Although it officially became 2010 at midnight Friday morning, I'm never really done with the year before until I get off my twelve-hour night shift of driving the Yellow Cab. New Year's Eve is the only night I work all year, and I chose the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift to take revelers to and fro their festive destinations. I worked pretty much nonstop from 7 p.m. to five in the morning. It's all about survival and making money, and I did both. Here's a few yarns about the night:

First ride I picked up after just leaving the yard. 5800 Osuna. Big apartment complex, and I had to find the building in the dark. I'm accustomed to driving in the dark since I normally begin at 5 a.m., and this is my sixth New Year's Eve working in a row. I find the building and take a couple to the Chama Brewing Company on Jefferson. Arguably the best microbrew in town. Marble Brewing is pretty good, too. A quick nine buck ride, and they give me twelve. So it begins...

Unlike other New Year's, rides are plentiful from the get go. I take a few more little rides to people going to dinner at fancy digs. The Artichoke Cafe, Vernon's Steak House, Jack in the Box. Well, maybe not that last one.

Only one ride to a strip club this year. The lone rider cruised the length of San Mateo to get to TD's North. I've always thought it was ironic that you can pay twenty dollars for a girl to rub herself all over you, but they won't give you a New Year's kiss for free. I had to wait until I got home to get a New Year's kiss from my fiancee, but honestly, in years past I've waited months for my first kiss of the year. No fooling.

My best turnaround came near the 11 o' clock hour. I grabbed a ride off the 1000 block of Lester in the North East Heights and took them to the North Valley. They were looking for a place that didn't have a name on the street. The couple was dressed to the nines, and after a little searching and inquiry, I got them to their pseudo-speakeasy. They hooked me up with forty-five bucks. Just as I left them, a call came just up the road in the North Valley. I got there in five minutes to the shock of the caller, who was a fresh transplant from the Bayou. He talked with a heavy twang but was giddy on vodka and Red Bull. We went to the Old Town area to pick up his new girlfriend he met the week before and took them back to his place in the North Valley. I love round trips. I kept the them jovial, the Bayou boy gave me sixty for a forty buck ride. That's a hundred bucks in less than an hour. Sweet.

I never had any other rides that cost over thirty bucks, but if you're going non-stop, you really don't care how long the rides are.

At 11:45 p.m., I picked up a gay guy downtown who asked to be taken to the biggest gay bar in town by midnight. There are only two gay bars left in town (the economy?), and one is a private club. There was really only one choice: Sidewinders. I cruised up Coal and promised I could get him there before midnight. He said he was backpacking across country and claimed to be one of the few staunch gay Republicans alive. This may be true. I think he assumed that if I didn't him to the bar on time he could kiss me, but true to my word, I got him there at 11:57. He was on his own in a sea of men.

When 2010 arrived, I was cruising alone down Central near Louisiana. I saw a few fireworks pop, and I shook my hands high in the air like I just didn't care. Happy New Year to me! Three minutes later I picked up a flag by the Imbibe bar in Nob Hill. No rest for the cabbie.

Cab driving is a lot about flow. Being in the right place at the right time. I had this strange thing going for about an hour and a half after midnight. I'd pick up flags downtown and take them near Montgomery. Then, I would go to Grand Central Station (four bars in one!) on Montgomery, and sure enough, those flags had to go downtown. This happened three consecutive round trips.

Then, I blew it. I made the mistake of letting people double up. Two guys said they had to go to the Marriott Pyramid, and two girls said they had to go to the West Side. The ride was jovial while I took the guys to the hotel. They were laughing and touchy feely, but when I dropped the guys off, the girls got into a fight. They both demanded to go to different places. I said I'd take them to their separate destinations for $25 a piece. Only they didn't hear the 'a piece' part. They fought all they way to Wyoming and Copper, where I dropped off the really loud one, and the other girl wept all the way home to Coors and Ouray. I made sixty bucks total on the rides, but it just felt lousy. I told the final girl it was just a bad night, and it's a whole new day tomorrow. I didn't get personally involved. I have my own issues, and I keep them to myself.

Little rides from here to there. A guy looked for an open fast food joint after 3 a.m. This is impossible. Even McDonald's drive thrus are closed on holidays. He settled for 7-11. Two guys said they had been calling for a cab for hours and just got through at 4 in the morning. I had no pity. I'd been working since 7 p.m. They understood. Most people said they had an all right time (not great), and almost all were glad to see 2009 go. It's all just survival and making money.

At 4:45 a.m., I heard those familiar cab numbers I usually go out with on a regular day. It was amusing to me to be on the flip side, if only for a night. I'd work more nights if they were like New Year's Eve, but there's no night like it. By the time you read this, I'll be back to my regular 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift.

My last ride came at 5:30 a.m., taking a lady from the Residence Inn Airport to the Airport. Seven buck ride, and she gave me ten. A common early call on the day shift. It was time to go home. I ended up with the second largest take I've ever made in a twelve hour shift. Fifty bucks short of last New Year's when a madman threw a couple hundred dollars at me to drive him while he drank Jack Daniel's. All in all, I had more fun this year.

So, that's it. 2010 is upon us, and I survived another New Year's in the cab. For some reason, working on New Year's Eve always makes me think I can handle anything that the next year can throw at me. We shall see if I'm right.

Chris Jungle hasn't been hungover on New Year's Day in a long time.