Survivor.
      
      What an adventure last night in San Anselmo and all over Northern California..

      I was driving a cab last night and right now I am exhausted and grateful and exhausted. We had some rain yesterday a lot of rain. They call it the Pineapple Express it had been rainy for more than a week. The Pineapple Express a line of storms from out of the Pacific.. a weatherman said a couple of days ago that this line stretched all the way from somewhere north of the Philippines coming this way. The warm air can hold more moisture than cold air and then ..... let it go.

   It was raining when I went to work at the cab company it had been raining most of the day it was about 5:30 PM on Friday night. I waited till the rain stopped pounding before I went in to the cab office got Sherms (the daydriver) #26's, fine cab 202. Cab driving is always best with a good vehicle and a relatively new Crown Vic at 155,399 miles is still plenty young. The Ford Crown Victoria is one of the finer built American vehicles perhaps ever, they seem remarkable to me, cabs still running with over 360,000 miles & which basically with good maintenance feel pretty new to someone in the back seat.

  Get to the point...

   It was busy and rainy. I was in a good mood (hooray for that) I didn't mind the rain. I was into it. I had tunes I had fares a good cab all good people all night long even the guy who shouted (blasted me) at me when he got in I was having a great night up till then. I shouted right back. Anger. I had driven by his house in the deluge not seeing the addresses, he was a cab regular, I had dispatched cabs to him hundreds of times I should of known where he was.
I heard this scream/shout trailing me through the rain but up on the narrow street I wasn't going to back up I could wait for him to catch up with me
he's be soaked to the bone I kept driving found a place to turn around and came back. Fn Idiot I said to myself I hate being shouted at/anger at all he had to do was wait I would have turned around once I had located a legible street number. He climbed in and let me have it .. I right back. And I could not say a thing more as I drove him down the hill, the short ride. Stewing.. my good feelings for the day evaporating with a blast of stress. It was he who made an attempt at civility in the last minute before he got out.. something about the weather. Something about his job on the water and I asked ....

Enough.

 He gave me $10 on the $5 ride. I breathed deep. The next fare again way out on North San Pedro road as I pulled into their driveway the dispatcher informed they had just cancelled. 'F!,' I said to myself. He said they would come out and give me a dismissal (courtesy payment $5 is appropriate, $2 is more common -- even more.. people shutting the door in your face) No one coming out, I walked to the door..in the rain someone came out to meet me she is sorry .'my sister... dadadada ---' excuse. I asked if she was going to pay me a dismissal fee shes says Oh! she'll go back in for the money. I give a grouchy 'Forget It' and turn away back to the cab she was young , she was cute I wouldn't have mind kissing her.. instead a grouchy idiot continues on.

  What about the flood Guy?

  That's coming.. the next fare, two youngsters going out to the bar, she maybe 21, on the Radio KFOG... the tune Spirit  'I Gotta Line On You' one of the top 10 greatest rock tunes of all time. She says I love this tune. Something about her Ma's record collection. We blast it. Thank YOU!

  At 8:30 I say to myself or someone in my brain... if this rain continues on for another 3 or 4 hours 'We will have flooding!'

 About midnight I stop in at home for my camera. The weather is awesome.

  Shortly after a pickup at 19 Broadway Brandon and his lovely blonde friend
damn forgot her name. Really good people. Nice drive into Corte Madera good 'crack' as they say in Ireland. How do I like this rain? someone asks I answer words that come back to haunt me. 'I love every drop of this rain.' Yessir I was just having a good time. Dang Fool!

 No, though sometimes... the idea of plagues, floods and horrible natural disasters that might leave me alone with maybe Jessica Simpson or Scarlett Johansen, or maybe one of any number of angels in Fairfax to repopulate the Earth sounds like a fine idea ... I really don't care for devastation.

  Every drop of this rain' is what I said.  Idiot! My apologies to everyman woman and child hurt by the flood.

   It was past Midnight and the rain had indeed pounded for another 3 or 4 hours and was not over yet and somehow I had forgotten my own warning. It ain't flooding now it ain't flooding yet.. what a storm!  beautiful rain.

  Got the late ride into the city to guarantee a really good night of driving.
  Came back gassed the cab up checked out and went home at least I tried........

       
     Guy Meyer, Jr.
         
        December 31, 2005
        San Anselmo, California
      
       guy@lifesignsphoto.com