Already so soon??

Hi folks

following on from yesterday.....

With a full belly and a sense of optimism rarely seen as I'm generally a total pessimist I got out to work after my Chinese meal and started the arduous task of trawling the streets for work.

My first stop was the rank at Paddington Station where after a suprisingly short wait I took a French businessman down to Old Brompton Road. I then made my way to South Kensington but was unable to get onto the already overpopulated rank. A few nights previously I'd had a bit of luck doing the "Sloane Avenue Boogie" which means circling up and down Sloane Avenue until hailed. There's always plenty of work coming out from Chelsea Cloisters and Nell Gwynne House but there's also loads of cabs doing the same thing so by doing "The Boogie" you stand a better chance of being first to the job. So as it turned out I boogied half a dozen times and got nothing. Next port of call would have to be Victoria Station. En route I was hailed in Eaton Gate by a nice couple needing to go to Ennismore Gardens. The next fare took me out to Chiswick and I thought I recognized the guy from the TV or somewhere but couldn't quite place him but he did give me a nice fiver tip on top of the £17 fare. I was already doing much better than the previous night and my spirits and love for the job rose considerably.

Back on the South Kensington rank and I'm the second cab. A lady approaches the front cab and he shakes his head. "Aye aye" thinks me, "what's going on here then?". "Do you take credit cards?" she asks after arriving at my open window. "I certainly do" says I, getting all excited at the prospect of one of those elusive roaders I mentioned in yesterdays blog.
"Loveley" says she, "then can we go to Gilston Road please?". My face must have visibly dropped because she said "is that alright?" I told her that the company would charge her an extra £2, hoping it would put her off as it does to a lot of people, but she was fine with that and off we went to Gilston Road, about five minutes up the road, for the princely sum of £6.60. I must add at this point that I do enjoy doing credit card jobs and having the facility has actually got me my money when passengers have had trouble getting money from ATM's. So even though the monthly fees to Radio Taxis (£160) are quite excessive I'd rather have the facility than not. I've also been short on the radio work in recent weeks but that's just me being too choosy rather than the lack of work and I've made an effort in this last week to do whatever comes my way regardless of the destination.

The rest of the shift was pretty much the same with jobs averaging about six or seven pounds. I was passing by the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane and saw only a few cabs there so decided to put on. 2 minutes later I was on my way to Crouch End for the best job of the night at £34.

Chris was out and about as well and was earning pretty much the same sort of money but my nickname for him is Golden Bollocks because he always manages to do better than me by the end of the shift. He might come out a few hours after me but by the end of the night he'll be on more money. The nickname comes from the last three letters of his previous taxi, GBX, Golden Bollocks Extraordinaire. He'll argue that it should apply to me but he takes some beating.

My last job of the night was from the South Ken area. This guy had been to Royal Ascot and was wearing a top hat and tails. He was as drunk as a skunk and in a chatty mood and also name-dropping like it was going out of fashion. According to him he knew everyone who was anyone and had been in the Royal section at the racecourse mingling with the Queen and all her minions. I took it all with a pinch of salt as you must doing this job and he was at his destination within 10 minutes.

So all in all a better night but still not as much as I'd like and remember that tonight is Wednesday and potentially the worst day of the week.

God help us!!

Take Care.

L.C.

I just read my emails and this one caught my eye and as I feel strongly about what our boys in the military are doing then I thought I'd share it with you.

Recently, British Royal Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they
wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees, and to
request that they send some of it to the troops there.

Starbucks replied, telling the Royal Marines thank you for their
support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war,
nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand
of coffee.

So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should support them by NOT
buying any of their products!

I feel we should get this out in the open. I know this war might not be
very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support
the boys on the ground, fighting street-to-street and, house-to-house.

If you feel the same as I do then pass this along.
Thanks very much for your support. I know you'll all be there again
when I deploy once more.

Sgt. Howard Wright.
1 Platoon, Recon Company, Royal Marines

PLEASE DON'T DELETE THIS... PLEASE PASS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR E- MAIL
LIST, IN MEMORY OF ALL THE TROOPS WHO HAVE BEEN WOUNDED, LOST LIMBS AND
EVEN DIED, SO THAT WE MAY HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE !

Also, don't forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit, the fire
fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by
for water for the survivors and workers, and Starbucks CHARGED THEM!!!
AN ADDED NOTE TO THIS: STARBUCKS HAD STORES ON SEVERAL MILITARY BASES
IN THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE NOW BEING REMOVED BECAUSE OF THIS.

There are 227 Starbucks stores across the UK, and there's no doubt that
our soldiers would get the same response from this company, so let us
do our bit and boycott Starbucks to show them how despicable theiractions are.