Emergency Call

Its not every day that you get an urgent call to get you to the hospital but I felt really sorry for the two young boys I picked up this week when they asked me to get them to the hospital casualty department as quick as I could.

They started telling me their story of how they were a happy family, just the two brothers and their mother when all of a sudden without any warning whatsoever that the mother suffered a stroke. Apparantly she is only 53 years old I was told and the two boys were quite upset not knowing what was going to happen. I got them to the casualty department and wished then the best of luck and hoped that things weren't too bad but I couldn't help but think afterwards how lucky we all are.

Someone once said to me that theres always someone worse off than yourself. We take everything for granted and one day it could happen to anyone of us and from that day on your life and the lives of the people around you are changed forever.

All I can say to you is enjoy life while you can as you never know whats round the corner., I felt really saddened for these two young lads as there life will now change forever, and from such a young age.

They did tell me that whatever happens that they love their mum and will do whatever they can to look after her.

If only more families were as caring for each other like this. There's too many people out there that think of only themselves and only visit family as and when they want something. Life's too short. Give someone close a hug today.. Go on.. do it right now.. Tell them that you love them. Just do it and see the smile on their face.

After all, this is life. We only get one chance at it. Its not a rehearsal, its the real thing ...

So live it........

Bread and Gutter

This week I picked up a passenger who had been to a local supermarket to buy supplies to sell in his own shop. He loaded the car with numerous goods which included about 15 loaves of cheap supermarket bread which he was to then sell in his own shop for a bigger profit.

Whilst unloading the bread at his shop, one of the loaves of bread spilt open and about 4 or 5 slices landed in the gutter. I would have expected the passenger to throw this loaf away but to my dismay he just calmly picked up the bread, put it back in the wrapper and re-sealed it ready to place on a shelf in his shop for sale.

He didn't seem to think it was wrong and didn't seem to care as all he was interested in was the taxi fare which was 20 pence higher than what it should have been because he asked me to wait whilst he went into an off licence to by alcohol for his shop.

He also pointed out to me that I shouldn't charge him for waiting as he was a regular customer but I pointed out to him that it was my living and if he wanted me to wait then he has to pay for it. He expects very cheap taxis but sells his goods at raised prices and moaned at me over the fare costing an extra 20 pence.

Compensation

You may well remember that I mentioned that I had an incident occur on Boxing Day last year and the case went to court in January this year with the courts awarding me £100 compensation...

Well, finally, after 10 months of waiting I have received my first instalment of £20 which is being paid monthly. The first payemt arrived this week so I guess I will have to wait til the end of March 2010 for the final payment.

I really cant see the court awarding compensation when the defendant doesnt even miss it and can pay it at £5 per week.

If you missed the original post then take a look HERE

Taxi smash

A collision between a police car and a local taxi at the junction of Abbey Road and Holker Street.
The local paper reports as

A police van and a dark green Peugeot 306 taxi collided in the middle of the road. Police say investigations are underway and it is not yet known how the collision occurred.

An officer said the police van may have been either on its way to or returning from a job, and it is not yet known whether its sirens were in use.
An additional police van was also called to the scene, and an officer kept traffic moving freely by diverting cars around the scene.

Thats Just Fine...

As taxi drivers who carry disabled passengers it is not always easy to find somewhere for these passengers to get in or out of our vehicles due to obstacles such as double yellow lines or cars parked on both sides of narrow roads.

What would you do? go on, answer honestly. Would you park as near to the disabled persons house as you can so as to make it easier for them even if this meant blocking a road for a few minutes or being on a double line or would you park somewhere where there is a parking space and let the disabled person walk back and you carry any shopping for them. What would you do. Lets hear some answers.

OK, so its illegal to park on a double yellow line but you would have thought that some local officials would give a little leeway to our disabled customers but in the story below, this doesnt seem to be the case. It just seems like the usual money grabbing councils are interested only in your cash and even if you have a right of appeal the chances are that your voice wont be heard. Our local council is no exception. In fact I think they are all like this.

The story is below. Double click to enlarge

Oh and on a similar note. What if the person you are picking up is not disabled. Should you park a few metres away and make them walk to your car or will they not come out the house as they cant see you parked outside.

Sorry, we don`t accept Cash.....

This week I have to submit my details for my CRB check renewal. For those not familiar with this, we need to have a CRB (Criminal records Bureau) check every 3 years to make sure that we are what the council deems as "Fit and proper" people for the job.

In all honesty I wouldnt like to think that any of my family were being picked up by a convicted killer or rapist so in my eyes the CRB check is a good thing.

