NOT A BAD

FRIDAY NIGHT

It was enjoyable not having to dispatch. I did my shift on Thursday. The only disappointing aspect was while all the rest of the night crew had at least 2 runs each out of town, I never left town. My best fare of the shift was $17.30.

We had 2 day shift holdovers at 9p, when Tina (#05) took control. She then did the neatest little trick:

"Zero-Nine. Are you a 'day' or 'night' driver?"

"Uh, base, I am a 'day' driver."

"Well, its 9 o'clock and its time for you and One-Eight to go home."

They went home.

Well, those are the new rules. If you want to stay past 9p then your name is added to the night shift dispatch rotation list and you have to pull "phone" duty until 2a. The exception is that if we are extremely busy, then the night dispatch may request the "day" drivers to hold over and assist without being subject to the dispatch rule.

Had a "puker" last night. But it turned out okay. Responded to an MPD request. 3 young ladies going from FoodLand to Kam Sands. The first of my 6 dog-watch trips. Made the pick-up at 2:11a and was headed south on Kihei Road. The front windows were rolled down and I heard the one in the middle of the rear seat ask the one in the left rear if she was okay. Inside my head the claxons began blaring and the warning lights began to flash. I instantly pressed the control switch and dropped the left rear window. I started to tell her that if she felt queasy to just stick her head out the window. Glanced in the sideview mirror and her head and shoulders were already outside and she was blowing chunks along the roadway. Nary a smug in the interior and, when I checked after dropping them, just a small amount of bile along the rear fender. Easily removed with the UnoCal-76's pump island hose. A negligible amount of lost time. We were so busy at bar close that none of the night crew was able to get away befor 2:30a and the last departed by 3a. Finished off the night with a 4 run spurt between 3:30a and 4a.

19 fares / 116 miles / 1st quarter $200 bracket

***

I watched 4 15/16 year old girls walk into Micki D's, in Lahaina, on Wednesday night. All were dressed in "Catholic School Girl Uniforms". Ala, earlier Britney Spears. 10 minutes later, the exited dressed in spiked heel boots or shoes, fishnet stocking and garters (a/k/a/ "suspenders"), "boy" shorts that looked like they had been spray painted on and sexy-revealing tops. They now looked like they were 23 or 24. Only betrayed by their lack of assertive body language that a few more years of maturation will provide. They were definitely very sexy looking. Most young ladies enjoy the opportunity to look like a slut when they are in a safe situation and they aren't the only ones sporting that stylized Hollywood street hooker look. Not that they are sluts in real life but it is fun for them to show off and relish the attention they draw. Their eyes just gleam with excitement.

***

These are the remaining shots from Wednesday night. All are of poor quality and have been cropped, enhanced and enlarged to render a usable image.







One more shift to go and then 2 entire days off.

Hope to see y'all tomorrow!

MAHALO

ALOHA

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

MY PC IS FEELING BETTER NOW

AND I DON'T KNOW HOW I CORRECTED IT

Okay, I am back on the desktop.

Halloween night was an absolute blast. Between 35,000 and 40,000 people showed up. The costumes were outrageous as always but not as outlandish as prior years. Very few problems, at least by the time I had to leave. I am trying to get some images from friends who were actually down on front street to share here.

Saw a group of teen girls walk into Micki D's dressed in Catholic school girl uniforms. When they left, their attire ahd changed to skin tight "boy" shorts and skimpy bikini tops. Of course, girls have always done that, for generations.

While everyone had been drinking, no one I hauled was overly intoxicated. Every fare was very upbeat whether coming or going to Front street.

One fun part of Lahaina Halloween is that I am out of range for our prime radio channel and there was jsut a few bits'o'chatter on the secondary "west-side" channel. Of the 246 licensed cabs on Mau'i, I would estimate that about 200 were in Lahaina. Getting fares was pretty easy. Just get as close to the blockade at the north end of the Historic District and people were falling over themselves to be picked up.

It may have been my second best shift ever.

Thursday night I dispatched, this new rotation "thang". It was a mellow night (see stats in prior post). Obviously, most people were pretty much partied out from Wednesday.

For the last few weeks, a rumor has been going around Kihei about a murder/rape that supposedly occurred. As time has pssed, it went from 1 incident to 4 incidents to 15 incidents. None of it is true. Even the original report turned out to be consenual sex with "buyers remorse" the following morning.

