SIGH

TSUNAMI'S AT SUNSET
This is the "Ballroom" or "Group" entrance at the Grand. This is also the entrance to"Tsunami's" on Friday and Saturday night.


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Since it was Saturday, it was again my night to dispatch. Just read the previous post to get an idea of how the night went.

My second fare was a newlywed couple from Stockholm, Sweden. I took them to Delta at OGG where they faced a 26 hour trek home. Mau'i to L.A., to Atlanta, Georgia, to JFK, to Paris, to Stockholm. Whoa, thats building up a lot of frequent flyer miles.

I love newlyweds. Their smiles are so genuine. Their actions towards each other so caring. Shame it won't last.

Picked up a very tired lady, out of Chicago, from the hospital last night and brought her back to the 4 Seasons. Her husband had gone diving and miscalculated his assent rate/time and was suffering from the "bends". He was to be transported today to Honolulu, where they have a pressure chamber.

She was pensive but calm. They were here celebrating their 30th anniversary. They were "empty-nesters", their 26 year old daughter now living in London. We talked about life and marriage and grandkids (she didn't have any). You could tell that she still loved her husband, in a "comfortable shirt" fashion, but was bored by 30 years of "sameness."

When we arrived at her hotel the fare was $59.60. She handed $60 and apologised for no tip. I told her not to worry about it. She insisted that I wait while she went to her room to get more money. I told her that I really had to leave since we were "backed up" about 10 runs. She still insisted, so I suggested that if she really wanted to give me a tip, that she put the money in an envelope and give it to the night doorman (I know the guy) and that he would call me to pick it up. About 30 minutes later I got the call from him. As I picked up the envelope I handed him $2, without even looking inside to see how much it was. Thanked him for his kindness. Opened to find $20 inside. I hope her husband gets better and that some novelty comes into her life.

Not all marriages here end nicely.

About two years back, I picked up a newlywed couple from the Seawatch restaurant, about 11:00pm, after their wedding dinner. Took them to the Wailea Marriott. At 3:30am the Marriott called requesting a cab. It was the groom. Took him to OGG, the airport. The entire 30 minute ride he was on the phone with his attorney in L.A., where it was 5:30am. I wonder if the attorney charged double his normal hourly rate for this call?

He wanted his attorney to get a locksmith to immediately re-key his house, have the alarm company re-set all access codes, etc., and immediately file annullment/divorce papers, whichever was best.

He called his new wife many names. "Loving bride" was not among them. Sad.

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This is my friend Robert. He used to drive for Royal but has moved to the "competition". I think he got tired of being a "nite owl" and dealing with drunks. Works "days" now. I think he made the face so that I wouldn't use his picture. He was wrong. :)

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I classify the people out at night, after "bar close", into 3 catagories.

"NIGHTHAWKS" - Police, Fire, Ambulance

"NIGHTOWLS" - All of us who work the single digit hours of the morning

"NIGHTCRAWLERS" - The vermin of that crawl out of the shadows

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Ah! It's Sunday morning. Off til Tuesday night :)



Later.....
Wil =8^))
"Let's all be careful out there"

DISPATCHING

Ring.
Ring

"Good evening, Royal Cab. This is Wil."

""Is this a taxi company?"

"Yes, This is Royal Cab."

"Is this a taxi company?"

"Yes it is. How may I assist you?"

"I need a taxi."

"Okay. Where are you at?"

"Kihei."

"Could you be a little more specific."

"South Kihei."

"Where in south Kihei?"

"South Kihei road."

"Sir, south Kihei road is 7 miles long. Where are you at right now?"

"I want to go to the 'Triangle'."

"Fantastic. We are more than happy to take you to the 'Triangle', we just need to know where to pick you up at."

"Oh yeah. I am in Kihei."
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Ring.
Ring.

"Good evening. Royal Cab. This is Wil."

"How long to get a cab?"

"Where are you at?"

"Kihei. How long to get a cab?"

"Ma'am, where in Kihei are you?"

"Cassorole Dunes."

"Do you mean Kamaole Sands?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Which building are you staying in?"

"I don't know."

Well, ma'am. Kam Sands has ten buildings and I need to know which one to send the cab to."

"Can I call you back?"

"Sure. Aloha."

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And thats how it goes for the next 12 hours.

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Apparently there is also a Royal Cab in Honolulu. I am always getting calls from tourists who dialed 4-1-1 from there and were routed to me. Honolulu is 100 miles and 3 islands northwest of Mau'i.

