I have wings!

Today I logged my first 1.1 hours of flight time!!!

I was so nervous about it. I kpet thinking what if I don't like it? What if I vomit on Kathy (my instructor)? What if I pass out?

Once we got off the ground it was like I had discovered a part of my life that I was missing out on!!

It was AWESOME!!
I have to come up with some more change so I can fly again soon!!

Day 1 down

So I am sitting in the cab right now on day #2. The first day was
pretty good. My total fare was $219.5. So that means after the split
with A1 and paying for gas, I made $76.89 for the night. Not to bad,
a little under $10 an hour for having fun driving around interesting
people.

Well here is to hoping to a good day today!!

A-1 . . .A good thing!

So today I did my ride along with George in A-1 Taxi. This place is SOOOOOO much better than the last company I drove for. They are organized and have a lot of business! George is quite the interesting character too. He is enough of a character to justify an entire post later; for now I will just tell you that he has his masters in classical piano.

So here were the fares!

1. $47.40 + $4 tip - She went from her home (a trailer) to a hospital for some post surgery follow up. A pretty uneventful ride. She tried to wiggle out of the fare at the end of the ride saying that her insurance would cover it - - Sorry lady no luck.

2. $42.50 + $17.50 tip - a gentleman just flew in from Oklahoma. He wanted to go to the Fleetwood RV factory in Decatur. He was driving a $500,000 RV from Fort Wayne to Cedar Rapids, IA. The person that bought the RV paid for his flight, cab, gas, food and another $5000 to bring it back. WOW! I guess when you are buying a half a million dollar RV you can afford to pay someone to go get it. LOL He was an awesome guy and left a great tip!

3. $18.70 + $0.00 tip - This guy went from the airport to Swiss Re, a local insurance company. His destination gets invoiced for the fare and the passenger is just responsible for the tip. Unfortunantly he was dead silent the whole ride and then decided no tip would be needed!

LUNCH!!! As George was finishing up his Pumpkin Pie; Deb, the dispatcher, called for us to go pick up at the Brass Rail (a bar)

4. $8.70 + $10 tip - This kid was drinking at 2:30 in the afternoon alone in a bar. Hmmm :( Come to find out he just got home from Iraq and is having a bit of a problem adjusting to being back. He has family and friends that he is seeing but he says he is itching to get his 13 days of leave over with. He was a really nice, smart, level headed kid. Come to find out he is really into Hockey, I was sure to let him know that the Komets (Local minor league team) season opener was while he was in town. He seemed excited and said that was a good idea! We dropped him off at another bar, one that was in walking distance to his house, and said out goodbyes!

So, all that happened between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm
Total Fare : $117.30
45% take home : $52.78
Tips : $31.50

Total made : $84.28
minus gas : $20.00

Take home : $64.28 or $9.18 / hour

So that may not seem like much. But that is actually awesome for me. I only do it two days a week and I REALLY enjoy it. So for some extra spending cash, I would say A1 and I will be a perfect fit!

Exploding Cars!

Do you know there are those certain scenes in movies that you will never see in real life unless you live in Bolivia and your name is Jason Bourne? Well i have recently had two of those happen. I will state - No one was hurt in either of these accidents, so don't feel dirty for reading these tragic, yet unique to watch events!

So I saw a car blow up yesterday. It was straight out of a movie the whole front end just exploded into a ball of fire and smoke. I tried to take a picture as I was driving by, but unfortunately my phone has quite a lag on photo taking. So here is a nice picture of the inside of my car and a dump truck!

Seeing this reminded me of a couple weeks ago when I saw a person get hit by an elderly gentleman in a Cadillac. Yes his shoes did fly off.

A-1 Taxi here I come . . .

So I am now an employee of A-1 taxi.

They are MUCH more organized and have been around forever! I will be working a set schedule of Monday's noon-8pm and Saturdays 8am-4pm.

The first week is a little different. Next Friday I will be riding with Charles. Their company policy requires that I ride with one of their employees before going out on my own. Then on Saturday my first shift alone for A-1! A double! 8AM to midnight! YIKES! Assuming all goes well I will take up my regular shifts that Monday.

