OKAY

I WAS WRONG

Last night's sunset
Wailea Lookout

Haleakala

The way the night started, I wrote it off as another "dud". In fact, it took a long time before the moola was being created. I tracked the number of cabs that we had on the street and my earnings. As the day crew fizzled out, the $s per hour increased, almost in lock-step.

The most fun fare of the shift was a brother & sister, twins, in their early 20's. The barbs they exchanged through out the ride would have been cruel if inflicted on an "outsider" but you could tell that, as with most twins, it was really an expression of fraternal, and family, love. Each one gave as good as they got. The other laughing when bitten by a sharp one. Not long sentences, just sharp "jabs" and always straight at the others jugular vein. And, damn it, I can't remember one iota of their joust. They were comfortable with each other and they knew the other's most intimate secrets, in detail.

***

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
When I took these shots, the pickup on the right had been parked there for about 2 hours. The one on the left had pulled up about 10 minutes prior to the pic.

They are in restricted parking spaces. Designated for Handicap Use only. Neither vehicle had the appropriate plates nor the alternative windshield placard displayed.


The right truck had been parked by a couple that went to Sansei for a nights entertainment. The left one had been driven in by a solo male who was doing some grocery shopping at FoodLand, where these spaces are located.
Its a shame that MPD seldom enforces this violation.

18 fares/ 110 miles / bottom quarter of $200 bracket

***

Enjoy your weekend. See ya tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Dinner Cruise

Haleakala

Luau

A Kihei Beach

***

94069



"Let's all be careful out there!"

ANY AMOUT OF IMPROVEMENT

IS AN IMPROVEMENT

Like everyone on the web, I get "mass" e-mails. I never resend them, just like I don't do "memes". I occasionally share some of the better ones here. The latest one included the following images, among others, that I thought were worthy of passing along.




The black patch, below the ass-backwards American Flag, says:

"Doing the job of:"

With the flags of France, Germany and Russia below it.

***

A five-night-a-week dispatcher has been hired. So I no longer will be dispatching from my home on Sunday night and soon will not have the phone on Fridays either. Overjoyed is an understatement.

Started the night with a bitter "10-13" (noload/noshow). Prince to OGG. That would have been $65 on the meter. Oh, well. Feces occurs.

3 hours into the shift (10p) I only had 3 fares for a whopping $38. That is pitiful. I didn't even bother to count the number of cabs that were available. More than were needed, thats for sure.

Finally the day-trippers went beddie-bye and I pulled 5 runs in the 11 o'clock hour and 3 in the witching hour. No bar close but 3 on the dog-watch.

Picked up one guy last night that was a real winner. This was his wedding night and he was headed out, solo, to the bars. "Bridey" back in the bridal suite. Alone.

He asked really stupid questions and made asinine comments:

• Why can't you hit your kids?
• American women are scum!
• Your immigration policies suck!
• Where are the "tittie bars"?
• Where are the fucking hookers?
• I need a blow-job!

We'll mark this one as a definite LOSER.

The tourist/residence mix (40%/60%) was about normal.

15 fares / 101 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Front Street
Lahaina

Haleakala

Luau

***

93959



"Let's all be careful out there!"

THERE MAY BE SOME

OPENINGS SOON

Last night's sunset - part 1
Wailea Lookout
Junction of Wailea Iki & Pi'ilani Highway (SR-31)
An Egret.
You see a lot of these in the evening.
Last night's sunset - part 2
With business as slow as it has been, quite a few of the night drivers are considering leaving. They are tired of day drivers holding over later and later. The opinion is that the day drivers are stealing the fares that should be theirs.

For some reason, they all love to tell me their thoughts, opinions, etc. Ad nauseam. I have never enjoyed "shop talk". It bores the hell out of me. I have a lot fewer minutes of life ahead of me than I do behind me and this is just a waste of time. I know why they do it, I am a critical "sounding board" to them and usually point out where their reasoning is either defective or why it would not make good business sense. Lately I have been just telling them to take it up with the boss. He's the one who has the decision making power, not me. The usual opening gambit of these complaining drivers is:

"The next time you talk to Larry you should tell him...."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?"
"Uh. He won't listen to me."
"Have you tried?"
"No. People listen to you, not me."

The new owners are doing a fantastic job. There have been some significant changes in the way things are done. I have found them to be very open to suggestions. The good ones have been implemented. Sadly, my co-workers are like wolfs with the smell of blood in their brain. Having tasted a bit of progress, they want everything changed. NOW!

