THE "EAGLE" HAS LANDED."
A very overcast night but no rain showers. That kept the temps in the mid-70's (25c) and the humidity was unusually high, even though there were trades blowing all night long.
Logged in and was 1st up. Thats a good sign. I was about 10 minutes later than normal since I had stopped by the owners residence to give him his cut of last weeks "meter". Out of the starting gate by 7:30p, an outbound dinner run. Shortly after clearing that I covered a central to north Kihei fare. A "regular" who is always plastered but knows when it is time to go home. Which is typically early in the evening.
Back to Wailea and then a hours wait for my third fare. Two guys from Norway,
Maui Prince to
OGG. They gave me an $18.60 tip. That put a
BIG smile on my face.
4th run was in the 10 o'clock hour and the 5th was during the 11 o'clock hour.
The "Witching Hour" gave me 2 drunks back to their hotel fares. Only had one bar close but did add $45 to the "meter" with 3 overnight fares. The first of those put a damper on the rest of the night. Yep, a "puker".
Three large Hawai'ian girls going back to their hotel, at the far north end of Kihei from a condo on the south end of town. We were only 1 minute into the trip when I smelled "it". The girl sitting next to her, in the back, asked if she was okay. I was at the curb in one heartbeat and was pressing the "down" button for her window. Too late. She was so fucked up that she was sprawled in the seat. The girl riding "shotgun" jumped out and jerked open the rear door, catching her friend as she started to fall out. Sat for a while, four-ways flashing, as she screamed "Europe" repeatedly. Finally dropped them off. 'Shotgun" paid me double the meter and apologized profusely and repeatedly. We are not allowed to legally charge a "fouling" fee. We do but, if the passenger objects, have no legal recourse to collect. Amateur drinkers are the bane of cabbies, world-wide. The current rendition of
ONE-NINE has an all leather interior. Her predecessors both had velour, which was a real pain to clean.
I had the other 2 rides pending, so a quick trip to the
Chevron station where I washed down the exterior. Sadly the entire interior door panel was covered in the ejecta. Washed all of it off, sprayed the interior with
Febreze and requested the next 2 rides to sit up front with me. I wasn't positive I had gotten everything sanitized in the back. As each one got in, I explained the cause of the smell, as if the couldn't recognize it, and each one was very generous in their response. They were in the "bar business" and their expressions of sympathy wasn't just "lip-service".
Only 3 night cabs but 3 day hold-overs. One of which was gone by 8p, the second by 9:30p and the 3rd hung in there until almost 1a.
Not once were we in a "rush" mode.
Even though I made good money, the night was agonizingly slow.
11 fares / 118 miles / 1st quarter $200 bracket
***
Today is the 38th anniversary of man's landing on the Moon.
"One small step for (a) man.
One giant leap for mankind."
***
Oh, I have been informed that every other driver in the fleet hates my guts.
So?
***
Have a great day. For those of you who don't make it here over the weekend, I'll see ya on Monday. Everyone else, I hope, makes it by tomorrow.
Mahalo
Aloha
THE PICTURE GALLERYCanoe Race
Luau
Tiki
Banyan TreeLahaina
***
94945
"Let's all be careful out there!"
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