The Knowledge Alphabet....

I thought I would write about something a bit different and slightly light hearted as I am getting very stressed about my progress so far, I'm half way through book two and seem to have hit a brick wall with my calling over, I just can't remember the runs, so I'm having a week off to re-charge my batteries and I thought this would be fun.....
A- Appearances. The meeting with the examiners when we find out just how much we know or don't as the case may be, the joy of sitting in front of someone feeling very stupid and hoping all out hard work shows through.
B- Blue Book. Our bible, all 320 runs in a nice little book this is what our lives now revolve around!!!!.
C-Calling Over. The bane of our lives, we love being out there doing the runs visiting the points but then we have to call over either the BB or P2P hate it really hate it lol
D- Dedication. As Roy Castle used to sing, if you haven't got it give up now it's gonna take years to do, gonna take over your whole life nothing else will matter - if you're not dedicated then may as well not start.
E- Ex. Ex wives/girlfriends, unfortunately many of us KOL peeps can end up losing our partners as they can't put up with what we have to go through - I hope it doesn't happen to you!!!!!!
F- Fifty-six. The start of it the appearances, once the map test is out of the way the real fun begins!!!!!
G- Green Badge. Why we're doing this, the Holy Grail lol
H- Helmet. A KOL boys best friend for the times that you come off the bike due to Addison lee cutting you up!!!!
I- Impossible/Inspiration. How the KOL feels and what you need to get through it.
J - Job. Something most of us have to do to pay the bills while doing the KOL, a few lucky sods give up work but for the rest of us we have to fit in the KOL around it.
K- Knowledge Schools. Somewhere to go to meet other KOL peeps and get help and advice, or somewhere to go to find out you know a damn sight less than you thought you did!!!!
L- Lost. We all do it, don't deny it one of the pleasures of doing the KOL.
M- Maps. Second only to our Blue Book we love our maps we study them, write on them and when I've finished the KOL I never want to see another map again in my life.
N- New Friends. One of the joys of the KOL is meeting new people who are doing it, they are the people we can talk to about it and they understand what we're going through, and even when they pass out we're pleased for them even though we are soooooo jealous.
O- Over and Over and Over. What we do when we call runs, visit points EVERYTHING OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER and eventually it sinks in ( we hope)
P- Points. What we have to learn, all of them, every single bloody last one (for those of you that don't know a point is a place of public interest, on any road within a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross. Could be a hospital, church, shop, club police station or government building or anything else, and yes there are lots and lots and lots of them!!!)
Q- Quit. Out of every 10 people that start the KOL only 3/4 will get the Green Badge the rest quit. You can't fail the KOL only quit it.
R- Red-lined. What happens on appearances when you don't get enough points, means you could go from 28's back to 56's happens to the very best of us.
S-Scooter. The KOL peeps best friend, what we use to take us around London in all sorts of weather and hopefully it doesn't break down, I spend more time on my scooter than I do my missus!
T-TFL. The organisation responsible for putting us through this. Used to be the Carriage Office now TFL.
U- Understanding. What our Friends and family need to be while we have 3 years worth of mental breakdowns because we can't remember whether it's a right turn or a left turn.
V- Victories. We have little ones everyday, we find a point we couldn't or we finally work out how two roads link up, everyone of these is personal and no one else will understand just how great it feels when you get one.
W- Weather. Out on the scooter in the freezing cold or the pouring rain or when it's boiling hot - we take on the weather and win because we are on the KOL.
X-XXXX. Pick any swear word you like, and you'll say it a million times when you miss a turn, miss a point, come off your scooter or call over a run wrong, in fact if you dont' swear then you're not doing the KOL right.
Y- Why?. I ask myself this question everyday and it is a great motivator, we all have our reasons for doing the KOL, and we also ask ourselves why we put ourselves through it, but it's worth it at the end.
Z- ZZzzzzz. Sleep, What we all seem to miss out on doing the KOL, and when we do finally go to sleep we're thinking of the best lines to call or where a certain place is. How I wish for the days when I would fall asleep and just dream of me and the spice girls and a very large bottle of vodka.

