Paradise Driver: "CLUSTER FUCK"

Saturday, June 16, 2007

"CLUSTER FUCK"

THATS A GOOD DEFINITION FOR LAST NIGHT

We have 14 cabs in our fleet. We just recently added 2 more. When I took over the phone, I had 11 of them on the road. Thats the "stretch" I have been looking for. And, taking a bow & patting myself on the back, I did one hell of a good job. An A+!! By 8p, I was down to 8 cabs. Only had 6 left at 9p and just 4 after 11p.

I never left the southside during my night. The only driver who didn't. And while I metered just over $200, I was the low man on the totem pole. My longterm readers know that this is usually the case on the nights I have the phone. I could have easily added another $200 to my night, if I was a cheat but I always play by the rules. I couldn't live with myself if I violated my personal Code of Ethics.

It was a typical Friday night. Dinner runs, OGG trips and a shitpot full of drunks (but not one puker, in anyone's cab, thank god).

As the night wore on, the IQ of the callers diminished, expotentally. Doesn't anybody EVER figure out where they are before they call? Not in Kihei. It must be some unwritten rule that I missed.

The other frustrating parts of the night were the concierge departments in the various hotels. I wish they would hire people for whom English is not a second, or third, language. With accents so heavy that I have to have them repeat their requests 3 or more times until I can finally understand them. Or they call and just start talking. Never pausing for breathe or identifying who/where they are. My other irritant last night was one hotel's valet desk that called for pickups, 3 times. Each time it was my call to handle and each time I would arrive, speak with the person who had made the request, and they didn't know what happened to the guests and once even denied they had called.

Had an MPD request a bit past 2:30a. My friend, Bill Melton - MPD, was giving a couple a big break. He had them dead-to-rights on DUI. I was to take them home to Makawao, about a $90 trip. Before I had started moving the guy tells me to just drive around the block and bring him back to his truck. He still planned to drive home. I told him that I wouldn't do that and we could just halt the bullshit right now and they could get a ride in the "blue light" taxi, instead.

We didn't go to Makawao, naturally. Instead, I took them about 4 miles north to the "Park'N'Ride" lot at the junction of SR-30 & SR-310, just outside of Ma'alaea. While enroute he called a friend in Waikapu, about 3 miles east of the junction, and had him meet us. This moron still intended on driving his vehicle home. Dropped them and called MPD. Told them to relay to Bill what I had heard.

The solo hours stayed very active. I had a scheduled 4:15a to OGG from Wailea but I called "Murph" (ONE-NINE's weekend "day" driver) and he came out early to cover it. I just didn't have the energy left to do it, safely.

I guesstimate that I processed between 250 and 300 calls last night. About 1 call every 60 seconds. But it wasn't spread out that evenly. We had some lull periods around midnight and spurts where the phone was beeping in my ear as I answered another call. Never stopping. By 4a my brain was mush.

16 fares / 127 miles / Bottom of the $200 bracket

The first night this week that I didn't double last week's meter.

Oh, the above image is of one of the screens for the Maui Film Festival. This one is at the Wailea Marriott and was just visible from the far west end of the Shops At Wailea parking lot, just past the Wailea Beach Villas main tower. Too far away to really see or hear anything.

***

One more night to go.

Y'all have a wonderful weekend.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kihei Surfside Sunset