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



Sunday, January 30, 2011

Special Mention

A shout out to M.C. in the CJ program at the College. It was a pleasure to meet you.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Passed Out Cold

I was sent to pick up a woman from a bar at 4:00am and I assumed that she was staff because I could not imagine why anyone else would still be at a bar at 4:00am (After all was said and done I doubt she was staff). Upon arrival I waited for a few minutes and this absolutely gorgeous woman starts walking toward the cab in her very revealing and tight fitting blue miniskirt.

How do you describe "insta-boner". Not the best term but I see and meet a lot of women and this girl was off the charts, 15 out of 10.

So she got in the cab and I said hello. She seemed cool at first and was really trying hard to pull her skirt down to cover more of her legs. I acted relaxed about it and as much as I wanted to check her out more than I already had I was looking at the bar mostly because she said she was waiting for her friends to come out.

She started talking some gibberish about having to take care of people in 8 years or something. She asked me what I thought about it and I just agreed not really knowing what she was talking about.

So we are waiting and waiting for her friends to come out from the bar and I was getting a little impatient but to be honest with a hot sexy woman like that sitting beside me I gave her friends all the time they needed. I was trying to make small talk with this woman and it wasn't really going that well because everything she said was complete nonsense. Our conversation was not long and I noticed that she was starting to get comfortable and sleepy. I really thought that her friends were still coming out of the bar.

I am not going to mention any of the conversation with my dispatcher here but there was some failure in communication likely due to equipment problems.

I finally figure out that no one else is coming out of the bar and at this point the woman is passed out cold. I tried to wake her up by talking to her, grabbing her knee and shaking it, etc. I knew she was pretty much done at this point and I was holding her head and gave her a couple of soft slaps in the face and there was no response what so ever.

I wasn't sure what to do at this point because she never even said where she was going so I had nothing to go on. At this moment all I wanted to do was to help her get home but I had no way of doing that at all.

I had no choice but to go to the Police Station and ask for help. They responded quickly and began by shaking her just as I had done with no response. They made sure that she was at least breathing and opened one of her eyelids and shone a light in her eye, still no response. The police performed another quick test by placing a pen in her hand and squeezed her hand, still no response.

They called for an Ambulance and they arrived quickly as well. I am sure it is nothing that they have not seen before but it was a first for me that I was not able to wake someone up that has passed out. While the Police and EMS crew were trying to wake her up once again an EMS member said from a distance "If you don't wake up you are going to be in a diaper in 20 minutes". I thought it was a strange thing to say considering that she was clearly unresponsive. Perhaps it is the fail safe method to make sure that she is not faking it. She wasn't faking it.

The officer had mentioned that she may have been drugged at the bar. I would not doubt that at all.

So they sort of had a hard time getting her out of the cab and she was at least somewhat moving a little at this point, there was a lot of attention on her. She was barely moving and I mentioned to the response team that I did not want her puking in the taxi and was basically suggesting to get her the fuck out of the cab because she started leaning over into middle of the car.

They got her out of the car and into the ambulance.

I would like to say that this never happened and that I got this woman home safely. Looking back on it I think I did just that and I had no choice but to do what I did. I hope she wasn't raped or anything like that inside the bar and she may have been lucky to get a guy like me that had zero intentions of harming her in any way.


Friday, January 28, 2011

The Stone Opens January 26th, 2011

My opinion/comments.





The Stone opened this past Wednesday and was full to capacity throughout the evening. As a cab driver I hear about many businesses opening before they actually do (especially bars, restaurants, etc.) and I knew relatively nothing about this one until the day they opened.

The former Blarney Stone has been closed for about a year now because of ownership problems and in my opinion unwise business practices which I have written about before.

I am very happy to hear that The Stone is under new ownership. And when I found out they are truly new owners, and not a random non-arms-length transaction between friends and family I was quite thrilled to be honest (although I have some doubts about this because I am unsure of one of the former owners interest in the bar, I have to question whether or not he is an employee or a "stakeholder"), but who cares right.

Either way I believe that this bar will prosper. I walked inside the bar tonight during my shift and gave myself a good tour of the bar. There are definitely some changes that have happened but it has been so long since I have been in the bar that I just can't be sure what was there before and what was changed.

I believe that they have replaced the flooring throughout some of the bar and have added a large step up dance floor/stage area. The tabletops seem to have been replaced (and/or altered) and the booth's reupholstered. There are a couple of new games to play in the bar and they still have the two pool tables  near the kitchen and patio area.