I hope you enjoyed my light-hearted look at the alphabet, until next time stay safe and be lucky.....

I'm not the only London virgin.......

For those of you who follow me on Twitter (@knowledgeboy10) you will have seen the conversations this week about being a London virgin.
I didn't even know I was one, and didn't know I wasn't the only one!!!!
So what is a London virgin??? It appears that in the wonderful world of the KOL it is someone who has absolutely no idea of London before they start out, someone who has never driven around London, who doesn't know one area from another or someone who's only bit of knowledge of the layout of our great city was the walk from the train station to their office.
How did I get found out? well during the conversation I had admitted that I only found out last week while doing my runs that The Strand went all the way to Trafalgar Square. Now those of you who already have the green badge or have been doing the KOL a while will probably scoff and laugh at my apparent ignorance, even those of you who have been in town a few times probably knew that but me - not a clue!!!!.
Once a few people had expressed their total disbelief at my admission, a few other people came out and admitted that before they started the KOL they were in the same boat as me, which made me feel a whole heap better.
This then led to a discussion about whether it was an advantage or disadvantage, learning something from scratch or already having an idea, and the general consensus was that a blank page is always better than one that already has scribbles on it.
So there we are I have gone from thinking that Willesden was near Hackney to today being able to call from my front door to GetTaxi's new offices in Highgate Road - so I am getting there slowly.!!!!!
Does this mean though that I have gone from being a virgin to being F@@ked?????
Keep safe and be lucky.

Are we standing by while the trade is destoyed???

While I am out doing my runs and having lots of contact with different taxi drivers, I do try and keep up to date with the issues that concern my future career. I try to read various blogs to do with the Taxi trade and keep an eye on any postings on youtube or elsewhere on the web and what I read dismays and worries me.
The Taxi drivers I have spoken to have all been polite, helpful,honest and all have a good sense of humour, and yet reading the latest news it seems that as a trade we are hell bent on destroying ourselves. I'm not going to say which of the various Taxi organisations are right and which are wrong, but maybe give a different view on the latest issues.
The biggest concern seems to be the complete lack of policing of the private hire companies, they seem to be able to tout where-ever they wish with no fear of punishment, they now have ranks in various London boroughs (although as private hire have to be pre-booked I cannot see how a rank could be lawful?), the Olympics have shown which trade now have the power with all the ranks having gone in Newham and as the Olympic map shows there will be plenty of consideration for private hire over the "proper Taxi's".
How did it ever come to this? The London Black Taxi has been an icon for many many years, regardless of what some in the media think it is still respected, when I tell people that I am doing the Knowledge they are full of admiration for what I am undertaking, they know how difficult it is. So how come that private hire now has this advantage over us?
It is now called private hire but lets be honest it is and always will be mini-cabs, generally old dirty cars, driven by people that don't know where they are going and the drivers don't have to have the same criminal checks that proper Taxi drivers do, so the possibility of being robbed and raped is higher, especially if the driver has just picked the person up from the street so there is no trace of who did the job.
Who is responsible for this? Is it the Black Cab trade organisations, that all seem to have their own agendas, one of which I have been told (so I don't know if it is true) has a seat on the board of TFL yet also is a share-holder in a private hire firm, now I am not going to comment on this apart from to say that a man cannot wear two hats, if this is true then the person concerned needs to either be fighting for the Black Cab trade or fighting for the mini-cabs, there should be transparency with this surely? I never understood why control of the Black Cabs was ever taken away from the Police and handed to TFL from all I have read this seems to be a corrupt organisation that is more interested in making money than policing the whole of the trade. I am sure if the police were still in charge that the queues of touts outside various night-spots would be dealt with.
Is there not a way that all the different organisations that represent the proper taxi drivers can come together and work for and only for the future of the Black Taxi Trade. The trade doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the drivers and has done since it's very beginning, and you are supposed to be safeguarding it for the future, for people like me that want to be part of its future and be part of the greatest Taxi trade in the world.
I know that the various organisations collect "subs" from their members, I cannot believe that an industry as large as ours doesn't have proper lobbying within Parliament, it seems that none of the candidates for the London Mayor have mentioned anything to do with the future of the trade ( apart from a few comments by Brian Paddock) and yet it seems that the whole thing could quite easily fall apart and firms like Addison Lee and Diamond will force the trade into extinction.

