We've moved

Come over and say hello, and check out the new look!
The new site address is www.irishtaxi.org
The old re-direct, www.irishtaxi.net should now direct to the new site.
If you used that address and still ended up here, it's because of your browser history, try the links above instead, also you should really clear your browser history, what else might you be missing?

e-mail me at: roy@irishtaxi.net

Blogger , I'm Leaving You!

I'm about to make the switch over to the "Wordpress" platform;
I've sorted the web host; "Siteground" too late if they're crap!
I've exported all the Posts and the old comments over, the new "haloscan" type, I'm afraid, don't export!
I hope you'll find the new site a bit more professional looking (not a lot!), it'll certainly be quicker to load,
There are also some new features which I hope to put to good use and others I hope to figure out eventually.
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e-mail me at: roy@irishtaxi.net

Irish Taxi is Number One!

Thanks everyone!
One of the targets I set for this place has been reached! When you search for Irish Taxi in Google it has the number one position!
YAY! (well for the time being anyway)
It's all down to you guys logging into the site from all corners of the globe and in ever increasing numbers, I'm not sure why exactly but PLEASE!........ keep coming back!
Last Wednesday tipped the scale in Irish Taxi's favour .....with a record 945 unique visitors on the day!
I know it will dip back down again but hopefully we'll keep a few.
Sadly, the upcoming move to Wordpress will cause it to plummet down the ranks again but the new features will make it a better tool for Taxi drivers, customers, visitors to Dublin and for those who just like the gossip.
Here's the Stats for the last three days, bear in mind that prior to Tuesday the record was 369 and that was a while back, when www.beaut.ie gave us a plug.

Stats

Keep commenting and let me know, (be brutal) what you think of the place
Honestly! What do you think of this Blog? comment here.
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e-mail me at: roy@irishtaxi.net

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Blame TaraIT.com for them all!
In an effort to speed up the pageload time for the blog I've deleted some of the widgets, such as;

• Recent comments (The comments can be viewed from the post)
• You tube videos from sidebar (they're still in the posts)
• Taxi News (seemed to take forever to load)
• The star rating feature (another time waster)
  
• I decreased the number of posts on the title page as well from 20 to 10

I've added one new widget; it's the bookmark below each post, if you like a post you can now share it easily.
If you still find the site slow to load, why not subscribe via Feedburner? I've moved the button to the top of the sidebar, just click it and subscribe via a reader, it's a great way of quickly viewing all your favorite blogs/webpages.

Eventually, I'll be moving to Wordpress and hosting my own blog.
This is currently planned for March 13th, please ensure any links you have to this blog are to www.irishtaxi.net and not to the http://irishtaxi.blogspot.com/ to ensure a smooth changeover!

All of this was suggested to me by the nice people at the online marketing firm I'm using to help me increase my readership, all garnered from the marketing report they sent me.
They're called TaraIT.com

I'm still awaiting the personalised report, god knows what they'll have me doing then!

Yesterday was the busiest day on the blog................ EVER!
It nearly topped the 400 visitors mark but not quite;

Click image for clearer view

Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Welcome to the Blogroll

I'm happy to add the blogs of some lovely people i met at the awards.
Steph's The Biopsy Report a deeply personal blog that was up for Personal Blog
Grannymar joint winner with Headrambles of best Personal blog

Grannymar and Steph (the Biopsy Report);

Ellybabes, (Grannymars daughter) I didn't get a photo, sorry lads! you've really missed out. Her little fight with Redmum over an aincient Barbie doll booby prize was the highlight of the evening.
and begrudgingly, the winner of MY award John Braine ....He's a really nice guy!
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Blogger Awards

A Great night was had by all,

Here's how close I got to an award! shame too many people were watching I couldn't steal one.

The Bar was hopping;

Meanwhile inside;


Congratulations to all the winners .....well deserved, in particular
my mates at Beaeut.ie, (best Group)
also Twenty Major triumphed with most humorous post and BEST BLOG well done you deserved them both
Top man Grandad got two as well!
and I suppose I better congratulate the winner in MY category John Braine (no hard feelings AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH)
As you can tell I'm a very good loser!

Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Why a Taxi Blog?

A friend asked me this whilst I complained about material drying up, was I not restricting myself? If I did a general blog I could write about all my interests rather than just those pertaining to my job.
So why did I start a Taxi blog?
The main reason was because I was unhappy with the spokespeople being put forward that were supposedly representing Taxi drivers, they certainly weren't representing me, they seemed to be anti everything, NO! NO! NO! seemed to be their mantra, whereas I 'm a lot more liberal, I started a Taxi section on a forum I had and tried unsuccessfully to interest other taxi drivers I found online, it was a disaster! So I began the blog, initially to attract people to the forum but eventually it took over.
I don't represent Taxi drivers, I just represent myself, but I hope the blog gives an idea of what the job entails and maybe explains why we are how we are, Grumpy Bastards!

DublinGoat asked in the comments section for an update on the stats so just for him, here's just that.

These are the Stats I gave last time out:

Click image to view

These are the stats for the last two weeks... steady improvement I'd say?