It will not occur. A significant amount of capital has been expended and there needs to be a lag time for income to start kicking in. As revenues warrant it, then further expenditures will occur. Eventually, we will have a fixed base dispatcher but to do it on a 24/7 basis requires a minimum of 4 full-time employees (presuming that no one will ever get sick or take vacations), with one shift left over to be covered some how. It would also entail having an office the dispatchers could work out of. Altogether, about $5,000 per month.. Maybe, when business improves, but not right now and not immediately.

Last night was 50% better than Tuesday. Which made it just barely adequate, in my opinion. But any improvement is still an improvement.

As usual, we were top-heavy with cabs when I checked in. The stagnated queue meant that the day-shift holdovers got what few good runs that were assigned in the early part of the shift, leaving the pupu's and short hop bar runs for the night crew.

When I first started taxi driving, as each night driver logged in a day driver would be told to "10-2" (end-of-shift). This insured that we always had enough coverage but were not overloaded. It was equitable and everyone made good money. My first (abbreviated) year I made $50K. $75K the second. This year I am projecting possibly $25K, which is right at the poverty level for a single person on Mau'i.

14 fares / 96 miles / third quarter of $100 bracket

Oh, the reason I didn't talk about any of my interesting fares:

There weren't any.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Luau

"Science City"
Summit Of Haleakala

Haleakala

Ma'alaea Bay

***

93858



"Let's all be careful out there!"

ALL QUIET

ON THE WESTERN FRONT

When I started, we had 9 cabs on duty. There just wasn't the business to support that many. Luckily, they started cutting out and by 9:30p we were down to just the basic night crew of 4.

8 of my 9 runs were residents, a shift from the normal mix. Everyone tipped okay and some nicely, which was the only salvation to a very lackluster night.

Our local "blue meanies" have commenced a crackdown on speeding and reckless driving. They have set up their "speed-traps" in all the usual (and well known) locations. Which are not where the fatal accidents which prompted this enhanced enforcement occurred. Typical fixed mindset. It is nice to see marked cars on the road, though, doing something. Our local officers typically spend the vast majority of their time in the local District Station, doing whatever it is that they do. You seldom ever see them on patrol. The ones I have spoken with haven't admitted it but I believe this is part of a quiet policy to reduce operational costs (gasoline/petrol). I remember back in '73, the Arab oil embargo, we were strongly encouraged NOT to patrol. Only responding to dispatched assignments, which were usually gas theft complaints. The increased volume of crimes negated the anticipated savings in fuel costs.

MPD would do better in this latest crackdown if they saturated the areas of concern with higher visibility patrols. Unfortunately, the administration of MPD tends to discourage original thought and action.

9 fares / 78 miles / top end of the below $100 bracket

***

Check back tomorrow. It should be more active.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Sunrise
Haleakala

Summit Parking
Haleakala

Fun In The Sun

Luau

Lahaina

***

93762



"Let's all be careful out there!"

I REPLENISHED

MY COASTER SUPPLY LAST NIGHT

Dinner was at Outback Steakhouse. Which is about as "Australian" as Taco Bell is "Mexican".

BTW, what does the rest of the world call those "things" that you place under a glass to absorb the condensation drippings? Just a random "stream of thought" question.

A couple of decades ago I could go out to a full dinner, eat everything in front of me and still be hungry a couple of hours later. Now I order the petite prime rib with salad and a baked (jacketed) potato and still take half of it home in a "doggie" bag. What term/word does the rest of the world call that?

Talked about the "daughter's" youngest child. You know, grandparent type stuff. Stopped by Safeway, we both needed cat food (uh, for our cats ) and I bought us some chocolate cake slices, which we never did eat - too full.

All-in-all, an enjoyable, relaxing evening. Judy was a bit "wired" when I arrived. The president of the time-share association she works for had made a statement in the association's newsletter that really upset the owners. She was on the phone all day, fielding the angry complaints from owners, world-wide. She said that she received over 30 e-mails and that the phone started ringing as soon as she walked in at 7:30a and hadn't stopped when she left at 4:30p. It was ringing as she walked out the door. She is a "0ne-woman office" and after the day she had, it was time to just walk away, for the day. She knows that the rest of the week will follow this same pattern, as other owners get their copy of the newsletter.

Neither one of us drink very much but last night I insisted that she imbibe, she needed it, badly. Told me later that a Piña Colada had never tasted so good.

***

With little Holly Muppet turning three this past week, I started to reminiscence. The earliest birthday that I can remember was my 7th. A "cowboy and indian" theme. While other memories go further back than that, no so the ones of birthdays. How about you? What the earliest birthday that you can remember?

***

Everyone have a great day! See you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Lahaina

Haleakala
Aerial View

Haleakala
From The Kaupo Area

A "Westside" Beach

Halloween - 2006
Front Street
Lahaina

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"