The above photos courtesy of Danny Ponomar at http://www.dapo.ca/



Thursday, December 30, 2010

Weekend Randoms - To be updated

So on my very first trip on my very first day back from a nice break for the holidays I had a terrible trip. It started off OK I guess but the guy would not put his cigarette out and I told him to "put it out or throw it out", he finally complied and I started driving the few blocks to his address.

I thought this guy was a little drunk and it was only around 6:25 pm. My account of our conversation:

Him: "Hey I know you I have seen you before, we partied together right"?

Me: "No I don't think so, I am not sure I have seen you before, where was it that we partied together"?

Him: "Oh you know, you know....(no answer)"

Me: "No I am pretty sure I have never met you before"

Him: He offered his hand and said "I am XXXXXX", I complied and shook his hand and told him my name.

Him: "So what are you high? You must be, you look so stoned? You are stoned right? Man you gotta be stoned. I knew it you are high."

Me: "I believe that you are mistaken and I am completely sober."

This really was a shorter trip and I only drove this guy a few blocks.

Him: "What are you a fag, are you a fairy, I could take you right now you want to go (fight)?"

Me: Starting to become concerned because this assholes demeanor is starting to change rapidly without any provocation "You are mistaken and I do not want to fight you, we are almost at your house so just calm down and relax."

Him: "You fucking calm down mother fucker, you are going to get whats coming to you, lets do this right now, step the fuck out and we will finish this right now."

Me: "Calm down we are at your house, I am not going to fight you, it's $9 bucks."

Him: "$9 bucks are you fucking with me you fucking XXXXXX, go fuck yourself, how does $8 sound."

Me: "Relax, $8 is fine."

As he stumbled out of the car and fell flat on his ass. I did not get out of the car and locked my doors immediately. He showed me the finger and told me to go fuck myself and that he could take me. Honestly this guy was fucked up on something, I assumed is was cocaine and he was definitely acting overly aggressive and I was calm the entire trip, which is why I assume nothing worse happened.

I drove down the alley where I dropped this asshole off assuming I had just realized a loss when I said fuck it and went back to the residence and had the police called to that address. It was a non-emergency call and I sat their for around 40-45 minutes when the police officer finally arrived. I had no problem waiting because I wanted to see what would happen and I had a legitimate charge of Transportation Fraud against this fuck (because he never paid me).

While waiting for the police the father actually came out and offered to pay for the fare. I was so upset at this point that I declined the money and asked him to wait until the police arrived to deal with them. I guess had he came out right away and payed me I would have accepted, put I already called the police because I was not about to go knock on the door and get in a fight with whomever was behind that door, are you kidding me? So I waited and waited and the police arrive and I tell them my story.

I have never felt more intimidated and threatened by a person before but he never really did anything illegal other than not pay me. So when the police arrived they were let into the house and I was subsequently paid my $10 and was asked to leave while the officer was going to try to offer some emotional support to the family and/or the asshole drunk. I guess the officer determined that he was not doing cocaine and had some sort of alcohol related mental episode. How are you qualified to make an immediate physchiatric evaluation?

........................................................................................................................................

I picked up a former XXXXXX XXXXXX Professor from the XXXXXX XXXXXX later in the evening and he was with a hooker and they were going downtown to get whatever they were getting. We finally arrived at the XXXXXX XXXXXX and while she is waiting for the crack (I assume) she asks the Professor to come in to have a threesome with XXXXXX while waiting for the crack (I assume). He intelligently declined and I took him back to his hotel. He was very smart not going into the XXXXXX XXXXXX because they likely would have taken him for all he was worth and more. That is how the crack whores operate, they latch onto someone with money and will not let go until they let go of them.

.......................................................................................................................................

Even later I was sent on a call to the West Side and when I arrived I witnessed a bunch of XXXXXX fighting in the doorway of the residence, I saw around ten people inside the entrance to the house and it appeared as though they were trying to eject a certain female from the party. She was removed from the residence at least twice and she managed to get back into the house when I notice a male pick her up and he threw her down the stairs hard. I backed up because I could not see it she was OK or not and it appeared as though she was unconscious at first but came to shortly afterward.

I should have drove off right then and there but this shit intrigues me so I stuck around. This woman gets up and starts trying to bash one of her friends vehicles drivers side window with her fist.

So I let her and her boyfriend in the car and after hearing all her bullshit drunken fucking XXXXXX shit I am sorry to say that she probably deserved much worse. You think your boyfriend should defend you against his own family after all the shit you pulled? Go back to the XXXXXX.

Thanks for not paying me by the way? Do you not think I know where you LIVE? Fuck you.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

WTF?

I was sent on a trip to XXXXXX at the Lethbridge XXXXXX and notice some people standing on the street arguing, it seemed like a normal argument. I waited and waited and finally gave up on them and slowly drove away to the actual bar where I was sent to. There was no one there so I went to the front lobby and a staff member had asked me to take her customers home. Well it was the same customers that were on the street and I turned around and they were still arguing. A fight nearly ensued and one of the bouncers was trying to intervene and they got into a shoving match. I was casually watching the scene expecting some fists to start flying. Two girls and a guy get in and tell me to lock my doors, which I did.

I started driving when the guy managed to stumble in front of the car and I was forced to stop. The bouncer was trying to drag him away from the vehicle and was having a hard time doing so. Once the area was clear I immediately started to drive off and the guy managed to punch my window hard, I am actually surprised he did not break the glass.

