Saturday we had a yard sale. Since we were going to have the yard sale, and TMBWitW didn’t want to do it by herself, I skipped driving a cab Friday night so I would actually be awake on Saturday. I’m glad I did – I got to spend all day with my wife and our MEG. I even got some pedal time with MEG:
Due to the vagaries of Software and readers, the photo may appear fuzzy – simply click on it to get a close-up view – and no, I didn’t crop it incorrectly – I was pedaling so fast my poor wife couldn’t keep me in frame as the picture snapped…
Saturday night, I did get a cab. My third fare was a threesome (four, counting the little boy) that I picked up from a bowling alley near my house. The mom and dad were having a slight disagreement about something, the uncle was concentrating on the boy, and I was helping the uncle get the stroller in the trunk. The mom got in the back seat, thought of something, jumped back out, and then the dad jumped in. For whatever reason, this seemed to stoke the discussion to a higher level. After I dropped them off, I headed over to Westgate (where the UoP Stadium and the Coyotes Arena are) to see about snagging a fare from there. When I parked, I checked the back seat, which I had the habit of doing before picking up a fare – and then decided that I needed to check the seat after dropping fares off from now on. The escalation of the discussion happened right after the dad had jumped in and sat on the mom’s drink – which was now soaking into the back seat on the passenger side, which is the most popular side for fares to sit on – and I didn’t have enough paper towels to soak it up. So – off to the house (which is nearby – I think I mentioned that) and my wet and dry vacuum.
TMBWitW was cooking a big batch of manicotti for Afterglow Sunday after service, and was sore from standing at the stove. Turns out she was up until 0030 fixing the five pans worth. It was worth it, though – talk about some good food!
After a pretty solid night (I only had one bad stretch where I didn’t have a fare for about an hour), I was ready to prep the cab for turn in – it was about 0300, and I needed to turn in about 0430, I had made rent and then some, and I was working on no sleep since 0600 Saturday morning – and I was sitting at Bethany Home Road and the I-17 when I got a call for a fare at Glendale Avenue and I-17 – it was only a mile north of me, so I grabbed it and headed up there. I picked the guy up, and he needed to go to Tempe! Well, I figured I had just enough time to get him there, turn around and deadhead back to the cage, so I went ahead and ran it. It was mostly freeway, anyway, so travel time wasn’t bad. Once I dropped him off, out of habit I hit the “book” button and almost right away I had another pickup in the area. I could have kicked myself. If I turned the cab in late, I would be charged $5 for every 15 minutes late. Since I had committed to the fare, I picked him up – he was at Mill and University – and hoped that he was going west, so I was at least headed back the right way! Thankfully, he needed to go to 32nd Street – which is west, so no problem. I got him dropped off and jumped on the freeway and booked it hard for the cage. I stopped to bring the gas gauge up above 1/4, and headed for the yard. Just as I pulled in, I remembered that I hadn’t vacuumed the entire car yet – so I had to turn around and book it for the car wash. I did get turned in within allowances – exactly twelve hours and fifteen minutes after I picked it up. Those last two fares turned my solid night into a good night.
How was your weekend?
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