a different fun restaurant every night. They would see the normal touristy things but not in any quick pace because his friend would be out every other week for work for about a month or two.
I had a few other smaller rides but I dropped off in the Tenderloin and a man standing at the corner gestured for me to move forward to but the light was red and I moved up a far as I could. He then walked up to the taxi and showed me his hands. I wasn’t sure why he was doing this. Very confusing to me. He finally got into the taxi and asked me to go to the Castro. He said he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go in the Castro but he really wanted to go dancing. I suggested a few places so he said, okay. I started to drive that way and he asked if I had any Hip Hop or R&B music instead of the crap you are playing. I let him know that I didn’t have much on my ipod and asked for a suggestion for a radio station. He gave me one and I switched it. He asked me to turn it up loud. I turned it up louder but he was not happy. I said, this is not my music. He seemed okay with it for a little bit, then asked for it to be turned up louder again.
We turned onto Market Street and he said, I have changed my mind and I want to go to Dolores and 18th Street. We got to Dolores and 18th but he said to go to Church and turn left. At this point I was getting really nervous. We get to Church and 19th, he told me to stop. We stopped and he says, “look I am broke so I cannot pay you”. I was so pissed at this point. I told him to get out of my taxi, I was broke too, it wasn’t very nice to waste my time and steal from me and never do that again. He just said “have a blessed day” I normally do not care about race of a person and I do not pick up because of it. I may have to change my views a little since it is the same kind of males that keep doing this to me. I hate to bypass a flag. I guess I knew when I picked up this male that it was going to happen.
Okay, I need to get ready for work now. It should be a great week since more and more are off of school. Lots of families come to San Francisco for vacation. Perfect place to see amazing sites and 4,400 places to eat! Please come and visit my city! I love to give tours, even if it is just on the way to your hotel.
Thank you again for reading my blog! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.
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Past stories
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Posted:Mar 21, 2016 11:26 pm
Last Updated:Mar 24, 2016 1:51 pm
6346 Views
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November 10, 2015
There was an older lady walking down the street in totally mismatched clothing, striped pants with a floral shirt on. She also had on an overly large paisley sweater on and two different colors of shoes! What struck me as funny was she had on a plastic molded Spiderman mask on. I giggled for a long time after I saw that. Where do you find a molded Spiderman mask these days? The last time I saw one was about 20 years ago. If she had flagged me I would have had to ask her to remove her mask. There would be no clear picture of her face if something happened.
November 13, 2015
I picked up a lady on Mission Street and she wanted to go to Bush and Gough. Easy straight ride, except I try and get off of Mission as quickly as I can because it is a very slow street with pedestrians crossing and cars double parking. As I turned off Mission Street onto a side street to get to South Van Ness, a faster much less crowded street, to Hayes to Franklin to Pine to Gough and Bush. That is a good route. I got as far as South Van Ness and my passenger asked me where I was taking her, I let her know I was taking her to Bush and Gough. She said okay. I did let her know my route and why I didn’t continue on Mission Street and she seemed okay with the route. I kept driving and the passenger didn’t say anything to me until I got to Hayes to make the left turn and she asked me again, where I was taking her. I told her again, I am taking you to Bush and Gough. She said we are going way out of our way. I said no, we are going to go up Franklin straight to Pine then Gough. She again said, oh, yes that is fine. I keep driving down Franklin and again she says that we are going the wrong way to Bush and Gough. At this time we are at Post and she looks up and says, okay we are going the correct way even before I actually let her know where we are going. My guess is she wasn’t looking to see where we were actually going. Happy she tipped VERY well. Makes a stressful ride so much better at the end.
November 17, 2015
Flagged by a guy outside of a very dark Mascone Center and the first thing he did was ask me if he could smoke in my taxi. I of course said no. Needless to say he didn’t want to be in my taxi since he really needed to smoke. Really?! I didn’t know you really needed to smoke. Most people just put the cigarette out and get into the taxi. I don’t like it when people snub their cigarette out and bring it into the taxi. It smells so bad and the smell lingers for a long time.
