A TWIST AT THE END

OF A VERY, VERY SLOW SHIFT

As usual, I started my "day" at 7p. 6th up in the Wailea queue. A total of 9 cabs working. 5 night cabs and 4 day holdovers. It was past 8p before the line started moving. When that dispatch finally came out there were 8 of us in Wailea. The 9th cab was in Lahaina.

Made it to the #1 position about 8:15p and the phone went into hibernation.
Zilch.
Nada.
Nuttin'.
Made a Marriott pick-up at 9:01p, headed to the "Triangle". Then sat in town for 30 minutes before I get a "Triangle" to a residential condo in far south Kihei.

After that we didn't move. Kimo (#22) had the post-9p phone duty and about every 90 minutes he would ask one of us to call the company number to make sure everything was still working.

By 1:55p, the phone had been passed on to me and all the other drivers were "pau hana". I entered my solo hours. Sitting at the FoodLand bus stop, doing triage on my shopping list and a party couple approach. "Chesty" blond girl and a tall black guy. Wanted to know if I could take them to the Pride of Hawai'i, in Kahului.

A HARBOR RUN!!

That increased my meter by 156%. They spent most of the 22 minute ride "necking". He wanted to get more "frisky" than she was comfortable with, so there were many "starts" and "stops".

10-minutes into that ride I get a call from one of our Wailea Resorts. They had 2 people that needed to be transported to Ka'anapali. Told them that I would be happy to do it but it was going to be just under an hour before I could get there and explained why.

Gently prodded ONE-NINE and actually made the "westside" run by 2:40a. 2 Japanese gents going to The Whaler.

Before I reached the Pi'ilani Highway (SR-31), less than 1 mile into the trip, they were both "sawing logs". Actually, it sounded like they were both operating a large Oregon lumber mill.

That increased the meter by 169%.

By the time I rounded McGregor Point ("Lookout Point") on the return, where our eastside channel become usable again, one of the day cabs was already in Wailea.

Once again, Graveyard saved the night.

4 fares / 106 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

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Everyone have a wonderful day and I will try to do the same.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Hana Area
Mau'i

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"Let's all be careful out there!"