BIG WHEEL KEEP ON TURNIN'

PROUD MARY KEEP ON BURNIN"

This week's fantastic roll just keeps on burnin'. Only 12 trips last night but all were very, very good. LOTS OF $$!! And yet another night with not one obnoxious (or interesting) customer.

I was going to have a "march of the virgins" to celebrate, but one was sick and the other one wouldn't march alone.

The best run of the night was do to a cancelled America West flight. "Crazy Brian", "TT Tina" and I made the best OGG run possible, all the way to the Ritz-Carlton, in Kapalua. That is on the far northwest side of Mau'i. The America West flight from the mainland didn't arrive, actually it never left the mainland. Even though the airline knew hours in advance that there was not going to be a flight, they still kept everyone waiting in the airport until 3 hours past the scheduled departure time before starting to make any arrangements for these stranded people. We have had about a dozen America West flights do this and their company policy for customer service definately needs some drastic correction.

America West is a discount airline. You know, one of those that doesn't have seat belts, just a length of rope and a Boy Scout "Book of Knots". Also no flotation devices, but each seat does have an instruction sheet on "How To Swim In One Easy Lesson".

BTW - Why is it that, as part of the pre-flight instructions, the flight attendant will always say, "In the event of a water landing..." Those jumbo jets aren't equipped with pontoons and a "waterlanding" is a "crash", pure and simple. I guess they don't want people focusing on the fact that a journey to or from Mau'i means that for over 2,350 miles there isn't any dry spot below you. Just 6 picket boats, station keeping along the route.

This whole bru-ha-ha about Islamic terrorist shit has really messed things up at the airports. It seems like something like this always happens as the big re-election campaigns start rolling. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidence.

I have a very simple apolitical philosophy. If they are an incumbent, vote them out of office. All incumbents spend more time and effort getting re-elected than serving the people. "Hey, Dude. You didn't do jackshit the first time around. Why should I believe you are going to do any better on a second trip. Hit the showers, you're history." Oh, well. Enough soapbox chatter for now.

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NIGHT SHIFT

Most guests to a major resort hotel seldom see the work that is done in the wee hours of the morning. Making sure that everything always looks nice.

These guys are scrubbing the main entrance to The Grand. I took this about 5:00am and they had been at this task for about 3 hours.

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WORLD MAP

You've seen the flags, just below my banner, representing where all the visitors to PARADISE DRIVER have come from. Well, heres a map showing, in red, the places that those flags represent. 70, so far. And a "cheers" to London Cabbie for giving me a "heads up" about the CIA changing all the links' urls. That is going to take up a lot of my time this weekend, updating all 70 links. I am so happy that I could just shit.

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TODAY'S PICS

A cruiseship off of Lahaina

Ho'okipa Beach

Seascapes

Our Apollo astronauts used the crater at Haleakala to train for the moon missions in the late '60's and into the '70's. About as close an aprroximation to Selene's domain as can be found on Terra.

Later.....

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