dm cabs blow

When I say that "Des Moines cabs blow", I am not talking about the Clive bar named Cabaret, or the West Glen bar named Cabaret or even the smoke free Johnston bar named The Cab. I am talking about the Des Moines taxi service or lack thereof.

As my esteemed colleague BWalk brought up, we are getting screwed. Amazingly enough, there was a column in the DMR last week talking about this very same situation. Here is an excerpt:

"It's usually competition that drives prices down and forces service up, but there is no competition in Des Moines' taxi service. The two taxi lines, Yellow Cab and Capitol Cab, both are owned and dispatched by the same company, Trans Iowa."

That is such BS!! No wonder why the service sucks downtown, there are no other cabs in Des Moines to compete with! And get this:

"Suburban cab companies aren't allowed to pick up rides in Des Moines because they must be licensed in the city, which requires $1.5 million in liability insurance. That's higher than any other city examined in a recent report on WHO-TV News: Kansas City requires only $50,000."

So when I call my Ankeny cab, he can take me downtown, but can't pick me up. There are no taxi ordinances in any of the DM suburbs. That chaps my ass.

But that's not the worst part. The city of Des Moines charges $1.5 million in insurance? When KC only charges $50,000? Is this even possible? No wonder why there are only two companies (well, basically one company), NOBODY ELSE CAN AFFORD IT!!

Plus, they say that it is hard to find an insurance company that will even insure them for that much. Freedom Taxi, in Ankeny, has $1 million in insurance, but that still isn't enough to pick me up downtown.

I honestly cannot count the times either myself, my wife or somebody else has driven home drunk because the cab is either extremely late, or is usually just a no show. How many OWI's can be contributed to this across the metro?

(I know, I know -- it is the driver's responsibility not to drive drunk, not the cabbies, but still!)

One thing I haven't done yet, which I recommend we all start doing, is complaining. Usually I just piss and moan about it that night or the next day. Here is the website for Trans Iowa (link). Let em hear it!

Next time I get shafted, they will get an official complaint from me. In fact we should make fliers where you can fill in the date and time of the no-show and hand it out at bars, cuz you know we aren't the only ones. Maybe then they will listen, although I doubt it.

quick joke

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning
against the headboard smoking a cigarette, with a satisfied smile on its
face.
The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over, and
says, "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question."

HA HA HA

I plan on telling that around the campfire this weekend. Otherwise, This week has sucked, I am ready to get...

Bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-bombed!!!

eatin, drinkin and gamblin

If you read Juice, which we do, you will see this article entitled "100 Things You Must do in Des Moines."

It is actually pretty interesting, and even though I have only lived here for 3 years, I have done quite a few of those. There ares some that I have done (the ones involving booze), and there are some I haven't done (the ones not involving booze).

Let me try this experiment. Here are three items off the list that I want to do soon. I will let you know when I get them done, then maybe I will try to list another three.

1. The Boot at Hessen Haus. - If you haven't done this yet, you are missing out. It has been a couple years for me, and I feel guilty that I haven't been back there since Oktoberfest, and I didn't even get "Das Boot" that time! I'm shooting for Saturday if anybody wants in. I know we will need help.
   
2. The T-Bone at the Iowa Beef Steakhouse - I have cooked my own steaks at many of these types of restaurants, and of course, at home on the 'ol 10X10 deck, but never at this place, looks like I have somewhere to go eat before I tackle the boot.
3. Bet on the ponies at 'The Meadows' - Believe it or not, I've never been there for live horse races. I have a history of cheering for things that never win (ISU FB), so putting money on a horse named "Prancin Prospector" only to lose my patience and my voice isn't that wild of an idea. It's like a mini football season every race.
   

retirement is around the corner

...and what better place to retire to than...

AMES!!!

That's right, according to CNNMoney.com Ames is one of the "Best Places to Retire Young".

Here is a snippet of what it said:

Real, American, Midwest living. That pretty much sums up Ames. The town's pride and joy is Iowa State University, and going to see the Cyclones take on one of their Big 12 rivals is a pretty cool way to spend an October afternoon.

Couple that with lots of booze, low crime, and most importantly -- a low percentage of Hawkeye fans, and Ames may be the best town to live in period! I see myself moving back sooner than you may think...