FINALLY GOT OUT OF TOWN...

AND HAD A PUKER

At midnight, I only had 5 fares and was in the low $60's on the meter. For a Friday night, those are pitiful numbers. We had four on the night crew and we all spent a lot of time sitting. At midnight we were down to three cabs and then things began picking up. Not overwhelmed at all but steadily active.

Picked up one of our "regulars" and his girlfriend about 12:30 AM. A very hard working guy from Micronesia, this was the first time he has ridden with me that wasn't work related. I was happy to see that. His girlfriend had surpassed her capacity for alcohol a while earlier. When they had arrived at the bar, she told him that she wanted a "sweet" drink. He got her a Long Island Iced Tea. Then they started doing tequilla shots. And she hadn't gotten sick. I was impressed.

That is, until about ½ way through the ride. I heard her start frantically scratching at the left slider door. The slider door windows do not recess. Then she started trying to open the slider while we were still doing about 40mph. Thank goodness for auto-locking doors. I knew what the problem was at the first sound and was already bailing off to the shoulder. Stopped, released the door locks, jumped out and opened her door as she begins to projectile vomit onto the pavement. No "chunks", just the "Iced Tea" and a lot of tequilla. Very minor insulting of the cab's interior. Easy to clean up, actually our "regular" took off his t-shirt and used that to clean up the mess. Of course, since it was just liquid, it will take a bit of time for the fragrance to dissipate. I sprayed a lot of Febreze when I parked at the end of the shift.

About 2:15 AM I pick up a nice guy from FoodLand, headed to Ha'iku. From Puerto Rico, he had been stationed on O'ahu when his enlistment in the Army ended and found a job in Pearl Harbor. I had to pull out my mapbook to find the street.

Naturally, while I was gone from Kihei, the phone starts ringing. Couldn't help a single one. In fact I just barely made a 3:45 AM "special" that I had. The journey to Ha'iku is about 45 minutes each way.

10 fares / 120 miles / 4th quarter $100 bracket

One more shift to go. I've given up trying to predict how biz will be. 2 years ago I was typically doing 28-35 runs per shift at this time of year.

Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back tomorrow and hope you will be too.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

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Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"