Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Long Haul...

First off... I want to express my deep sympathies to the families of Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith and William Bleakley. While the families remain optimistic and have started their own private searches, chances are that we have lost these fine young men. Marquis was a Raider, and that alone gets more attention from me than a lot of folks might. I had to lead off with this because I wanted to keep things in perspective on a day that is otherwise very positive and upbeat for me.

Today, I took the first step to what I'm calling The Long Haul: I bought my first cab. By becoming an owner-operator, I'm taking an ownership stake in what I do and the company that I'm representing. More importantly, I am working on long and short-term solutions to financial issues that have been dogging me ever since I got to town.

I can't really describe it, except to say that I've always tried to balance my desires to continue my acting education versus my ability to actually make money at it. I thought I was going to get certain opportunities here and there as certain doors opened. However, it appeared that those doors were opening behind others that were closing. While I was able to keep a roof over my head, and myself fed, the stress of never being able to get ahead was really pressing down on me. I started working hungry, so to speak (with that "I've gotta have this job" mentality), and that pretty much violates every dictate of doing good acting work in any town where you can find work.

It's no surprise that when I started writing adaptation, the live-action dubbing work that had been so profitable for me as an actor started drying up. Then, roughly 18 months ago, there were indications that my services as a writer - other than working on my own unsold properties - were going to be going out of demand. Some of the story I've already conveyed here: going back to security, trying corrections, going back to doing technical support for the clueless and the rude... they were all things I could do and do well, but they'd never feed the need to stay flexible enough to answer that call to run to auditions, go to classes, or set time aside to write. And of course, around January I spoke to a young man who looked rather pleased with himself as he was dropping off passengers at the apartment complex I was working security at.

"I gah to school, it's flexeebul, and de mohney ees good," he told me in a strong Nigerian accent.

I know... bad approximation of a Nigerian accent using the keyboard... but there you go.

So, the last three weeks of paying reduced lease prices while I got my feet wet and experimenting with the "advice" I was given has paid off. I honestly believe that any night I go out in that cab (and I do plan on working nights... roughly mid-evening to the morning commute), I can make money - the kind of money I need to make my lease, set money aside for maintenance, and moderate my life in a manner that allows me to have a social life again, sit down and enjoy my home, my cat and my friends.

But I'll tell you, the last three weeks has been a "catch as catch can" affair, to put it mildly. Experimenting with schedules and methods of handling business has taken a toll on my body. I've gained weight, which I plan on taking back off if the new steady schedule works the way it should. I finally had myself a good night's sleep last night... mostly because I wrote off working the night last night. However, karma and kismet were kind mistresses to me for that decision, letting me make 80 bucks in the 4 hours I worked this morning. Basically, for my purposes, any day where I average 15 bucks an hour or better in that cab or better than 200 for a day, it's an outstanding day. Personally, I think I still have things to learn. However, that amount will give me enough take home pay, working a 6 day work week, to keep things stable until I get better.

The short term economics of it is like this:

Weekly lease: $492 (280 goes to paying off the sale price of the vehicle)
Gas: $180 per week. Frankly, I haven't paid much more than 30 bucks a day at the current price of gas.
What I want for me, minimum: $500.

Now I haven't made this yet, but this is mostly due to my own experimenting, taking half-days off here and there to regroup and re-evaluate things. I feel a certain confidence, going forward, that these days will net me what I'm looking for. I start tonight with a goal of 200 bucks for the night.

BTW - I'm confident I can do this because of my work on Monday night. For the record, I made most of my 200 bucks that night before I'd finished 8 hours of work. So, it's just a matter of keeping my nose to the grindstone. Monday night was strange. I started out thinking that I'd just press a little into the night and see how it went. And then, I started using the computer to find what I called "orphaned" jobs, people who called for cabs and didn't have a car anywhere near them. That's where I made my money, by playing the angel and swooping in on these folks who were otherwise not going to get picked up. I even had one rider exclaim, "Lordy Jesus, thank God you're here!" after I apologized for the long wait. Another rider had waited nearly two hours and still gave me a hefty tip for driving him to a mom and pop store not less than a half mile from his house. The cab rider of the night is as interesting as the cab driver of the night, I guess.

All that aside, finding and putting to work the vehicle I wanted to buy turned out to be a challenge in and of itself.

I picked it out on Monday. Cab 623 - The Banana Boat, Mark I. It is a 2007 Dodge Caravan with 128800 miles on it with a 6 passenger capacity (maybe one or two more off the cuff). Unlike the Crunkmobile II, it has all of its 12 volt sockets working, which is a must for the computer, if I decide to use it again for navigation assistance. As I mentioned, it has all of its seats. I cannot count how many passengers complained... and complained bitterly, about the lack of a middle seat. Well, now you have one, kids. Enjoy. Also, like the Dodge Caravan I owned when I first came to town, it's actually better on gas mileage than my personal vehicle... my father's old Ford Ranger. This is the one I want to give to my kids.

However, picking out a cab and simply saying "I want it" is not enough. You see, this is the month that the folks at Yellow have their annual city inspections and medallion renewal to coincide with the beginning of the Rodeo. So, among the cacophony of cabbies trying to get inspected, this little minibus also had to go through inspections and get things fixed. The radio and computer were throwing "meter data invalid" errors. Fixed. We had to get things re-smogged. Fixed. To make the long story short, I spent an extra four hours over the last couple of days not making money at the yard to help nudge things along. However, at 11 this morning, we dotted the last I and crossed the last T and got it done.

Now, here's another advantage I've gained that should straighten my schedule out.

As a day-lease driver, I was required to burn my gas every day to go to the yard and pay my lease. Basically, this was a break in momentum for me. I'd give the folks at Yellow their money, go home and take a nap, and then go work the afternoon. Now, paying weekly, I'm saving that money and time to work, if I so choose. I'll still play with my schedule a little, but just not having to give that two hours to the business of doing business every day will be a little blessing in and of itself. I'll drive, take my breaks, drive some more and go home... except for Wednesdays when my lease is due.

So, the plan for tonight. Drive, make my goals. If I make substantially over those goals, I may take the BBI over to Colonial to get it hand washed and waxed or get the interior done. There's a lot of ground-in dirt on the upholstery. At least, there is in my opinion, and I'd like the ride to not just be comfortable, but clean as well. If all else fails, I may find myself hiring a carpet cleaning company to take care of business. I'm not a big fan of funk in my workplace. For now, I'm busting out the big can of spray and at least making things smell good in there.

Well, all for now.

GM

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