What Pushes My Buttons

Now that's a long taxi ride!

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend filled of jelly beans, easter eggs and ham! I injested enough sodium this weekend to kill most elephants so I'm a little sluggish today. Hopefully a few walks home after work will help offset the extra pounds I undoubtedly gained this weekend.

Before I get into today's "rant-du-jour", what a crazy weather weekend it was! It was sunny and hot in the sun, but freezing cold in the shade. Watching the Yankees game yesterday was crazy. The sun was shining, yet the game was being played in a blizzard-like condition. The players were getting snow in their eyes, pretty funny. Although it could have been worse. In Cleveland, the entire weekend of games were snowed out! Crazy stuff.


Umm...I thought the Cleveland Browns didn't start playing until November?

Anyway, saw this story this morning and had to laugh. Apparently this retired couple is moving from NYC to Arizona and are taking a Taxi there:

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Couple Hail Cab for 2,400-Mile Ride
AP
NEW YORK (April 8) - Betty and Bob Matas have retired and are moving to Arizona, but like many New Yorkers they don't drive, and they don't want their cats to travel all that way in an airliner cargo hold.

Their solution: "Hey, cabbie."

They met taxi driver Douglas Guldeniz when they hailed his cab after a shopping trip several weeks ago.

They got to talking about their upcoming move, and "we said 'Do you want to come?"' said Bob Matas, 72, a former audio and video engineer for advertising agencies. "And he said 'Sure."'

It was initially a gag, Matas said, but as they talked over the ensuing weeks it became reality.

They plan to leave Tuesday on the 2,400-mile trip to Sedona, Ariz., with Guldeniz driving his yellow SUV cab 10 hours a day for a flat fee of $3,000, plus gas, meals and lodging.

They're getting a break. The standard, metered fare would be about $5,000 - each way, according to David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a drivers' group. But city Taxi and Limousine Commission rules direct drivers and passengers to negotiate a flat fare for trips outside the city and a few suburban areas.

It's also a good deal for Guldeniz.

"This job is not easy, and I want to do something different," said Guldeniz, 45, who has been driving a taxi for two years. "I want to have some good memories."

The Matases will ride in relaxed comfort in Guldeniz's sport utility vehicle while their cats ride in the back in their travel cases. A mover will haul their belongings.

"It's a little unusual, but it will be fun," said Betty Matas, 71, a retired executive administrative assistant.

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Are you kidding? When I lived in Riverdale, most cabs didn't even want to leave the city to bring me to the Bronx. And some cabs won't even go downtown if you're too far uptown and vice versa. I mean we always joke around that we want to get into a cab and say, "take me to Atlantic City" or "Mohegan Sun please". And maybe...just maybe for the right price, one out of every hundred taxi drivers would consider the offer. But good luck otherwise trying to get a cab to go to Westchester, Jersey or Long Island. Most will close the window and take off on you.

I think it's even more ironic is they had that much of a conversation with this cabbie that resulted in getting the cabbie's number to call him back in the first place. How many cab drivers can you say that about? But good for this taxi driver. I'm glad he's willing to take a road trip and get out of the city. I think personally he should have gotten the $5,000 that the metered fare would cost...but I guess since he's getting his meals and hotel rooms paid for that's a good deal right there. Especially getting gas paid for.

For the couple its a good thing that this cabbie has a new SUV cab. Could you imagine trying to take that trip in a old school Ford cab? It would probably overheat as soon as you got out of the Lincoln Tunnel. That and leg room would suck!


It's a good thing the retired couple is not traveling 3,000 miles in a "regular" cab

Seriously, I hope some tv program films this as a reality show. It'll be interesting to hear the conversations that happen in the cab. I'm sure they'll talk about religion and politics and culture. Although with all of the truck stop diners they'll be stopping in along the way I'm sure the flatulance will be flying left and right. Good luck with that one. And its a good thing the cab driver appears to be normal. Could you imagine driving 3,000 miles with a driver who didn't believe in wearing deodorant? That would suck! Although that would make for some great reality TV!

You know what I would request if I was taking this trip in a cab? I'd request the Cash Cab! For those who aren't familiar, Cash Cab is a show on Discovery Channel were contestants get into a cab and have to answer a series of questions correctly before their destination for a chance to win money.


If I'm taking a cab to Arizona, damn skippy I'm taking the Cash Cab!

Similiar to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" they have a lifeline to call someone on the phone (or even on the street!) and they get three strikes. If they get three wrong, the cab pulls over and they are dropped off on the spot with no winnings. If they reach their destination without getting three strikes, they are given the chance to go double or nothing with a video bonus. It's a pretty cool game show if you haven't seen it. If you haven't, here's a clip of one of the segments on YouTube:



Anyway, could you imagine the cash you could rack up on a 3,000 mile trip! Some contestants can win like $750 bucks with a 50 block cab ride. You'd probably be talking in the millions with a 3,000 mile ride! Although I would hope that you would get 100 strikes or so...i'd hate to have to be dropped off in the middle of Iowa after getting a few questions wrong. Anyway, even if you played without money it would be pretty entertaining. It would beat the hell out of the old license plate game!