So I thought this guy was done when he runs after the car and starts trying to open the door while I was driving and I stepped on the gas and flew around the corner and onto the street. I thought he had let go when after about 50 feet I stopped because I realized he was still hanging on to the door handle and I was dragging him.

I stopped and one girl decides to get out and the bouncer is right there after this guy because he is still acting crazy, I took my chance and drove away. Seriously you are a fucking idiot, had you let go of the door handle while I was turning I surely would have ran you over. Get your shit together, yeah your girlfriend was hot but it is worth all the trouble?

Also I have no idea of why they were arguing/fighting in the first place.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Trying to be Respectful

I have decided that in order to protect my personal privacy and my customers privacy I have made some serious changes to this blog. I will no longer mention ANY business's name and have made some editing changes to reflect my new policy, which include removing certain details and videos (still an ongoing process).

I have not edited any post where the Lethbridge Police have identified a suspect and/or released any information pertaining to a person involved in any sort of crime. I have also not removed any mention of certain businesses that have had terrible health inspection reports, which are available to the public through the Alberta Health Services website.

If you look further into this blog and see XXXXXX that is a direct editing change.

I have gone one step further and have removed race as a factor in ALL of my posts and will continue to do just that.
I believe that I have a few posts to review but I have done my very best to comply with my new self imposed rules.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Something Most People Never See - unedited

So this woman has been requesting me a lot lately and I never know it is her until I arrive at the place because she uses a different name every time.

I have been basically giving her substantial discounts on trips and even free rides just to get a glimpse into a lifestyle I am curious to know more about.

Tonight I picked her up from downtown and she had to meet someone on the North side. So I drove to where she wanted to go and there was no one there at first. I had my suspicions about what she was up to but she never actually said. So this person arrives a short time later and she got out of the car, went to talk with that person, and came back shortly afterwards.

I started driving her back to her place and she asked me to pull over and she showed me the two baggies of crack that she had just bought for $30 a piece and mentioned that crack was in short supply recently and she would be able to sell it for $60 a piece. There really was very little substance to look at and from my observations $60 really does not buy a whole lot of crack. I took her back to her place downtown. She also mentioned that with crack prices running high lately that heroin was starting to trickle into the city, which is obviously not good at all.

I picked her up again later with her actual boyfriend, the previous legit boyfriend I had seen her with ended up going to jail for robbing a gas station in town, so she says.

It is really a surreal experience driving this woman around because you really have no idea what could happen and she is very entertaining and often will not stop talking about all the shit that goes down in her life. It is hard for me to get a word in and I assume that she is smoking the crack, so I just listen mostly. She completely trusts me and I show her the same respect.

So during this trip she is going to the South side to buy more of whatever and she says we have to pull into the alley because if the Stepmother ever found out what he was doing she would kill him, I don't know why exactly she had to come to this place but I would be safe to assume it was for crack because when she came back it was like that's some weird shit, doing a deal through his bedroom window.

So on the way driving back downtown she spots a lone guy walking on the side of the road and she decides this could add to her earnings for the night, her boyfriend was still in the car and was obviously cool with the whole situation. She wanted to bet with me that she could get this guy to come Home with her.

I pulled over near an intersection close to the guy and put on my four ways to let the non-emergency ambulance know to pass me and they did. She had her door open and asked the guy if he wanted a ride. He said sure and it got weird real fucking fast when he called his two other buddies over which none of us had seen. So some seating arrangements are changed, the hooker is in the back with the three guys and it sounds like this, Èso who wants to party tonight, etc. I think a couple of guys clued into what was being offered and they mentioned that they were married but the third guy was interested.

So I drive a couple of blocks and two of them want to be let out, so I stopped and noted the address they had mentioned that I am sure nobody heard but me.

The third guy (not one of the guys that were interested in the woman's services) wants to get liquor from downtown and is fucking wasted already. So the woman was trying to interest the gentleman in the back seat but he wanted no part of it and a small argument ensued.

I was soon faced with a dilemma because I was basically driving this woman and guy around out of my own pocket (or on my own time) and she asked the guy if he wanted a ride, which he accepted. So I have the meter going on this new guy and he knows its all him when she says she wants to go back to her place and the guy she invited is the one actually paying me now for the trip and his only objective was to get liquor and get back to his buddies place.

While out of the car the hooker asks her boyfriend to leave and says that she has this guy, which was clearly not the case but she asked him to get out and walk back to their place, which was not far, they exchanged a kiss.

I was dumbfounded and had no clue how this was going to end, the guy actually got liquor from the store in his severely drunken state and I popped the trunk for him to put the liquor into. Not only is it the law to have liquor in the trunk or what not but I often use it as a technique to secure future payment.The guy wanted no part of putting his liquor into the trunk and I think he was suspicious, and why shouldn't he have been, I mean I was suspicious myself of all characters involved.

So he decides to go back to his place and not his friends and against this woman's request I drive him there because I am in this to make money.

The man and woman were giving their thoughts to each other and I just could not wait for him to get out of the car. It was uncomfortable. Looking back on the situation the guy could have assumed that I was driving this girl around to try to find a party but that is not the case what so ever. She asked him if he wanted a ride and him and his friends accepted.

So the guy finally gets on his way and the woman asked me to take her back to where the other two guys went. Yes I did remember the address they gave me and when we arrived they were having a smoke just chilling on the porch. She got out of the car and approached them, she is really a pro because she waved me off very soon afterwards and I never saw her again that night.

I am really unsure of what to make of all of this, especially my involvement. I mean how can I say NO to a personal call when she changes names all the time, I might have to have a chat with her about that. If I could think of anything shocking for this site she has said it or has lead me on to believe it and I find that intriguing.

