Lies, damned lies, and some photos

UPDATE: I spoke with the owner on Monday, and apparently the whole thing (below) is a colossal miscommunication. I have some suspicions about that, but it seems the owner did make a concerted effort to supply my partners and I with a replacement car. Also, he was under the impression I was planning to take off last night, and that's why there was no car designated for me. Hmmmm.

It's Sunday and I have a forced day off. When Andrew called the office early this morning to get a loaner car, the dispatcher didn't know what to do. So Andrew drove to HQ and picked up a car that was sitting in the lot. He went until 10:30 or so when the owner of the cab company called and ordered him back. The car's normal driver had arrived for work and needed the car.

The rest is very murky, but I lost at least $200 in the mix. Apparently the owner got angry that Andrew had taken the car, even though no harm was done, except for perhaps 30 minutes of lost work for the car's regular driver. The owner told them that none of the three of us (who share car 95) would be able to drive again until 95 is ready. That's a breach of contract, for starters.

I called HQ and was lied to by the dispatcher who answered the phone. Poor bastard was told to prevent the three of us from reaching the owner.

Him: He's (the owner) not in the office right now.

Me: Did he leave instructions for which car I should drive tonight?

Him: There are no cars available right now.

Me: That's not true. Lots of guys take Sunday nights off.

Him: That's what I was told.

Me: Where is he?

Him: He doesn't work Sundays.

Me: I've worked almost every Sunday for two and a half years, and he's almost always there. I hear him on the radio.

Him: I don't know anything about that.

Me: Well, let's page him.

Him: His pager isn't working right now.

Me: Let's call him on his cell phone.

Him: His cell phone isn't working right now.

Me: It's kind of sad that you would lie for him.

Out of curiosity (and anger at having been fucked out of at least $200), I went out to our zone and found a place where we often leave cabs. We keep some at HQ, but many partnerships leave their vehicles in the zone on the street. I found seven available cars, just sitting there unused. I photographed them in case the owner wants to continue the lies. I'd like to note that I have the owner's super-secret pager number and cell phone number, but I decided not to call directly, as he likes to use HQ as a buffer. That was very nice of me, by the way.

Now that I got that out of my system, how about some photos from Saturday?


Moments after two SUVs collided at 6th Ave and F St, Gaslamp Quarter







Seaport Village