They try to get all of the inspections done before the end of March. Usually when your cab is being serviced they will have the shop guys detail out your taxi and then we take it down to the Hillsborough County Transportation Commission for them to give it the OK. For the first time in 13 years-I flunked!
The front bumper needed touch up paint, the headliner was falling down in the back, and the rear rubber-seal(in the picture) was not bolted down. Those things tear off when you load and unload luggage. I had mine just sitting there and Mario said that was not good enough. You should of seen the look on Amy's face. It was not her fault that they fired "Big Scott."
Big Scott used to come in every year for the month of March and detail all of our taxis out. He did A real good job and I never heard of any cab failing. I think it had to do with money. What else. The shop guys just don't really seem to care. Next time I will do it myself.
They will let me drive...we just had to promise to go back to the shop and do it right. Note the new hack medallion on the back...Sweet...
Hey there. How’s it been going? Me, same old. What’s that? Oh… yeah it’s not that kind of blog. Today, let’s talk about the playoffs. Both of the pro and “armature” variety. The NFL is looking (finally) to resolve the old problem of having bad division winners at home against good wild-cards. And, lo and [...]
Never let it be said that I'm not getting anything out of grad school.
One of my professors passed this along to me, citing it as proof that globalization has happened After I watched the video I couldn't really argue with him.
According to tothepointnews.com, here's the background:
"Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Red Army had an official choir composed of male soldiers and musicians. It still exists. The Red Army Choir performs throughout Russia to this day.
"Now consider the Finnish rock band called The Leningrad Cowboys. A little while ago, they held a concert in Russia, in which - to the screaming applause of Russkie teen-agers - they got the Red Army Choir to join them on stage for a performance of Sweet Home Alabama. In English."
I don't follow wrestling as much as I used to, but as you fans out there know, they are holding Wrestlemania XXIV over in Orlando this weekend. They also hold Hall of Fame ceremony for the old-timers during the weekend.
Well, if you're going to have a Hall of Fame in Florida, you just couldn't do it without inducting Jonard Frank Labiak, a.k.a. Gordon Solie, the voice of southern pro wrestling in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Don't know why it took the WWE so long to do it, but I'm glad they did. It would be like having a College Football hall of fame and not inducting Keith Jackson. Or having a baseball hall of fame without Vin Scully. You just couldn't do it and not be regarded as credible.
Yes, I know, wrestling is a scripted event. But what made Solie outstanding at what he did was he could describe the events and make it appear realistic. And, regardless of what you do in life, if you do your job well, you should be duly rewarded.
Like going back into time. I dropped this guy off at his condo on Bayshore after I picked him up at some girls house. I even recognized this dude from bus stop bench ads that are all over town. It was him. He said the mortgage business is gone...
Let me get to the point. I pulled onto stand 32 at Britton Plaza and of course Emory, Bill, Ace, Tony and some guy I have never seen are sitting there gripping about how bad business is. Now you know you have never heard me complain.
Now with what has been going on in the last three months why would you just park your ass on 32. There are no major hotels or airports in that zone. Every time I work it, I get the little old ladies going to the doctor or the grocery store. To each his own. Emory said it was bad man...real bad.
Oh well, my friend Bill was there and he said he liked my shirt. It is the only shirt have that people seem to like. So I had him take my photo. Not bad for a little cheap $500 camera. I had Bill use fill-in flash.
Anyway, I left there and went to the airport and within minutes was on my way to Innsbruck with a $70 fare and they gave me a "C" note...You can keep stand 32.
Tampa’s history goes largely unrecognized by many of the city’s tourists and newer residents. With the exception of a few hard-to-miss standouts, like the silver-capped, former Tampa Bay Hotel (circa 1891), “progress” has erased much of Tampa’s early years from sight. But those years have not been erased from memory, as one local filmmaker has discovered ... Read More
I wrote almost exactly a year ago about the lawsuit against Turnitin.com filed by several Virginia high school students, alleging that the anti-plagiarism service violated the students’ intellectual property rights. Then, I said, “Does Turnitin have a valid defense? There are two likely possibilities: fair use, and license.” My predictions (unlike, say, my stock picks) have turned out to be eerily prescient.
