Venus

Tonight was a nice night in the ol' cab. It was a little warmer than it's been lately and so I had the window rolled down most of the time just diggin' the breeze man. The people all seemed like they were happy and feeling good. I don't know. Maybe it was Utah.

The shift didn't start off so good because I locked the damn keys in the damn cab when I went in for a damn coffee.
That took about a half hour to resolve and I was off and running.
Someone called from the Sheraton for a ride to the Wrentham Outlets and I was wicked happy because that's 70 bucks, plus whatever tip they see fit. Well, when I informed her of the price she decided it was too much money and changed her tiny little mind.
But hey that stuff happens and ya just gotta roll with it. I headed into the airport and picked up a gentleman returning from a day of business in Pittsburgh. He's a speechwriter for the president of a big bank out there. There's a job for ya. Maybe I could do that. Anyways there was no traffic so we zoomed back to Braintree and talked about sports on the way.
Later I picked up a Navy family who had been moving all around the world from base to base, town to town for decades. Now they're going to settle down in Massachusetts and I thought that was really cool. Of all the nice warm places to live, they chose here.
I forget what else I was gonna say and I'm getting tired. I should sleep but there's a show on the telly about UFOs that I'm gonna check out for a while. I'll probably fall asleep here on the couch. Maybe I'll dream of something to blog.
Probably not.

Smokers

People often ask if its okay to have a smoke in the cab and I almost always say yeah go ahead, smoke your brains out what do I care. I like for my people to be comfortable during our time together and as long as they blow most of the smoke out the window they're only hurting themselves.

I picked up a smoker and he wanted to stop at BJ's on the way home and pick up a plant because they're on sale for $19.99.
Myself, I've never had any luck with plants. Its a commitment I'm not ready to make.
So anyways, we stop and he comes right out in 10 minutes with this thing and what it is is a majesty palm tree. Huge thing sticking out the back right window almost hitting the other cars, everybody watching this thing going down the street.
So now he's got his friggin' majesty palm.
Next I drove this kid Kevin to work at Pizzaria Uno. He always likes to talk about the Bruins which is fine with me. Likes the B's more than all the other Boston teams put together. Very knowledgeable.
Then these 4 punks were headed to Faneuil Hall to continue their 4 day Saint Patrick's Day party. At first I had the idea that they were the types that might run on me but it ended up to be my best tip of the night. Just goes to show ya. I'm not sure what, but it does.

Right about then the Celts game started so I fired up the radio and spent a good minute carefully tuning it in and adjusting the bass, treble and balance to perfection. The Spurs jumped out to a 22 point lead in the first quarter so I switched the station for a while thinking it might change their luck.
Drove two gentlemen from Charlotte to dinner at a local steak house. They were radio men with those million dollar radio voices. We talked a little about ballparks around the country and I had to say Wrigley Field is my favorite.
I picked up supper for the dispatcher and then he sent me down to Uno's to pick up John for North Weymouth. Everybody likes that run because its a pretty quick hit at that time of night and the meter cranks up pretty good.
My last fare were 3 European shoppers loaded down with big bags of stuff from the mall. I tell ya these folks are coming over by the thousands.
About that time I checked back in on the C's hoping that somehow they were making a game of it. They were within 7 and I listened as it went back and forth in the 4th quarter, a great war between two NBA powerhouses. Celts pulled it out by 2 points despite KG throwing the ball away on an inbound and giving the Spurs a chance to win it on a last second Robert Horry three pointer. Noooo!! Celtic Nation's collective life flashed before its collective bloodshot eyes as the shot clanged off the rim.

All in all a good night for everybody.

Peace to you my friends. Drive safe.
Gute Nacht.

Little Yellow Tomatoes

The dollar is so weak now that people are flying over here from Europe just to do a little shopping. Its unbelievable, I see it all the time. Sure they might take in a few sights here and there but the main reason for their trip is to buy a few dozen shopping bags worth of clothes.

Weirdness. Well I'm sure the hotels and department stores are happy enough when they show up. And its great for the cabbies.

I picked up one of our regular customers tonight at the airport, a bit of an a-hole but he's usually alright. It reminded me of the last time I drove him and the Mrs and I had to wait for them for quite a while because it was a last minute emergency trip and they weren't quite ready. They said I could walk around their yard if I wanted to, which is really beautiful with gardens all around and a big old barn and it was a wicked nice Summer day too. They said I should try a couple of these little yellow tomatoes so I did and they were very good. Very tasty. I don't know why I'm mentioning all this except that it was just one of those cosmic moments in time.
I reminded them of those tomatoes tonight and they said that they hoped they could get the same seeds again this year. Maybe they're rare 'round these parts, I dunno.

Well thats all I've got for now. Bonne nuit mes amis.