Thank you again for reading my blog.
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Some of the back stories I have missed...
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Posted:Mar 18, 2016 1:12 am
Last Updated:Mar 21, 2016 11:24 pm
8039 Views
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September 26, 2015
I picked up an elderly lady outside of a grocery store. We chatted all the way to her place in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. She said she does most of her shopping during the week but she actually forgot to buy meat when she had gone earlier in the week. She didn’t know that this week was Folsom Street Fair. She said she wouldn’t have gone out if she knew it was. When we got to her place there was a bunch of fireman outside of her apartment. She said they are there often, way too often. She said, they are not suppose to smoke in the building but many people so it sets off the smoke alarm. She hates the smell of any kind of smoke. She was so cute when she whispered all this to me. Haha.
Folsom Street Fair seemed a little tame compared to the previous year. Last year I saw so many naked buttocks it was crazy. This year… No so many.
If you walk across the street not in a crosswalk, please be aware that there could be a car coming at you. Hopefully the person driving the car is paying attention more than you are. Also hurry across the road that you really need to get across since you cannot use the crosswalk. Do not glare at the driver of this car trying to avoid hitting you. Please be safe out there!
Four young men in normal jeans and t-shirts were skipping arm-in-arm along Castro Street but they were wearing shiny silver capes, tiaras and shiny high heeled shoes. Very, very cool. I love the Castro.
Okay, so I spend a lot of time in the Castro. You never know who you will meet and what you will see.
Picking up extremely drunk men you never know what they are going to say. This guy that I picked up kept saying to me “you know girl, I love you but….”. He told me he was out with his boyfriend tonight. His boyfriend is married but they boyfriend’s wife loves him too. The boyfriend pays all his bills and they all spend a lot of time together, him, boyfriend, wife and . Everyone loves each other, according to my passenger. He was a little upset tonight because his boyfriend wanted to go home and spend time with his wife. He said his boyfriend didn’t want a divorce because he is deeply religious. (I am not here to judge, really I am not.) The passenger kept saying that I needed to be nice to him or he would do something. I didn’t feel threatened but I wasn't sure what he was going to do. When we got to his house he didn’t have any money in his wallet and his credit card kept getting declined. He said he had money upstairs but I convinced him to leave me his backpack, because I wasn’t sure he would actually come back down. He said that was okay but when he went to get out of the taxi he said, this isn’t my house or even my street. I said, this is the address you gave me. He kept saying I am leaving him off someplace he doesn’t know and that isn’t right. I said we are on 27nd Ave and this is your address, right. He said yes but he couldn’t find his house. So I turned the taxi around and went back down the street and he said, stop this is my house! I stopped and he tried to get in through the front door but it wouldn’t unlock for him but he was able to get the garage door to open for him. He came back down after a few minutes and gave me the cost of the ride plus another $20 for dealing with him nicely. He then turned around to leave the taxi and pulled his pants down to urinate into the street away from the taxi but the taxi door was still open. I guess he really needed to pee. Happy that was the last ride of my night!
October 1, 2015
I picked up a very soft spoken Indian man that was hitting on me the whole ride. He kept asking about my personal life and if I wanted to meet up sometime. I really just brushed him off because I found out he was going home to his wife and 2 . It was a little creepy.