As a cab driver I look forward to some interesting situations, why not this oneÉ

Friday, December 10, 2010

New Regulations Coming into Effect in the New Year

I am not here to post the official bylaws (which have not even been updated to the city of Lethbridge website as of this date. Basically according to the City of Lethbridge Bylaw 5658 Taxi Provisions a taxi driver must not have been convicted under the Criminal Code of Canada with the previous five years of application and a drivers abstract must not contain a serious driving offence.

I am not sure of the difference between the Criminal Code of Canada and the Controlled Substance Act but from my understand of the wording of the bylaw if you were convicted of selling drugs before this bylaw comes into effect then you are good to go. If you are convicted of selling drugs after these laws are in effect then you are fucked. I would be wrong if the Controlled Substance Act is part of the Criminal Code but I find it strange that they do not mention the Controlled Substance Act until Section 6.15 (2) (e) (4).


From the Department of Regualtory Services. I am not immune to spelling errors but you would think that on a city issued taxi license regulatory would be spelled correctly.


I spoke with the Senior Bylaw Officer while going through the process and he personally processed the above document.

I asked a few questions and gathered the following information, none of which I present to be fact. Apparently not having this document presented in clear view of a customer could result in a $250 fine and I have known that the bylaw inspector has done periodic spot checks to ensure the rules are being followed, that is how XXXXXX Ribbon got shut down.

I asked why the city was taking these steps and what their motivation was and he mentioned to the effect "We received two complaints (that's right only two complaints for this whole process to start) from concerned citizens and we decided to open a review of the current bylaws in place within the city and we performed a comparative analysis with other cities within Alberta and decided there would be one of three options that we would choose. The first option was to do nothing, the second was to enforce some minor regulations to monitor the industry and the third option was to make major sweeping changes, like Calgary has with issuing licence plates and regulating the amount of cabs that are occupying the streets (which makes owning a taxi plate a supply and demand marketplace and holders of these plates can buy and sell them like they are shares in a corporation, at least from my understanding of how Calgary operates)." He mentioned that they had chosen the option that would best serve the community and I 100% agree with this step in regulating the industry.

I am glad to know that when the taxi driver who stabbed four people gets out of jail he will have to find another occupation. Would you, as a woman, want to get into a taxi wasted drunk not knowing if this driver has had prior sexual assault convictions against women?

Also I am tired of hearing how this is a "Cash Cow" for the city. I understand the process is more difficult for some than others but it is no cash cow. I paid $50 for my business licence, just as any other business has to pay. I guess another $50 (or whatever it was) for my criminal check and another $25 maybe for a driver's abstract.

So the city received maybe a $100 max for issuing me my taxi operators licence. I estimate the expenses to process this to be around $40 all inclusive, with the police, bylaw, etc. So the city will issue at the very most 200 licence's. So they potentially just made $12,000.

I can assure you that $12,000 is no motivation for the city implementing these regulations and it is no cash cow, are you kidding me?

If you are interested I believe this bylaw was passed here July 19, 2010, with zero opposition. Search 5658 within the pdf for ease of finding it.

........................

As a side post I am not against these regulations but if cab drivers are seriously pissed off about these new rules than I would support their opinion as a whole and would vote my opinion based on the majority of the people I have spoken with. If cab drivers were really upset about a big issue in Lethbridge then I am sure we would find the cause to protest at some level. Has there been any protest at all with the city? No, not as far as I know.

ENFORCEMENT:

I do not believe that the city has any immediate plan for any enforcement activities. XXXXXX Ribbon operated for at least a year before they recieved what? A fine (I don't know, but a warrant only arose because he never went to court to face the charges)?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Random

I just finished dropping off the two nice looking twins at a North side party. After we finished our "hugs" I started driving back downtown when two women flagged me down shortly afterwards (on the same street).

The one woman asked me if I would take her friend home. I said yes. She then asked me if her friend could eat her hot dog in the car. I said I didn't care and it seemed like a weird question at the time.

So this absolutely gorgeous woman gets into the cab and I was in love right away. OK getting a little off topic, so she gets in the car.

I asked her how her night was going and she proceeded to tell me that she was just kicked out of another taxi around the corner because she took a bite of her hot dog in the cab. She said the cab driver tried to grab the hot dog out of her mouth and kicked her and her friend out of the car.

I mean who am I to say that is what happened? It is just here say but I believed the story for the most part. I would never kick a nice looking woman out of my cab, or even an ugly guy,  for eating a hot dog. Really there is very little mess usually, a couple of pieces of cheese, who gives a shit? Wipe it off the seat.

So I took this woman to the West side and I was very much interested in what she had to say, I only wish the feeling was mutual because she did not ask me a single question the entire trip but was very happy to answer my questions with elaborate responses.

She mentioned to the effect that her biological clock was ticking down and if she did not have children within the next 8 years she would never have children. I actually really like this woman. I never let her know it because I really do try to be a professional and I understand my "role" in these situations. It appeared as though she had fashioned her own green skirt together and I thought it was very creative of her. Of course I never said anything because I am a complete fucking dumb ass.

That is not the case, customers are customers.

Paranoid Schizophrenia / No Money = NO TRIP

some other time

Drunken Bums

Earlier in the week I was sent to a terrible call on the West side. Once I arrived I went to buzz the apartment number and noticed three individuals in the lobby who were slumping over one another on a couple of chairs. They must have noticed my movement and seen the taxi outside and they started to move.

