Hester is a big fan of our Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown but she feels he needs to go a step further in his clampdown on the Island's taxi drivers.

His idea of placing a GPS unit in all of the Island's taxis so they can be tracked is a great one which, if it ever comes to fruition, will mean an end to Hester's late night searches for a ride home after an evening of cocktails.

But she now has another request of Dr. Brown: Can he make sure that the taxi drivers can drive also? She raises this point after being subjected to two drivers' appalling road sense just yesterday morning.

First off she watched a shiny red Caravelle, nearly run a poor scooter rider off the road on Front Street.

The driver, who had three ladies in the back of his van, seemed more intent on facing them and having a conversation with them, rather than concentrating on where his vehicle was going.

The result was he weaved back and forth across the westbound lanes of Front Street, only switching into the centre lane to turn onto Queen Street at the last moment and missed a scooter rider by inches.

Off he continued along Queen Street, leaning backward over the driver's seat, chatting happily with his passengers while the scooter rider was left shaking his head. Shortly afterward Hester saw her second close shave of the day when a white cab on Church Street appeared to be driven by someone in a state of confusion.

The driver appeared to be in the mindset that he was the only vehicle on the road as he neared the turning into the City Hall car park for he first faked turning left there, only to speed up and jump back into the left lane heading past the City Hall fountains without any concern for the traffic following behind him.

Now we know you'll say they were doing their bit for tourism but Dr. Brown, put your hopefully favourite columnist at ease and reassure her that cabbies put on the streets can actually drive so that when she is able to get a taxi without any problem thanks to GPS, she will also know that she will get home safely.

And Doc - if you need those licence numbers Hester can provide them, with an assurance that she found a parking spot before she put pen to paper!

It would appear that the directors of the Bermuda investment firm Voyager Group - Paul Lemmon and Andrew Proctor - were not the only ones down in the dumps after their arrests by the FBI nearly two months ago.

It seems that the office goldfish weren't faring too well either, having been all but forgotten amidst the corporate scandal. But an irate animal rights activist passing by the Voyager's penthouse offices at 129 Front Street may have saved the day.

The matter was brought to the attention of a Voyager staff member, a gentleman who assured our animal rights supporter that the oversight would be rectified immediately.

Now one can only assume that the man made good on his word of a scrubbed tank, clean water and fish food. But Hester's still left wondering over the fate of the Voyager goldfish now that the company may be shut down?