Paradise Driver: 03/09/07

Friday, March 09, 2007

4 - COUNT'EM - 4!

RUNS TO OGG!!

Plus 8 others, of which only 2 were below $10. It was a fantastic night!

Logged in at 7:02 pm and was immediately sent to the front of The Grand. a single lady to OGG. Headed home to Las Vegas, NV, USA, she'd been here on business.

Make the roundtrip and, as soon as I log into Wailea, its back to The Grand. This time it was a couple from just a bit west of Keene, NH, USA.

As soon as I reach Kihei, on the return, I am again sent to The Grand for a third trip to OGG. A student from the L.A. area.

Funny thing about these three trips is that they did not meter out the same. Trip #1 was the highest. Trip #2 was 30-cents less. Trip #3 was 60-cents less than #2. A spread of 90-cents. The only reason for the difference is that on each subsequent trip the traffic was lighter and we got caught at fewer traffic lights. Thus, less "waiting time" on the meter.

Picked up a young, mid-twentys, male from the Four Seasons, going to the "Triangle". He was from "The City" (San Francisco, CA, USA) and was dressed in the latest upscale club wear. An very pale (I couldn't tell if it was a pastel or a gray) just off-white three piece suit. A white designer dress shirt and a very pale tie that was a darker, by very little, shade of the suit color. Nobody, but nobody, dresses like that on Mau'i. Trust me. He was here with a friend that had won a major sales award for one of the larger life insurance companies.. He was going to hit the "Triangle", solo. This was an accident just waiting for a place to "happen". I pointed out the location of all, currently 6, bars and dropped him in front of The Tiki. I also admonished him about not going into "needle" park. He asked me where he could score some "Mau'i Wowee". I laughed and told him that that is just another urban legend and left it at that.

90 minutes later I made his return pickup and back to his hotel. He had met a young lady that he liked. After a couple of drinks she told him that he was very stylish but dressing that way on Mau'i would probably get his ass kicked. Whoever she was, she was 100% correct. A bit later he began being deliberately "bumped" more frequently and could tell that the these thugs were trying to start trouble. Got his rescue call just a few minutes later. I don't think he'll be coming back to Mau'i. Honolulu would be better suited (no pun intended) for him.

About a quarter past 2, a major brawl broke out in the Kihei Town Center parking lot, between FoodLand and the MPD - Kihei Station. Over 50 people involved. As happens with most incidents like this, the action rapidly shifted across the parking lot. Even after all 6 patrol cars on duty arrived on scene, it continued to escalate. Some people got "Tazzed". Thats ALWAYS fun to watch. An ambulance responded but left empty. I think that is a precautionary requirement when a subject is "nailed" with a Tazer. At least one person was taken into custody.

When it started, I was sitting at FoodLand's bus stop and the melee washed over me and ONE-NINE like a tsunami. I moved to a safer location.

The final run of the night was my fourth OGG. Picked up just on the Kihei side on the Kihei/Wailea division line. A nice lady returning to Auckland, New Zealand, after a 2 week holiday with friends from Ottawa, Canada.

I've mentioned before that State Route (SR) 311, the Mokulele Highway, is being widened from 2-lanes to 4 (center divided) lanes. The length of Mokulele is about 6-1/2 miles (10 km) long and this has been going on for about 5 years now, about 2/3rds completed. It is a good example of the term "Mau'i Time". Not far outside of Kihei, traffic is being diverted from the old road to a portion of the new road. To make sure everyone can see the sharp 90^o turn, the DOT has placed very bright lights to illuminate the area. Of course they did nothing to shield these light from blinding the oncoming drivers.