I held the door of the apartment building open so they could walk past and I got a good glimpse of what I was dealing with. I always give people the benefit of the doubt but once these people were in the car it became a very difficult situation for me and by the end of it I felt very threatened and was on the verge of calling the police.

Once they had gotten in the taxi I asked them where they wanted to go and was immediately suspicious when they said they wanted to go to the North side (they could have said anywhere and I still would have been suspicious). The dialog went something like this...

Me: "So where abouts on the North side do you want to go"

Them: "Oh just start driving, we want to go North"

Me: "No I need to know where you are going first, where abouts on the North side?"

Them: "We have to go to the shelter"

Me: "Oh, well do you have the money to pay for the ride, it is going to be around $15?"

Them: "Of course we do, start driving, what are you new or something or are you just a fucking idiot?"

Me: "I need to have a deposit on the fare and $15 should cover it"

Them: "Oh we have the money, just take us to the shelter, what you don't trust us, do you know who I am?, fucking start driving you dumb ass".

Me: "I don't mean any disrespect but I am not taking you to the shelter without a deposit on the fare".

So the guy tells the woman to pay me and she is fumbling around with a bunch of loose change and I realize this is going no where fast. You know if this was truly an emergency situation where someone needed to get to the shelter and had no option but to freeze outside I could have been more compassionate, but these assholes were rude from the start and were completely wasted drunk and wanted to get more liquor at 4:00am.

I am no community service.

After abut 5-7 minutes of bickering with these folks and demanding money upfront to get to the North side the situation was escalating and I admit I was very worried about what might happen next. I was basically asking them to leave the taxi in a civilized way based on the fact that they had no money. They would not accept my offer for them to just leave and be on there way and were arguing with me relentlessly and they were getting aggressive when one guy put his arm into the front area around my face and I nearly shit my pants because I thought he was going to try to attack/strangle me.

I had earlier made my dispatcher aware that this could have been a problem but I do not believe that she had realized the seriousness of my situation.

One dude eventually passed out in the back seat and the other guy had thought I had taken money from the woman in the front seat (even though I had given it back to her because it was no where near sufficient to get to the shelter).

Long story short the woman decides on a different address not far from where they were on the West side and I asked for $5, she gave me the bill and I drove them two blocks to exactly the apartment that she said that was not good enough. She said "What are you a fucking idiot I need to go to the back", I said "I am not a mind reader, perhaps you should have mentioned that earlier".

So finally they all get out and one guy asks me to wait while he figures out what his plan is and that he is probably not going to stay here. Why the fuck would I wait for you to take you somewhere else when you spent your entire welfare check in three days and were completely disrespectful towards me and had no money.

Once they were out of the car I locked the doors and drove off. FUCK YOU.

My next trip was a student standing on a corner downtown. I let him in and asked how his night was and he says to the effect "I passed out on a couch and when I woke up everyone around me was smoking crack".

He was seriously pissed right off that his old work buddy had taken him to this place and had allowed him to ingest crack fumes against his will while he was "sleeping" on the couch.

Once I got him to his place he mentioned "yeah by the way someone pissed on your seat because it is all wet". I felt the seat and he was right, that fucking bitch from my previous trip. It wasn't wet enough that I thought she had blatantly peed on the seat to spite me. I think she had just pissed herself earlier and the residual was left on my seat.

It ended my night right there. I mean I can't drive people around with a pissed soaked seat.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Some Weekend Randoms...

I can definitely make an ass out of myself sometimes with a random comment...

I picked up a few nice looking women earlier in the week and they were all gung ho about going to XXXXXX nightclub for the XXXXXX Playboys (?) male stripper night. I have seen a couple of the European Video's of the male stripper party thing and regrettably asked these young ladies if it was the type of thing where the guys walk around the crowd and dance while letting the women play with them while applying whipped cream to be licked off, and offering "towel service" for the very willing.

Yeah they did not even acknowledge my comment and I do not blame them and I felt embarrassed. I mean I was basically asking if these girls were going to slurp some whipped cream off some strippers at the club, which in some countries is not considered "taboo" conversation, yeah that's a poor defence.

Next time I will reserve my comment.

..........................

I wish I could have been more involved with the bar rush last week but I had to take some patrons from the XXXXXX on a lengthy crack run. I have had these customers before and they were alright I guess (when I say alright I mean there were no problems). A grey truck with the licence plate XXXXXX delivered $140 worth of "rock" to my customers and I never would have guessed that this guy was a crack dealer, I mean he looked like a regular guy and was driving a nice truck with a broom and other tools hanging prominently from the box of the truck.

..............................

I picked up a couple a younger guys earlier in the evening and they told me that if I saw them later and they were not with some women that I should call them "complete fucking idiots".

I randomly picked them up later in the evening, with two women, from XXXXXX and they recognized me. I recognized them also and mentioned "I guess I can't call you an idiot, can I?". They seemed confused by my comment but soon realized what I was talking about (them picking up some girls from the bar) and soon after it was high fives all around. I am sure the two women were thinking "what the fuck was that all about".

..............

Ahh I've said enough for tonight.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

300th Post. Conversation/Interview With a Lethbridge Prostitute.

I was trolling around downtown looking to interview a hooker and even asked a cab driver and a couple of police officers if they had seen any around. I was about to call it quits when this woman sort of waved me down.

I did pay this woman for her time and she did not disappoint with her very candid stories about the profession and working in Lethbridge. I had never seen this woman before tonight and did not know what to expect and stumbled when asking a couple of questions.