One person told me that there had positively been a body found in a dumpster at the "Triangle". I told them that if that was true, then that area would have been closed for days, as a forensics team processed the scene for evidence. He stopped and thought for a moment and then agreed that there had been no forensic team so the story must be an "urban myth". It is amazing how much this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

Tonight will be the first Friday in a long time that I won't have the phone prior to 2a. I am going to enjoy it.

Found out yesterday that I will no longer be dispatching on Sundays. Owner changed his mind again. As with all businesses, things remain in flux. The only "constant" is "change". That should make my upstairs neighbor happy. Won't have to hear my deep voice rumbling up through his floor.

I'll be back in the morning with another post. Hope to see you then.

MAHALO

ALOHA

A family in my general neighborhood went all out for the event.
Wednesday's sunset. Took this, "on the fly", while driving over to Lahaina.
Some more passengers



"Let's all be careful out there!"

MY COMPUTER IS SICK

THE PC HAS CAUGHT A COLD

Opened an e-mail from a friend, didn't touch any attachments, and then everything went to hell in a handbasket.

I'll try some more later, after I wake up. All the images from Halloween are on the PC. I was able to upload these and am doing the writing from my laptop.

12 fares / 97 miles / 2nd quarter $100 bracket

"Let's all be careful out there!"

TODAY'S POST

WILL BE SHORT

I am functioning on shear will power at the moment. I passed "exhausted" about 3a. Lahaina Halloween - 2007 was way better than I hoped. Made my 5p reservation, picked up a third party along the way, all guys. I don't think they really captured the experience, since I did their return at 7:42p. They only spent 1 hour and 42 minutes and left before things begin to get interesting.

I got a few shots and haven't even looked at them yet. I'll publish what is usable tomorrow.

Made it back to Kihei by 2:15a and started my dog-watch. The last of the night crew departed at 2:30a and I added 4 more runs to my night. If I could have spent just a 2 more hours in Lahaina, I would probably have approached $600.

I am off to bed. I awoke about 1:30p yesterday, logged in at 4:30p and walked back in my door at 5:30a today. More about the night in tomorrow's edition of Paradise Driver.

19 fares / 259 miles / 2nd quarter $400 bracket

MAHALO

ALOHA

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

From The Top Of Mt. Haleakala

To The Ocean's Depths

Molokini

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

BOO!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Pumpkin Spider

Went into M^cDonalds last night. One "blond" Hawai'ian girl working the cash registar. Before the man in front of me had even collected his food, she was demanding my order.

"One Double Deluxe Burger, please."

"What?"

"What part of what I said didn't you understand?"

"All of it."

"Okay. ONE DOUBLE DELUXE BURGER, PLEASE."

I projected in my best "announcers" voice.

She slams her fist against the sales terminal. Shouts,

"BITCH!!"

at me and storms away.

The assistant manager stops her and tells her to go in the back. The AM then starts to take my order.

"I really don't appreciate being treated in this manner. I would like to speak to the Manager on duty, please. I am pretty positive that the owner of this store and your corporate headquarters would find this offensive also."

She doesn't say a word. Just walks into the back. In a few moments a lady, must be the manager since the uniform is different, approaches and takes my food order. I also explain, while holding my cash in plain sight, that I felt my burger should be "comped" for the insulting way I was treated. The manager rings up my order and doesn't ask for any money. Just as she is putting it into a sack, the first server comes storming from behind the counter, kicking things out of her way. The AM tried to restrain her approach but was shoved out of the way. I stood calming by waiting for what I presumed was going to be a physical attack. All she did was rush past and holler,

"FUCKING HAULI!"

The manager placed my order on the counter. I told her,

"I also do not appreciate being called racist, perjorative names. I will be reporting this store to corporate headquarters and the Hawai'ian Civil Rights Commission."

If any person of any other race would have been treated this way, it would make the news. But a white person in Hawai'i is expected to ignore these racist epitaphs. I don't ignore them. When you complain, you are given a "white-wash" that Hauli means "foreigner", which is not true. The ancient meaning of the word is "a person without breath", which translates as "a person without a soul".

Less than 1% of the population is more than 50% Hawai'ian blood. About 3% are Hawai'ian mix. Yet everyone is expected to "kow-tow" to their almost defunct culture. That fact is that their last Sovereign abdicated her throne and the Republic of Hawai'i was created. That was over 110 years ago. Of all the ethnic and cultural groups in Hawai'i, and none are a majority, the Hawai'ians are the ones with the least amount of "Aloha" spirit.

