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Drive a taxi. It's fun. Really.
August 16, 2003
This a taxi blog, so I'll briefly concentrate on what a city-wide blackout might mean for a taxi driver. As far I know there was no contingency plan publicly put forth by the Taxi & Limousine Commission to deal with the near-complete absence of mass transit brought on by the collapse of the power grid, and thus the subway.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway at the time the power failed (4pm EDT). It is simply a fact that on any given weekday at this time a very large portion of drivers are concerned with the particulars of gassing the taxi & moving it to the rendezvous point (which could be anywhere) with the night drivers, who wait patiently and never cry for their mommies.
So really, there aren't ever enough taxis at this time. Never mind a catastrophic power failure never seen before in U.S. history that makes all New Yorkers of sound mind get up out of their chairs and bellow, "I GOTTA GET HOME. NOW."
I trust everyone made it home safe. Eventually. As for me, taxi owner Radu, having fixed the A/C just in time for the Main Event, kept working until 11pm. So I went out late, got freaked out by how dark it was, picked up two fares (one short and one to Astoria), sat around a lot listening to the radio with the engine running, then went home. See what a criminal price-gouger I am? Awful.
I really hate chaotic situations like these. While it was quiet in the city by the time I made it in, the chaos was mostly hanging out in my head. I had a lot of questions that I didn't want to have to answer, like should I vet my fares? Charge them off the meter? What good would I be doing myself by doing it in a non-standard manner? etc etc
So I picked up these two fares on a normal metered basis and on the way back to Manhattan from Astoria decided I couldn't deal with those questions. So I quit. I quit, man. Sometimes I just don't know.
As for the following night (Friday night, woohoo). There's no better example of the impact of the lack of subway service on city life than that. All the lights and power had been restored by 9pm. But no subway.
Man, you can't leave your neighborhood! What are you thinking? You might not get back! I mean, didn't it take x thousands of hours to get home on Thursday night?? Why bother?
That's kind of the feeling of what I saw. Local people doing very local stuff. No taxis needed.
So again. I went home, but not confused. Just satisfied that things were mellow and okay in the city, and it'd be back to, um, normal, soon. So, rock on, New York.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway at the time the power failed (4pm EDT). It is simply a fact that on any given weekday at this time a very large portion of drivers are concerned with the particulars of gassing the taxi & moving it to the rendezvous point (which could be anywhere) with the night drivers, who wait patiently and never cry for their mommies.
So really, there aren't ever enough taxis at this time. Never mind a catastrophic power failure never seen before in U.S. history that makes all New Yorkers of sound mind get up out of their chairs and bellow, "I GOTTA GET HOME. NOW."
I trust everyone made it home safe. Eventually. As for me, taxi owner Radu, having fixed the A/C just in time for the Main Event, kept working until 11pm. So I went out late, got freaked out by how dark it was, picked up two fares (one short and one to Astoria), sat around a lot listening to the radio with the engine running, then went home. See what a criminal price-gouger I am? Awful.
I really hate chaotic situations like these. While it was quiet in the city by the time I made it in, the chaos was mostly hanging out in my head. I had a lot of questions that I didn't want to have to answer, like should I vet my fares? Charge them off the meter? What good would I be doing myself by doing it in a non-standard manner? etc etc
So I picked up these two fares on a normal metered basis and on the way back to Manhattan from Astoria decided I couldn't deal with those questions. So I quit. I quit, man. Sometimes I just don't know.
As for the following night (Friday night, woohoo). There's no better example of the impact of the lack of subway service on city life than that. All the lights and power had been restored by 9pm. But no subway.
Man, you can't leave your neighborhood! What are you thinking? You might not get back! I mean, didn't it take x thousands of hours to get home on Thursday night?? Why bother?
That's kind of the feeling of what I saw. Local people doing very local stuff. No taxis needed.
So again. I went home, but not confused. Just satisfied that things were mellow and okay in the city, and it'd be back to, um, normal, soon. So, rock on, New York.
August 14, 2003
Yeah, so where was I. No sooner does the taxi reach 14k miles then the air conditioning goes kaput. I'd prefer that this happened while the owner was driving it, but no such luck. I was driving last night, and suddenly it started to get warmer. And warmer. The partition steamed up. I couldn't see out the windows. And then, I figured it out. The A/C had been grievously injured by the random 'Quality is Job 1!' Crown Victoria curse.
So I quit for the night and went and bitched and moaned about it to taxi owner Gabriel. Gabe has been very lazy in the past week. Hasn't worked at all. In theory, I could've been out there knocking 'em dead 24/7. The reality would've been the opposite. He had been planning to return to work today. 'HEY? GUESS WHAT? YOU CAN'T WORK SUCKAH!!!! I BROKE YOUR TAXI!!! SHOULD'VE WORKED WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE!'
Say hello to Mr. Chain-Smoking Mechanic Guy, 'cos we're temporarily fucked.
We decided that dumping it at the originating Ford dealer and begging/pleading for mercy would be the most rational and well-planned thing to do. So early this morning we took a trip to Queens, a place I have never been. Ever. I mean, Northern Boulevard??? Please. I know parts of Nebraska better than Queens.
I await the outcome of this somewhat interesting development. For now, I'm under the impression that I hit a bad bump and knocked a cable or switch askew. In general, I wish everything everything that went wrong could be described as 'askew'. That way it'd leave only a few minor adjustments to set everything aright.
It'd be a great world then.
But I might have a better story. My almost-80-year-old step-father got into an 'I ripped off your bumper and whatareyagonnadoaboutit' accident with a yellow taxi driver. Fisticuffs followed; the police were called, I need to get some definitive versions before I figure out what might have actually happened. O boy o boy o boy.
So I quit for the night and went and bitched and moaned about it to taxi owner Gabriel. Gabe has been very lazy in the past week. Hasn't worked at all. In theory, I could've been out there knocking 'em dead 24/7. The reality would've been the opposite. He had been planning to return to work today. 'HEY? GUESS WHAT? YOU CAN'T WORK SUCKAH!!!! I BROKE YOUR TAXI!!! SHOULD'VE WORKED WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE!'
Say hello to Mr. Chain-Smoking Mechanic Guy, 'cos we're temporarily fucked.
We decided that dumping it at the originating Ford dealer and begging/pleading for mercy would be the most rational and well-planned thing to do. So early this morning we took a trip to Queens, a place I have never been. Ever. I mean, Northern Boulevard??? Please. I know parts of Nebraska better than Queens.
I await the outcome of this somewhat interesting development. For now, I'm under the impression that I hit a bad bump and knocked a cable or switch askew. In general, I wish everything everything that went wrong could be described as 'askew'. That way it'd leave only a few minor adjustments to set everything aright.
It'd be a great world then.
But I might have a better story. My almost-80-year-old step-father got into an 'I ripped off your bumper and whatareyagonnadoaboutit' accident with a yellow taxi driver. Fisticuffs followed; the police were called, I need to get some definitive versions before I figure out what might have actually happened. O boy o boy o boy.
