Tampa Taxi Shots

Storm Season

We are in the peak of storm season. A big mass of rain is hanging over Florida and roads in Tampa are flooding. The last week of August and first week of September are the peak of hurricane season. So far, so good. There is only only one named storm out in the Atlantic.

Kendrick Meek And That Tampa Taxi Shots Guy

 The Kendrick Meek tour bus was rolling into West Tampa the other day and I was right behind it in my taxi. He was in town for a campaign stop. Unlike his opponent, Meek has no money and is relying on a grass roots tactic. I think he could see me from the bus, and when he got off of it he said he was watching. He greeted me like I was his long lost friend. What charisma. 

The press was there and they must have thoguht it was a planed meeting. The crowd formed a circle and strobe lights and cameras were going off. While this photo was taken I asked him how the polls looked. He said "were' up 4." Both of us holding our smiles while we talked and the cameras went off. A guy could get used to this political stuff. 

Kendrick Meek has it all. He is young, smart, a Floridian (unlike his opponent Greene who has lived in Florida less then two years), and driven to whats right for poor people (me). 

Two reasons to vote for U.S. Congressman Meek. 1) Greene is dirty. He made ZIllions when the housing market collapsed, profiting from peoples pain. 2) Meek is the only one that can beat the tea bagger Marco Rubio. If you are a Democrat and Green wins the nomination, consider voting for Charlie Crist(I) in the general election in November. He is surly not a tea party member, and when you consider how he and Sen. Mike Fasano were both basically thrown out of the Republican party because they will not go along with the tea baggers, that is another reason not to vote Republican. 

The Tuesday primary will be crucial to the future of Florida considering the times we live in. We need a good turn out to keep the corruption out of office.

Is Cheap Bar In Tampa Padding Credit Cards?

Cheap bar and restaurant in south Tampa will pad your credit card with extra charges and wait for you to complain. That is the claim made by the "Bubba The Love Sponge" show this morning. Bubba has an employee named 25 cent (a black guy) that went to the club and all kinds of extra charges were added, including the tip (there is a belief among servers that black people don't tip). This seems to be standard policy stated by the owner Tommy Ortiz on the radio show. If you don't catch it, you pay. If you are black, they will add the tip on top of the meal (he denied this). Overcharging credit cards is criminal. If I did that in my taxi cab, I would not only be fired...I would go to jail. Tommy Ortiz needs to be very careful. Look at all the important people and lawyers that go into his restaurant. None of them have complained? Who knows.

A Strange Text And Dog Days

I wad watching the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers last night when I got a strange text. Taxi driver Tom Castros sent me a text saying he had just pissed in my gas tank. I step outside to see if he was there, he had just let a fare off and that was his way of saying hello. Tom is a very bright guy who once went to Virginia Tech, and like many, found his way to Florida. We are in the middle of dog days and it is hot man. The next four weeks are the peak of tropical storm season. I just hope the electricity does not go out. My friend Tom Stroup is up in New England enjoying summer before he has to go back to teaching high school..

A Man Named Joe

 The odds are long that you know Joe. If you are White, middle-class, or even work for a living, you don't know Joe. Joe is on the streets. He's a victim of hard times, a poor economy, and politicians who have no clue how to make things better, only protect their own special interest. 

Joe suffers. Nobody cares. 

I was sitting on stand 31 yesterday when this guy came walking by with a bucket and a squeagy. I said hi to him, like I do everyone. He told me he was hungry.  He told me was homeless. He told me he had no money. He told me he was running out of hope. He asked me if he could clean my windows for $1. Did you get that. ONE DOLLAR. Maybe a cheap hamburger at a fast-food joint is about all you can buy with that. 

I put him to work. Obama won't, or can't. I gave him $5 for his efforts. He did a great job and was attentive to details. He earned his money. That is all he is asking. To be able to go out and earn a living. Joe is a man like any other man. He wants to make his own way, and is probably wondering, like me, when are these hard times going to end. 

Fetish Com Invades Tampa

 I had a special this morning from two guys I know from Los Angeles. They are in the adult film industry and produce content that they sell to web portals and outlets. 