"You know ahh, it is what it is. It's life, what ever doesn't kill us makes us stronger and you gotta survive and that's what I do. Any given day of the week I can go out and know that I am going to eat today because there is going to be one pervert rolling the streets".



While splicing these videos because of the size I missed about 20 seconds where she says that she placed an ad on craigslist.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Canada's Prostitution Laws Set to Change.

I would not consider this as factual information whatsoever, it is just my understanding of the current events.

As you may well know it is not actually illegal (and never has been) to pay for sex in Canada but it is illegal to communicate for the purpose of prostitution. Brothel and bawdy houses are also illegal as is procuring.

In September a Superior Court Judge ruled that these laws are unconstitutional and place prostitutes in danger by the nature of these laws (or something like that). An appeal was launched and a stay of the order was granted until this Saturday when a judge will decide whether or not to extend the stay of appeal or not. If the stay of appeal is not extended these laws will no longer be enforceable (even though the appeals process is still ongoing).

What does this mean?

Lethbridge prostitutes and johns will be able to openly communicate for the purpose of prostitution. Basically a hooker can solicit any man on the street and offer and barter for a price for sex. The same thing goes for a john. A john will be able to essentially walk up to any woman in Lethbridge and offer to pay for sexual services without facing any legal repercussions.

Also brothels may start to pop up as legitimate business entities. XXXXXX and XXXXXX will no longer have to hide behind closed doors and could in effect advertise their services. They could place a sign outside of their business saying "Sex Here ... 150 for half an hour and 200 for a full hour."

The procuring law is also set to be lifted this Saturday which means that pimps no longer have to hide in the shadows and can basically walk up to anyone on the street and say "hey I have this girl if you want to fuck her its $80."

Imagine you are at your child's soccer game on a Saturday afternoon eating some ice cream and some hooker starts walking through the crowd of families asking if anyone wants a blow job for $40 and that she operates a legitimate business around the corner that accepts Visa/MasterCard and Interact. This will become no different than walking through the crowd offering cookies for sale.

I look forward to the court's decision regarding this matter because it has far reaching implications across the country and at home here in Lethbridge. Maybe I should be the first to set up shop downtown and start pimping out some hookers for a nice tidy profit. I could offer 2 for 1 Tuesdays (two girls for one price), STD free girls on Sundays, etc. I can easily see demand for at least two or three of these whorehouses downtown and I believe that it is just a matter of time. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Nov. 27/2010: After further review of the potential changes I realized that this would only apply in Ontario and was mistaken that it would be applied nationwide (I am obviously not a lawyer). But if the law is repealed in Ontario I would imagine it would be just a matter of time for other provinces to face the same legal challenges and follow suit of Ontario's ruling.

Big Win - Four Lethbridge Iron Workers Split 16.7 Million Dollar 6/49 Top Prize

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Trip From Hell - XXXXXX - Unedited

Well it was not exactly a trip from hell but one I would have rather not taken.

I flagged this guy last night from the XXXXXX and he throws me $50 and tells me to go for a drive. He was from out of town and just wanted a cruise. Hell yeah why not. He was drunk as fuck and I drove him down Mayor Magrath and was answering his questions about the city.

He decided he wanted to go back downtown so I drove down Scenic Drive and dropped him off at a newer sports bar downtown.

While giving this guy some change back a staff member from the bar came out and asked me if I would take his patron home. I agreed and should have known better because I know when a staff member escorts someone out to me like that it is usually more trouble then it is worth, which it definitely turned out to be.

So I was sitting outside of the bar with this middle aged guy and I asked him where he wanted to go. He was fumbling around with his phone and never answered my question, I was offering suggestion for other bars hoping it would be a short and convenient trip.

He did not know where he wanted to go and eventually settled on a town called XXXXXX. I agreed to take him there at a fixed rate and drove him to a bank machine because he had no cash.

I drove through the drive through ATM backwards to accommodate this guy and he was seriously fucked up. I felt like I was teaching him how to use a bank machine for the first time. I made comments like "you are putting your card in the wrong way, turn it around", "don't press $40, press $60", "dude you just canceled the transaction", "press the button to the right of "yes" it is not a touchscreen", "press ok", "get your bank card back, it is right there, no it is lower, to the right".

Yeah 10-15 minutes at the ATM with step by step instructions from me which lead to two failures to get cash and the bank machine went down temporarily, I suspect the machine even realized something was wrong with this guy.

So I finally get paid to go to XXXXXX. The guy tells me he needs to stop somewhere. I asked where and he came up with no reasonable response other than mmjhjmhjmm, somewhere. He really wasn't mumbling drunk, it was worse, he could not even explain anything to me.

I just told him we were off to XXXXXX and that I would get him there. He passed out on me in the front seat somewhere on Mayor Magrath Drive.

When I was approaching XXXXXX I yelled and woke his ass up and asked him to tell me where to go in town because I had no idea where he lived. He instructed me this way and then that way, it was getting old fast and I knew we were driving in circles after a while. This drunk fuck had no clue of where we were and neither did I. He mentioned that he lived a half mile outside of town. I was driving around aimlessly on the outskirts of XXXXXX and it got old real fucking fast.

I kept asking him to tell me where to go while asking if we were going in the right direction. I knew we were lost (more less) and this guy was so fucked up I just had no clue of where to take him.

Eventually I became completely fed up with this drunk and drove back into the town of XXXXXX. I opened his window and said to the effect "it is time to sober up and this is your last chance to guide me to your place" or I am going back to Lethbridge.

