Joey the Baxi guy

You may recall that last time on this blog I mentioned Baxi the bike taxi service I was interested in joining. So on Wednesday I went down to meet the guy who owned the company, Thomas. He has a little garage near the night life area of town. He told me about the company, I learned that they had just started a week ago, it was completely new here. That had been doing alright so far though and had gotten some good publicity. Basically you rent the bikes from Thomas and then whatever you keep is your own. He had me try out riding one around the alley and saw that I could handle it. I decided to try it out for real the next night.

I came around 7pm to the garage on Thursday. Normally he would charge straight off for the bike but since it was my first night it was free. If I didn't do well or didn't like it no charge, if I made some money then we would work something out. I went out and road around with Thomas for a while, each on our own bike just getting a feel for things. He is a great guy and we really got along. He has been a bike courier in 4 cities and lived for 6 years in Austria. He is working crazy hours right now getting this business off the ground while working full time for the post. Luckily he's got a free espresso machine in the garage.

After a little while I got my first fair. A couple around my age wanting to go to a bar/restaraunt called the Southern Cross. Fares are negotiated on ride by ride basis. Normally this would have been probobly a ten dollar ride. Instead we agreed on 5 bucks and they'd buy me a beer. So I took them there, we chatted a bunch. James, the guy, told me they were celebrating him having a won a entreprenuership contest for his new company which sells bottled water with biodegradable bottles (made from corn, a very American idea in a way). They bought me a Montieth's Black (a boutique beer out here) and we shared a large antipasta platter. We had a blast as we hung out with each other and two girls they were meeting there. Eventually I left, though we may hang out in the future.

After that it was work, kinda. I loved it. In some ways it was one of the coolest nights of my life. Craziness packed into those next 6 hours. A fight practically broke out on my cab, I was kissed on the cheek by a transvestite passenger, I got a much more real kiss from a much more real woman, drove around promo girls from a strip club whilst they handed out flyers, and made countless new friends. People loved me, the idea is so new here that people are just curious and intrigued. I thought I might have issues with the local cab drivers or police but they were all great and I talked to a lot of them. When Thomas txted me and the other guy that was riding to bring the bike back I had made 150$, even after giving Thomas 30 for the bike. That makes me the current company record holder for one night, though to be fair the company hasn't exactly been going that long. Thomas really liked having me out there. As the company is young he is very image concious and feels like I am doing what he wants. I got home at 315 and got 3.5 hours off sleep before waking up for my day job with the ministy of justice (a post later this week about that).

So that is my new night job and I couldn't be happier about it. I quit the promo job. I hated it. Bad shifts and boring work. I am supposed to ride again tonight. The weather looks awful so it could be tough, we'll see. I am also set to work Wednesday and Thursday.

In other brief news:
-We moved into our flat today. I am so happy to finally be settled in somewhere. Details to come
-I am going to Taupo (a town 4.5 hours north of here known for its large lake) for a ultimate hat tournament next weekend. Details also probobly to come.



Joey