Click image to enlarge

these two lines say it all:

Click images to enlarge

Hopefully I can keep it going

Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Interview on Spin 103.8

This is my interview with Jonathon and Clare on Spin 103.8, I guess if you can't laugh at yourself, life is harder?;

Get your own playlist at snapdrive.net!


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Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS

I'm Heartbroken

I was chatting to a friend yesterday, a regular reader of the blog and a one time regular commenter.
I asked her how come she doesn't comment as much lately and she replied;
"If you write something interesting, then I might be able to comment on it"
After picking myself up of the floor and wiping my tears I thought about it and realised; "Beepys right!"
I'll try make it more interesting in future, I blame the customers, they just aren't as entertaining as they used to be!
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Irish Blog Awards

Irish Taxi has made the shortlist for Best Blog! and Best Newcomer!!
This is just a quick note to say thanks to those who nominated the blog and also a special thanks to the team of "interactors"
Here are the lists, there's a lot of quality in there!
I'm off out now to celebrate!
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Listen To The Posts

If you find it hard to struggle through my scribbles, why not let Adiogo Adam do it for you, just click the listen now button above each post and he'll do his best for you.
Hopefully he'll also help me with my grammar as I'll listen and try spot any mistakes in future.
Special thanks goes to Grandad (Headrambles) whom I copied this idea from.
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Pancake Tuesday (quick note)

Everyone head over to The Humble Housewife for all the best recipes.
P.S I get some really strange google search queries that end up at Debs welcome post
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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New to the blogroll

Welcome Sinead! prototype of a person (she'll probably never read this)
I just found your blog, it reminded me of some of my fave forums (ahh the good old days) so I had to add it.
why not go have a goooooo, the latest post is currently loving/hating!
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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Thanks....Awards

To K8theGr8, Stoney, Ma , Beepy, Driver, Suzie, and anyone else that nominated me in the Irish blogger awards, I'm up against a lot of quality blogs, but hey it's nice to be considered.
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTs
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About Statcounter ......and this Blog

Grandad asked "why do you blog".
I replied in the usual fashion, "it helps me to wind down after a night in the Taxi".
But is that true?: There are easier ways to wind down and having to come up with a new post every morning isn't necessarily one of them.
So why do I keep doing it?: It's the feedback, people leaving their thoughts about what I've written whether good or bad, is fascinating.
The majority of readers that show up here every day do so via a google search, they arrive at a particular post that's relevant read it and leave, (fair enough. I do that myself regularly) some continue to browse the blog and read other posts.
An average of 140 people visit each day and 40 or so of these are returning visitors, it's mainly from this group that the blog receives the comments, so the ten or so that comment regularly is a decent average.
I know all of the above because of Statcounter, the magic behind the number in the left hand sidebar, it provides a second source of feedback and I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at the statistics it provides.
Here's a summary for the last few weeks, I'd like to say a big thank you to each and every one of the visitors, you're the reason I keep posting.

(click picture to enlarge)

If you're a Grandad , Twenty, Beaut.ie or a Damien you'll laugh at those stats, but if you were me a few short months ago .....you'd be impressed.
Statcounter was invented by Young Irish entrepreneur of the year, Aodhan Cullen
Click HERE to View or ADD to the COMMENTS
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John Waters V the Bloggers

So billed in tabloid terms by Newstalk 106, John Waters got his called for debate with a blogger, "that could......string more than three words together", He came in the form of Barrister Fergal Crehan of Tuppenceworth.ie
It's excellent stuff, you can hear the debate here.
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John Waters: The Irish Blog Hate Figure

I've just been on a visiting splurge to some my favorite Irish blogs and discovered a common theme;
They all hate Fanny Waters! (pictured left)
To learn why listen to the audio in this Twenty Major Post.
The offending line (if you couldn't be bothered listening) is;
When I meet a person, I'll ask them, "Do you blog" and if they answer, "yes", I ask them to remove themselves from my presence immediately. (there's more)
Johns a bit of a twat but sometimes he can be mildly entertaining......
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Labels

No posts tonight, I spent the last few hours cleaning up the Labels, every post now has at least one label and there are fewer of them , hopefully they'll make the site easier to navigate (for me)
See the sidebar to the left for the new Label links.

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Irish Blogger Awards

It's that time of year again, so why not look at the Irish Blogs I have listed below, or any others you might frequent and nominate them in one or more of the categories.
Go on......show them your love!

• Dublin Taxi
• Beaut.ie
• Damien Mulley
• Hairyfish
• Headrambles
• K8theGr8
  
• Some Day Now
• The Chancer
• The Humble Housewife
• Twenty Major

The various categories and nomination form can be viewed by clicking here

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Happy birthday Aphra O' Gorman

There was a lovely girl in the cab last night celebrating her 26th birthday with this unusual name, it's seemingly Greek in origin so I'm guessing on the spelling. I hope someday she or a friend google her name and arrive on this page, well you never know eh?
Talking about names, parents pick names hoping it will somehow give their child a help in life, they try picking happy names like Molly, or academic names like Nigel and so on, however names can quickly take on new definitions, for example I doubt there'll me too many Madeline's this year and I've never yet met an Adolf, I wonder how many Fred West's there are who felt it was a perfectly normal, average name.......... until a few years back?
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