About a year ago, I got a call from someone wanting to confirm their limo reservations for the "Oscars". Apparently there is a "Royal Limo Service" somewhere in southern California.

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"Aloha, where are we headed to tonight?"

"Take me to a 'tittie bar!'"

"Uh, sir. We don't have 'tittie bars' on Mau'i."

"WHAT???"

Yes sir. The only 'tittie bars' in Hawai'i are in Honolulu."

"Okay. Take me to Honolulu."

"Sir, Honolulu is 100 miles away..."

"I don't care. Take me there."

"... and there are no bridges between the islands. To get to Honolulu, you have to fly."

"What do you mean there are no bridges. What a fucked up place this is. Okay, take me to the airport."

"Sir, the airport is closed and the next flight to Honolulu isn't until 6:25 in the morning."

"This place is really fucked up. You come here and you're trapped. Take me to my hotel."

"Okay, which hotel are you staying at sir?"

"I don't know."
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Another Friday night.

OUCH!

BTW - All photos can be enlarged for easier viewing by just "left clicking" on them. :)
This happened sometime on Tuesday night's shift. The day driver found it on Wednesday morning. I called the owner Wednesday night after the day driver called me. He told me not to worry about it. We'll fix it if the hotel complains. No big deal. All I can figure is someone scraped me when I was away from the vehicle.

TAMMY


This is my friend Tammy. She is a bartender at Neptune's, one of the clubs in the "bar-muda triangle". Tammy is one of the most positive people I've ever met. I don't think anything will ever give her the "blues". Luv ya, sweetheart.

LAST NIGHT

Last night was the busiest that I have seen since the new meter rates went into effect on January 6th. I started an hour later than usual. Just needed that extra hour off to "recharge the batteries". One of my last trips from the previous shift were 3 ladies going to the airport, at 4:30am, for a day-trip to Honolulu and Pearl Harbor to see the USS ARIZONA, USS MISSOURI and Waikiki. I had given them my card and told them if they needed to be picked up on their return to just give us a call. And golly-gee, they actually called and wanted me to meet them at the airport at 7:30pm. The owner called me at home around 6:30pm, just as I was getting out of the shower (good omen - I wasn't IN the shower when he called) and told me about this "special request". I boogied down to the garage and me and ONE-NINE headed for Mau'i International Airport (I won't say our airport is small, but both the departure and arrival terminals could fit comfortably inside an average Wisconson milking barn). Greeted them at the bottom of the escalator and took them back to Kihei. They had had a great day and were exhausted.

They are departing the island on monday (my day off), so I made arrangements for another driver to pick them up and take them to the airport.

The more ambitious drivers in the company do that to help each other out. Also, they really do need a van. Three ladies, here for two weeks, do tend to bring a lot of luggage.

And even though my Soprano's car can hold four dead bodies in the trunk, it ain't big enough for that much luggage.

As the shift progressed, I was to make 4 more trips to the airport. Add that to 11 long in-town runs and the night ended very profitablely. GRIN

LONG vs SHORT RUNS

In most of the U.S., cab drivers pay a fee to lease their vehicle for a specific period of time. Once they earn back that fee during their shift they start making a profit from thereon. This makes the business very "cutthroat" for the drivers. Out of their profits for the shift they must also buy their own gas, usually from the "company store", since the cab must have a full tank at the beginning and end of their shift.

On Mau'i, very few companies operate that way. Here the drivers total up the trip dollars at the end of the shift and pay the company 60% of that amount, keeping 40% and their tips for themselves. Any monies expended for gas/oil/etc. are deducted from the company's share of the proceeds. This is actually a pretty good deal for both sides. The busier you are means both the company and driver share the shift's profits. Conversely, the driver doesn't get "the shaft" if the shift is slow.

Long runs mean a higher total meter but a lower tip percent for the driver. Short runs earn less on the meter but people are more generous with their tip percentage. A run from The Grand to the airport takes about 1 hour for the round trip. The fare is $53.30 and most people give you $60 "and keep the change". During that same hour, a driver staying in Wailea could do 5 hotel-to-hotel runs, for an average of $6 per trip. The passenger usually gives them $10 and "keep the change". Thus the driver who went to the airport earned $28.02 for the hour and the driver who stayed in Wailea earned $32. The company earned $31.98 off of the airport driver and $18 from the driver who stayed back.

Unlike New York, where a driver who makes a run to one of the airports will then queue up at the taxi terminal there for a run out of the airport, thus earning money in both directions, we have to "deadhead" back from the airport.

