A LACKLUSTER SHIFT

THAT TURNED INTO

PAYDAY!!

When I arrived to pick up ONE-NINE, the Grand had turned on the pixie lights on the trees that line the entry and exit drives. A bit earlier than normal but always beautiful.

NEWLYWEDS!

~ Donald & Kristina ~
Oakland, California

It was an unadventurous night. The rides were short and the people pleasant. From 7p until 2a it was just dinner and bar run pu-pus. Everybody tipped nicely. We were just wrapping up the night when the phone rang at 1:55a. It was United Airlines. Their flt#46 had been canceled due to mechanical failure. 200+ people needed to be moved to the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, over on the "west-side". The lady wasn't sure if we would be needed or not. I told her that she had best make a decision real quick. I had 3 drivers scheduled to end their shift in 5 minutes and I needed to know RIGHT NOW. She called back at exactly 2a and requested everything I could send. She got it. ONE-NINE and 3 vans.

Arrived at OGG at 2:30a and immediately picked up a single passenger going back to Kihei. An island resident. Made it back to OGG and loaded 4 folks to Ka'anapali. 2 seperate couples, so I was paid twice for one trip. One of the other drivers had called 2 of our day drivers, Mary (#21) and Maui Jim (#17) and they were out of bed and on the road by 3:20a.

When I got back to central Mau'i, United called again (about 4:20a) and advised that there were still 35 to 40 people left. I wanted to go get them but my relief, Murph, was waiting at the garage to do the changeover. There were enough cabs working to cover the cleanup. To complicate things, we had a 4:30a reservation for 5 people to OGG out of Wailea and I hadn't been able to raise the other early day driver , Wally (#05), to come in a bit early to cover it. The passenger count and amount of luggage was more than ONE-NINE's capability. Radio traffic was bouncing between our east-side and west-side channels and I was able to get Maui Jim to call out another driver. who finally made the pick-up at 4:45a. I turned the shift over to Murph at the same time and headed home. There were no other vehicles to drive and I don't have keys to any of the other cabs.

I tried to get the return on my Ka'anapali trip for Murph to pick-up but the people weren't interested in scheduling a return at the time I dropped them Gave them my card and asked that they call at least 2 hours before they needed to be picked up. I told Murph not to hold his breath. Looks like we are going to be very short on cabs between 9a and 2p today, since the majority of them will be doing the returns.

It is rare that United cancels a flight. Not like USAir.

15 fares / 157 miles / 2nd quarter $300 bracket

Everyone enjoy your weekend. I'll see ya tomorrow.

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

The first 4 images are courtesy of Maui Action Photos. Mahalo, Van.

Haleakala

Hana Waterfall

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"Let's all be careful out there!"