Its been Three weeks, since I started and I still love it. Sure it has its ups and downs, but so does life. In Lexington the cab business is a duopoly. There are two main companies, one of which has two brands. Both operate the same way. They charge a weekly lease rate to their drivers who operate as independent contractors. They are licensed by the police department after a criminal background check and good driving record. Also the drivers must pass a physical exam subject to DOT guidelines.
I was a bit concerned that my heart condition may affect my results. Even though I am robust and energetic and exhibit no outward signs of my condition. If it was cancer or non-hodgkins lymphoma, I think they would call it remission. But I know every time my heart beats correctly it is a gift from God. The science/creator debate is not an issue with me. I came to terms with this long ago when in Confirmation class I brought the whole evolution subject up. I came up with the concept of guided evolution. I will create an addendum to this entry in the form of a side bar to keep from moving too far off topic. But basically, sure the drugs and machinery I utilize have me in my state, but those products were not created in a vacuum.
I asked the Pastor about Adam & Eve and how if we evolved from early primates, could it be possible that the moment we became human, that was when God put the spark of consciousness in us. After all, the animals were created first. If you look at the creation story, the flow of creations followed a logical path. Heaven and earth - water - land - vegetation - animals - humans. Each are a logical move from the previous. I called it guided evolution. I was an eighth grader. When I asked my pastor about this and maybe even used the term guided evolution. He looked at me, a bit startled and said, "yes". I had no more conflict. I am not sure if he thought I was brilliant or an infidel. But I know I did not have the spiritual crisis so evident in the current creation/evolution debate. |
Not only did I pass my physical, I think I think I shocked the Nurse practitioner. I was overly frank about my experience. I told her everything I could without pulling up this very blog. When she asked me to try and touch my toes, I smiled and said "you'll hate me". She assured me I only had to try and touch them. I bent over and put my palms to the floor. I had trouble giving a urine sample though. Said problem, not unusual for me, but very unusual for someone on diuretics. But I had been on fluid restrictions and had just been to the gym, and it was late in the day. As is, the tech was staying past her shift waiting for me to produce. "Eve just a drip" she said. I promised to come back the next day, after I had taken my Lasix Spa Therapy. The next morning I came back and almost got in trouble for filling up too many cups. haha.
So I got my permits and paid my fees to the county-city government. I was legal. I trained for a day and was ready for my own taxi. I was a bit nervous, but knew I could do it. A cab was not ready for me until 3 days later. But I loved it. Not the vehicle itself, it was a hoopty. But I loved the work. I worked 12 days in a row. I was sweating the daily expenses. Each day I have agreed to pay a pro rata of the weekly lease. I am also responsible for the fuel I burn. For the first 12 days I covered all my expenses. On the 12th day, Monday, I had a windfall, so I decided to "buy a day off."
I use that term to describe setting aside tomorrow's lease payment so I do not have to drive if I do not want to. I was so relaxed. A day off. Sure I did not work more than a few hours each day, but a full day off would be nice. But that was not to happen. My phone was ringing. I had arrived as a cab driver. I was getting a lot of personal business. "Signal 10s" as they are referred to are the creme de la creme of a cabby's business. Signal 10 is the term used to refer to personal requests. In the old days, I guess people asked for drivers from the dispatcher. Now they all call the mobile phones directly. Such that my phone rang all day Tuesday. These people were my friends from when I worked at Mia's. They were former customers from same, and even some new customers I picked up since I started driving. I did not mind doing this, as I was available. If I was not there was a recording saying I was taking the day off. I made the decision, if I covered a days fixed costs, I would "buy Wednesday". I did. Wednesday was not quite as busy and I did not make enough in personal business to cover my fixed costs. But it was close. I devised a new plan for Thursday.
