A few months ago I noticed that my laptop's LCD backlight powered off if I leaned the screen most of the way back. The image was still visible in direct sunlight, there was just no power to light it up. At the start of September I bought an external hard drive, imaged my laptop, then sent the laptop off for repair. It was returned a week later. They'd restored the factory image to my hard drive. I might've preferred otherwise, but at least this takes care of the OS-decay problems I was having. For example, Windows Explorer wouldn't always load the desktop when I first logged in. I'd have to ctrl-alt-del, start the task manager, kill explorer.exe, start explorer.exe, and poof, the desktop would appear.
I've been using Dropbox to back up my taxi notes, and to store my keepass password file. The network-sync feature quickly moved these files across the network to (and from) the loaner-laptop I'd borrowed from my dad.
Yesterday I restored my photo directory from the external drive, and was reminded of one of the cooler things I've seen while out and about in the taxi.
Inside: photo gallery, and the back-story.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Predicaments of Imaginary People
For some time I have quipped when asked for an id, "You're not a real
person if you don't have a plastic card." This was mostly to
acknowledge the plight of illegal people, but I guess we're all illegal if we
can't demonstrate otherwise.
Two fellows were trying to buy beer at the convenience store I visited at the end of my shift today. One had his plastic identification card. The other offered a card decorated with a hole punch. The clerk did not accept it for their beer purchase. This aspiring beer purchaser pulled out a second card, which the clerk examined and also declined because it was expired. I don't know if they ever got their beer, as another clerk appeared to take my gas money.
In the cab was my passenger with his own plastic card dilemma. I met him over a year ago, at the QT on Bell Rd. near Cave Creek Rd. in Phoenix. He'd said someone had stolen his car, and he has been without a plastic card ever since.
Two fellows were trying to buy beer at the convenience store I visited at the end of my shift today. One had his plastic identification card. The other offered a card decorated with a hole punch. The clerk did not accept it for their beer purchase. This aspiring beer purchaser pulled out a second card, which the clerk examined and also declined because it was expired. I don't know if they ever got their beer, as another clerk appeared to take my gas money.
In the cab was my passenger with his own plastic card dilemma. I met him over a year ago, at the QT on Bell Rd. near Cave Creek Rd. in Phoenix. He'd said someone had stolen his car, and he has been without a plastic card ever since.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Spontaneous Restaurant Review
My third passenger this morning was going home from Dialysis - she's on the 3x/week maintenance program. While sitting at the light at 99th Ave & Thunderbird, the passenger gestured to the restaurant's sign avertising 2 tacos for 99-cents:
This was an older kidney patient - in her 80's, probably. I had recently had another who was only 40 - she'd lost her kidney function at 26, iirc. She was exhausted - the doctors had removed her ... parathyroids (?) in December.
Sometimes people offer to buy me fast food, but I always decline.
Those tacos - they look good, and they taste awful. Never again. And I like Tacos...The very next passenger had basically the same voyage, from a little farther down Bell Rd. to 99th Ave & Thunderbird, approximately (he was helping out his 90yo grandmother). When I drove past the restaurant the second time I told about the prior passenger. As the restaurant passed out of view I thought to take a picture. Fortunately Google has a streetview image.
Sometimes people offer to buy me fast food, but I always decline.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Italian car, BMW engine
Saturday opened with a prosaic series of fares. A woman going to work stopped at the Shell station for Powerade, as she'd been drinking the night before. Her fountain drink was very blue - not something that I'd drink myself, but to each their own. My next three passengers were going home from two different Frys Food with their groceries.
I had to go to the post office for a flat-rate envelope. The line was long, so I took the envelope back out to the cab to fill, and gradually made my way over to a different post office for the mailing.
The second post office was near 20th St & Camelback, which is one of the more popular areas for the company's taxi drivers. I told the cab computer that I was taking a 10-minute break. In theory, breaks allow us to save our position in line. Before this break I was in Position 2, but when I returned I was in Position 4. This annoyed me greatly, but before long I was offered a fare 4 miles away - in one of Paradise Valley's zones. It turned out to be a rather short trip, but it was interesting enough to take a few pictures to share with you all.
Inside: link to a few pictures, and a poll.
I had to go to the post office for a flat-rate envelope. The line was long, so I took the envelope back out to the cab to fill, and gradually made my way over to a different post office for the mailing.
The second post office was near 20th St & Camelback, which is one of the more popular areas for the company's taxi drivers. I told the cab computer that I was taking a 10-minute break. In theory, breaks allow us to save our position in line. Before this break I was in Position 2, but when I returned I was in Position 4. This annoyed me greatly, but before long I was offered a fare 4 miles away - in one of Paradise Valley's zones. It turned out to be a rather short trip, but it was interesting enough to take a few pictures to share with you all.
Inside: link to a few pictures, and a poll.
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