I was flagged by a lady who was with a very upset man. She asked me how much it would cost to go to Napa. I gave them a quote and she asked the male if he had the money to get home. He said yes and got into my taxi. I asked him for his address or if he wanted to tell me how to get there. He gave me his address but he at first wanted to drive through the Castro to see if he could find his partner. They just had a very bad fight and his partner hit him. He said they both had been drinking and he just really wanted to go home quickly and that his partner was so mad at him. I drove around the Castro and trying to get this guy to calm down a little bit. I felt so bad for him. He had bad scratches on him and wasn’t calming down much. He tried to call his partner but he wouldn’t pick up. So we drove over by where he thought he left his car. He wanted to stab the tires of his car so his partner wouldn’t be able to drive back to their home in Napa. He finally said he wouldn’t stab his tires but he would get a few things he needed out of it. He spent a lot of time around his tires, emptying out his glove box and backseat. His partner came around the corner and my passenger came to my window and said he wanted to try fix what was going on between them. I let him know I would still take him wherever he needed to go. I didn’t want him to be hurt. His partner called him to tell him to let the stupid taxi driver go. My passenger said he wouldn’t go anywhere with him and just wanted to talk about what happened. I let him go, he didn’t pay for the ride. After I left him, I turned the corner and stopped to call the police about what had and might still happen. While telling 911 what had occurred they asked if the partner had a purple shirt and my passenger had a pink shirt. I said yes, the operator said the police were looking for them because they had a big fight in one of the bars in the Castro. She wanted to know if I knew where they were and I told her where I left them off.
While I was on the phone with the police a couple got into my taxi and wanted a ride home. I explained to them what I was doing and they were okay with me talking to the police while I drove them home, which wasn’t far. They were happy that I wanted to stand up for the guy who was being hurt. I have driven them home before too, so that was nice.
I did drive back by where the car was as well as where I saw them last but only the car was still there, nothing else. I haven’t heard from him either. I just hope he got home safe and sound.
November 7, 2015
I picked up two guys who had been on every cruise that I would consider to be “cool” and then some. In the past 30 years they have done at least 1-2 cruises every 6 months to 2 years. They were super nice! Great tips on places to go on a cruise! They are going to the Amazon next, it will be their second time doing this cruise. It was one of their first cruises they did together.
Picked up three women who were here for a convention. They were from a small town in Texas. Apparently they were very impressed with a 7 floor Macy’s and a 3 floor H&M. It was fun listening to them get so excited about so many things city people take for granted. They made me giggle.
Two guys and a girl were talking in the back of my taxi and she said she was going to hook up one of the guys up with her hot girlfriend. He said her friend had better be hot and asked what her name was. It was Annie. He asked what Annie was short for. The other two burst out laughing saying Annie. He said she probably wasn’t really hot since her name was just Annie. They showed him a few pictures of Annie and he said she was hot. He then asked if she had any diseases. The other male said, “you cannot ask people that question!” I wanted to laugh so badly but I remained cool and calm until they paid and got out of the taxi. I laughed so loudly! Haha.
Okay, I think that is enough for now. Hope you enjoyed them all. I know I enjoyed the experience of driving all the crazy, amazing people around this city!
Thank you very much for reading my blog!
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Blah.... then Richmond Blah
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Posted:Mar 17, 2016 3:28 am
Last Updated:Mar 20, 2016 9:45 pm
6676 Views
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I started today with very little energy. I really struggled to sleep last night and just had a hard time waking up. I hate when the day starts like that. I just cannot get moving at all. I am normally in a great mood, which I guess most would think is a little strange. I got a late start because my day driver got an awesome ride. I didn’t mind. I was able to sit in my car and read until she got back to the yard.
Since I wasn’t feeling like really moving, I thought I would just go to the airport. I really should have gone into the city because there is a big Gaming conference and the weather was so nice here. Many people out and about. Reports from other drivers said that many of the hotels and CalTrain needed taxis. Instead I sat and read at the airport.
My first ride from the airport was a guy who had flown into the city for a last minute business trip and he didn’t have a hotel room for the night. He was making phone calls to hotels and finding they were all booked up. I let him know that we had a conference in town so maybe if he looked outside of the Union Square/SOMA area he might find something. I guess he had someone else on a computer looking for a place as well. He was able to get into a nice big hotel in Union Square area. He was very happy to have someplace to sleep close to where he was working. He asked a lot of questions and we chatted about the city and fun things for him to do over his few nights he was here.