The first 80 runs completed

I have now finished the first 80 runs, and it's time to asses how i'm getting on and if I can do things better I think.
The first thing I've learnt is that doing runs at night is a nightmare ( pardon the pun) I can't see anything properly and when I have re-done the runs during the day everything looks very very different.
Also, and this is probably the biggest thing,  I can't do more than four runs a day, there is just too much information to take in and trying to learn the runs once I have done them is too much with more than four.
From about run 26/27 I started to write out the runs a few times before actually doing them, this really helped when I was out there as I wasn't constantly looking at my board so it gave me a chance to take in what I was riding past, and then made calling them over in the evening easier because I had already got a basis of the run in my head.
When I am calling over it is so much easier to do it with a map in front of me, not close enough to see the road names but close enough to remind me of the direction I'm travelling in, and  any strange seeming turns make much more sense.
I guess the scariest thing for me is that I have now done a quarter fo al the blue book runs and yet there is so much more that I don't know, everytime I congratulate myself on doing a run I realise that I am at present just scrating the surface of what I have to learn, however I have learnt other bits and bobs as well, other roads not on any runs that I have used , and writing out the routes between each run has given me a bit more knowledge and also saved me a huge amount of time when I'm out on the bike.
So having reached a milestone, I have many more positives than negatives to take from the experience so far, I am enjoying it and still feel enthusiasm for doing it, and have learnt not to beat myself up when I get things wrong.
Lots of people have given me advice, some good some not so good, but it is all welcome, there is no right way to do this beast, only the way that the person doing it feels comfortable doing it their way, there is no failing it, only giving up and I won't be doing that. This is definitely the right thing for me to do and however long it takes me whatever it throws in my face I will carry on and finish it.

The worst drivers are.......

 Having been riding around London for a few months now, it has given me the chance to see just who are the worst drivers. No it's not women as most people assume, in fact there isn't one "worst driver" there are three so here they are in no particular order:
 BMW DRIVERS - OK so it appears that perfectly normal people turn into complete cocks when they get behind the wheel of a BMW. When I see a BMW I know that at some point it is going to do something stupid, cut across lanes, go through red lights turn right/left when there are no right/left turns, speed away at the lights or try to race someone. There isn't a age limit on BCS (that's BMW COCK SYNDROME), I always thought that it would be young people but no it seems to be any age and in fact middle aged men (who are maybe having a mid-life crisis) do seem to be the worst.

CYCLISTS - Now I know that cyclists are trying to do their bit for the environment/save money/get fit, but really do they have to ride like they have a death wish????? if anyone reading this rides a bike let me give you a little hint RED LIGHTS MEAN STOP!!!!! they don't take any notice of the rules of the road and yet seem to think they own them, when I'm on my scooter I have to watch out for them because however stupid or dangerous BMW drivers are cyclists are much much worse. The tax payer is having to fund road changes because there have been a few deaths on the streets of London of cyclists, but maybe the money would be better spent teaching these people how to ride safely rather than on modifying roundabouts, or maybe there should be some form of licensing so that these idiots can be fined or prosecuted for dangerous drivers.

ADDISON LEE DRIVERS - Well I'm saving my best till last, what can I say about these Muppet's that hasn't already been said? I have no idea why their people carriers have wing mirrors they never get used, apparently Garmin are bringing out a special Addison Lee sat-nav, it has extra large maps, speaks very very slowly and the voice is available in any language apart from English!!!!!!. Regardless of the poor service that they provide their customers, the over charging, the fact they are out scabbing of a weekend, and the fact they have no idea where they are going, all of this pales into insignificance when you are stuck behind them and they just cut you up, nearly hit you, stop on red routes and just stop anywhere they feel like.
So there you have it my top three idiot drivers in London, I'm sure you all have your faves feel free to comment, until next time stay safe and be lucky.