The radio is how we get dispatched to calls. People call in, the dispatcher figures out which zone they caller is in, and announces to the drivers there is a call in that zone. If there are no drivers in that zone it is called an open call. Some drivers do not have phones and rely on these dispatches for their income, along with the fleeting streetside hail. Lexington is not New York or Chicago. The citizens are not used to hailing cab, so those doing so are few and far between. My new plan was to use the radio until I made my fixed costs, then I was going to take it easy until I grew tired. I take a lot of breaks. I have learned the peak hours of radio calls. When people are going to work, leaving work, going out, or going home. In between I do my errands, read books, or watch TV. I also make my projects. What I do not do a lot of is spend time online. When I was not working, I was on line a lot. This entire blog was largely a product of my excess of free time. Now I have to schedule time for my writing. This is not my only outlet, but it is most likely the most widely read.
So anyway, Thursday I turned my radio off after I hit my fixed costs, and continued to respond to signal 10s only. I did the same on Saturday. My lease payments are structured such that Saturday and Sunday are not included in the daily division. Only the insurance costs are required. I Get the car for seven days, but pay for it over five. Sunday it was slow. It was almost a day off. Monday was fair with t his policy, Tuesday was slow. Wednesday I did not make enough to cover my fixed costs. I was devastated. Not destitute, I had put money in the bank for just such an eventuality. It was bitter cold Monday-Wednesday and I think people just holed up and stayed in next to their Kero-Sun portable heater. I was a bit down Thursday. Even one of the goodfellas that owns the outfit noticed my attitude was different. It was that day I realized I was not climbing an infinite money tree, and planning for the future was curtail. I wish I had learned that at a younger age. My retirement fund is not exactly over capitalized.
This work-a-day self employment is something I am used to from my days waiting tables and tending bar. I love being my own boss. I can kick off, kick back, take a break, whenever I want. My own professionalism and greediness keeps me working when there is money to be made. I am constantly prioritizing and re-prioritizing what I do. That is always something I did anyway. Each ride is its own little problem set. What is the riders goal, to save time or money on the trip? I then map out the route in my head, but ask the rider if she has a preferred route. Usually they want the shortest in miles. A bigger challenge presents itself when I get backed up. It is not unusual for my phone to ring when I am on a radio call. I have to break it to the caller that I am enroute. The most difficult situation is when I am on an ambiguous trip. When a rider needs to run in to the pharmacy or we need to go through a fast food lane. I could also be on my way to pick someone up, and not knowing which side of town that would get me. The worst is when I have signal 10s backed up. Last night I had 3. I had non-stop signal 10 calls form about 10:30 until 3 am. The only down time was when I was traveling to a central location for my next call on the Bat Phone.
It is like I am Batman. I am home in my lair, and my batphone rings. "Yes Commissioner Gordon?" I almost say. "I'll be right over to Pershing Drive, and get you to the Bar Complex in 10 minutes!", and I am off. [theme music here] Once that task is complete, and the world is once again safe, I await my next challenge. "I will pick you up in five minutes and take you to work", "Sure I can pick up some vodka and cough syrup for you, I'll be right there". I also run errands for select clients. I even keep on hand things they are always running out of. I have a selection of smokes and munchies in my trunk for just such an occasion. I know the preferred brands of all the people on my phone list.
If I still love this job in six months. I may buy my own cab. I signed a six month lease agreement on my cab. When it is up, I will decide if I want to take on the responsibility of maintaining a late model car being driven hundreds of miles a week. The fee I still have to pay the cab company, is a bit steep, so my cost of buying, plus maintaining, will have to be less than $800 a month or so for it to make economic sense. Also, when my own vehicle is being serviced I will not have a loaner available for me. I think I would also have to crank up my hours worked. Currently I am staying under the guidelines set by the SSA so as to not interfere with my gubment checks. I am not ready to give up that safety net, just yet. If my business keeps growing like it has in last 3 weeks, I can see doing it full time. My client base seems to focus on Horse Farms, College Students and people going to work.
The best cab driver in town, Daniel, is mentoring me, and referring a lot of his overflow to me. When I am super busy with calls on my phone, it is usually him giving out my number. For the VIPs he calls me first to make sure I can do it, then calls them back telling them to expect me. These people have all been happy with me.
that's it. In summary, I am healthy, busy, and happy. What more can a person ask? I still feel like I am 21, and no one believes me when I tell them my true age.
[...driving by in the Red Car...]
Kronick
aka Kevin 3.1