He started giving me new directions and I was pissed right off and let him know it. If we were in Lethbridge I would have dumped his ass off a lot sooner but I have a conscience and I would never just leave someone on a corner street of some town in -20 weather, he would have likely froze to death had I kicked him out of the car.

As a side note I had seen an RCMP officer when we first arrived in town and after being completely lost with this fuck for half an hour had I seen the police again I would have flagged them down and said "he is your problem now, sorry".

Where was I going with this...

So he finally gets his shit straightened out and recognized some gas station. I drove him into the boonies well outside of XXXXXX. This farmer had finally found his farm and I was more than happy to get him out of the car. I asked for some additional cash because I literally drove around for more than half an hour aimlessly in the fucking country trying to find this fucks farm, he found a couple bucks but for fucks sakes I was seriously pissed right off and I let him know it.

I metered my way back to town and it was around $32 to get back to the city, around half of what the rate it to XXXXXX. Had this guy not passed out on me on the way to his farm it would have been so much easier because he did not live that far out of town and it turned out to be completely senseless to actually go all the way to XXXXXX.

I am just glad I got this guy home, I am sure he is a decent guy and had a nice looking farm, next time I will refuse and recommend a hotel in town.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thank You / Random Pictures...


I was completely stuck in this mess for about 10-15 minutes along 6th Avenue South around 15th Street. The picture does not do it justice and I should have known better than to park there (letting someone off) in the first place. It did not help that the tires on the car were completely worthless.

Thank you very much to the guy walking his dog and another random motorist who stopped to assist me. It was very much appreciated and I thank you very much. Once you had gotten me free I hope you heard me yell out my window "Thank You Very Much" because I never did stop to formally thank you.

(Picture taken later)









In case the sign is not clear enough it means "do not put cans in this bin", and "do not look through my garbage looking for cans because you will not be rewarded".


I thought this was strange... Behind the XXXXXX restaurant downtown. The hand print looks deliberate but from whom and for what purpose I do not know.


Giant Icicle formation.




Retiring the map. I have to say that I rarely use the thing. The damage was done mostly just from carrying it around.



I had a few editing problems with this post but who cares.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Where is Our Flag?


Can anyone possibly explain to me why a Canadian Flag would not be flying proudly outside of the local Legion Hall, on Remembrance Day of all days, while Veterans and others were "celebrating" the National Holiday inside?

Seriously, am I missing something here?  I did not take the picture until 4:30 this morning but I was at the Legion (working) for most of the early part of my night. I was there picking people up as early as 6:30pm and there was no Canadian Flag on that pole.

Do they take it down before dark or is this some sort of tradition I am unaware of? I would really like to know.

Also I believe a local company on 3rd Avenue South could have shown better taste by actually flying a Canadian Flag instead of this mockery.


As I was aimlessly driving around in the early hours of the morning it was quite difficult to actually find a Canadian Flag along Mayor Magrath Drive or even 3rd Avenue. The XXXXXX company's flag stood out amongst the very few I was able to spot, during the day I am sure they are more visible.

The worst kept Canadian Flag I found was by the XXXXXX motel around 11th Avenue and Mayor Magrath Drive on the West side of the street. The flag is dirty, ripped, and in terrible condition. It looks like a rotting plastic bag wrapped around a rusty tree branch and is definitely not in working order. I was pretty disappointed.

This link  suggested in my comment section refers to Government material about everything you would ever need to know about the Canadian Flag (yes I am always capitalizing flag after Canadian whether it is grammatically incorrect or not)





Sunday, November 7, 2010

XXXXXX Picks up a Hooker Downtown.

I just happened to be driving Eastbound on 5th Avenue South between 5th and 6th Street at around 7:30pm when I noticed this guy had pulled over and picked up the hooker that normally stands at the XXXXXX club, sometimes she is at the XXXXXX Hotel. So I followed him and less than a block later he pulled into the XXXXXX drive through ATM downtown. I took a quick snap and pulled around onto Fourth Avenue and waited for him to get his cash to pay the hooker. I followed briefly but did not want it to seem obvious that I was following him so I basically backed off. Licence plate number XXXXXX.

I hope you had a good time buddy. I bet your wife catches you when she finds out she has an STD and has been faithful to you.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Thanks Doctor X

Some legal requirements for operating a taxi. Basically about my adventure to the medical clinic.....so feel free to skip over this post to something you might find more interesting....


So I walked into a local licencing agency in town and asked about what I needed to do to renew my licence, more specifically I asked whether or not my last medical evaluation was valid. I assumed that it was because according to the Ministry of Transportation in Alberta, and for my age category, I am only required to obtain a medical examination every five years and the last time I had one done was three years ago. So I assumed it was valid.

The licence bureau (not a government agency) said it must be within six months of renewal and I was upset because that is not what the Minister of Transportation has set as the requirement. They legally should have been able to renew my licence for two additional years.

So I went to the walk in session at a local medical clinic (because I do not have a family doctor) and waited two hours while some woman's kids were giving her the hardest time of her life I imagine and people were coughing all over me. I was so anxious to get this process over with and must have read the Sports Illustrated I found cover to cover at least twice.

After earlier explaining my situation the receptionist they had basically classified my situation as an "Emergency". I felt like a complete idiot, even though I made sure that I was following the law, and not the requirements of the licencing business.

So anyway I finally get called in to see the Doctor and the Nurse gave me a short eye exam and asked me some questions while I waited for the doctor.

