Thursday, March 08, 2007

Sorry Wil

So it’s my fault that Wil at Paradise Driver is losing precious sleeping time because he is now hooked on alluc.org? What can I say? It’s a great site and beats paying for entire series on DVD that you may only watch once or twice at best. I, on the other hand have learned how to control my urges and only watch a few episodes a night as it was getting ridiculous. Enjoy Wil!

I had a fantastic day at work today. I started at 3pm worked until 7.30pm came home and resumed at 9pm. Considering it was a Wednesday and there was no rain there were lots of people out and about. Waiting times on all the major ranks was minimal and all the trouble makers must have been at home watching Arsenal get knocked out of Europe. My son, being a Spurs fan was delighted. When I tried to tell him he should support all British clubs in Europe, including Spurs’ arch enemies, he wouldn’t hear of it.

I was on the point at Victoria tonight when a very attractive Asian lady walked up to my window. She was being shadowed by two dodgy-looking henchmen who kept a discreet distance. As bold as you like she said to me “I’d like to go to Bradford please”. I said “Bradford what? Street, place, road?” “No” she answered “Bradford in Yorkshire”. I thought that’s what she meant. So I said to her “You know that’s at least a four hour drive and a £350 fare?” I only guesstimated the fare but I’m sure if I checked the price list in my cabbies diary it would be something ridiculous like £450 to £500. Any way, she looked prepared to pay the asking price but after taking another look at the two guys who would surely be getting in with her I decided to pass. “Sorry luv I’m almost done for the night. Ask down the line and I’m sure someone will bite your hand off for a ride like that” I seriously doubted that anyone would drive her to “God’s own country” but there was no harm in asking. It would have been a lovely job but all the factors would have had to add up before I accepted it such as the money up front and no dodgy looking companions for starters.

So after almost landing the job of my career I had to settle for “bread and butter” work in and around our fair city.

I was actually on my way home around 1am when a guy walked over to where I was waiting at the light on Marylebone Road and asked if I’d take him out to Harrow. He looked a bit the worse for wear but as I’d already taken my money for the night I didn’t give a shit if he did a runner. It turned out, as it often does when you try and figure someone out in the few seconds you have, that I had him all wrong and that he was a thoroughly nice bloke. He was a season ticket holder at QPR and we had a deep discussion about the plight of our respective football teams. I told him that I was at the Leeds v QPR game a few weeks ago and it turns out that we were probably sitting about 10 feet apart only separated by a segregation wall. Small world.

To cap off a great night I have just checked my bank balance online and discovered that BT (British Telecom) have reimbursed me £160 of credit that had been building up in my telephone account.

Happy days, well for today anyway.

4 comments:

Gaz said...

Hey cool blog,i'll have a better look when i've got time.

Anonymous said...

Hey I got a BT refund this week too!!! Minie beats yours though and was £179 and I immediately went on a mad frenzied shopping spree!

J x

Joann said...

It must have been hard to turn down the long trip, but it is better to be safe.

NYC taxi photo said...

i got this ipod nano, about a year ago. then i thought it would be a good idea to use the itrip with it. it wasn't a good idea. the itrip has to find a blank station to coordinate with the radio, and this works about half the time, the other half, i'm futzin with it, and its dangerously distracting.

the tape is an alright idea, but it may break down in a year or so, i suppose it may be worthwhile.

still i feel that messing with ipod controls are just as distracting as cellphones.

how old can cabs be before they are retired in london?