Tracheotomy

Yesterday I went to the cinema with my brother and one of my brother in-laws. We went to the Watford Vue to watch "The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy" and in my humble opinion I thought it was absolute shite. I found it on a par with Monty Python and all the ridiculous things that used to pop up on that.
My Dad remains in hospital and has now had a tracheotomy to aid his breathing. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing but they seem to know what they're doing over there so I have to believe it will all turn out ok in the end.
I popped out to do a few hours work today and ended up doing fares to Heathrow and City Airports and a few jobs in between. The lady I took to Heathrow nearly gave birth to a kitten when I responded to her question of how much it would be. She tried to bullshit me that she'd paid much less previously but I knew it was impossible and told her so. The final fare was £55 which was £5 more than I'd quoted to her so she went off on one again at the airport. They told me about people like that at the Carriage Office and I certainly do pick them up from time to time but I'm always cool calm and collected, well, nearly always, so I don't get much grief.

Isolation

Today is my sister Anna's 40th birthday so many happy returns and congratulations on reaching that nice round figure.
My dad remains in hospital in Spain. He's still breathing through a mask and has now been put into isolation because he's caught some sort of bug but I don't think it's anything as bad as the MRSA we have over here. I'll say one thing, he certainly a fighter. He's had four or five different things wrong with him and he's still in there punching. Go on Dad, we know you can make it all the way home!!!
I just had the cab serviced today. I like the garage that I'm at but the only complaint I have is that they just go ahead and do stuff without telling me they're doing it. One day they're going to do something major and I'm not going to be able to pay.It was just a routine service today which normally costs around £100 but the final bill was £205 because they said I needed suspension bushes and a new tyre. The next big expense will be the annual overhaul which is due on June the 6th.
Work has been ok recently and I'm now more or less back on evenings. As long as there's work out there it's ok and the rides are much longer than daytime rides.
I've had nothing out of the ordinary lately just your Claphams, Tootings, Docklands and stuff withing the six mile limit.
Chelsea are playing Liverpool tonight down at Stamford Bridge so it should get busy at around 10 O'Clock and thenthe rides should go here there and everywhere.Let's hope there's a roader in it for me tonight. Watch this space.

22 Days

It's been 22 days since my Dad was admitted to a little-ish backwater town hospital in southern Spain. He went in after severe stomach pains revealed he had a perforated ulcer. He was operated on immediately. Other problems started developing soon after such as breathing difficulties resulting in the collapse of his right lung, abnormalities in his heart and severely high blood pressure. There's been some worrying times along the road to recovery, but all credit has to go to the Spanish doctors who , basically, saved my Dads life. On the 6th of April I flew out to Spain with my two brothers my sister and her daughter. Dad was out of it for just about all that time and only started slowly coming to on the day before we were due to leave. Todays message from one of my other sisters was quite favourable and it looks like he's slowly but surely on the mend, thank God. It will be a long slow road to recovery but thankfully he'll be with us for a good few years yet.
Did anyone watch the London Marathon on Sunday morning? When I saw Paula Radcliffe crouching down I thought she had cramp. It never occured to be she might be taking a leak. I'll never be able to drive past that spot without thinking of that. I heard on the radio that her wee was already being offered for sale on ebay. Apparently it had been mopped up by someone who just happened to have a Vileda Supercloth in their posession!! Sounds like a load of bollocks to me but you never know.
Since returning from Spain I've been grafting super hard to try and get ahead of myself so that I can go back out there to see my Dad whilst he's recovering. I've been working in two stints and doing OK.
My annual taxi overhaul is coming up in June and I have a 45000 mile service to get done before that so I need bundles of cash for all that. That's all for now.

R.I.P. Pope John Paul

Well it's been a month since my last post. What can happen in a whole month? My son got his first car. My other son got a verbal warning at work for not doing his job properly. My Dad is in hospital in Spain after being operated on for a perforated ulcer. Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer got sent off for having a punch up with eachother (they're both on the same team.) And I guess most importantly, The Pope died just yesterday. Throughout all that going on there's little old me grafting my bollocks off to try and earn a crust. I've been doing days for the best part of a month now but the days are starting to get longer and longer as I try and earn the same as nights. I must say though that I have been to Gatwick and Heathrow more times in this last month than the last few years on nights.More good news. Our meters are due for a tarrif increase over this next week so that should help a bit. My taxi license is up for renewal at a cost of £283 and they have included a disclosure form to be filled in where they want to know the minutest details like bank account numbers and how many hairs on my arse and general stuff like that. I think it's a bloody liberty personally but it's that or no license. The weather has finally broken and Spring is in the air. The crumpet is out in force, what joy!!