After dropping this passenger off I drove around the city for a little bit and picked up a guy that I drove 3 blocks. I was driving around for about an hour and heard the airport was moving nicely. I was still not feeling like moving much so I took off empty (deadheaded) to the airport. I was able to get in easy and only waited for about 1 ½ hour. I picked up a guy who wanted to know how much it would cost to go to Richmond and to Petaluma. I gave his quotes for both. He said the last time he took a taxi from the airport to Richmond it was only $79 but the sheet that gives us a quote says $96. I let him know it was metered and he would have to pay for the bridge toll. He said he was okay with that. As long as it wasn’t over $100. He said he would get mad at that but he would still pay. I put his address into my gps and apparently he put it in his gps as well. That is okay. He is welcome to be the one to give me directions anytime but he didn’t actually say anything to me. Okay. So he tells me there is something wrong with my taxi, something about a sealed ball bearing is bad and that is why it is so loud in the back of the taxi. I let him know I would tell the owner. Maybe he will fix it. The passenger went on to tell me about all the companies he owns and how awesome he is. He also tells me he he has to get to Petaluma to help out his sick boss. Not sure if I owned so many businesses I would also have a job working for someone too. I was very confused. Most of the conversation we had was okay and pretty normal until he started to say something about the single mothers in Arizona just having babies for the money. I was very put off by that comment. He has never been a single parent and doesn’t know how hard it is to be a single parent. I don’t think all the people on assistance are baby making for the money. I think some get on assistance and cannot find a way off of it. I would have had more babies if I had the chance. I didn’t say too much during this time. He quickly changed the subject to something about trains and cars. At this time I had tuned him out. He paid me $140 on the $96 meter. I was happy for that!
I figured I was done for the night. I am really sleepy now and I am hoping tomorrow will be better. Not sure I will be any less sleepy but who knows!
Thank you again for reading my blog! I love sharing my nights. I will try and start sharing my “old” stories as soon as I have a few extra minutes.
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Feeling loney
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Posted:Mar 16, 2016 3:24 am
Last Updated:Mar 17, 2016 2:36 am
6868 Views
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Today is not about driving taxi but I guess it is, kind of. Well, I am feeling a little lonely right now. I have been a single woman for about 2 years now. I miss having someone to sleep with and to warm my body. I do have a few amazing males that I chat with all the time and they could fill that void but it may not be for a long term that I really crave. I had also been flirting with a guy who works at a place I like to call LimoLand. It is a gas station/market that I have been going to for a long time but just noticed that he seemed really interested in me. I kept trying to hint that we kind of worked the same schedule and that I liked him. He never really did anything. I finally gave him my business card and he texted me. At first it was all the normal getting to know each other and nice kinds of things but it turned rather quickly. I know that I shouldn’t have played along with it but I did. I kind of like the attention, I will not lie. Downside. He doesn't have time and I don’t have time. Well, we could meet after he gets out of work but he tends to go to the bar often. He works out before going to work, so that is out too. So all we have done is texted and shared a few photos. He seems to only text after 10:30 pm or much later because he is too busy. I have asked but he keeps saying, I am too busy. I guess I just need to stop this or just ignore him. Silly man.
Okay, the downside about my life is I am opposite of most people. I sleep during the day and I am awake until 2-5:00 am. I am not looking to “hook up” but I am looking for someone to hang out with. I know there are not many places to hang out at that time of the night but there is always something to do. You have to be creative to work this shift and hang out. I would eventually want to move into something more. I really do not want a one night stand either. I would like someone who can text, maybe not all the time but can text every once in awhile. Maybe someone who lives alone or with others that he can have someone over at anytime. I want someone who will be able to have a conversation with me about more than just work and sports. I love both work and sports but I have other interests. I love going to museums but I know very little about art. I enjoy cooking and eating out. I like taking walks along rivers and the ocean. I love taking photos. I really enjoy reading, nothing too exciting at this time since I cannot read for any length of time. I like historical romances right now. I also like to go to Renaissance Faires. Okay, plus so much more.
I guess I need to go to sleep now. I am very tired. Thank you for listening to me blab on about my whiny self. I guess every once in awhile we need to do that. Right?
