Friday, March 08, 2013

Moaners & Drunkards

Hi folks

I think Spring has finally arrived!! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the traffic is solid!!

I just had an old dear in the cab. I picked her up from the St Johns Wood rank and took her down to Great Peter Street in Westminster. Moan moan moan all the way. I shouldn't have gone this way I should've gone that way. I almost threw her out but I had too much on the meter.
You have to take these situations with a pinch of salt because not everyone is the ideal passenger. I tried explaining that all the routes in that direction were busy but she just talked over me. They tell you about people like that at the carriage office before they give you your badge and believe me you get them!!

Back in January I parked the cab on the rank outside Koko's in Camden and went into the Sainsbury's there to buy some food. I knew I shouldn't be on it at that time but took a chance. On exiting the shop with two bags of shopping I spotted a traffic warden by the cab so I hurried towards it. As I was getting in he uttered something about having issued the ticket to which I replied " you can stick your effing ticket" and speeding off before giving him a chance to put the ticket on my screen. I had forgotten all about it until I paid my cab rent last Friday. The owner told me I'd got a ticket and I could then see it was from the afore mentioned incident. It was at stage 3 of the process (£195) which would mean I would have to appeal on the grounds that I hadn't recieved the initial ticket. The garage was busy on Friday and advice on how to proceed was freely offered by drivers and mechanics alike. By the time I left the garage I had spoken to TFL (Transport for London) who had a report from the warden saying I had been abusive and had sworn at him and then driven off, not strictly correct but near enough. They told me I had the right to appeal and that's where I am at the moment after having put my case in writing. Watch this space!!

I picked a guy up earlier from Old St. "Do you want a really sweet ride?" he asked me in a strong and quite drunk Cockney accent. "Where to?" say I warily, imagining a trip out to the sticks. It was basically a little runaround ending up back at Old Street. As soon as we pulled off he started talking. He was a racist, he'd just lost his job, he was splitting from his wife (i'm not surprised), he almost became a London cabby, he knew all the routes to everywhere ( at this point he advised me he wouldn't have chosen the route I was in the process of driving), he loved to drink, he wanted to leave this country because it was going to the dogs (I agreed with him there) and basically he never stopped talking and we were only at the second stop on the runaround. I would describe him as Danny Dyer on speed.
He left the cab again to check in at the Mercure Hotel on Southwark Street offering me a deposit in case he never returned. He was gone 10 minutes then returned sporting a clean shirt. I thought I'd get a few questions in before he started rabbitting again. I asked him why he was staying at a hotel if he lived nearby to which he said he was persona non grata in his house on account of becoming an animal everytime he had a drink in him. He then asked me to find a shop where he could buy some cigarettes and I stopped by the Tesco on New Bridge Street ( under the red route camera!!) He returned with the cigs and a family size pack of Maltesers which he passed through the payment hole in my partition. I told him I shouldn't be eating stuff like that on account of me being Diabetic. This triggered a new topic of conversation whereby he informed he his dad was diabetic and since he found out he'd really tackled the disease head on by quitting smoking and going to the gym every day. "He ain't arf lost some weight my old man!!" he declared proudly and I humoured him some more. We were still ten minutes away from Old Street when he asked me to put some music on, preferably some Rod Stewart. I told him that my iPod had recently been stolen and I would have been able to oblige. "No problem mate have you got a connection?" He then selected the Bonnie Tyler classic "It's a heartache" sung by Rod himself and passed his iphone 5 through to me for connection. As the music blared out of the speakers he was bobbing about in the back singing along to the song "I effing love this song!!" he exclaimed. I couldn't wait to get the guy out as he was doing my head in.
We arrived at the Old St pub where the journey had started and he gave me thirty pounds for my trouble. I wished him luck in all his future endeavours and headed off at speed to collect Jane from work.

I made a Spanish omelette and grilled pork sausages for dinner tonight. I watched football with my son Michael and his mates then went up to keep Jane company. The whole time I was up there I could hear the microwave door opening and closing and the hum of it in motion. I just went down for a snack and found that all the omelette and hot dogs have been demolished by my kids leaving me nothing to snack on. Oh well! It's probably for the best.

Catch you all later.

Take Care.

L.C.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

23 comments:

Percythelondontaxi said...

Hi L.C,
I'm new to your blog. Great work. Love the insight into your working day.
Look forward to your posts.

simone said...

I
love your blog !!!

SkippyMom said...