Other than the kitchen and bathrooms I walked throughout the entire bar and the one thing I noticed the most was how clean everything seemed to be and the place looked much nicer and a little less dark than I remembered it, maybe thanks to the big screen TVs and large projector screen in the middle, as you might have remembered it from before.

The bar is right in the middle and is very large (maybe 60 feet+ approximately) and give full viewing pleasure of the game you are interested in. Maybe even the cute bartender. They also have a shooter bar closer to the entrance than the bar (for the busier nights).

I believe that I was the only patron in the bar during this time (11:30pm) and I was greeted immediately by the bartender, I walked around a bit and another woman that worked there appeared out of the kitchen and asked if I needed anything/ a drink . Without any advertising or anything that I have heard about I was surprised this Wednesday was a complete success, I wonder how they did that exactly and if they relied on word of mouth or something else.

I also did not see the menu but I am sure that has changed also. I guess I will have to check it out on a night off to see how things have really changed.


Next Thursday they are going to bring in a mechanical bull (and apparently for every Thursday after that) so come check it out. I am sure you must be interested in a change of scenery. I saw that bull tonight (Feb 3rd) and it was huge. I asked how much the bull weighed and it's handler told me around 800 pounds.



As I was looking over the menu tonight (February 3rd) I noticed and have heard about their Hot Wings Challenge. Apparently after signing a waiver you must eat just 6 Hot Wings and lick your fingers clean within a 15 minute time frame, after that you must wait five minutes before having a drink of water. If you are successful you get a t-shirt and a free beverage and if you lose the challenge you get your picture hung on the wall of shame.

I wonder if it would have been a better idea to get your picture on the wall of success for completing the challenge.


Doodlespeil Curling Tournament

I spoke with one of the organizers of the Doodlespeil Curling Tournament and have learned that it is basically a bunch of seismologists that get together to curl and network with each other, while having a few drinks. They used to hold this tournament in Banff until the rink had some problems so for the past two years or so they have been coming to Lethbridge.


It is definitely an influx of business to Lethbridge because most people were staying in hotels and going to restaurants and taking cabs, etc.

I thought it was interesting that people were walking around downtown at 1:00 am carrying their curling brooms around. I flagged a few folks from a local hotel and they had their brooms with them and what not and I assumed they were going to the curling rink, well I was wrong because I guess they were planning on going to the strippers before their game, awesomeness. I want to be a part of this curling tournament/get away.
I guess they had some problems last year getting cabs so they made arrangements with some local companies to provide additional service for them.

I remember being sent to a popular bar in the early morning hours and after I saw a few curlers waiting for a ride at the curling rink I basically said fuck the bar and helped these curlers get to their hotel. They definitely brought me a lot of business this weekend and I hope they come back to Lethbridge next year.



Sunday, January 23, 2011

Random Pictures...

I have no idea about this picture, I must have taken it a while back and it seems to be a random car accident.


Someone crashed into the bus stop at 6th Avenue and 5th street.


The two darker photos, such as the one below, are of a porcupine that was resting in a tree at the University of Lethbridge. A better photo of a porcupine can be seen here http://www.lethbianlove.ca/2011/01/17/look-at-this-prick/.
















As I was washing the car blood starting coming from the tire and it appeared as though a liver popped out of one of the tires. I was thinking "what the fuck", I looked around the wash bay and there was blood everywhere. Then one of the gas station employees came to the bay and told me to watch out for the porcupine because I guess the previous person to use the car wash had hit a porcupine. It was pretty disgusting and I took a few quick pictures.
I hope it was not the same porcupine that I saw at the University earlier this week.



Friday, January 21, 2011

Thank You

Thanks again to the two guys who helped me get unstuck on Columbia Boulevard last night, by Cash XXXXXX's place. Although I was not stuck that bad I would have had to start digging myself out had you not offered a push, thanks again.

Here is a quick drawing of the scene because I clearly have too much time on my hands.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Not Sure About This One, I May Remove It.

So I met this girl the other day, through a hooker acquaintance. We were chatting and it was really some weird conversation. After a considerable amount of time she mentioned that she had tried to kill herself earlier in the week and that she was being charged with assault after biting one of the nurses in the psych ward.

