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1,000, or so, associates of COUNTRYWIDE have taken over the GRAND WAILEA and the FOUR SEASONS for their annual awards gala. These are the rare groups that the island loves. Their daily itinerary is very open. They leave "campus" and explore the island, savoring everything that is available. These are some of the raging young bucks of business.
Boy, are we glad they showed up!
Last night was their first offical night on the island and their company welcomed them with a fireworks show.
Of course, I knew nothing about this and was sitting at the Tsunami entrance when a big bang occurred. Trust me. Big bangs are something that cops really hate hearing. My head snapped around and I saw the fading embers. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed my camera and started taking some pics. This was the best of the bunch.
Then my little epithany light started flashing over my head.
"uh, dummy. This camera takes video!"
I immediately switched over to video mode and shot the following.
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destination: HAPA"S (uh, lets rethink this)
Picked up a solo man from the GRAND at about 9:40pm. He wanted to have some fun and, naturally, all the local staff told him that their favorite spot was HAPA'S.
During the journey, he asked questions.
That is the first time THAT ever happened!
I gave him my honest opinion and we diverted to the "Triangle".
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"PISSED OFF" LADY
This lady of indeterminate age, was waiting for me below DENNY'S at about 12:30am. She wanted to go to Wailuku, which abuts Kahului on the west. From the moment she entered the cab until I dropped her off, 30 minutes later, she yelled.
Constantly.
The only words I understood were "fucker" and "bullshit". The rest of the words were Korean and I am willing to bet that she "stayed in character" in that language also. During her brief moments of rationality I think I pieced together her story.
She works for one of the Korean bars on lower Main street in Wailuku (I'll explain more about them this weekend). She apparently left the bar with a new "friend" and went to his apartment in Kihei. His credit card didn't "clear". She only had $50 on her (the fare came out to $49.70) and it was too late to go back to work and develop another "relationship".
As I said.
She was PISSED!
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SLIPPERS
Your supermarkets carry these year round too, don't they?
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SPAM
Haute cuisine for "locals".
Also, their 5th "food group".
More SPAM is sold per capita in Hawai'i than anywhere else in the world.
Twinkie "shelf life".
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CAMERA
I use a Sony CyberShot DSC-540 for both the pics and videos.
It is a cheap ($150) entry level camera. 4.1 megapixel.
It comes with 36 mb internal memory. I've added a 512 mb memory stick ($50 at Walmart). I plan on adding another memory stick when I can, locally, find the adaptor.
It fits comfortably in my pocket, both shirt and pants, and that all I use. No laptop, no power inverter, no cables and no loss of the front passenger seat.
Not bad, eh?
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MY CAB
It is a 1997 Mercury Gran Marquis with 145,620 miles on it, as of this morning. The company purchased it in February, 2005. It only had 36,000 miles on it.
Ford sedans have a problem here in Hawai'i with the edge of the roof liner pealing away from the window molding, over which the edge is glued.
I've tried reglueing, to no positive result.
As London Cabby mentioned, in an earlier comment, this wouldn't pass the strict regulations that he works under.
"One-Nine" is the only cab I drive.
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OVERALL
Pretty good night. Always steady, very few lulls.
Tips weren't as good as Tuesday's, but I am not complaining.
Made the second "lay-away" payment on that pack of chewing gum.
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Later.....
Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"
