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Sunday, July 02, 2006

OH, COME WITH ME LITTLE GIRL,

ON A MAGIC CARPET RIDE

The following images are from an old calendar that I found this morning.


Ukamahame Canyon on the way to Lahaina




The coastline past the "Seven Sacred Pools" (O'heo Gulch), at Kipahulu.
Oh, there are more than seven pools and they are not "sacred".
A publicity term from the late '70's or early '80's.




Wailea Beach, Ma'alaea Bay, and the West Mau'i Mountains




The "Seven Sacred Pools" past Hana




Molokini Island in Ma'alaea Bay is well known as a diving location




The rich colors of Haleakala Crater before the clouds move in




Honolua Bay near Kapalua




Lahaina Harbor, the Pioneer Inn, and the West Mau'i Mountains




The road to Hana along Mau'i's rugged coastline




One of the beaches at Wailea




The taro patches at Keanae, on the way to Hana




Sunset at Kihei



LAST NIGHT

Logged on and immediately had to go back home. I had forgotten my clear lens glasses. Sunglasses are kind of a pain to see with when there is no sun.

Duh!

Took over "dispatch" as soon as I accomplished this mission.

"The Jerk" was still on duty and had now switched over to cab #22. Thats a minimum of 24 hours that he has been working. Actually he was on duty for nearly 36 hours when he finally left.

How many people do you know that can work for 36 hours straight, take an 8 to 10 hour break and then come back for 36 more?

Without using drugs?

Naw.

Me neither.

* * *

Very different night on Saturday. Too many calls and not enough cabs.

Per SOP, we dispatch "time calls" 15 minutes in advance of the scheduled pick up. I had four GW to OGG runs set for 8:00pm and five cabs in the queue in Wailea. Events are always in flux and cab #15, AND cab #22, logged off at 7:44pm. At 7:45 pm I made the dispatch to the three remaining cabs and we covered three of the runs. Luckily, the fourth run was a "10-13"

For the next two hours it was a delicate balancing act to cover all the reservations, get people out to dinner and get them back.

Every guest of The Grand (Royal's "fatted cow") was accommodated in a timely manner, but I had to turn down some other really nice runs from the other major hotels, due to lack of equipment.

All the day drivers had "bailed" by 10:00pm

Long runs and airport "Meet & Greets" meant that we seldom had more than two cabs in town, sometimes just one.

NOW SERVING
CUSTOMER NUMBER

1,234,567


Bar close was a "mad house", but we finally got everyone moved. Mexican Mary and PH Harden boogied by 2:10am and TMR Alex was gone about 3:00am.

Murph came in at 4:25am and I was home before 5:00am.

Made money. Got home safely. Does anything else really matter in this job?



EDUCATED IDIOTS

Ask most people and they will express the opinion that cabbies are definately at the bottom of the educational ladder. Most feel that we were probably one of those kids that rode the "small" bus to school.

So, isn't it strange that 75% of the drivers with ROYAL have a BA/BS degree and a few of us have a bit more.

Believe me. It pays to be, or act, dumb sometimes.

Talk to y'all tomorrow.



Later.....

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