The doctor came shortly after and held his stethoscope (I believe) against the front and back of my chest while I breathed long breaths, he then laid me back and felt my stomach. He recommended a blood test but said it was not required. I was in a rush and declined.

Total time spent with the doctor: 3 minutes
Time spend in the waiting room: 1 hour 50 minutes.
Total cost for a medical examination for a professional operators licence: $75

Well during the 3-5 minutes I was with the Doctor I explained my situation and he told me I was good to go and not to worry about the money, he told me "consider it a gift".

I did consider it just that, he did not have to do that and I was fully expecting to pay the $75 as required. I was thankful and said that I appreciated his kindness very much and he printed me off the form and I went on my merry way.

I believe that perhaps he was sympathetic towards my current situation but I am never the less thankful to the Doctor who could have easily charged me $75, but did not.

I will not forget this act of kindness and will pass that on to someone else when I have that same opportunity.

Rollover at 6th Avenue South and 7th Street South


A CSI investigator photographs the interior of a Jeep after a rollover on 6th Avenue South late Friday evening. No information was immediately available and I suspect that the driver was turning left (Westbound) onto 6th Ave and struck the median at a high rate of speed and rolled over on its roof.



Some Early Weekend Randoms

I picked up a man and woman from a convenience store on the West side and drove them to the University. It was a normal trip and I thought nothing of it.

About half an hour later I was sent to the University and the same guy I had taken there gets in. I asked him how everything went and he said it went terrible. I pressed a little and asked why, he said that they were making out and getting ready to get their freak on when out of no where she puked all over him and passed out about five minutes later.

He said he had to use the dorm showers to take a shower. I tried my best not to laugh but could honestly not help myself. I apologized for laughing so hard and he said it was cool.

He mentioned that looking back on it that it was pretty funny and it would be a good story to tell his friends about. I guess they had become reacquainted at XXXXXX and she was studying to be an XXXXXX, which is beside the point.

...........................................

First time for everything..... I was sent on a trip to a South side pub at 3:00am a couple of days ago and this guy stumbles into the cab, out of no where, without a shirt on. The first thing he said was ``yeah I don`t have a shirt``, it was priceless. I inquired about what had happened to him and he really was not to sure, he thought that he had gotten into a fight with his friends and that his shirt had been ripped off in the process but he really could not be sure.

His pricey phone was also broken and he said he could only press send and call the previous called number which happened to be a friend in a different city. So this friend called his parents (also in a different city) and they had called our company to pick up their son. He was actually a really decent guy. I hope everything worked out for you man.

................................

So I was flagging outside of XXXXXX Thursday night (like every other cab driver) and this girl walks right past five-seven other cabs and decides to get in mine. The first thing I noticed were here giant tits flopping around in her low cut v-neck tank top. I honestly have no idea how she was able to keep those small soccer ball sized tits in that shirt and she barely did, regrettably.

The entire way to the West side she was hiccuping and burping, I actually thought that she was puking in her mouth and swallowing it, I asked her if she wanted me to stop but she said no.

Nothing really anything special just one that I remembered that peaked my interest I suppose.

...............................

I almost forgot about this one.....Unedited drunk bum at the carwash

So at the end of my shift a couple of days ago I went to clean the taxi and get fuel. As I was opening the wash bay at the XXXXXX on XXXXXX North a homeless guy was sleeping in the corner right where I opened the loud door, he jumped up and started yelling some yibberish, I yelled back "I am trying to wash the fucking car", at least I think I said that, I was absolutely shocked and even afraid. The guy started walking towards me and I backed off, got in the cab, locked the door, drove to the front and explained to the staff my situation, I was not expecting them to do anything about it but because he was likely long gone, I just wanted to let them to know what happened. A staff member immediately responded to my concern and we checked it out, it was almost fun at that point because at least I was not alone.

Also all the credit to that exact gas station. I would have to say that other than unforseeable errors (which most gas station experience), this station operates the most efficiently in Lethbridge and they have the best, most excellent, customer service. If at all possible I make the best effort to stop at XXXXXX in Lethbridge for anything that I may need while on the road.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Every Person Should View This - I Cried After Viewing

Halloween Weekend Randoms

Most decorated house I have seen in Lethbridge (8th Avenue North and Stafford Drive).


This weekend was pretty crazy for house parties and the bars were packed last night. I saw a lot of cool costumes and was a little disgruntled because I would have rather been partying than working. I remember one party on Friday night, I heard so many calls going out to the place and had been there a couple of times myself. So instead of going to flag at a bar I went to the house party to flag. I had a couple of flags out of the place on Mcgill Boulevard.

Tonight there were house parties all over the West side. Some of the places included Harvard Crescent X 2, Jerry Potts, Red Crow, Cayuga Place, Columbia Blvd, Peigan Court, just to name a few.

The XXXXXX was as busy as it gets on Friday night and the line was thick all the way down the stairs and into the lobby. Saturday night XXXXXX was lined up to the corner past the entrance to the XXXXXX Hotel. Most major bars were packed tonight with the exception of XXXXXX (at least from when I was there). I think XXXXXX has suffered the most since XXXXXX opened. I can't remember the last time I actually picked anyone up from XXXXXX, which is very unusual for a once busy nightclub. I dropped off a few people there tonight but did not pick up there once.

I think from about 1:00 to 3:00am I did not even make it to any of the bars along First Avenue because I was busy elsewhere, it would have been nice to at least check it out once during this time but that did not happen.


.........................................

