Ousetunes
15-08-2005, 14:54
Last Saturday, you know, the one when it didn't rain but when an entire ocean was dropped on us, my family and some friends hired two cabs from Fulwood in order to get to Centertainment in the hope that it might save us resembling shivering penguins by the time we got there. Yes, this was the middle of August but I digress.
Now we frequently use Mercury - once upon a time they were unbeatable, these days, they're a bit hit and miss but the car I got into on Saturday wasn't your normal taxi - it was more like being in the cinema. The young driver had a rather nice piece of kit where Joe Averages like me make do with a CD player. It was a DVD flatscreen that played movies and combined with sub-woofers and speakers left me wandering where I should order my pop-corn from. When the film was over (which incredibly WASN'T before I'd reached my destination) the whole thing quietly folded itself up and slid somewhere into the dashboard a bit like a hedge-hog settling in for a long winter.
Why am I telling you this? Well, not that I'd want one of these things in my car nor because I was amazed with its sat-nav capabilities, its kaliedascopic screen-saver nor its ability to pretend it doesn't exist, but because the driver - a likeable, affable guy - couldn't stop showing the bloody thing off! For the whole 15 minute journey, he must have had his eyes on the road for a grand total of 3.45 seconds. (And that doesn't include when he was on his phone.)
I was like 'Yeh, man, top piece of kit you get there - woah, watch that red light....oh it's got touch-screen technologoooooo, mind that little old lady......dig the picture quality; mind that tank coming round University Roundabout.'
Scared? I was looking for the red button that operated the ejector-seat. It must be there somewhere!
Anyone else had the pleasure of getting to your destination in this moving cinema?
Maybe that's why our journey, at £11 cost £2.50 more than our friends' whose car didn't have such luxuries, just a cabbie with a penchant for (crap) jokes.
I know which cab I'll ask for next - the one that looks where he's going!!
Now we frequently use Mercury - once upon a time they were unbeatable, these days, they're a bit hit and miss but the car I got into on Saturday wasn't your normal taxi - it was more like being in the cinema. The young driver had a rather nice piece of kit where Joe Averages like me make do with a CD player. It was a DVD flatscreen that played movies and combined with sub-woofers and speakers left me wandering where I should order my pop-corn from. When the film was over (which incredibly WASN'T before I'd reached my destination) the whole thing quietly folded itself up and slid somewhere into the dashboard a bit like a hedge-hog settling in for a long winter.
Why am I telling you this? Well, not that I'd want one of these things in my car nor because I was amazed with its sat-nav capabilities, its kaliedascopic screen-saver nor its ability to pretend it doesn't exist, but because the driver - a likeable, affable guy - couldn't stop showing the bloody thing off! For the whole 15 minute journey, he must have had his eyes on the road for a grand total of 3.45 seconds. (And that doesn't include when he was on his phone.)
I was like 'Yeh, man, top piece of kit you get there - woah, watch that red light....oh it's got touch-screen technologoooooo, mind that little old lady......dig the picture quality; mind that tank coming round University Roundabout.'
Scared? I was looking for the red button that operated the ejector-seat. It must be there somewhere!
Anyone else had the pleasure of getting to your destination in this moving cinema?
Maybe that's why our journey, at £11 cost £2.50 more than our friends' whose car didn't have such luxuries, just a cabbie with a penchant for (crap) jokes.
I know which cab I'll ask for next - the one that looks where he's going!!