Taxis in the news

San Jose, California

Taxi drivers are threatening to strike. Gripes include mandatory testing upon permit renewal, no limits to the number of cabs, and inability to sell or transfer their businesses. NBC11.com

Denver, Colorado

The Colorado legislature is "backing away from the sticky issue of taxicab regulation". Denver Post

Maryland

A former Maryland cab driver has pleaded guilty to a terror charge. Reuters

A former Maryland cab driver accused of attending a militant training camp in Pakistan pleaded guilty on Monday to supporting terrorism.

Mahmud Faruq Brent, 32, said in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that in early 2002 he attended a camp operated by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. State Department has designated an international terrorist organization.

We have three Iraqis driving for our company, a Kurd and two Shias. They all agree that the war is dragging on and is being mismanaged, but they also agree that the day Saddam Hussein was captured was one of the best days of their lives. One had a brother seized by Saddam's secret police. He disappeared ten years ago, with no sign of him since.

Sydney, Australia

A female driver from Sydney was assaulted and threatened. Daily Mercury

Beverly Hills, California

A cabbie claims he was stiffed on an $8200 fare after driving a customer from California to North Carolina. AP

Lucky drunk

It's Monday, my day off. While I'm laying horizontally on the couch with 300 channels at my disposal, I'll post this gem from my 2006 journal.

Two men and two Marlboros

Aug. 6, 2006

Picked up a younger guy from a bar in National City, upper 20s or so, and after he got in he said to start the meter but to wait for a minute while he made a phone call.

He called his sister and explained that his brother-in-law, her husband, got lost. They had been out drinking and bar hopping, and at the last bar (where we were), he had just disappeared. His name was Mike.

After much worried discussion, I gathered they were going to hope he could find his own way home. He's a grown man.

I brought the kid to a house off of College Ave. and I-94. It was a $35 fare plus he gave me a $5 tip. It was a good ride. I wished him luck finding his brother-in-law.

Two hours later I got belled to the same bar, and it was a guy so drunk I almost drove off before he could get in. I asked if he was Mike, and sure enough, it was the missing drunk.

He was too drunk to speak, and went right to sleep in the back seat. It was lucky for him I already knew where he was going. En route I turned on the light occasionally to see if he was ralphing.

We got to the house and I had trouble rousting him. When he did come to, he tried to leave without paying. I said several times I need $35. Finally he dug into his pocket and got ... a pack of Marlboros. He gave me two cigarettes and tried to leave again.

Now I know why Muslims don't drink.

It was a five minute struggle, but I ended up with $35 plus the two cigarettes. I've had worse tips. Before leaving I made sure he had staggered all the way to the front door. He laid down on the top step. Good thing it was a warm night.

Police call

The last ride of the night was fairly entertaining. The police needed a cab on a lonely country highway. It was in the city, but on the edge of a canyon, so it felt like country. A police car was stopped behind an SUV, and I pulled in front of them. A 20-something man and woman came to the cab and got in.

"I'd ask how your day is going, but I think I already know," I said. They just laughed, saying it was no big deal. They had been parked for an hour, they said, when the cop arrived. They had been drinking, and the cop wanted to breathalyze them on suspicion of DUI. The guy had said it doesn't matter because they weren't driving. His keys were in his pocket, not the ignition or in his hand. Surprisingly, the cops didn't arrest them.

When I asked them what they were doing parked for an hour, they just smiled.

They went to a Burger King in Imperial Beach, in the South Bay area. They paid the $20 fare plus a $5 tip. As I was pulling away, the guy came running out and asked if I could wait while they got a burger, then bring them back. I agreed.

I surfed the web in the parking lot until they returned. I had cleared the meter, so technically I was wildcatting, but it was the same fare -- a continuation. I may be the only cabbie in San Diego who fears the big fine for wildcatting.

I brought them back to their truck and we all craned our necks to see if the police car was still around as we drove by. Then I doubled back and let them out, wishing them luck.

They didn't seem drunk to me, and besides, it's not my responsibility. I did feel a bit guilty about it, though. If the cops had returned, they would have been angry.

The round trip plus tip was $55. There's nothing like cash to make guilty feelings subside.

Sunday night rides

I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept a wink. Even after two cups of coffee I could barely function, except to drive. Self diagnosis: sleep apnea.

My Navy badge expired Saturday night at midnight, so I didn't think I was going to get the last rush of sailors. They're leaving tomorrow on the Nimitz and the rest of the carrier battle group, so Sunday night is their last shot at a good meal. Planning for the worst, I decided to park at the front gate for leftovers.

Surprise, surprise. While everyone else was getting flags to downtown, which are good rides, I got better ones:

To Walgreens on Rosecrans; a female sailor needed some prescriptions to take on deployment. It was a wait and return, for $60.

Two other Nimitz crew were going to Pacific Beach for their last beers as free men. They wanted to watch the sun set over the Pacific at a bar right on the beach.

On the way from the I-5 to the beach (Garnett St.) I noticed heavy traffic coming back. It was 75 today, maybe warmer, which always draws a big crowd for the beaches. I started planning a different way out, but the options are limited.

I dropped the guys at World Famous, a bar just south of Garnett on Mission Blvd and Pacific Drive, for $44. I decided to keep going south hoping West Mission Bay Blvd was clear going back to the freeway.

Boy was I wrong. The problem is that I-5 parallels the waterfront, and there are only three ways in and out -- Grand / Garnett, Ingraham, and West Mission Bay. All were stop and go. The journey usually takes five minutes, but tonight it was 20.

There was one nice benefit to being at the beach on a hot afternoon -- girls in bikinis. Everywhere. That made the delay more than tolerable.

I left work early to watch the NASCAR race waiting for me on DVR. Jimmie Johnson beat Jeff Gordon by two feet. Great race.