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I logged in and was given my position in the Wailea queue. Then TMR announced that, effective immediately, we were changing our SOP for dispatching at night. Without going into a complete wiring diagram of the changes, what we have done is switch back to what we were doing a little over a year ago. The old owner had got a wild hair up his ass back then. Upset that we dispatched by a different sent of "rules". Every regular night driver was very happy to hear we were going back to the old way. It is more equitable to everyone and addresses the fact that the call flow does a dynamic shift after dark. The load of calls is Wailea-centric during the day. People go places, do things. After dark the need and focus shifts to Kihei. Basically moving drunks from point A to point B.
There was also a minor change in the boundary lines of our two zones.
The new owners do read this blog and I want to tell them:
THANK YOU!!
***
The shift started off pretty slow and it was an hour before I reeled in my first fare. A Wailea pupu. Half an hour later, another Wailea pupu. 30 minutes after that was my 3rd pupu in Wailea. (see a trend here?) 2-1/2 hours after starting I had my 4th Wailea gut wrencher.
By 10:00pm I had moved into Kihei and covered 6 more pupus. At midnight I had completed 10 trips. Only one of which was over $10. The number of fares was great, but the $$s were low. I haven't had 10 trips by midnight in one hell of a long time.
After the "witching hour", the volume of business slowed but the distance of the runs lengthened, which means a bigger meter. The "Triangle" was packed with people. As far as I know, there was only one minor incident there to mar the evening.
The way things died, I thought my solo hours were going to be quiet. But the phone came alive shortly past 2:30am. One of which was a nice trip from the Coast to MMMC. While on that nearly $50 jaunt, the phone rang 4 0r 5 times. Where were these people when I could of really used them last week?Finished off the morning with a small hop from the "Triangle" to the Kihei/Wailea line.
The last two shifts have come within pocket change of metering $200.
Tonight is my phone night. Saturday is Cinco de Mayo, our third or fourth busiest night of the year. The American spirits industry have really transformed a minor Mexican holiday into a major quasi-event north of the border.
Used the credit card "thingy" for the third time last night. The fare was $8. When I got to the part about a gratuity, I explained that if he wished he could include that on the chargeslip.
"Yeah, sure."
"How much should I indicate, sir?"
"Give yourself $8"
100% TIP!!
"Okay. The fare is $8 and the tip is $8, giving you a grand total of $16. Just sign next to the 'X' sir."
SWEET!
But as far as tips go, the one to MMMC was the winner. A middle-aged man from Iran, who had fled in 1979. Persians speak English in the same machine gun pattern as they do Farsi. He never stopped talking the entire 30 minute trip. I was his hired audience. As a secondary character is his personal drama, my role was to respond with an appropriate blurb, on cue. I must have passed the audition. He gave me $100 ("it all yours") on a $46.70.***
This is a pretty common sight on Mau'i. Seeing 3 boards on one vehicle is not. But it does show that their owner is a serious surfer. Each of those boards is of a different size, necessary to accommodate changing surf conditions.
Here are some people to give you a more visual explanation.
Van sent me 40 of these great shots, taken yesterday. A nice south swell, from New Zealand, arrived on Tuesday. I'll be posting 5 of Van's surf images each day until I run out.***
Each of you have a great weekend.I am not going to be polite about this.
Just DON'T FUCKING DO IT!
See y'all tomorrow.
Mahalo
Aloha
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***
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