Thank you again for reading my blog.
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Ummmmm... Okay
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Posted:Mar 12, 2016 4:24 am
Last Updated:Mar 15, 2016 2:19 pm
7346 Views
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Okay so in the past couple of days I have been asked about something I wasn’t sure really how to respond to what was posed to me while driving a taxi. I don’t normally have this problem I seem to know what to say or how to “skirt” the question or request but not sure if I did it right this time.
One night when I was waiting for the gasman to come and fill up my taxi another taxi driver approached me. He asked me if I was …. (haha not ready to tell everyone my name) I said yes. He told me his name and I asked if he was on this group chat of taxi drivers in the city. He said he was but he was kicked off but just got back on. He also said he knew me from another web site. I almost freaked out. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say!! I am not ashamed to be on this web site but I really do not want other drivers to know, more for my safety than for anything else. I was really very concerned that I met him on this site but he had a hard time recalling the dating site it was on. He said it was more than likely the Fishey one. I haven’t been on that site for over a year. I really do not have time to date because of my schedule and the hours I work do not do good with meeting people outside of my job. Needless to say he said that he was back working for the same company I was working and hoped we would come across each other again. To be honest, I was not interested in him except he was a taxi driver and I was not attracted to him in person now. I feel bad but what can I do? I doubt we will see each other often, except maybe at a taxi stand or two and maybe at the yard but that is it. I will be nice and friendly like I always am.
My next issue was I was offered $20 for a “tongue kiss” from a very, very drunk man. I turned him down for many, many reasons.
1.)He was drunk.
2.) He smelled.
3.) I don’t know him.
4.) I was working.
5.) I didn’t want too
So I really only had 5 reason but each are great reasons why I would kiss this extremely drunk man. His much older friend who was not a drunk went into a store to buy more beer (like they really needed it) and while his friend was gone he said he loved red headed women. I let him know I am not a redhead but he said don’t argue with me. I know you are a redhead. After his older friend got back into the taxi the guy said redheads make me hard. His older friend asked if he was going to masturbate right in the taxi and it looked like he was rubbing something but lucky we were almost to his stop. As they were paying he told me that I could give him a blow job for $20. Again I refused for those same reasons plus a ton more. Happy he got out of the taxi without too much of a fuss.
Now here is the real question I have. How much does it cost for a blow job from a professional? Or how much have you ever paid for a blow job? I thought $20 was VERY low but I don’t really know. I have never asked any sex workers questions about how much they make. I would like to say I felt a little cheated by the amount. Not that I would have actually given him a blow job but if I would have to do all the work, shouldn’t I get much more money? I was thinking more around the $100 range or so.
Okay, I am tired and really need to get some sleep tonight. I will share more with you later!
Love ya all and thank you very much for reading.
P.S. If this doesn’t make much sense, I am sorry. I worked 11 hours in very windy and heavy rainy conditions so I am super tired and it is 4:23 am
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Wet and Wild Weekend!
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Posted:Mar 10, 2016 9:43 am
Last Updated:Mar 12, 2016 4:24 am
7898 Views
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Oh my gosh! We have gotten so much badly needed rain it is AMAZING! Well, it would be amazing if it fell a little bit at a time but it is falling in buckets at times! Careful where you drive because of flooded area. I keep hearing about downed trees too! I hope none are falling on people. That would be horrible! Since it doesn’t rain often in this area people do not know how to drive at all in the rain. Please slow down and do not tailgate the person in front of you. Sounds reasonable, right? You would think but I don’t think all do these things. Also in California if you need your wipers, you need to have your headlights on for safety. Makes you more visible, makes sense.
I do hope the rain continues to fill our reservoirs so we can be out of this drought. I really like taking showers and seeing lots of green.
Since it was so rainy over the weekend I figured it would be very slow and I was partially correct. On Friday night when there was the most amount of rain I was the busiest when it was downpouring. People would run and scramble into the taxi. It was almost funny in the way they would flag me and then run to get out of the rain. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood too! Love it when that happens.