The good life and going mad.......

As those of you who have read my blog on a regular basis will know I have now got into a routine and things seem to be going really well. I am loving working at Gettaxi.co.uk, I am getting my runs done, I am able to call over and do my map work, everything in the garden is rosy as they say, which leads to one conclusion - when is it all going to go wrong?????
This is human nature I think, life ticks over, things fall into place and yet we are always looking for the next puddle to step in and to mess up our day. Now I wouldn't say I am a pessimist in any shape or form, but life has taught me that we get good stuff in the right hand and immediately we get bad stuff in the left - this has been my forty years of experiences and I don't see why things should change now. I've been an Everton supporter since I was a child ( one of my parents is from Liverpool so no I'm not a glory hunter LOL) and I guess Everton is a prime example of life, we win the league (many many years ago) and the manager buggers off to Spain, we have the leagues top scorer (yes Gary Lineker did play for us), and then he too buggers off to Spain, and so on and so on.
And so it goes on, so with work being great and all KOL related things going great where am I thinking things can bugger up??? Well it is simple, I am going ever so slightly mad. A couple of weeks ago I had a puncture in Aunt Sally's rear tyre, and it cost £35 to get it fixed,(the story is in an earlier post on here), and now I have a mental issue with the rear tyre. As anyone who has done the knowledge or is doing the knowledge or in fact has spent any amount of time on a scooter will know, when the rear tyre is flat the bike feels a bit wobbly, well I have had the tyre done and yet in my mind it is still wobbly, I have checked the tyre the tyre pressure and all is good and yet still....... it feels wobbly and there is nothing wrong with it. I know it is fine and yet in my mind there is still a problem. So there you have it the ying to my yang, the cheese to my pineapple - my life is fantastic but I am going deeply mad!!!!!
Be lucky all.

The best thing about a routine is........

Ok so now I've been working at Gettaxi for a couple of weeks so I'm getting used to working nights, my body has adjusted to different sleeping patterns, different eating patterns and the fact that I see very little daylight lol
My typical day starts with me getting up about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, having something to eat then bathing etc, then it''s off to walk the Dog with the missus have a bit of time with her, have some dinner then off on Aunt Sally to work. The ride into work is about half hour now and i am learning all sorts of little cut throughs to try and shorten it, although I do love the Rotherhithe Tunnel because although it is full of exhaust fumes it is so warm!!!!!
My shift starts at 11, so obviously I have to keep an eye on what is going on and I have to say the drivers are superb, helping out if I'm not sure where somewhere is , also running for jobs that are a bit of a distance if I can't get it covered. There is a strange relationship between a curcuit and the drivers, one of the reasons they are drivers is so they are selp-employed and don't have a boss yet in dispatch we have to ask they to do stuff for us, and on the whole they are superb. I do always make a point of noting who has helped me out and eventually I will give them a better job as a thank you.
During the down time on my shift I am looking at the runs I'm gonna be doing the next morning ( I try to do 4), mark them up on my map and then write them up a few times to get them into my head before I head off to do them, and it worked on Monday morning I had a run from Morning Lane to Silvertown Way, and I didn't need the run on my board, so that was a step forward. My shift finishes at 7 in the morning then it's off on Aunt Sally for a few hours to try and get my 4 runs done, then home for breakfast and some sleep. With this routine I should get book one finished by the end of March and all four books done by July.
I have now got into this routine and I have to say I love it, my life at the moment is centred on the KOL and I'm loving it!!!!!!!!
Sorry if you think this post is a bit dull, but I guess I felt it was time to let you into my life and show you my day to day.
In my previous post I mentioned that I had emailed the Mayor of London to ask for his views and opinions on the future of the Black Taxi in London. Although I was promised a reply within 10 days I have still not heard anything from him, which given that it's an election year probably sums up his committment to our trade. I will keep you posted if anything changes.
well that's all from me for now - Be Lucky and Keep Safe!!!!