Instant Karma's Gonna Get You...

Or "Sometimes, The Universe Intervenes on Your Behalf."

Cab driving in Houston is a funny critter. Work can trickle along in 6, 12, 4 and 7 dollar spurts... and then you get a couple of larger runs through the day and then it fizzles again. A lot of days Monday through Thursday are like that.

The key is coping and sticking with those days, I suppose.

Monday, for whatever reason, just did not turn out anywhere near what I expected. I started well, took the regular midday break (although I've been telling myself to just work a straight 12 and not break it up - which may be part of the issue). I then decided to run into the Bay Area to see what mischief I could get into.

I have this strange relationship with the Bay. I've had some of my biggest runs come from there and yet, sometimes, it falls on it's face earnings-wise... flatly.

Monday was definitely, flatly.

I got sent to the same bogus call at Baybrook Mall, twice. I got stood up at a sushi bar. However, I did score a 40 dollar trip into Hobby from a bar off of NASA Road 1. However, that was it... just enough to pay for dinner for that night and gas for tomorrow.

Tuesday creeped along and I got sick... mostly due to the fact that I was hemming and hawing about how late to stay up Monday. So, when I finally got up at noon on Tuesday, I made just enough to add something to what I'd already brought in from the weekend to say I "broke even."

So here it is, Wednesday. I need about 150 bucks to make my lease for the week (on time, anyway) and... I miss waking up on time. I hit the road at 7am, and bleech... make 30 bucks before I roll into the yard to give them my vouchers and credit card receipts from the week. Here, I encounter a surprise and find a $35 credit slip I forgot I made on Monday. Duh.

Still, for some reason, I hang onto my cash for not other reason than that little voice saying, "you'll need it." Also, it said, "go get something to eat... get those new shirts you wanted get your head right and roll into the Bay."

Bay Area?

You're kidding, right?

After Monday's debacle?

Fine.

I go to the Bay and tell myself, "OK, this is a leap of faith, here...but I'll go." I hit the Wal Mart on El Dorado and score my 3x golf shirts for 9 bucks a piece. Not too shabby. They're black, but the material is as thin as t-shirt material, which is what I want. Just enough to cover me, but not broil me in the coming heat.

I pick up my first trip of the afternoon, a grocery trip in Pearland that ends up being a 20 dollar hit because the rider is in a wheelchair and he needs me to lug his bags for him. So, it was really a 11.50 trip with a sizeable tip for my lumping work. Also, I managed to "save" the trip using my GPS. Garmin has a lovely feature that allows you to put in the name of the place you're looking for... which came in handy when the dispatcher gave me the wrong address. Only a mile and a half difference between where I was sent... an empty building... and the actual grocery store.

So anyway, I was actually grateful for the exercise. Christ on a stick, these people buy a lot of groceries!

Next, I pulled into a strip mall at Pearland Parkway and Broadway and waited...

... and waited...

...and freakin' waited.

Almost a full hour passed until the terminal beeped again.

"Business Center Drive"

OK... will do.

It was 3:30 and I figured the evening commute was just blasting off. The grocery trip was a lark and I was going to be busy for the next 5 hours. Not quite... but then, I didn't need it to be.

I took my rider from Pearland to downtown. 35 bucks. I was about to put my van into gear again when some guy rapped on the window and said, "If you can give me three minutes to smoke a cigarette, you can take me to Intercontinental."

SOLD!

Two Shell Plaza to Bush, 55 bucks after the tip. Then, just as I was putting my hand on the gearshift again, a very lovely and tired lady walked around the front of the van and ambled in.

"Can you take me to Clay Road and Highway 6... and then take me to work?"

Why, yes; of course I can.

32 miles and 85 bucks later, after tip of course, I'm sitting with my lease in my hands. Literally. The cash that I didn't give to the cashier earlier in the day? I was asked TWICE if I could break $100 dollar bills. So, between 1:45 that afternoon and 6:15... 200 dollars worth of business.

I ran back to the yard and paid my lease with an hour left in the cashier's day.

So, there we have it... from being two days late last week, to being on time this week. The experiment now is to work a more or less normal day tomorrow, then a hell day of sorts on Friday and see where that leaves me. Basically, if I already have my lease for next week paid by the end of the hell day Saturday morning, I'm taking the rest of Saturday off and Sunday as well. It'll then be up to Monday-half of Wednesday to make bill-paying money.

I am slowly coming off the schnide to where I can manage this into a 5 day work week and give myself my deserved free time. I'm not putting four kids through college, after all.

And, on a "WTF" note... I saw the same guy I saw 3 months ago, asleep in his cab, near where I live, with his bare feet hanging out the window. T-shirt... sandals presumably somewhere. His cab was filthy... Another reason why I might not have the money I'd otherwise might have had today was the fact that I insisted on getting the grime off my wagon after the horrendous storms and flooding we had on Saturday. Dude, I was a U-boat commander on Saturday.

I don't get why guys like that even get work. I walked by the poor lady who saw me drive by when I was on my way to grocery shop. I said, "Sorry, ma'am, I'm off duty. There's your cab."

"You're kidding me," she said.

"No, ma'am... even hack drivers got to grocery shop."

I came back out and saw her putting her groceries into this dude's dirt-wagon. I was tempted to give her a business card, but I got the feeling that she was just as mad at me for not "rescuing" her from this guy as she was at him for being a dirtball.

I went home with my baguette, block of cheese and 1 liter Coke and thought to myself, "even the Universe realizes it can't save me every day, and I can't save everyone who has a bad experience with a cab driver... even when I'm standing right next to them."

I think I'll sleep well tonight.