GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS

I CAN'T SEEM TO WIN FOR LOSING

Its starting to show some blue in the sky as I leave for work. Pretty soon I am going to have to be enduring daylight at both ends of my shift. I hate daylight but I love sunsets. I wonder where I put my sunglasses?


My sweetheart and angel, Alissa (a/k/a/ "Wiskers"), will be arriving on April 10th. Its been over a year since I last saw her. She's been to New Zealand, Germany and Greece since then.

We only had 3 night cabs and we never were rushed. Perfect blend. Again, I managed at least one fare per hour and never left town. Only a couple of decent runs, yet the meter steadily grew. the typical in-town fares with an even mix of tourists and residents.

My second longest run of the night was a bar-close from the "Triangle" to The Prince. A young couple from Bozeman, Montana, USA. Along the journey, as we passing the Kea Lani, I told them to keep a sharp eye out for deer. TMR had advised earlier that for the first time this year, the deer had again migrated into the Wailea and Makena areas. We didn't see any. Dropped them off and as I was approaching the south end of the Makena Surf area, a damn doe leapt out in front of me. I hit the brakes at almost the same instant I struck her. She rolled up onto the hood of the cab and then rolled off to the curb. Where she tumbled for a short distance. The last I saw of her was as she ran towards the ocean, the direction she had been heading originally. She wasn't using her left front leg.

As I found out 18 months ago, when I hit that stag, MPD does not respond to vehicle vs deer collisions unless a human is injured. Dented the right front quarter panel, rippled the hood and shoved the grill back. No damage to the radiator and all the lights worked, except the right front turn signal. The speed limit on that stretch of road is 30 MPH, but I was doing less. I was actually trying to spot some deer to take a picture of. I was doing, at the most, 25 MPH when the deer actually overtook me from the right and crossed in front of me on a diagonal path.

A short while later, as I was getting the phone from TMR, he said that he was going to nickname me "Jupiter". After my puzzled look he explained that I am like that gas giant in our solar system. I seem to draw all the worst case events to me like a magnet or a gigantic gravity well. Need a victim? Just take a number and Wil will be with you shortly. I've had a passenger take a shot a pistol at me, a passenger's angry boyfriend ram my cab, etc. I've checked but I can't find a bulls-eye anywhere on me and yet...

12 fares / 120 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

#14 is crinkled but looks a lot better than ONE-NINE did after that guy who ran the STOP sign T-boned me last December. It is totally driveable and there was no other damage than the sheet metal.

And life goes on.

We should have a decent night again. Thursdays are normally a bit more "up-beat" than Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We'll have 4 drivers on, which should be just about right. Hope to see you again tomorrow.

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!"