Technically, I was wrong about the license issue: to be precise, the court found that the “users” (i.e., the students) had agreed to a “click-wrap” contract which waived all liability of any kind by the defendants. (Note that the school required the students to do so.) So, not an express license to use the work, but a prohibitive contractual provision nonetheless. The court relied on one argument, though, which I think could be subject to attack on appeal: in order to enforce the contract, the court had to find that the students got some “benefit” out of the contract — in this case, the fact that they would otherwise have gotten a failing grade from the school. I’m not sure that the school’s requirement that the students sign up for the “service” is the same as receiving a “benefit” of the service. This court also seemed unconcerned that this school - a public school - required the students to sign up for the “service,” except to say that the students’ redress would be against the school, not Turnitin.com.
I did say that fair use would be a problem for the students to overcome, and i was spot-on about that. The judge took a pretty thorough look at the fair use analysis (using the four factors I mentioned last time) and found that the copying in this case was fair use. Predictably, the court focused - as most do - on the fourth factor, impact on the marketability of the work. Finding that Turnitin.com’s use of the works had effectively no impact on the prospective market for the students’ papers (aided in part by the students’ own concessions that there was no real market for them) was tantamount to finding for the defendants on the question of fair use.
So, while it’s a disappointing result, the court’s decision would probably be difficult to overturn on appeal. Maybe it’s time to take up the court’s suggestion that the students seek redress against the school district for compelling them to surrender their intellectual property rights in their work. I’m just glad I’m not the lawyer who would have to argue that case.
Providence willing, there comes a time when one may experience the luxury of reliving cherished childhood memories. For me, one such is backyard vegetable gardening. Growing up in Clearwater, our family led by Dad the gentleman farmer, kept up a big garden over the years.
Last weekend, I set out to create my version of the backyard garden by banging together some raised bed containers from yellow pine 2x10s. That job done, I started looking for a source of decent topsoil. No luck on craig's list and the bags at the garden centers are too expensive.
So, before I let my fingers do the dreaded walking, I'm asking the SH blog community for suggestions for whom to call for delivery of a couple of yards of decent ("organic"?) topsoil I can use as a start in creating my "special blend".
Any ideas? Any childhood gardening memories to share?
(yes, it’s been forever since I posted, this isn’t hockey talk alone though, so….)
How come, every time there is expressed outrage in the sports world, the fans cannot take it upon themselves to organize and petition or organize in one form or another for or against some tactic or move that has been undertaken by [...]
HART and the THS board will be meeting today to go over details of an agreement reached last week regarding funding for the Whiting Street extension and the upcoming BRT system. The Trib also gives previews of agreement details.
A deal of harmony has been struck between HART and the Tampa Historic Streetcar Board. The deal provides a 20 year financial plan for streetcar operations, and, money to build the Whiting Street extension. What gets lost in all this? A museum.
On 18 March 2008 an Administrative Judge will be asked to determine if a rule of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation that permits non- HCPTC licensed limousines, taxicabs and small buses to:
Enter the county with passengers to patronize - bars, sports venues, dining establishments etc., and transport passengers all over the county for an unlimited amount of time;
Enter the county to drop passengers off at the airport, cruise port to other mass transit point or convention sites and hotels;
Enter the county after loading the "paying passenger" outside of the county for the purpose of loading other passengers for continuation of transport;
Expands, modifies or contravenes the following provisions of chapter 2001-299 Laws of Florida:
S7 ( 1 ) It is unlawful for any person to engage in the business of operating a public vehicle on the public highways of the county unless that person has complied with the provisions of this act.
S7 ( 2 ) Any person desiring to engage in the business of operating any public vehicle in the county must first make written application to the commission on a form provided by the commission for that purpose. Upon receipt of such application the commission shall investigate the facts stated in the application and fix a date, time, and place for a public hearing on the application.
