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



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.


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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)

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.
















Saturday, October 23, 2010

Slapped in the Face.......... What a Bitch

I picked up three Americans from XXXXXX on Thursday night (early Friday Morning), one female and two males.

The woman sat in the front with me and the two males sat in the back. This woman was drunk but seemed ok, she was asking a lot of questions and was touching me a little bit too much for comfort.

I learned they were from Montana and staying at the XXXXXX Campground. They were not of legal age to drink in Montana so they came up to Lethbridge to party.

She was trying to get me to speak French and did not believe me when I told her I don't speak French. I asked her if she spoke Spanish, she tried but failed miserably.

It was a normal trip until BAM! Out of no where she slapped me hard in the face while I was driving. I was shocked and didn't know what to do. I mean there may have been other times where I deserved a good slap (maybe) but I did absolutely nothing to deserve it whatsoever.

So I slammed on the brakes and asked "What the fuck was that, do you want to get off here, don't fucking touch me again".

We were almost at the campground so I continued driving in utter disbelief about what just happened. She kept saying she was sorry and wanted me to forgive her. It was absolutely uncalled for and I said I would not forgive her.

Looking back on the trip the only reason that I can think of why she would slap me like that was just to see how I would react. The guys in the back really never said a word the entire trip. At the campground she continued asking me to forgive her and I would not. The guys were pulling her away from the taxi as I refused her apology.


It was not as bad as getting punched in the face.....http://canadiantaxi.blogspot.com/2009/01/punched-in-face.html

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Weekend Randoms

I picked up this guy out in XXXXXX (at a bar). He says he is going to show me his ID, which he does. He takes his XXXXXX Status card from his wallet and shows me. I asked him "what do I need to see that for?" He says "oh, just so you know I won't rape you or anything". I said "I sure fucking hope not are you kidding me?", at least when he opened his wallet I got a glimpse of some cash but what a weird way to start a cab ride.

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I flagged this woman from XXXXXX Friday night and she said "I only went to the bar with $40 and now I have $80, how did that happen?" I asked "were you giving hand jobs on the side?" before she could respond I told her I was just kidding and apologized, we had a good laugh.

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I picked up this very nice looking woman from XXXXXX and she says disappointingly "I can't believe I couldn't find anyone to come home with me tonight". I looked at her and before I could say something really stupid she corrected herself and said that she meant her girlfriends, yeah it definitely got my mind racing dirty and I would have missed the turn unless she had corrected me.

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I drove this woman and her mother home from the bar, the young woman asked me to wait while she put her very drunk mother to bed, after that she was going to XXXXXX. I waited and waited and started getting impatient. I went up to the door and no answer, I assumed she must have passed out because she never came out to go to the bar, or even pay me for that matter. I had this pair earlier in the eveningt and I was sure she did not intentionally try to rip me off. I mean I had her credit card number from earlier and I knew where she worked.

I flagged a guy from XXXXXX later on and he says "I want to go to such and such address". It was the same address where this girl lived, I never said anything about it until we got to the place and I asked him to tell her that I was going to come back and collect my $20 another day. He decided to pay for her earlier fare, which saved me the trouble of tracking her down.

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Thanks for the head rub ladies, it was a nice touch.

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It was cool that you gave me a kiss on the cheek when you got in and were "playing" around with me but what was with the straw?  That was kind of weird.

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You and your friend each have one small child and you clearly have another on the way (unless you have some sort of giant tumor growing in your stomach) yet you were still planning on sharing a 40 of Polar Ice Vodka. How do you spell Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

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I Thought He Looked Familiar.... Awkward

I was dropping off a trip at XXXXXX downtown when four people flagged me and I immediately recognized the guy that sat in the front seat. He was wearing a suit and tie and looked sharp, which is beside the point.

I told him I thought I knew him from somewhere but could not remember where. He didn't say much but I really thought I recognized his voice, so I pressed further....  "Did you go to the University here?",  he said "no but I went to the College". I asked "what did you take there?", he responded "I took the Criminal Justice program, a lot of good that did me (sarcastically)".

