Before totally selling out, I was trying to string together gigs to make a living. I was driving a cab all winter to get cash for the summer.
This blog entry is from 2008. I think I made like 2,000 bucks in a weekend. At the time I was making like 12,000 a year. Nuts. I miss riding home at 4am over the 31st street bridge. It was so quiet compared to the cab all night.
"24 hours of driving a taxi on Saint Patricks Day"
0000: Had already been in cab for 17 of previous 24 hours.
0100: Bar crowds. Tired.
0200: eGot tipped with 2 cans of keystone Ice
0300: Gnoshing hard in my kitchen followed by passing out
0730: Awake
0800: Driving Korean woman to Airport. I drop an ANYONG! on her. She hugged me when she left. Cute. First emotional airport goodbye. haha
0900: Watching the new meter rates take effect. 50 cents per 1/7 of mile after 20 miles at 75mph adds up quickly. Its like a buck every 25 seconds.
1000: Slowly drive by bus stops and pick up people going to town who are already drunk for like 4 hours straight
1500: Get out of cab for first time of the day to buy gas/coffee
1600: Awkward fighting/crying couple in my cab. Should have recorded it
1700: Person hit by car at station square. Blood on the road. Traffic is MORE CRAZY
1710: I turn into the person that is more worried about the traffic than somebody maybe dying
1800: Feels like 3 am. Pick up 1st sober people since 8am. Indian family going to greentree. It was quiet in th cab for the first time in like 8 hours, culture shock.
1900: Literally cant go into a Panera bread without somebody inside needing a ride
2000: Slowing down. Darkness setting in. Thinking that street signs and mail boxes are waving me down
2030: Power trip sets in. Kicking people out of cab. Price gouging. Only taking fares that are 20 dollars or more. Pointing at the most sober looking people in the crowds that are waving at me and unlocking the doors for only them
2100: Nearly fall asleep while waiting for a fare in a dark parkinglot
2200: Normal "saturday night" crowd starts leaving to go to bars. Realize how early it is.
2300: It starts getting really ugly. Peole kicking the cab as I drive past or punching the windows. Yeah let me pick you up... you are punching a car
2359: Eat chocolate biscotti and drink more coffee.... only 4 more hours to go.
Assholes of the year: I drop a couple off at the Strip club at in Mckees rocks at 3am. She is paying with a card, which takes 3 or 4 minutes after we stop to run/sign/print etc. This guy is beating on my window yelling at me to take him home while all this happens. The security guard has to move him away to let the woman out. People surround the taxi and are fighting over it and who I am going to take home.
The origional plan was that: This woman was going to pay me a ridiculous hourly fee to wait for her and her husband and then to drive them home. While waiting for them, she was going to buy me lap dances, which would have just been hilarious. It would have been a memorable ending to a long day. This was an awesome plan until MONGO wouldnt let me out of the cab without trying to fight me. I literally couldnt get out of my cab. I was seriously worried for my safety and the car, they were kicking it and stuff. I tell the woman that I cant stay, which sucks for her, because she isnt going to have a ride home.
After that, I gassed it up (I bought like 200 dollars worth of gas in 2 days) and turned it in, despite probably being able to make a ton more cash.
Caught a ride home from a driver who was doing 90mph on 28 by the 31st bridge where it is 35mph.
Totals: 2 x 24 hour leases with 3 additional stolen hours =
51 hours of lease time
10- 12 hours of sleep/home time
3 hours spent eating a sweet dinner at a fancy hotel with spin class people
= 36 hours sitting in the yellow cab. That is like a full time job or something.