The State of Hawai'i, Department of Transportation, has an exclusive contract with Mau'i Airport Taxi for all non-scheduled taxi departures. Any other cab company and/or driver trying to poach in their domain will lose their airport usage permits. Outside companies and drivers are only authorized and permitted to make pre-arranged pickups from OGG (Mau'i's FAA designation).

Most drivers at Royal Cab do a blend of both types of runs during their shift.

Night shift drivers do have one advantage, and disadvantage, over the day shift drivers. We deal with drunks most of the night. Drunks can be a real pain in the ass but generally tend to be very gregarious when tipping. Obnoxious drunks are the main reason most drivers hate to work at night. Those of us who do, are very adept at making a legal profit from them.

Day shift driver have the ability to take tourists on tours of the island. Before the rate change, we charged $50 per hour (2 hour minimum) to do this. I think the rate is now $75 per hour. This isn't really as expensive as it sounds. The tour bus companies charge $200 per person for the same service. A typical tour is about 10 hours long.

A family of 5 would spend $1,000 if they went on the tour bus or $750 dollars with us. And we will stop anywhere you want on the tour rather than only at designated venues. Our drivers (Jim and Susan) who specialize in this service are really knowledgeable and personnable.

BTW - If, perchance, you are headed this way and this sounds interesting to you. Just call us at 808-874-6900 and ask for Jim or Susan to call you back. We'll need your name and telephone number to do this.


And as the Moon and Venus watch, the sun begins to creep up on Mt. Haleakala ("house of the sun") and brings another of my shifts to a close.

Aloha!

FOLLOW UP

From Maui News about the guy who rammed my cab.

http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=17191

ALL DRESSED UP....

And nowhere to go.

Another gorgeous Mau'i sunset, (click to enlarge)

as we queue up. Waiting to take somebody somewhere. (click photo)

FIRST MATE

On one of my early runs last night I took a sweet family to the airport. The were from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dad told this joke:
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Setting, mid-Atlantic in the 18th century, aboard a merchant vessel.
Suddenly a pirate vessel is sighted. After assessing the situation the captain turned to his first mate and said "Mate I want you to go to my cabin and fetch me my red shirt." The mate did as ordered. The pirate ship was engaged in battle and defeated by the merchant ship.

The next day TWO pirate ships were spotted and again the captain ordered his mate to fetch him his red shirt. The bad guys were engaged and the merchant ship prevailed in battle.

At dinner that night, the mate asked the captain why he always wanted his red shirt just before a battle. "I wear a red shirt so that if I am wounded in battle my crew will not be able to see the blood from my wounds and thus will fight to win.

The following day the sea in front of them was filled with hundreds of pirate ships, stretching from horizon to horizon. The captain turned to his first mate and ordered, "mate, go to my cabin and fetch me my brown pants."
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Later I had a few dinner runs. Then, at 10:30pm, it died. Went home for about 1-1/2 hours to kick back. Came back out for the bar close. Had a lot of runs during the overnight, including another airport run. Overall, a pretty decent night.

SMASH MOUTH

On a friday night early last autumn, I made a closing time pickup from Tsunami's. Three young men, crew members of the cruise ship "Pride of Aloha", and took them back to the harbor. The two guys sitting next to the doors were quiet and reflective of the night's fun. The one in the center was trying to impress them with how tough he was. Kept saying he was a "homeboy" from Compton, CA. This went on for 12 miles. The more he talked, the more aggitated he became. He definately had consumed something more than alcohol during the night. Suddenly, he lunged over the seat and grabbed the steering wheel. It was a life or death struggle for control of the car. I reached down and grabbed my mag-lite, which is always against my right hip, and smashed him in the mouth 4 times, as hard as I could, until he released the wheel. He fell back into the rear seat, bleeding from the nose and mouth and missing his front teeth. I cussed him out in my best "Irish" and told him and his buddies that if he even moved I was going to pull to the side of the road, yank him out of the car, break both his legs and arms and leave him in a sugar cane field to rot. And to cover his face with his shirt, since I didn't want any blood on the velour seats. Ten minutes later I dropped them off at the ship. Got paid, with a nice tip included, from the "quiet boys". As I pulled away, the two nice kids looked at their buddy and walked away. You don't screw with Deputy Dawg.

ADDENDUMS

Update on Nathaniel "Bobo" Russell, the guy who rammed my cab back in 2003. He was formally sentenced this week to 5 years in prison.
Then the Feds get him for 20 years after that.

