WHAT A CHANGE UP

THURSDAY NIGHT WAS

photo credit: Maui Action Photos
Mahalo, Van
~ Amanda & Amanda ~
Greenbay, WI, USA

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Started my shift with a Wailea to OGG trip. And that was before 8:00pm. Shortly after arriving back in Kihei, I get a small fare from the Safeway area to the north end of town. Then nothing for 2 hours. Deja vu. Just before 11:00pm things began hopping again and, since the day-shift drivers had finally gone pau hana, we had just the right mix of cabs to calls. "Crazy" Brian, TMR and myself just kept motatin' for a straight hour. Everybody headed out to the bars. That rush was followed by another hour of down time until bar close started around 1:00am.

A little after 1:00am, I was responding to a call at the "triangle" and saw a large group of local males dragging someone across the roadway from the "Triangle's" rear parking area to the rear of FoodLand. Then everyone proceeded to hit and beat the victim. Kicking and stomping him when he finally fell to the ground. 12 versus 1. I knew I needed to do something, quick. Grabbed my camera and started taking pics. The flash caught all the assailant's attention and they took off running. Some tried to chase me down, shouting to each other to "get the cabbie's camera". LOL. That wasn't successful. Naturally, none of the pics were any good but my intent was just to stop them from killing the guy. Police arrived a bit later, along with an ambulance.

Just as I checked in to Wailea from a drop at The Prince, I am dispatched for a fare, out of Wailea to Kapalua. The Ritz. About a $120 fare. While enroute, he called a friend who lived in Lahaina. After a bit of chit-chat the decision was made that he would be spending the night morning with his friend and thus the trip was truncated. Still metered just some coins below $80 and he gave me $130 in total. $50 tips are always appreciated.

Since I was out of town, TMR stayed on and did pretty well during my absence. He got a run across the island to Waihehe.

Took over the phone, finally, at 4:00am just as the new day-driver, Wally (#25) logged on. Compiled the reservations and e-mailed them to the owner. I knew I was going to be hanging around for a bit, since no other day drivers showed up early. Finally made it home by 6:00am. Even though I metered over $200 for the night, by last years standard I was still 1/3 short of what I was doing then. This has been my worst year in the business.

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Routine traffic stop,
Azeka Place - Mauka

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The addition of the Moon and Venus to a sunset just makes them even more interesting

Venus and the Moon were really close together last night.

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This really hurts!


BAD!

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Hey, thanks for stopping over. Its Friday and we all know that means I'll be dispatching tonight. Hopefully I'll find some interesting tidbits to write about and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'll make BIG BUCKS!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Artist Credit - James Coleman

Kaua'i

Black Sand Beach
Near Hana

Hanalei Bay
Kaua'i

Hilo Bay

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"Let's all be careful out there!"