She asked me if I wanted to see her bruises and I said "sure why not", so she began to show me literally every bruise on her entire body of where the restraints were holding her down. The epoxy remnants from the tape to hold the intravenous needle in place was still on her arm so I figured she was fresh back on the street (not that she was homeless).

I spent over an hour (maybe two) with this woman and we were just hanging out more than anything. She was very interesting and I have to say that I really liked her, or maybe I enjoyed the conversation and felt somewhat sympathetic. Either way it was definitely an experience in itself just being with her.

So I took her to her apartment and she mentioned that the police had "raided" her apartment days earlier. I assumed it was for drugs because she said she was a XXXXXX but it became apparent that it was in an effort to save her life.

I have never done this before but this woman had gained my trust, and the feeling was mutual I am sure. She asked me if I wanted to see what the police had done to her apartment and I did want to see, so I went with her into her apartment and it was a complete disaster area. There was stuff everywhere and everything was turned over and the place was in complete shambles, as she was showing me around her place it was hard to find a place to step that was actually floor and I even broke a couple of things that were on the floor. I am somewhat sure that her appartment must have been in disrepair even before the police arrived because it was pretty bad.

At one point during our visit she decided to go to the door and lock it and put the dead bolt in place, this made me a little uneasy because it seemed unnecessary at the time and I was thinking "what is she thinking?".

So she showed me where the police had kicked in her bathroom door and the door handle was missing and the entire scene was just completely fucked up. The light switch was missing as was the light fixture on the ceiling. I was starting to wonder what I was doing in this place but it was really something else and I was intrigued. She seemed more than enthused to show me around.

Like I mentioned she said she was a XXXXXX and she showed me her escape ladder if "shit ever hit the fan", she opened her apartment window and took the screen off before tossing this 15 foot chain ladder out the window. It was loud and I think it hit the neighbors window below us. The neighbors in the next building were starting to watch us so she pulled up the ladder and I closed the window and the blinds.

I guess she decided now was a good time to change clothes and she turned her back to me and did exactly that. I was starting to believe that this woman had brought me up there to try to seduce me but seriously there was literally no where for that to happen because like I said there was stuff everywhere and her bed was covered with random shit including a full cookware set still in the box. Also I never would have done anything sexual with this vulnerable woman, I was acting as a friend at this point.

She opened a pack of cheap bondage restraints and strapped them around her wrists while trying to get them to stick to the wall, we could not get them to stick, enough about that.

Anyways, I helped her load some of her stuff into my car and I really believe that she was planning on just abandoning this place.

I really hope that if I ever see her again that she is doing better than she is now.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Random...

Long story short (with as little detail as possible).

I picked up a known prostitute from the downtown area the other day and she was with three guys.

They told me where they were going and had to stop at a bank machine on the way.

While the two guys were using the machine to withdraw a fairly large amount of cash the hooker and another guy were conspiring to rob these two other guys and told me of their plan. I really wanted no part of it but it was already in place at this point.

So the two guys gave the hooker their money (very hesitantly), presumably to buy drugs and as soon as she was in that apartment building I knew she had succeeded in taking these guys. Her accomplice was still with the two other guys and I at this point.

He decided to get out of the car to try to find her after a few minutes and then it was just me and the two guys she had only recently told me she was trying to fuck over.

So there I was sitting with two guys that were starting to become very concerned that they had been had. I knew they were fucked over and I was just patiently waiting for them to figure it out. They finally did and they were pissed off and I don't blame them at all.

I have so much more with this story but I really have already said enough.

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

I guess I could mention that during the trip she offered me a "free fuck" just so I could see how good she is. I gracefully declined her offer, mostly because I am not into that sort of thing with the hookers and I would never pay for something like that.

Even though it was "free" I do have morals and prefer to be STD free. Also on occasion she likes to spurt off peoples names that she has fucked for cash and often times I know these people and I do not believe that there is any way that she would have had any inclination that I might know some of the people whom she has fucked for cash, during this trip she mentioned a few random names and I knew two of them, both married, seemingly happily in my opinion but obviously not if you are paying for a hooker to fuck you in your taxi and or your home.

I would like to believe her every word but the fact is I do not. She could be going around town saying that she fucked me for all I know. I just find it particularly strange that she mentioned a couple of names that she could not have known that I knew, it was strange and I have to say that I do believe her.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

You Have Had Too Many Drinks When.......

I pick you up at a downtown bar and your friends are helping you into the cab because you can hardly stand on your own.