Correction on the quanity of "ice" he was caught with. It was 6 pounds, not 64, as I typoed earlier.

Have a great day. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Later......
Wil =8^))
"Let's all be careful out there"

A 50/50 NIGHT

The night started really great. Lots of dinner runs and their returns. Even had one trip to the airport. About 8:00pm we had drizzle but it only lasted an hour. Right around 10:30pm the phone stopped ringing. Nothing, nada, zilch. Maybe just two runs per hour until bar close at 2:00am and it was a wash out. Two drivers called it a night and the last one left at 3:00am. Two runs after that and then I left at 6:00am when the second of the day drivers checked in.

We don't do a lot of cruising for fares. Gas is too expensive. In the first half of the night we run a rotation out of Wailea. Later in the night we shift our focus to the bars in Kihei. Especially the "bar-muda triangle" (5 bars about 200' apart from each other in a small shopping center).

About 4:30am it began to actually rain. The islands of Kaua'i, O'ahu and the western half of Moloka'i were under flood watches yesterday and last night. I guess we are getting the fringe of the storm. Rain is rare in Kihei (key-hay). About 10"s per year.

$100 DOLLAR BILLS

My first fare of the evening was a short 8/10ths of a mile "pu pu" (Hawai'ian for "tid bit" or "small bite") run from the Grand Wailea to Joe's Bar and Grill. Total fare of $5.60. He hands me a hundred. Geez, I only start my shift with $25 in my pocket. Luckily he was a guest at The Grand and we have a voucher pay system with them. He included a $4.40 tip.

This isn't the first time that this has happened. The Grand is not a cheap place to stay. Room rates run from $800 to $12,500 dollars a night. I've always wondered why people do this. If they're trying to impress the "common man" with their wealth, its a failure. Or maybe they are inured to the inaneness of the action.

THE UGLY AMERICAN

Well, that would be me, I guess.

A while back, on a Friday night, I was queued up first at "Tsunami's", a disco located at The Grand's ballroom entrance. I watched hotel security officers and a couple of Tsunami's "floor hosts" (fancy word for "bouncer") escorting a man from the club. They flagged me forward. Obviously there had been some trouble and I knew exactly what his problem was less than 1 second after he closed the door. He was from Australia and hated Americans. His general opinion was that Americans were lazy, shiftless, bullies and thieves. You can insert your own coarse adjectives for these words. I wasn't half way out of the driveway when I knew that this ride wasn't going to make it to the Mau'i Prince Hotel, his detination, 4 miles to the south. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't going to make it to the end of the drive. Then I realized that I had to at least get him off of The Grand's property. And that is exactly what I did. I turned onto the public street, drove two car lengths and pulled to the curb. Exitted the cab, opened his door and told him to get out. When he asked why I told him that "no guest has the right to insult their host". He refused at first, then I asked him "sir, you can either exit the cab like a gentleman or I can remove you with great pain on your part and great relish on mine. Your option". I was emphasising my statements by tapping my 5 D cell mag-lite in my hand. He took the hint and I pointed the direction to The Prince out for him.

I am not a "flag waver" or "drum beater" by any means but sometimes "enough is enough".

ONE-NINE

With the bad weather, it was hard to get any really good pics last night. So here is one of my cab parked under the entrance of The Grand this morning.



One-nine is my cab's number and radio call.

Hopefully, tomorrow will produce better things to write about. If not, I will dredge up some more past runs to share. Sorry also about no scenic views but I basically work from sunset to sunrise, which greatly limits the "photo ops".

Another "Blast From The Past"

MAY 17, 2005

About 3:30AM I received a call from the Grand Wailea that a sick infant and her parents needed to get to the hospital ER. I picked them up at 3:34AM.

The baby was in obvious respiratory distress (asthma?).

The trip is normally 35 minutes but since it was late and the roadway was empty I was rolling about 20MPH over the limit. (60 in a 40)

Right after we left Kihei, the baby stopped breathing.

I gave the parents shouted instructions on infant mouth-to-mouth.

I called 9-1-1 and advised them what I had.

I activated my 4-way flashers and floored it. Doing between 100 and 110 mph. Nice to have had a lot of training in this area.

Baby started breathing again within one minute.

About 1 minute out from the ER, the baby quit breathing again.

Entered the ER waiting room screaming "CODE BLUE!"

Immediate response from everyone.

Baby is fine now.

Made the 35 minute trip in 19 minutes.

Dad gave me $200 and a quick "thanks".

Had "the shakes" the rest of my shift.