However, what I do not agree with is the cost of £36 to the Town Hall and they don`t accept cash. Payment by credit/debit card or cheque and the procedure to make this payment is as follows.

First you go into the Town Hall and see the "Floor Walker" who takes your name and issues you with a ticket. You then sit and wait til its your turn and then they realise they cant deal with it and then ring someone from taxi licensing to deal with it.

After someone from licensing has seen you then you need to pay the fee and to do this the taxi licence person gives you a little slip of paper and you have to get another ticket from the floor walker and queue all over again just to pay.

Today, handing in my CRB check and paying for it took near on 35 minutes.

And these are the people that boast that the new payments system, speeds things up.

Air and Water

It seems that Tesco have started charging the motorist for air and water. Well not exactly water but it seems like water, it looks like water but it has a very small hint of screen wash in it and the charge for this, £1 for an 80 second squirt of the stuff. Hopefully 80 seconds is enough to fill an empty window washer tank.

If you just want air for your tyres then it costs you 20p



The photo above is of the machine and closer look at it shows a pipe sticking out the side. Pressing a button on the pipe will send water coming out of it. This is free but the pipe is fixed so there is no way you can put it in your radiator.

Its the last time I go to Tesco for my air and water when others are supplying it free. Even the screenwash is cheaper to buy and mix with water

Double click the image to view full size

Fixed Fares

This week I picked a fare up from the Town Centre and took him into the nbext town and aksed him for the £6 fare. He paid it but started asking questions like.

That's extortionate, we`ve only just come up the road?
Is it a higher rate on a Sunday?
Why do you charge so much?

The fact that he said we had only just come up the road made me calculate the mileage to around just short of 4 miles. I explained this to him but he said it seemed like a few hundred yards.

The guy spoke with a broad irish accent and told me that where he came from that the same journey would cost him around 75 pence.

Is there any taxi firm out there that has a minimun rate this low?? speak up...

Inflation

Today, I picked a fare up from the local hospital. It was a lady who`s battery had gone flat on the car and had got a lift to the hospital but needed a taxi back home.

At the start of the journey she asked me how much it would cost and I estimated around £3.00p to which she exclaimed that it was too expensive and I must have got it wrong as she had never paid that amount to get home before.

I asked her what she normally pays and she said about £1.80p. This had me a little baffled as I knew that £1.80 would only get her part way to her house so I started digging a bit deeper and decided to ask her when the last time she got a taxi was.

Her reply...... "I don't normally use taxis as I have my own car but last time I got one from the hospital to home must have been about 5 years ago or maybe longer"

Did she not realise that due to inflation, the rising costs of running a car that taxi fares would have increaded in that periood of time

Seems to me she was stuck in some sort of timewarp and expected to pay 2003 prices.

Another One Bites the Dust

I got a call recently to pick up a fare at the Kings pub at Hawcoat in Barrow In Furness. When I got there it turned out that one of the men I was picking up was Barrows Ex Mayor councillor Jack Richardson who was quite the worse for wear. As he tried to climb into the back seat he fell off the pavement and landed on his backside and had to be helped into the car by his friend.

Councillor Richardson was so drunk that it wasn't easy to understand his slur of words as he tried to explain where he wanted to go to. Eventually we made it to his house then carried on the journey with the other passenger in the car.

So why was our ex mayor so drunk that he couldnt stand up or speak? Was he preparing himself for a council meeting? No.. Nothing like that as his friend explains.


For a number of years now the councillors son has been running the village pub at Hawcoat which is actually a nice quiet pub with its regular local yokels from the village visiting their local hostelry most evenings. Now this pub is one of the oldest in the town and a little bit of history research tells me that it was built in 1860 by a Mr King who then applied for Cliff Lane (the street that the pub is on) to be renamed King Street. The application was refused so he named the pub the Kings Arms and it was granted a full license in 1874



So why is our councillor drunk?? Because it was to be the final night of the pub being open.
135 years that pub has been serving beer and its now the end of an era. Another pub bites the dust and possibly due to the credit crunch.

Unfortunately the pub will not be handed over to a new tenant as the brewery have stated that the pub isn't profitable and it will no longer be a pub.

I guess it will be converted into houses or flats like other pubs in the town have been.

Some of the regulars that live in the village never see many people and are quite elderly. Some of these people use the pub to meet up and socialise. What will they do now? The village pub is dying out. Not many left in this area.

So now you know, Councillor Richardson was supporting his son and enjoying a last drink with friends in a pub which has been home to many people in the village and very soon will just be a fond distant memory