Cablog

Brothers

For some months there has been hints that life in Baghdad is returning to normal. This is sweet vindication for those who retained faith that peace was possible, despite the entrenched scepticism of large sections of the Western media.

Now a post at Captain Quarters examines a Washington Post report that Baghdad security has been put to the ultimate test - the cabbie factor,

If cabbies feel secure enough to drive all over Baghdad, that's a good indication of normalcy returning to Iraq. They know better than to take extraordinary risks, which makes the cabbie factor an interesting and reliable leading indicator.

There is a sobering qualifier, of course,

...this is still a city where anyone could be killed at any moment for no particular reason.

The blogger, Edward Morrissey, a former Los Angeles cabbie makes an easy analogy with Baghdad cabbies,

...this is the world of cabbies everywhere... Recently, Minneapolis had a rash of cabbie murders, drivers who died for less than $200 because their fares turned out to be murderers, and in LA this happened with less fanfare.

Good luck to Baghdad cabbies, indeed all cabbies, it's a jungle out there.

via US reader, Terry.

Cab Care

Early this morning I seriously considered video taping a passenger. 

A young woman emerged from a Kings Cross nightclub, fell into the back seat and ordered a suburb thirty minutes south of the City. Whilst establishing her preferred route it became clear she was not only wasted but also short-tempered.

Whether it was booze, pills or total exhaustion I’m unsure but within minutes she’d collapsed against the door in a deep sleep. Great...

Hallucination

Over the course of the election campaign I added a fifth shift to my weekly schedule in order to maximise the gathering of Cabpoll content. This was a Tuesday night driving for different owner.

After work on Sunday night I produced my final Cabpoll and retired at 8.30am Monday, totally exhausted. Recently, the best feeling in the world has been hitting the Send button after a four hour session on the computer. This, after a ten hour cab shift.

With the Christmas rush upon us I’d decided to retain the extra Tuesday shift. So yesterday I rose at 2pm and rushed off to collect the cab, then returned home and hit the sack for an extra couple of hours.

At 5pm I rose and readied myself for work, all the while believing yesterday was Tuesday. Until my son informed me in a phone call that yesterday was actually Monday, all day. There was one cab parked out the front and another waiting for collection !

It’s not the first time I’ve experienced hallucinations covering the marathon campaign. And thank God it’s finished.

Final Cabpoll 07

Final Cabpoll post-election now up. Phew. Back to normal tomorrow.

UPDATE: Avid election watchers may be interested to know which of the major pollsters won the tipping contest. Yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald gauged four of the major pollsters, nominating Roy Morgan Research as the winner,

It conducted a poll on election eve which predicted that Labor would win the popular vote with a two-party-preferred margin of 53.5 to 46.5.

The actual result, with 75 per cent of the vote counted, was: 53.3 per cent to 46.7 per cent.

However the SMH failed to consider ninemsn's election eve poll which beat Morgan's prediction, if only by 0.1%,

According to ninemsn's online survey of 86,763 people, Labor enjoys a 53.4 per cent lead on a two-party preferred basis.

As for the cabbies' pick, my moderate prediction was mirrored by Crikey's cabbie panel.

Fun

Here's a couple of clowns last night outside Liberal Party HQ, the Wentworth Hotel, where I couldn't resist accosting Chas Licciardello for a happy snap. That'll teach him for lurking around taxi ranks after his earlier stunts. In hindsight I should have offered him a lift in the boot. Later I was informed, by a passenger from inside the party, that this other character with Chas was possibly one of the ebulient fans John Howard felt compelled to quiten during his concession speech. Or maybe he's just another Chaser fan. It was that sort of crowd...fun-loving Liberals.

Cabbies Cabpoll

Thursday's Cabpoll movie titled CABPOLL @ Domestic Airport is now available here.

Update

Unfortunately my most recent movie on the cabbies poll didn't pass muster due to visual shortcomings. Obviously I'm still learning the craft. However it will be available here tomorrow, once other matters are out of the way.

Namely, an appearance on tonight's A Current Affair with Ray, Trace, Johnnie, Kev and a live audience, which is a relief and much more preferable than a dead audience. What will really be interesting is a plan to park the cab in the studio! Broadcast 6.30pm EST.

Sorry for the late notice but I only received confirmation this afternoon. If you miss the telecast it should be available later online.

Fraudsters

A query for anyone with knowledge of credit card fraud...

Had a passenger this week, a middle-aged bank staffer, who insisted that sending his credit card number over the taxi radio for authorisation would possibly expose him to fraud by anyone monitoring the bandwidth. I told him I'd never heard of this.

When I first processed his card the EFTPOS terminal prompted me to contact base for an authority number, needed to authorise the large fare. After he resisted this common practise the radio room refused to allow a manual swipe processing of the card.

Finally, after 15 minutes he relented and, of course, he then slammed the door on exit.

So, has anyone heard of credit card fraud resulting from intercepted radio traffic ?

Thursday

In an attempt to help predict the likely outcome of Saturday's election, I've polled cabbies at the Domestic Airport. This Cabpoll should be posted shortly.

Tuesday

New Cabpoll up around mid-morning featuring the multimedia movie heralded last Thursday. Please bear in mind it's created largely on a cam-phone and not perfect, but you'll get the picture.

Have a nice day, I'm off to bed.

UPDATE: Link fixed.