The reason they were in Tampa this weekend was for the workshops at Fetish com at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Tampa. The workshops they are attending are on the cyber aspect of the industry. 

Security is a concern, as well as, knowing how to promote your site with codex, spyware, viruses, and other things to make sure traffic is driven to your page. They don't want to crash your site, they just want your business. Downloading porn videos is the future. No longer do you have to go to the 'dirty book store' with the rain coat crowd. plus, this is the only way to keep Grady Judd (Queer Sheriff from Polk County) from kicking in your door. 

When we got to Hyatt, there was a commotion out front and lots of people (Please keep the Bible thumper's away). Wonder Woman and some other caped super girl were out front and getting much attention. The hotel has 521 rooms, and they block all of the rooms for this event (They really don't want families seeing this). This event is held here every year. It draws models, agents, and photographers from all over the country. I used to attend when things were better...got many a good shoot from this event. The Hotels suites are perfect for my type of 'high glamour' photography. 

I should be out running my taxi most of the night.  I know these freaks will be at the Castle in Ybor City and all of the other drinking holes. This has been a very good week, and this is just the 'cream' on top of it. 

Who is this Doc Johnson guy?

A Professional Cab Driver In Tampa Florida

 Those military guys have been an influence on me. I got my hair cut today to keep up the look of a dedicated professional taxi cab driver. You get a lot when Tim Fasano comes to your house. Right Ladies!?

In the midst of all this controlled chaos (we have been as busy as when the Super Bowl was here), I got a call around 7:30 am down on Bayshore which was going to the airport. 

It was a beautiful place, right on the water. I got there as soon as I could, but the man was angry as hell. He said he had called at 7:12 and his flight was at 8:30 and he wanted to know the correct spelling of my name. I try to explain to him that HE was cutting it too short, and we had this big convention in town. He did not care, he wanted to know my name. Fine.

"F..A..S..A..N..O" I tell him.  I even give him a business card so he WON'T call the wrong number. I hope he gets Rhonda on the phone; she will put him in his place. This is one business where the customer is hardly ever right. They lie like Real Estate buyers...you know the old saying "buyers are lier's, sellers are yeller's." This guy was proof of reincarnation, you cannot get that stupid in one lifetime.

LandWarNet Is In Tampa

There is a massive Army trade show in Tampa this week called LandWarNet, and it is having a huge economic impact for the area. These are the kinds of events that will really put a few bucks in your pocket. This type of event has not been seen in Tampa in at least three years. I hope it is indicative of the recession coming to an end. knock on wood.

The military and defense contractors are at the Tampa Convention Center showing all their new high-tech gadgets to the brass, so they can use our ingenuity to kill the enemy before they kill us. A lot of computer guys, and hardware guys and everything electronic and james Bondish is for sell this week. The bad guys don't have a chance. It makes sense to have this in Tampa because the United States Central Command is located here at MacDill Airforce Base.

These people are also partying like animals at night, so we are busy round the clock. Talk about a stimulus plan.

...photo courtesy of US Army

Tampa Taxi Shots Is Back

Sometimes you are what you are - ike the Tampa Bay Bucs going back to the Tampa 2 defense. Why not? If half the NFL uses it, at least Tampa should. My blog has been titled Tampa Taxi Shots for almost six years. I recently went with a title "Tropic Of Tampa." I was worried about just being out there as a cab driver and wanted to go into other areas. This really did not work. Many Google searchers were looking for Tampa Taxi shots and wondering what had happened to it. Wonder no more. 

Black Racer Snake In Withlacoochee State Park

Declared as one of the "10 Coolest Places You've Never Been In North America" by the World Wildlife Fund, Withlacoochee State Park in Florida.  It is the largest State forest in the State of Florida and is divided into several distinct tracts. I was in the Richloam Track today and video taped this Black Snake on a dirt road. They are seen during the summer because they like the heat. Richloam is known for wildlife. I also recorded coyotes and caught a glimpse of Bigfoot (Skunk Ape). Know how cool is that!