My kids do that too L.C. - leave it unattended without a note expressly saying "MINE" and you can guarantee it will be gone by morning. Ah well, if it's not the kids Pooldad is known for midnight snacking. I am getting quite adept at hiding the yummy stuff. ::grinning:: It's an art.

Tickets must be quite the hazard in your line of work and I can imagine you would like to avoid paying them if you could. I hope it works out in your favor, especially because you didn't curse. Since when is effing a curse word? Or is it there? Hmmm. Well, best of luck!

Sizzling LEO said...

I always take taxis with URCAB they have been good me in so many ways. Always punctual,reliable,and great service all what I look for in a cab.
san francisco cab service

Mo said...

Whew what a day

PHL Taxi said...

Taxi services providing very comfortable and pleasant trip for passenger from airport to the destiny.
Taxi in Philadelphia

Sahail said...

Amazing stories you have!

This is another great slice of London life. Perhaps more than any other city in the world we literally have 'allsorts' in London.

AP said...

Hi L.C,

I've recently found your blog and am really enjoying it!

I've had a Fairway for almost a year now (I'm not a cabby) and I love driving it - my 3yr old son loves it. But I could do with finding a garage to take it to for some repairs. Someone who understands them better than my local mechanic who thinks I'm crazy for driving a taxi. I'm near Watford, so anywhere near by or that direction into London would be great. From reading your posts, I think you might even know the person I bought it from!

I appreciated any advice!
Adam

Truckmann said...

Theres a small cab garage in Mead Rd Edgware I used to rent from. Guvmors called Barry, they may be able to sort you out.
Good luck
LC

Dan said...

Hello,

This is not a comment on the post (though I enjoyed the post as I do all of them), but something you might find interesting....

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/12/08/acquiring-the-knowledge-changes-the-brains-of-london-cab-drivers/#.UWsIDMozCSp

AP said...

Thank you for the help! I'll check out that garage

Percythelondontaxi said...

Hi Adam,
If LC's old garage in Edgware can't help, I use a mechanic (Danny) whose also a cabbie for my Fairway (I'm also not a cabbie) and recommeded him to a follower on our blog http://percythelondontaxi.wordpress.com/.
Danny is based in Walthamstow though so not sure if that's too far for you.
Good luck
Paul

Unknown said...

If you be in love with your pets, then it is the correct place for you. The Pet expert is dedicated with the best pet see information. Our goal is to provide the best care for your pet in a caring and compassionate environment. Local vet search provides by best Veterinarian Hospital in local area

Unknown said...

Because of our experienced locksmith sydney accessible to you 24 several hours every day, 7 days per week, we could manage a myriad of emergency locksmith sydney calls whether it is for your household, office, commercial business or automobile. We handle all locksmith sydney issues and difficulties with the fastest and lots of efficient service possible.

jf said...

JOIN SOMETHING NEW!

LIFTAGO TAXI - FIRST WORLDWIDE MOBILE APPLICATION FOR PASSENGERS AND TAXI DRIVERS.

With new mobile technology and innovative community business idea - everybody can make money with TAXI SERVICE worldwide.

Click to make money:
http://www.joinsomethingnew.com/n85s

Are you ready to start build residual income?

Download free Liftago Taxi mobile application:
http://www.liftago.com/n85s
( Liftago Taxi, Liftago Driver)

lostinlondon said...

Were are you, only just found your blog and read years worth in a few weeks, hope your OK, doing the knowledge and have to commute from Somerset but really hooked on your blog regards lostinlondon

Ghayoor Shaikh said...

Astonished!!!
How come you write a superb blog:)

By the way i want to best south field michigan cab service do you any luxurious express cab who may provide airport services to our company. Dear we want cheap and affordable taxi services.
Please let me know if you know:)

Jeff said...

Will you ever update this blog...I love it..southampton cabbie.

John Michle said...

Its really good to know about that the facts and the other informative points given here are quite considerable and to the point as well would be good to look for more of these kind.

Service Management Software

Unknown said...

this is small shop of cab to rent a cab. fast and old cab are available here at cheaper rate
taxi in Brixton

Unknown said...

Loving the blog im thinking of doing the knowledge as im currently a courier in london what school would you advise to getting started ?

Md Nishat Khandakar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Md Nishat Khandakar said...

Hi Adam,
If LC's old garage in Edgware can't help, I use a mechanic (Danny) whose also a cabbie for my Fairway (I'm also not a cabbie) and recommeded him to a follower on our blog
Danny is based in Walthamstow though so not sure if that's too far for you.
Good luck