I asked him "do you work out at the jail?", and he responded "no". I then asked him "are you a Police Officer?" and he said "yes".

I thought about it for a couple of minutes and then I realized how I knew him... He had arrested me on a previous occasion and I told him so. He said he didn't remember but I am unsure about that.

I said it was all good and told him not to worry about it. Here I was driving a Police Officer home from a night out that had arrested me on a previous encounter. Yes it was very awkward, mostly because I doubted that he did not remember the incident. Even if he did remember I appreciated his professionalism, even while off duty.

Note: Although I was arrested and taken into custody I was never charged with any crime and it was nothing serious. The Officer seemed to be completely sober and was a complete gentleman.

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As a side "post" I would like to say that I am sick and tired of people bashing the Lethbridge Police. I hear it all the time about how much people hate the Police (as if it is the cool thing to do). Of course you may not have been happy with getting some meager ticket or them even being in your presence, but when it comes down to an Emergency situation I am sure you would be more than happy that the Police responded to HELP YOU, I know I have been.

Not only do they risk their lives every single day that they put on the uniform, they do it for YOUR PROTECTION and the welfare of the community.

The Police are here for the protection of the community as a whole and when I hear that you are 100 percent anti-Police I become convinced that you are involved in some sort of violent criminal activity.

I would like to say that I have not always been happy with the Lethbridge Police but the fact is they really do a decent job.

I suppose "decent" could mean a variety of things. I know there are a few areas that they could work on (from personal observations) and there are areas that the Lethbridge Police excel at.

I think my "side post" has gone a little too far to one side, which is in support of the Police.

Monday, October 4, 2010

My Comment on Being Fired

This really had nothing to do with the taxi company. There has never been any mention of which cab company I worked for, EVER.
Unless you really look hard for the smallest detail in a couple of older videos you would never be able to tell  which company I worked for unless you had inside knowledge of the radio dispatch system that was used.

Other than that I have never once hurt the reputation of the taxi company. NOT ONCE. As a matter of fact I would say that I enhanced the reputation of the company through my regularly courteous dealings with their customers.

The following are some of the drivers I would have thought would have been fired before I was, so I assumed what I did was nothing compared to some of their activities...



I find it kind of humourous that the driver who was investigated by the police for touching a mentally handicapped woman still has a job. It was basically proven that he did touch her inappropriately but charges were never laid because apparently she had consented.

Another driver was apparently rehired after supposedly drinking on the job.

Another driver uses a radio frequency scanner to intercept other companies trips and to try to flag where a call for another company has come in (which is illegal in Canada).

What about the guy who pissed on the drivers seat of the car after his shift as an act of revenge for the previous driver not cleaning the car. He still has a job.

Not to mention half the drivers interact with the local prostitutes on a regular basis (well maybe less than half but a fair amount), one such driver was found guilty in court for soliciting a prostitute, he still has a job.

One of the drivers I worked with had three prior drinking and driving convictions and still continues to drink and drive. Although he doesn't drink and drive on the job, he still has a job.

Most of our dispatchers are drug or alcohol dependant addicts.

One such dispatcher was a former Police officer with the City of Lethbridge, he was in charge of Crime Prevention before being found guilty of scamming the Crime Stoppers reward system years ago and taking kick backs from "bogus" informants.

I could say so much more but am reluctant and hesitant because I enjoyed working with many of the drivers at my former place of employment, there were only a select few I could not stand, and the feeling was mutual I am sure. Basically the child molester, not going to name names, the drunk that called in sick 3 out of 5 shifts a week with some random excuse, the old XXXXXX guy who is married and into the prostitutes (proven in court for solicting). Where was I going with this...

My point is I took a ten second video of a sober woman consenting to showing her boobs on film basically just for the fun of it and Bam, I am fired. No warning, no notice, no nothing.

I guess I should have started drinking on the job and smoking crack while getting blow jobs from prostitutes on slow nights and molesting handicapped women on the busy days while pissing in the taxi at the end of my shift. At least I could sleep comfortably knowing I still had a job.

Comments

All comments are welcomed.


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