On Saturday night it was also downpouring often and the same things would happen, downpour lots of passengers. It was also the night of the Prince concert in Oakland at O.Co with the after party at the Great American Music Hall on O’Farrell and Polk. Most of the concert goers that had taken BART back into San Francisco were looking for taxis to take them either home, parking garage or to the after party. I picked up a lady who was desperate to get to the after party but her phone had died because at the concert, according to her, Prince had a scrambler to kill all cell phones because he didn’t want anyone recording the concert. I don’t know if that is true or not. I let her charge her phone for the 5 blocks to get to the after party at the AMH. When we got to the corner of O’Farrell and Polk the line was already half way down Polk and it was raining very, very hard. Most had no jackets and no umbrellas. It was madness! I know you want to look good for an after concert but in that rain, still bring a jacket and an umbrella. I let her out close to her friends but she still didn’t know where they were and would have to run around yelling to look for them in the pouring rain.
I have had 2 Saturdays in a row with the meanest passengers. I try and start off each ride like they will be the best ride ever and try to chat with them to make my job more exciting and to make them more comfortable. I picked up a lady at the airport and her home was an easy ride to the city but I still asked her if she had a preferred route to take. She said “why you not know” so I let her know the route I would take and she said it would be okay. We chatted a little bit about her trip to LA and visiting a doctor who couldn’t help her this time but she would have to go back in about 3 days. I really didn’t understand her very much. We got to the corner close to her place and she started yelling, “SEE IF YOU LOOK THERE YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER!” I still didn’t know what she was talking about but she kept yelling the same things over and over again. I was so happy to have her out of my taxi. She gave me a $2.00 tip. Great.
My next unpleasant passenger I picked her up in North Beach and she said to the transit. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I asked her again and she said the same thing. I asked her if she wanted to guide me and she said “go Chinatown, you know Chinatown”. I asked her where in Chinatown, “transit” again came the reply. She then said to take Stockton but when we got to Powell she said go down Powell. Powell had a lot of cars on it, she wasn’t happy it was taking so long so asked me to turn left onto Clay. I did that. Still it was taking too long and asked me to turn down Stockton. After getting through the tunnel she asked me to pull over at the bus stop. Yes, it was a $9.40 ride and she gave me $10.00. Another happy passenger, well, I was happy she was out of my taxi.
I did pick up a guy who reminds me of Malcolm McDowell. I have picked up a few times and he is really nice Irishman. The last time I drove him I said I thought he looked liked an actor but I couldn’t remember at that time what the actors name was. I also asked to take his picture and he was okay with it. I posted his picture along side of Malcolm McDowell's and everyone said they looked alike. I mentioned this to the passenger and he said, I don’t look anything like that, he has facial hair. I told him he could grow facial hair and he would pass for his double. He laughed and said he would try it! We chatted about his construction company and how he does all the maintenance work for a bar so he can drink for free. He also bought a new “step up” van (I am not sure I know what that is) that he seemed very proud of. He is happy to have all the tools he needs with him at all time so he doesn’t have to go home for a forgotten tool. Plus his guys can now ride with him instead of having to get a ride to the job site. As he was leaving he asked me again who he reminded me of again. He was saying the name over and over again. He was going to share with his friends his new doppelganger. He is such a wonderful man!
This past week has been hit and miss with passengers. Not a whole lot has been going on in the city. Everyone has been pleasant and fun. We are in another El Niño heavy weather pattern so I do not think this week will be any better than last week. A few of the other drivers were able to get some great rides out of the airport after midnight since so many flights were delayed. I am always happy to hear of another taxi driver who gets a meter and a half ride (anything out of the city limits 15 miles or out of the airport 15 miles is a meter and a half ride. The half is to compensate the trip back into the city or airport)
I really need to get some sleep today so I will say goodnight for now! Thank you again for reading my blog! I have so many stories in the wings that I will add soon. I promise. I have so many more things to tell you!
Thank you again!
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