I have grown up being called a "half-breed" because of my Cherokee and Irish mix. Called "white trash" because I was a military brat. We won't even go into the names I heard as a cop. I am sick and tired of it.

***

It was the second worst night I've had driving a cab these past 6 years. So slow that Tina left at 9p, TMR left at midnight and Kimo departed at 1a. "Crazy" Brian stayed on only because he had the phone duty until 2a and me because I still had the dog-watch to go. Didn't even put $30 on the meter. To add insult to injury, the owner screwed up and scheduled both of the early drivers off so the could work Halloween. Leaving me with no relief. Finally somebody I have never really met before, showed up and logged in at 5a. I handed him the phone and radio and he says,

"I am not a dispatcher."

"You are today, dude."

I tossed everything in his lap and left. I have to get up early, since the owner changed his mind about me taking ONE-NINE home today and I have to pick up my "special" to Lahaina at 5p. So now I must arise 30 minutes earlier than I planned. I am NOT a happy camper this morning. And what I have written here is just the tip of the iceberg of "fuck ups" that occurred all shift. Hell, I am the ONLY driver that prearranged a run over and back tonight.

4 fares / 37 miles / 2nd quarter below $100 bracket

***

We had a shark attack yesterday. We have had more shark attacks this past year that in all my 14 years on Mau'i put together. Of course, the term "Shark Attack" has negative connotations so the local paper calls them "Shark Strikes". Don't want to upset the tourists and scare away business now, do we?

Of course, having DHS snafus, that leave tourists stranded on cruise ships, doesn't leave a positive lasting impression either, does it?

Mau'i has been named the BEST ISLAND IN THE WORLD by a Conde Nast annual readers poll for the 11th straight year.

***

Well, its off to bed for a few hours sleep. Up earlier than normal for my trip to Lahaina and all its adventures. I've mentioned before that this is another thing that Hawai'ians want to abolish, since it is not part of their culture and they won't accept other cultures traditions. They are rather myopic in their views.

I'll try and get some interesting pics of the costumes.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

IT WAS NICE

TO GET OUT AGAIN

Richard, Judy's new love, is a really nice guy. We had spaghetti, talked, watched HEROES. Like me, he isn't much of a drinker. Which is nice. Judy looks good, is healthy and is obviously very happy. We had a nice comfortable evening.

They are taking me out to dinner next Tuesday for my birthday. I'll be taking the night off. Lets face it, 60 is a milestone number.

***

The former owner, Art, has been ill. The rumor is that he has colon cancer and will be under going surgery this week. I send him my best thoughts.

Now that I have a working phone, I talked to my son over the weekend. He and family are doing great. Spoke with the "daughter" on Friday and she and her two boys are likewise. Even had my "ex" call yesterday to check in. She had been on Kaua'i this past week at a religious retreat. She is an ordained minister now. I have no idea what faith system that is in. She had a great time. She had called me before the trip but there wasn't any flexibility in our schedules to meet. Maybe next time. I also talked to my sweetheart "Wiskers" and she and family will be here in February. There is a good chance that she will stay on and work/live here.

Gee, I just realized that in the past week I have spoken with every important person in my life. Thats very rare for me.

Back to work tonight. I have no idea who will be dispatching. I'll bring ONE-NINE home after my shift and then it'll be Halloween when I awaken tomorrow and off to Lahaina for, hopefully, a spectacular night.

Everybody have a wonderful day. See you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

REMEMBER HOW SLOW...

LAST SUNDAY WAS?

Well, cut that by 50% for last night. The difference between the day and night shifts were dramatic. It was 6:10p before the owner could make it to my place and drop off the phone and radio. His wife transferred the line 2 minutes later. And everything died. I watched a lot of TV, waiting for calls. Oh, there wasn't one interesting program on any of the 78 channels I receive. Not one. At 1:45a, Kimo picked up the phone and portable to deliver them to Eric, the guy who covers the dog-watch on my days off. He drives ONE-NINE. So, with the late start and early finish, I only logged 7.5 hours.

Absolutely nothing in this weeks e-mail bag.

Everyone enjoy your new week.

Europe went back on Standard Time yesterday. The USA (excluding Hawai'i and Arizona) does it next Sunday at 2a. I don't know about Canada or Mexico. On the flip side of the equator, I have no idea of when their time changes occur. I would presume that it is similar.

Maybe someone could educate me. I am too tired to "Wiki" it at the moment.

Hope to see you tomorrow. I am going to Judy's for some charred animal flesh tonight and my first true meeting with her new beau.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"