Wednesday night I picked up a band from a local bar and took them back to their tour bus. They told me who they were and said they were off to Calgary then Edmonton but the bus driver had to stop because the fog was so thick. I said that I had heard of them and foolishly said "I think you guys were before my time", I think I might have offended these "has been" rockers who are approaching their 50's. I was definitely mistaken, when I came home I Googled them and found they were quite popular in the 80's and 90's and still continue to produce new music. They have sold over 30 million records in the United States alone, so they were a little more popular then I thought.

So later I picked up two others from the band and they were pretty cool, they said they were "dry" after crossing the boarder only a couple of hours earlier and someone helped them out. They offered to have me put on their list to come see them in Calgary or Edmonton this weekend but I had to work. The weird thing is I tried to find tickets for their concert and could not, but I do not doubt the legitimacy of who they were because the pictures on their website were them.

The two of them wanted me to come into their bus to get high but I flat out refused. (B.M. of P with T and R)

....................................................

A taxi was stolen from a local company on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning, apparently the thief had the spare keys some how. The car was recovered the next day (Thursday) on the North side with damage to the radio and radio antennae.

...................................................

When this guy got in tonight with his sister and friend I thought the blood and the black eye was part of his costume, apparantly not. He started going off about the "White Natives" on the Southside and how he encountered some random people on the street that were much younger then him and they got in a fight. He mentioned to the effect "I am glad that I am helping the future generations by cleaning up the pavement with my face".... he definately got beat up and was in such a great mood, I enjoyed his conversation (or ranting) very much. Likely the most memorable trip of my night.

.........................................

So I finally got my ticket in the mail for a parking violation at the University in September. My court date has been set for April.

I am also expecting a photo radar ticket from Wednesday night at the intersection of 5th Avenue South and Mayor Magrath Drive. I will show up in court and fight this ticket vigorously and with every resource I have. I was well aware of this speed trap for months prior to getting this ticket and must have driven through this intersection 1000 times. I am always careful to check my speed (so careful in fact I become distracted by watching my speed so intently instead of the potential pedestrians I might hit) because at night this camera is like a strobe light having caught literally thousands of speeding motorists since its inception a few months back.

I believe that I was going approximately 55-56km/hr in a 50km/hr zone. The radar has a +/- accuracy of approximately 1km/hr and due to the heavy fog that evening the weather could have potentially contributed to the inaccuracy of the system. Also a semi trailer was going through the intersection at the same time and speed as I was travelling and the light did flash twice. I plan to claim that the semi was the vehicle speeding and I was caught in the middle. Depending on whether the system is laser radar or Doppler radar, or another type this could have an effect on the case. I plan on asking the Crown Prosecutor for full disclosure of their case and the exact type of radar that was used to catch me. Assuming I was going 56km/hr in a 50 zone no police officer would ever have pulled me over for that speed and I feel like I, as well as many other citizens are being wrongfully persecuted and I feel personally violated by this system.

I have not yet received the ticket but I am pretty sure it is in the mail. Lets assume I lose the case (I give it a 50/50 chance, although I likely only have a 5 percent chance of beating the ticket) I plan on exhausting as much of the court systems resources as I can in order to defend myself. By the time I potentially have to pay the $100 ticket who has come out on top? Lets say the trial lasts 15 minutes (not unreasonable); estimated costs to the court system...

Judge $25
Crown Prosecutor $18
Court Typist $7.50
Guy who operated the radar system (the person I have the pleasure to cross-examine) $7.75
Other miscellaneous costs (including security, disclosure, heating, lights, etc) $45 
Total estimated cost to try me $103.25

I plan on also submitting some sort of scientific evidence and even a graphical representation of the scene as evidence so it would not be unreasonable for the trial to last 30 minutes...... $103.25 X 2 = $206.50

............

As a side note related to the above.... had the city installed the ISD radar devices at every intersection in Lethbridge I would estimate that I had driven through maybe 500 controlled intersections tonight X $100 per ticket =$50,000.

Serenity now, serenity now....

I so wanted to dump some appliances here after seeing this sign.


Saturday night was pretty much comparable to New Years Eve as far as business goes. The night started off slow, I did not get a trip until 1 hour after I started my shift and quit an hour early but still had a nice total at the end of my shift. I think the odometer in the car I was driving was out of whack because I know I did not drive 800km's. $53 in gas tonight.

Have a safe and happy Halloween.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Random Stats + The Puker

I was compiling the content of this blog into a text only document for a certain "project" I have agreed to become involved with and was somewhat surprised that I have written over 61,000 words in over 130 word document pages.

Also until recently Blogger has not included a spell check application and I was more than surprised at how many spelling mistakes I have made.

...............................


Ok the puker... So I was sent for this guy at XXXXXX on Saturday night and I thought I was looking for a woman because the name was transgender I suppose. So he tells me where he is going and I proceeded to that location, the conversation was limited and I knew this guy was wasted (he had a hard time actually opening the door to the car and was stumbling hardcore). Upon arrival at his requested destination I asked "is this your place?".

I was stopped at the time and turned on the light and looked over my shoulder. It was as funny as it gets, this guy had puked and was holding it in his mouth (hold your lips closed and blow air into your mouth, that is how it looked). I am glad he had contained his puke in his mouth. I guess he could not tell me to stop sooner because his mouth was full. Thanks buddy for keeping it in. Once we stopped he opened the door....let it all out ....paid me and went on his merry way.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Random Pictures....

Thank you Miss L for your suggestion (more less) for more photos. I enjoy taking pictures in and around Lethbridge.... so here you go, click on any photo to enlarge.
















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