ROYAL SEDAN AND TAXI SERVICE (aka:"ROYAL CAB")

On the island of Mau'i, the company I drive for is about average size. 12 cabs. On a global scheme, we are small.

We are based out of one of the major resort/spa/hotels in Wailea (why-lay-ah) and provide primary service to south Mau'i from Maalaea (mah-ah-lie-ah) on the north to La Peruse Bay on the south. We are the only cab company that operates 24/7 on the south side of the island. Most of the other cab companies down here stop operations at sunset. There is one that continues on until 11:00pm.

We do things a bit differently here. We have driving dispatchers. All requests for a cab come in via a cell phone and then are dispatched. I handle the dispatch duties on Friday and Saturday nights. On those nights I usually start the shift with 8 or 9 cabs on duty. By 10:00pm I am down to just 4 or 5. After 2:00am, it is just me until the first dayshift cab at 5:00am.

I never realized how unique this was until I took a Fortune 500 CEO and his wife to the airport one evening. It was a busy Friday evening and the phone wouldn't stop ringing. On our arrival at the airport, the man said, "Wil. I thought that I knew what 'multi-tasking' was until I met you. You're driving the cab, answering the phone, dispatching your other cabs, taking reservations for the next day and having a conversation with us. You never wrote anything down. You knew exactly where each of your cabs were and when they would clear their current assignment. I am impressed. Do you want to work for me?"

"Do I have to move to New York?"

"Yes."

"Thanks, but no. After spending 20+ years as a cop in hell I plan to spend the rest of my life in paradise."

At that time the fare to the airport was $36. He gave me $100 and "keep the change."

I guess all those years on patrol with multiple radios in the car was good training. :)

I work Tuesday through Saturday from 6:00pm to 6:00am (or 8:00am if we are busy in the early morning hours). My favorite "off-duty" activity is SLEEP.


This is Art Pidot (pie-dot), the owner. He has been in the taxi business in Hawai'i for nearly 35 years. Most of that on Mau'i. He can be a real pain at times but I like the guy.

If you ever come to Mau'i, call us ahead of time and we will pick you up at the airport. 808-874-6900.

TIFFANY

I picked Tiffany and her girlfriend up at the "bar-muda triangle". They both had a blood alcohol level of at least 0.20%. The entire 5 mile trip Tiffany laid on the back seat and stuck her legs out the right rear window. She wanted her girlfried to take a picture of her legs but their cellphone camera wasn't working. When we arrived at the destination she spotted my camera and asked me to take a sexy picture of her.

Blasts From The Past

Here are some entries from the past, related to driving cab on Mau'i:

NOVEMBER 15, 2003

At about 1:15am this morning I made a pickup at a local nightclub. Two "local" ladies wanted to leave the club but were being accosted by one of their boyfriends who was trying to instigate a fight. The ladies got into my cab and then the guy tried to force them to get out. I locked the doors and windows and left the club. He jumped into a new Audi and pursued us.

He chased us down the road (some chase, I was only doing 30mph) trying to get me to stop. When that failed, he tried three times, unsuccessfully, to ram my cab. Unfortunately, he was successful on his fourth attempt. Hit me at a 45 degree angle at about 30mph.

Caved in the driver's door. Destroyed the left front and left rear quarter panels. Rang my "chimes". Then he and a buddy of his jumped out of their vehicle and tried to smash in the cabs windows and force open the doors.

During this entire incident I was on the radio advising my co-drivers what was occurring and having them call 9-1-1. One of my other cabs arrived just as these two idiots got back in their car and raced away. He followed them while being in contact with the local police. The Audi was pretty badly damaged and was abandoned about 1/2 mile away when they fled on foot. The girlfriend (ex?) was able to tell the police who the driver was and where he lived. Neither of my passengers was hurt, just "shook up". I am a little tender at the moment and will see how I feel when I wakeup (hopefully ) later today.

My cab (a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria) has about $5,000 worth of damage but is driveable (though not usable). They will probably "total" the Audi. His right front wheel was torn from the suspension.

The police are going to pursue this as an ADW (assault with a deadly weapon) rather than a traffic accident.

I'll keep you advised.

And it started out as such a good night.

FOLLOWUP:

The girl friend married him. In August, 2005 he was to have been sentenced to 5 years in prison. The day before his sentencing he and his wife, among others, were arrested by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) for possession for sale of 64 pounds of "ice" (crystal meth). The sentence for that is a minimum of 25 years to life in a Federal prison.

