THE BEST LAID...

AH, POPPYCOCK!!

I woke up a little past 4p. About an hour later I checked my phone and saw some missed calls and a V-Mail pending. It was George, ONE-NINE's "day" driver, Tuesday thru Friday. He had a special for me to pick up from the Old Lahaina Luau at 8:30p and return to Wailea. Thats about a $90 fare. I logged in at my normal time and "dropped tag" for the special at 7:22p. Its a 45 minute, or so, drive over and I wanted to be early. This would be a good start for the shift. I arrived at 8:10p and people were already exiting the luau. The show had just ended. George had given me the lady's cell number and I called. No answer. Called back at 8:20p and still no answer. Tried again at 8:30p. Nope. Called George, since he had made all the arrangements, and he tried to call the lady. Same results. Called our dispatch number and advised Tree about the situation, just in case she called that number. The end result was that I sat just outside the luau until 9:15p and never heard from the bitch woman. Made it back into Kihei about 10p, having missed 3 hours of dinner runs, with 58 unaccounted for miles on the odometer. It was just 'Crazy" Brian and TMR working and I was lucky enough to snag 4 pu-pus between then and 11p. The dinner runs had come and gone.

The few bars open were ghosttowns. The few drinkers we hauled were going from private residence to private residence.

I had taken over the phone duties at 9p and the 2 remaining day drivers were gone by 9:30p. I am headed back from Lahaina and having to send runs out to others. Missing my chance at what little money was available. Talk about "salt in the wound".

Just past midnight I get a $5 pu-pu. "Crazy" left at 12:30a and TMR was gone by 1:30a. I don't blame them. By that time the only things open were the gas stations and "stop'n'robs".

The dog-watch saved my ass. A south Kihei to north Kihei at 2:40a. A "regular" from Mulligans to Maui Meadows at 3:15a, who took pity on my situation and gave me $40 on a $12.20. I told him that it wasn't necessary and he told me that he knew that. Mahalo, Chris.

Finished the night with a Wailea to OGG scheduled at 4:30a for 1 person. It wasn't 1 but a family of 4. I didn't care. I wasn't going to lose the fare. I stuffed ONE-NINE's truck full with all their luggage and had to bounce my ass (about 100kgs) on the truck lid to get it to secure. When we arrived at OGG, I pressed the interior release button on the driver's door and the lid popped like a jack-in-the-box.

Finally turned ONE-NINE over to George at 5:40a and beat feet for home.

8 fares / 141 miles / 2nd quarter $100 bracket

TGIF!

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Napili
Mau'i

The Pali
O'ahu

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

CAMELOT DIED

44 YEARS AGO TODAY

Lest we forget.


"Let's all be careful out there!"

TO EACH AND ALL...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!




Allergies were gone when I awoke. The wind was still blowing as strong but it was also raining. In fact it rained, occasionally heavy, until after midnight. The temps stayed in the low 70's all night, which is normal but, with winds blowing a good 20+ mph, there was a damp chill to the evening. As might be expected, business was slow this holiday eve.

You know what I like about Thanksgiving? The fact that there is no pressure or stress involved with it. You cook and/or eat. Thats the only requirement. No worrying about sizes, whatever. Show up hungry and leave stuffed.

As a cop I hated Thanksgiving. I would miss my dinner and it was the night of the worst violent disturbance calls all year. Families who could not normally abide each other would always do the "get together" thing, have too much alcohol, and then every animosity they've harbored since day one of their existence is brought to the forefront. A mix'n'match event with the players changing sides on every call. The most dangerous night for cops in America.

Thank god that most families aren't like that. Just the ones I had to deal with.

Christmas was in second place. The "Bickersons" would just send gifts rather than getting together.

I picked up my turkey TV dinner and a pumpkin pie for later today, like in about 30 minutes.

