THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Moody sky at sunset.

Got the ball rolling at exactly 7p. Had the phone at 7:01p. There was only one reservation, to OGG.

The owner assigned that to me as a "dispatcher special". His way of saying "Thank you" to each night's dispatcher. Those who refuse to "Hold The Phone" miss out on this perk.

It wasn't busy but we did stay steady for most of the shift. Started the night with 8 cabs and finished with 5. Two left on their own volition. The third I told, shortly past midnight, "Its past you bedtime. Why don't you call it a night." Within seconds the phone rang. It was him. He was pissed but not vulgar. He questioned my authority. Then told me that he was exempt from that rule. There are no exemptions. The longer we spoke the louder he got. Eventually overloading the audio capability of his mike and my earpiece.

As far as dispatching went last night, I'd grade myself as a B+. I kept losing track of one cab. Forgetting his position in the line-up or even that he was there. Below the standards I set for myself. Its been a long time since I've had a challenging night playing "coach" to our team of cabs. Nights so overwhelmed with calls that I do triage on the incoming requests, only accepting the best $$ fares for my drivers. Often diverting someone from a non-contract assigned call to cover a different one that will be double, or more, on the meter.

That is when the "game" is fun.

Covered 15 runs during the shift and easily broke $200 on the meter. I won't be able to get a pic of ONE-NINE's odometer when it reads all 8s. It read 88865. 23 miles short. With the "specials" I was able to line up for "Murph", ONE-NINE's day wrangler, he'll probably add another 140 miles.

Last night, The new security force at the "Triangle" blocked off all entrances to the area in front of Bada Bings and Lulu's. The entire parking lot. We couldn't make pick-ups or drop-offs. Plan "B" was to have our fares meet us at the Unocal-76 gas station, right across the street.

As we approached bar close, my tolerance level for stupid callers diminished. At hyper-sonic speed.

One more night to go.

Check back tomorrow for the continuing saga of Poverty in Paradise.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Wailea Beach

Pa'ia Beach

Koki Beach

Just Another Mau'i Beach

Black Sand Beach

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"Let's all be careful out there!"