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JANUARY 23, 2004

Last night was unusually slow.

About midnight I noticed some lightning over the west/southwest horizon.

At 12:30am it started to sprinkle. I went home, closed all the windows and brought the litter box in from the lanai.

At 1:00am we had a steady rain accompanied by a phenomenal light show.

At 1:30am the winds started blowing. Steady at 50mph and gusting to about 75mph. The rain was now coming in torrents. At 10mph, with my wipers on high, I could just barely see the roadway. The phone also started ringing.

Since it was soooo slow, I had cut our coverage down to two cabs. Now, every drunk in Kihei was calling, begging for a ride.

At 1:40am the roads began to flood. From 1:00am until 2:30am we received almost 18" of rain being driven by hurricane force gusts.

On our main coastal street (south Kihei road), we had flowing water between 1' to 3' deep. At the crest of one small hill along that road, there was 1' of water on the roadway flowing towards the really flooded areas.

By 2:00am the wind was right at hurricane strength with higher gusts and the light show was nonstop. Only briefly did it turn dark. The changing focal point of continuous illumination was difficult to adjust for. The wall of sound was like the finale of the "1812 Overture."

What would be a 10 minute run was now taking up to 30 minutes, as we often had to backtrack to use alternate routes. On one street of mild incline, the water was moving so fast that rocks the size of a lunch box were being propelled down the street also.

At 2:30am it stopped in an eye blink. The storm continued to pound the mountain above us as it moved off to the east/northeast But the roads were now flooded and the runoff was still coming down the mountain.

I had a late run to the airport and got off late. By 6:00am we still had major flooding on portions of the low road but things were starting to return to normal. Most roadways had a veneer of palm fronds, tree branches and a gravel garden.

Of course, this did not help our beach situation. We still are having high surf and having a driving rain come in from the southwest didn't help matters at all. Onel surfer "dude" told me that he went out into the storm at the penultimate and saw the wave fronts at 30'+!!!

My one joy in all this is that it wasn't snow. At the normal 10:1 ratio, that would have been 180" of snow in, basically, 2 hours. Also (my cab has an external thermometer) the temperature never went below 73F.
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February 2, 2005
At 1:03AM I made a pickup at one of the nicer bars in Kihei to take a "local" male to the resort community of Wailea, which is south of Kihei. About two minutes into the trip I hear the unmistakeable sound of an automatic pistol having a round racked into the chamber. Less than two seconds later the weapon is discharged within inches of my left ear. I am uninjured and immediately slam on the brakes and bail out of my cab in the middle of the street. I immediately call 9-1-1 and advise the dispatcher that a drunk local male had just discharged a firearm in my vehicle. He exited the cab with his hands empty and I ordered him to keep his hands in plain sight and to place them on the trunk of my car. I saw the weapon lying on the center of the rear seat and took possession of it. About 20 seconds later Mau'i police arrived. Turns out that the subject was an off-duty Mau'i police officer from the town of Wailuku, which is located in the central part of the island. The Kihei officers took him into custody.

The bullet entered and exited the molding at the front of the left rear window. The window was down at the time and the bullet hole in the molding was the only damage. The discharge was about 4 inches from the left of my head.

I don't know why he discharged his weapon but I am glad that he was a bad shot.

I'll keep you apprised as to any follow up on this.

I told the IAD (Internal Affairs Division) Captain that I would prefer no criminal prosecution but that it be handled by IAD with whatever action they deem appropriate.

FOLLOWUP:

The officer kept his job. He was suspended for a while and then placed on administrative leave. He enrolled in AA. He returned to patrol duties in August of 2005 on a one year probation. He called me in late August to apologize.

Apology was accepted and a career was saved.

And I racked up one hell of a lot of "brownie points" with MPD.

HIGHEST RATES IN THE WORLD?

This is our new "Rates Of Fare And Baggage" on Mau'i (click to enlarge). Considering the high cost of EVERYTHING on Mau'i, it is actually pretty reasonable. And yes, we do haul surfboards. :)

The last increase was August 2000, when gas was $1.60 a gallon. We currently pay $2.999. Last September it was $4.049.

Per a request from "Bob", a taxi driver in the UK, I am going to focus this blog on being a taxi driver in Paradise.

Hopefully someone will read it.

Aloha for now.


Later......
Wil =8^))
"Let's all be careful out there."

She Peed In My Cab!!

The gentleman above is Harden Jamison, a cab driver who had Paris Hilton pee in his cab.

Yup. It really did happen.