MY CAT, BEAR

TURNS 7 TODAY

He does this a lot

***

Thursday was busier than Friday was.

Took command of the team (9 cabs) and was #2 and last up in the Wailea queue. The 7 others were scattered far and wide. Was chatting with Larry, the new owner, when "call waiting" beeped. Now I was first up.

Second run of my night was a Wailea to OGG reserved for 9:00pm. I had sat for a very long time at the Wailea Lookout, waiting to go somewhere. Anywhere. Shortly after 9, my guests came out the hotel, we loaded the bags and then went nowhere.

Dead battery!

Shut off everything electrical and tried again. No joy. The fates had really hit me with a sucker punch. Then they kissed me. I was only 100 yards from my personal car and I keep an emergency power pack jump box in the trunk. 5 minutes later, we are on our way. My people, from Florida, were impressed. They thought they were going to miss their flight. LOL. Not with SuperCabbie at the wheel.

The night was so slow that driver attrition was rapid. First, the day drivers. Then Hardin at 11:00pm, Tina at 1:00am. Just before Tina went "10-2" (end of shift), "Crazy" Brian rolled on a Lahaina return (to Wailea). That left only TMR (The Mad Russian) and myself to handle bar close. We immediately backed up 30 or more minutes in response time. Just before 2:00am, TMR got "flagged" to the harbor (Pride of Aloha) in Kahului. I bounced like a ping-pong ball from one end of town to the other, covering everything. Finally cleared the board by 3:00am. A couple of graveyard fares then the day shift started checking in. I was home by 5:00am.

***

The Wailea Lookout is somewhere between 200 to 250 feet above sea level. You can see the western end of Kahului, which is 15 miles away, from there.

So I took this time exposure:
As clearly visible as a black cat, in a coal bin, at midnight, on a moonless night.

Decided to "photo-chop" it a little some a whole hell of a lot and brought this out:
Poor quality but it gives you an idea of what I could see.

***

I am really pinching pennies to make the rent on the 1st. In fact, I am going to go in the next 2 Sundays and try to get some extra cash. So you'll get some bonus cabbie stories, I hope.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll look for you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

MIDWAY ATOLL

Gooney Birds

WWII Gun Mount

PBY Hanger

Wedge Tailed Shearwater

White Fairy Tern Eggs
Hatched On A Tree Limb

White Fairy Tern

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"