This was the only time I heard you speak the entire trip when you mentioned to the effect "hey are you coming over to party" to his friends while they were helping him into the car.

So his friends get him in the car and were asking him to tell me his address, he mentioned he was good to go and his friends went back to the outside entrance of the bar.

I turned around and asked this guy where he was going and what his address was. I was looking at him and he was definitely in his own world at this point and could not provide me with his address when I asked for it, a few times. It got old fast and I pulled back into the parking stall and put on the interior light, at least to try to get him to fucking wake up or whatever, but more less to let his friends know that this trip is going no where fast.

So one of his work buddies comes up to my window and asks me what is going on, I mentioned "I have been asking him address and he has not said a single word to me", so his friend opens the back door and manages to find the guys wallet, he found the guys id and told me the address. My next question for his friend was "does he have $20 bucks in there". The guys friend ended up giving me $20 from his own pocket to get his friend home. Also I am sure the guy would have been able to pay me but it was a good question to ask at the time because he was fucked up.

So I now know where this guy lives and have some cash to take him there.

Once we arrived at his residence I was seriously hoping his friend had told me the correct address from his ID and I wished that I had seen his address myself because when we arrived at the place I yelled "Is this your house, we are here, is this your place, etc." He seemed very confused and said nothing but his body language suggested that he did not want to go here and just wanted to sleep in the taxi. FUCK THAT.

This guy looked bewildered and I thought I was not at his house, he was literally non responsive but still functioning the entire trip. I turned on the interior lights and asked (yelled) "is this your house, this is where your friends told me to take you".

I was looking right at him and it was almost like he was passed out with his eyes still open and he was still moving. It was really something else, this guy was like a zombie.

So the time is 12:30 am.

After repeated attempts to get this guy moving out of the cab I got pissed off (within reason). I went up to the door where his friends told me to take this guy and I rang the door bell a few times until a woman appeared in the doorway. I asked "Is that your husband in the taxi", she responded "I am not sure but he is not home yet". I told her that he was confused and I needed her help.

She came out shortly afterwards and convinced him to get out of the car and we both helped him into the house. For everything that I did for this guy (all the while being paid I suppose) he would not stop his loud farts while we were helping him into the house. Even though we were outside I just felt disgusted while holding this guys sweaty armpit in my hand and listening to him fart.

I have nothing against this guy and I am sure he is just a random normal guy that had a couple to many. I feel that I performed my job very well in this situation.

Not really sure if this applies here but I just can not resist....   To the wife, at least he came home to you, some guys do not.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Years!

Last night went pretty smooth all things considered. Most people were in good spirits and I enjoyed working last night. It was not as busy as Halloween for me most likely because there were more cabs on the road and the earlier part of my night was pretty slow.

Overall I had a great night tonight and am actually surprised that I did not have anyone that was even close to puking, I figured there would have been a couple of close calls and brought a couple of trusty Zip-Lock bags with me just in case. I am glad no one had to use them.

I only had one trip where the older guy seemed out of it, but I really could not have asked for a better night.

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

I picked up this woman very early in the morning and she said she was from Calgary and it was a shock to her that I was XXXXXX and a lot younger than all of her cab drivers in Calgary. It also seemed to be a shock that I spoke English fairly well. After she got in the back seat she asked if she could sit in the front with me and I said it was OK.

Meanwhile she jokingly mentioned "I think you are cute but I don't want to get raped or anything like that", it was kind of a weird thing to say. I told her that she was safe and had nothing to worry about.

She got in the front and it was kind of awkward because she was almost in shock of my "appearance".

It must have been around 4:30am and I am sure that she had a few drinks but was not obnoxious in any way.

At one point she asked me if I wanted to pull over so we could chat and get to know each other. I don't believe that she was implying anything sexual and that she was just intrigued by me. To be honest I could have used a nice break and a good chat with this woman (which we were already having)  but I never really responded to her request (fuck your a dumb ass).

She invited me to come snowboarding with her today and I declined only because I have to work and I really was not exactly certain of her intentions/state of mind. Honestly she was a cool woman and I enjoyed that trip more than she will ever know, perhaps we both would have enjoyed it more had we stopped for our "conversation".

I have said it before and I will say it again, when it comes to this job I really do try to act professionally.

Comments

All comments are welcomed.


I will only delete comments that are spam/advertising or comments that are not written in English.