WELL, WE HAD A...

LITTLE EXCITEMENT

A drunk in an older model dark green pickup truck, with way oversized tires, to compensate for his personal "short-comings", had a spot'o'trouble negotiating the treacherous parking lot lights this morning at FoodLand. Of course, he didn't see the need to wait for the police to arrive. And they didn't have far to come from. Thats the Kihei District Station in the lower image. Right there in the corner of the building. They park their vehicles in the back. In Hawai'i, most locals always flee the scene of an accident. It must be a cultural thing. Like the ghetto dwellers on the mainland. Cowards to the core.

As anticipated, it was another dead night. 9 cabs working when I checked in. Between 7p and 11:30p I covered 3 fares and got another on dog-watch. Actually put more miles on the odometer than I put dollar$ on the meter. Part of the reason for that is I must go down to Wailea each shift after 10p to collect the reservations. Can't do it earlier and I must have them before 3a to compile and create the new day's reservation list, which is scanned and e-mailed to the owner and a copy provided to my relief. So, when I don't get a paid ride, I must do a 6 mile deadhead. It is only a problem on these really slow shifts.

Brought ONE-NINE home this morning. A minor logistical problem already had 4 cabs parked in our reserved spaces. If I left ONE-NINE, in a non-authorized space, the hotel would be pissed. No relief day driver, so its a moot issue.

Not hard to pick the most interesting trip. A 4-pax from Cafe O'lei to The Palms, in Wailea. 1 dude from Scotland, now living in Canada, and 2 more guys and a lady, also from Canada. We started taking about accents. Like a lot of folks, they placed me as being from Texas. I do slide easily into a Texas "twang" when I ask people:

"Where y'all from?"

The Scotsman sounded more Kiwi than Canadian and I placed the other 3 as from eastern Canada. They spoke with the broader and softer vowel sounds more associated with Toronto but they were actually from Vancouver, BC.

I help the lady learn to properly pronounce the name of the island that Honolulu is on, O'ahu. Most mainlanders say:

OH-WHA-HOO

instead of:

OH-AH-HOO

People just love to add the "W" sound.

4 fares / 54 miles / 2nd quarter below $100 bracket

Can it get any worse? Sadly, yes. But I'll be out there tonight and I hope you are back here tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kahana
Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"