Paradise Driver

Saturday, September 16, 2006

RENAISSANCE

A LAST LOOK

The very first luxury hotel to open in Wailea was The Intercontinental. Today it is called The Renaissance. In the very near future, this structure will be razed and replaced with high-rise, high-end luxury condos. Its time as a star has long passed and it is actually cheaper to start from scratch than to rehabilitate this aging structure.

I just wanted to share a few images.

The Entry

Leftside entry wall sculpture

Rightside entry wall sculpture

A traditional Hawai'ian outrigger canoe

The reverse view

Looking down from the entry level

BROMIDIC SERMONS

To avoid the banality of reflections of this week's shifts. Lets just say that I made money and leave it at that.

Even the drunks were boring and obnoxious and trite.

1100 Microsoft employees arrived last night, by bus, and started a week long stay at The Grand. Some sort of sales conference for their commercial products.

THE PICTURE GALLERY

West Mau'i Mountains

Kaho'olawe

Kamaole Beach Park

West Mau'i Mountains

The Pacific Ocean
isn't always placid

No Rain
No Rainbows

A walk on the beach

Haleakala Crater

Sunset

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Friday, September 15, 2006

PERSEVERANCE

PAYS OFF

Tuesday was 6 runs and less than $75 on the meter.
Wednesday was 7 runs and over $120 on the meter.
Thursday was 8 runs and over $200 on the meter.

There is absolutely no way to predict what any night is going to be like. I snagged a trip to OGG at 10:00pm and a fare to Lahaina Harbor at 4:45am.

I love early morning trips to Lahaina. It is so refreshing to get out of town for awhile. Being confined to the 10 square miles, or so, of Kihei can get tedious. One north/south highway. One north/south street. The two inter-connected by 12 cross streets and all the rest of the roadways being residential deadends. It gets very monotonous at times.

No interesting characters or incidents, so have a great day and a better weekend.

Aloha!

THE PICTURE GALLERY

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Thursday, September 14, 2006

STILL SLOW

BUT DEFINATELY BETTER

Another quiet night, 7 runs, but a vast improvement, dollar-wise, over Tuesday night. Nearly doubled the meter. The period from 7:00pm to 2:00am was miserable. The saving grace were my solo period from 2:00am to 5:00am, when I brought in 80% of the shift's receipts.

From 7:00pm to 9:00pm I covered three small runs, then sat 7th up in the queue and there were no calls from 9:00pm to 10:00pm. Since I wasn't going anywhere and wouldn't be until I worked my way to the top, I decided to go home and kick back. Came back out a 1:00am and there were only three cabs left. They had one run each during those 3 hours I was on hiatus. Obviously, I didn't miss much.

Didn't have any interesting fares. Just regular people needing transportation.

CLEARING UP SOME CONFUSION

Our busiest time of the year is from the Friday before Christmas through the Monday after New Years. That is a period of absolute pandemonium. That two week period will generate 2-3 months worth of average income. From then until the end of March, we stay very busy. April tapers as the snowbirds finally depart. From the middle of May to the middle of June is very quiet. That is when high school & college graduations, finals, proms and other events related to the end of the school year take place. June 15th starts the summer season, which peaks in August. September is always quiet. The weather on the mainland is generally pleasant, with schools and colleges starting their fall semesters. October sees a gradual increase in visitors and the snows began to fall in the far northern latitudes. Halloween ends the month with a massive celebration in Lahaina. If you are an adult, the two wildest places to celebrate Halloween is either in Lahaina or in Key West, Florida. Mardi Gras, in New Orleans, looks like a Southern Baptists convention compared to what occurs in those two towns on October 31st. November is quiet, with the exception of Thanksgiving week, which is very crowded here. The slowest time of the year is from the Monday following Thanksgiving to the Friday before Christmas. Those four weeks generate what is normal for one week average the rest of the year. This place is a ghost town.

WAILEA ON WEDNESDAY

Stopped by The Whaler's General Store in The Shops At Wailea to get a deli sandwich. Since it was Wednesday, there was the usual entertainment. Paused long enough to record one of the featured player's songs.

Enjoy.