"whom calling" & Other Ancedotes, Amusing Or Not, From A Football Taxi Weekend

Rah rah rah! the home teams winning, the 5th ranked UW Huskies beating the Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday night; with the Seahawks proving on Sunday to be the tougher bird, beating those Eagles from Philly, PA by a 26 to 15 score.  65,000 and 69,000 fans respectively meant that local cabbies too were true winners, the Husky game providing me with a $26.00 Kirkland fare which soon connected to a bunch of crazy kids going from Bellevue to Sea-Tac fare and netting $71.90.  That next afternoon the Seahawk halftime giving me a forty dollar fare to Shoreline; and in the game's declining minutes a ten dollar fare taking me to the Waterfront Marriott where I found a pleasant couple bound for Sea-Tac and another $50.40! Yea team, and teams!  "If taxi ain't about money, it ain't about nuthin!'" quips the homespun taxi philosopher.

Anecdotal Taxi

----whom calling

Calling the fare waiting at the Northgate and Roosevelt Arco I received a text back "whom calling," prompting "the cab" in response; and at the station discovering this most original character, CJ, who was  University District-bound to meet up with the he-is-going-to pay-boyfriend-taking-her-to-a-casino. Suddenly CJ decided that cash wasn't good enough for the $12.00 fare so instead I would be receiving 2 Starbuck gift cards, a $100.00 off a $160.00 bottle of wine card, and a Fred Myers gift card worth, according to CJ, $24.50.  Whether any of these cards are truly redeemable is truly an unknown, a question I will eventually answer.

Once she departed the cab I called and had her telephone number blocked, not overly pleased to be showered with questionable gift cards (the Starbuck cards date from 2015).  Coincidentally I  again encountered said CJ later that night at the same Arco and this time taking her 8 blocks north to her apartment building, netting some earphones for my short effort.  CJ might be a thief or something else questionable but having encountered for a second time around, I decided I liked her, CJ so pleasantly out-of-her-mind she is, CJ falling into the" I-give-completely-up" category. What do you do when you can't do nothing about something whatsoever?  Smile is my suggestion.  CJ is a complete "trip!" sweet and doing it in style like a very fashionable crocodile.

----lots of scallops

Sometimes it does seem "instant karma" is real because, when just minutes after this drunk young man went nuts, threatening me with "all kinds of awful things" when my meter receipt printer jammed, I found this scallop fisherman at the train station needing to go to up north to Mount Vernon.  Requesting a discount, we negotiated the estimated $170.00 fare into $120.00 and a 4-pound box of flash-frozen Bering Sea scallops worth more or less eighty dollars.  The sailor was a non-stop talker, unfortunately telling me he had two un-cashed $10,000 checks in his wallet with an even bigger one coming, making me regret the discount but hey, tonight I am making this great cognac and scallop recipe, so who's complaining, I am not complaining. Instead of bitching I will be very happily eating.

----number 38 out of 991

Amazingly I finally won a lottery, and good one at that, having the luck of being number 38 out of 55 new City of Seattle medallion (cab license) recipients.  There is a vetting process but passing that I will be transferring my new number to my current car.  I believe the yearly license fee is or was $600.00 so it means a huge personal savings, saving me over $4000.00 annually.  That it doesn't make any sense adding more cars to a completely saturated market is nothing I can do anything about--- typical, too typical of Seattle's taxi policies, nonsensical the operational word.  Before the Uber onslaught, the medallions were worth $250.000.  Now?  Maybe ten to twenty thousand.

----3 big stories brewing

One---WA State is trying to destroy Tacoma Yellow Cab

Two---The Port of Seattle is requiring much more from for-hire vehicles and taxis while potentially letting TNC companies operate illegally

Three---King County is using dismissed tickets (and the un-reporting of moving violations) as the pretext to deny for-hire license renewal.  There is much more to this, and more than one side of the story so expect a comprehensive examination soon.


taxi doggerel 


whom calling

who could it be

why it is a crazy

CJ

getting in my taxi

playing me for a

patsy

but I don't care

I operate for free

and for a million stolen gift cards more

I swear

I will take you

anywhere!