S11 ( 1 ) In addition to any other civil penalties contained elsewhere in this act, any person who violates or fails to comply with or who procures, aids, or abets in the violation of any provision of this act is guilty of a criminaloffense and misdemeanor in accordance with section 775.08, Florida Statutes.
S11 ( 2 ) Any person who operates a public vehicle upon the public highways without a certificate, permit, orpublic vehicle driver's license as provided by this act may be enjoined by the courts of this state from any such violation.
What will the impact be on Tampa businesses if the Judge determines that the rule contravenes the law and no out-of-county limousine or small bus operator without HCPTC licensing can bring in conventioneers, tourist and other classes of consumers to patronize Tampa businesses ?
What will the impact be on Pinellas taxicabs if they are prohibited from transporting fares over to Tampa International from St Pete, Clearwater etc.?
What if you had a meeting and nobody came? Well that seems to be par for the course with Tampa. They schedule a meeting about the future of the 22nd street parkland. Much like they did when planning to locate a dump there (oops, I'm sorry, "transfer station") they forgot to tell the folks that live there. Oh to the city's credit they did notify Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association which promptly did nothing to get the word out.
Here we go again. Let me see, OSHNA can send out "alerts" announcing the new chair for the library committee (yawn) but can't send an alert affecting riverfront parkland in the neighborhood. (my personal editorial comments are on my personal blog) As an update/clarification: Susan Long, OSHNA's president did send Diane Jenkins to represent the neighborhood and association at the meeting and received a report back. Something that was not clear when we first spoke about this issue. While I think email alerts would have reached a broader audience, Susan's commitment to making sure the Association was represented is greatly appreciated. So if my comments were in any way misinterpreted as directed at her specifically or in general it was not my intention. However, I continue to believe there is room to improve communication within OSHNA's boundaries. More importantly, there is an even greater need for the city communicate with residents and with enough time for neighborhood organizations to get imput from the areas affected.
Now back to the park issue. Where does the city hold the meeting....in Temple Crest...a 15 minute drive out of the neighborhood affected. That is even better than when they held the meeting for the speed tables in Seminole Crest at Osborne and 22nd St.
Once again the City and the Neighborhood Association have failed to communicate with the people most impacted. I myself did not learn of the meeting until the association president was looking for contact information for the only Seminole Crest neighbor to attend. Kudos for Carlos for attending.
After the transfer station, I would have thought there would be a greater effort. No one can say there are no members in the Seminole Crest area because quite a few joined at the meeting that discussed the transfer station.
There is really no excuse why OSHNA can't get word out about matters such as this with a bank account climbing to the 50K mark....crying lack of resources doesn't work. There are about 350 homes in the Seminole Crest. Last year the transfer station flier cost me $46, shoe leather and 4 hours of walking. OSHNA could have sent a postcard to all 350 homes for under $150 (that's including postage). Or maybe even sent an e-mail alert to all members. Maybe the turn-out might have been the same. Maybe it would have been higher. Maybe the OSHNA could have pushed the city to hold the meeting in the neighborhood (there are multiple locations on the east side of 275 that could have accommodated such a meeting).
One band has a charismatic, hirsute lead singer linked with some of the world's most attractive women.
The other band has a charismatic, hirsute lead singer linked with some of the world's most attractive women.
One band has talented instrumentalists and an alt-roots-rock sound derived from The Band and Van Morrison.
The other band has talented instrumentalists and an alt-roots-rock sound derived from The Band and Van Morrison.
One band is tonight's musical guest on Leno.
The other band is tonight's musical guest on Letterman.
One band's name ends with "Crows."
The other band's name ends with "Crowes."
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Don't just blab all day, if you are going to be building anything this year make sure your builders have surety bonds Protect your projects and investments!
They try to get all of the inspections done before the end of March. Usually when your cab is being serviced they will have the shop guys detail out your taxi and then we take it down to the Hillsborough County Transportation Commission for them to give it the OK. For the first time in 13 years-I flunked!
