Taxi Blog

It's difficult to write anything now. The Taxi and Limo Commission will likely pass the proposed taxi fare increase without alteration. I promised myself that I'd quit if that happened, so I'll have to assume that this is what I will do on the first day of the increase, which, if you ask me, will be June. Ask my roommate (and owner of the taxi I drive daily) and he'd say May. I'm quite simply tired of being on this roller-coaster. One month I feel like Taxi King, the next is a trough, and the ditch gets deeper every time I get there. Can you guess where I am?

I hardened my position by announcing to roommate Gabe after Monday night that I'd be quitting on the day the TLC sets the increase for. Followed by departure from the NYC metro area. Which means Gabriel loses a driver, his only one, and his tenant. I just cannot justify destroying myself further; I've been actually *losing* money by working for the past two weeks. So there will be no reason for this blog, really. I am thankful. Maybe with some distance from the job I'd be better able to articulate the good and bad of the industry. I don't know yet. I do know that I've done little enough in the letters. I'm just too close to the job to collect my thoughts into manageable little bites, let alone keep myself from ranting. So I've stayed too quiet.

Bottom line is, Burlington, Vermont is the intended destination. I have no job lined up and no skills to speak of. If necessary, I will keep myself from starving by returning and working the taxi for (up to) a week per month under whatever stupid-ass scheme they currently have going. I'm not that proud, but putting inconveniently large distances between me and a nyc cab should help me quit this degenerate addiction.

And no, I will not drive a taxi in Burlington. I couldn't drive a taxi anywhere else but New York City, and that is problematic in itself.

Now that I've committed all this to a publicly read medium (even though visitors are likely close to non-existent), I can move on, I hope. I certainly wouldn't want to go back on my intention. It's been something I've thought about for the past 4+ years, and, dude. How much more time do I want to waste?

Okay, well, the Raw Log idea is way too much work. I'm supposed to be driving around, not analyzing it to death (which is something I actually used to do, to nobody's apparent benefit). I am still keeping records with a bit more information than an average trip sheet might contain, but I'm not a database wizard, so on paper they'll stay for now. Might've ended up being fairly interesting, but that's just me. Whenever I end up here, I always say to myself, 'Gee! I should post every damn day!'. Never happens. Maybe I'll get more talkative as the date of the hearing for the taxi fare increase approaches. Then again, there's another guy, Alex, at the garage I used to work out of that wrote an entire SCREED to Clyde Haberman at the Times. He subsequently authorized me to put it up here; that was, uhhhh. A month ago?

Well, there's still time. The hearing is scheduled for March 30. 9:30am. 40 Rector Street, 5th floor. You know where Rector Street is. More sooner.