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.