I am excited about this company. for a couple reasons:

1. They are the only one in town with airport access and they work out of the airport.
2. They have exclusivity contracts with a LOT of the business and hotels here in the Fort
   
3. When driving the cab I get to keep 45% of my fare up to $250 and 50% over the $250 mark, per shift. They also have a $4 fuel surcharge that I keep along with tips.
4. They also have Executive car service. If I am on duty and someone wants an executive car. I simply go switch cars and I make $10/hour plus a built in 15% gratuity for driving the executive car.
5. They also have limo's. When needed that is $10 an hour as well!

The final reason I am excited about them: They are at the airport. I know, your asking, "so what?" Well I have recently enrolled in Fort Wayne Flight Academy and will be getting my Pilot License. So the more time at the airport the merrier!!! But, I am ahead of myself. that is for another post!

Cabs and the Tiny City

So wow. At first I though, "I'm not going to have anything fun to write about in my blog, why bother?" Boy was I wrong.

So at some point in my recent life I thought

Gee, wouldn't it be fun to drive a cab?

I know, who says that? Well I did and I did it. I went through the time consuming process of getting my Fort Wayne Taxi License and Indiana Public Passenger Chauffeur License. I was a officially a cabbie. Except I had no cab to drive.

The hunt for a cab company in the Fort was easy. Their are only 4 companies in town. I opted to drive for the new kid in town, Yellow Cab Taxi. Outside of the founding owners I was the first driver that they hired! I thought it would be great in a new business with opportunity. Boy was I wrong!

9:00pm - I pick up the cab with the gas light on - I go and put $15 in the tank
10:10pm - I cruised looking for a fare, then I get a call to pick someone up at the 412 club downtown. I race to the scene and am there in 6 minutes. My fare is sitting outside the bar with an equally drunk woman talking about what is wrong with his life. Boy, I know that feeling.
After much work we got him in the front of my cab. He wants to go to the Marriott off of interstate 69, my first fare ever. A good one too at $15 or so. Off we go.
He is from Chicago and in town on business. His flight leaves in the morning. He was having a tough time talking so we listened to the radio and sped through the cool late summer air. On the way he decided to call his daughter. I am not sure why a 40 something old man would drunkenly call his daughter at 10:30 at night, but he did. And I am sure that his daughter told that story at school the next day.
10:50pm - We arrive at the Marriott and he hands me a credit card - - - Did I mention I was working for a new cab company? Yeah, cash only my friend. He stumbles inside to go to the ATM. I chit chat with the doorman while waiting. He comes back out and asks for a receipt - - -yeah, ummm . . . . "Well, I can hand write you one." I write out something that I guess sorta resembled a receipt, he hands me the $14.50 fare and a $10 tip
11:10pm - A woman that works at a liquor store called for a cab to be there at 11:10 - She comes out at 11:15 and hops in. She is a nice 30 something lady that tells me her car is in the shop and she would rather not walk home in the dark. It was a quick $5 fare, she gives me $6 and says goodnight.
11:30pm - Cruise the town. Hang out in front of all the strip clubs in town but no one is coming out.
2:00am - put in $5 of gas and put air in a deflating tire.
3:00am - last call in town, last chance to get another fare. I decide to hang out at the big strip club here in town. I watch hordes of people coming out. Lot's of drunks piling into their cars. Not one into mine. I hope they all get pulled over and wish they had taken a cab.
4:00am - With $0.57 profit for the night I crawl angrily into bed.

The next morning I turned in the cab and announced that I would not be driving for them again until they get organized.

In spite of all that drama, I still want to drive. The fares I did have were interesting. It is neat to see this city I have lived in through the eyes of a night worker.

Today I was hired by A-1 Limo and Taxi. They are established, have radios, have credit card machines, have receipts, and have schedules! I will be working Mondays noon-8 and Saturdays 8am-4pm. I am looking forward to working this cab company and seeing how much better it is!

Well that's the excitement for now.

What the hell?!

What the hell?!

That was supposed to be my address.  http://whatthehell.blogspot.com.  It would have been a perfect start to a pointless blog filled with rants, stories, and discussion that makes you say, "what the hell?"   It would have been a masterpiece I tell ya!

But alas, some schmuck has taken that address and has chosen to sit on that address for over six years to " . . figure out. . ."   Well apparently they never figured it out because they haven't posted since 2002.

I joined not exactly knowing what I was going to blog about, I figured at the least it would be a good release for some anger and emotions maybe even some light entertainment for some. Now, now that I couldn't even have my name I wanted I am discouraged and bitter.

Ah, What the Hell?