Made the majority of my fares, and money, on the dog-watch. Of the entire shift, only one run did not consist of a drunk. And every drunk was bitter. No family to share their holiday with and taking their anger out against the world, or me. Whichever was closer to yell at. [sigh]

Tonight it will be ONE-NINE, TMR and "Crazy" Brian working. I'll have dispatch. We should stay busy until the restaurants close, then it'll be just the losers at the bars until 2a.

8 fares / 73 miles / 4th quarter below $100 bracket

Have a gluttonish day and remember it is acceptable to undo the clasp on your slacks for just a few more bites of seconds, thirds, etc.

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

First 2 images courtesy of Maui Action Photos. Mahalo, Van.

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

MORE VIDEOS

JAWS:
Barely accessible from land and there is no beach. A horseshoe shaped cove with 30m+ vertical walls. You must be towed out to ride. Forget Bonzai, Waiamea, Pipeline, et al. Forget any other place on earth. When the surf is up at "Jaws" the waves normally exceed 100 feet. This is extreme and dangerous surfing.


EARTHQUAKE:
Remember the earthquake we had in October of last year? Here is some video. The cameraman is capturing an image of a beautiful sunrise in Hana, south east Mau'i, when the quake hits.


KITEBOARDING:


WINDSURFING:




"Let's all be careful out there!"

MAU'I RHAPSODY

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A FULL BLOWN...

ALLERGY ATTACK

Eyes were blurred, the nose was a snot factory and breathing was a labor. That is the downside to living in paradise if you have allergies. I never had allergies until I lived in Nevada. Turned out that I was allergic to sagebrush, of which there was plenty.

Then I moved to Mau'i and it turns out that I am a pawn for grass mold. And, duh, sugar cane and bamboo are forms of grass. I live downwind of the cane fields, thus making my sinuses the "Normandy Beach" of the assault. Cane smoke also isn't kind either.

With that said, I took off last night. When my condition gets as bad as it was, it is not safe to drive, what with the blurry vision and constant sneezing. Ever tried to keep your eyes open when you sneeze? It can't be done. And those medications, over-the-counter or otherwise, don't make you very alert. The safety factor outweighed the need for money. Plus the fact that I don't want to put anyone, including myself, at risk.

What we need is some rain to clear the air but that would mean even a greater release of mold, spores and pollens when the sun returned. A true "Catch-22".

***

The spot price for crude oil has exceeded $99 a barrel. Enjoy your holiday trips. This may be the last year that you can afford it.

I wonder if the Somalian people will send us "Care" packages next year?

If OPEC benchmarks the price of crude against the Euro rather than the Dollar, our currency will be worth less than Monopoly money. Dubya took the US off of the M-3 reporting system last March and since has been running the presses 24/7 to crank out as much paper as he can. By being off the M-3 there is no way to establish a true conversion factor between currencies, nobody really knows how much paper is floating around anymore. Reasoned guestimates are that the Dollar is worth 25-cents against what it was 2 years ago. Thats a 40% inflation rate.

Why aren't the politicians talking about this in their debates?

Maybe we should just let China foreclose on us. They do hold 80% of our obligation bonds. Then we could make money shipping/producing toys covered in lead paint and poisoned pet food to the rest of the world.

And speaking of the world, the next global conflict will have nothing to do with ideology. It will be over oil, water and food. The global population is rapidly nearing 7,000,000,000 and those items are being rapidly depleted.

The "Dark Ages - episode 2" may be on the thresh hold.

***

After all that, please have a wonderful holiday week.

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SURFS UP!

AND NO WORRY ABOUT SHARKS

A wave riding amusement, Da Rush, has opened next door to the "Triangle". Its first day of operation was Sunday. Looks like fun. My friend Van, of Maui Action Photos, shared these images with me.

***

The road widening project on the Mokulele Highway (SR-311) is almost at its end.

By the time everything is completed it will only have taken them about 6 years to do 6.3 miles (10km). The Hawai'i State Department of Transportation makes Cal-Trans look good. The project was contracted out in a piece-meal fashion so that every politician's brudda, uncle, cousin or papa in the construction biz got a piece of the action.

***

Am I A Fireman Yet??

In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia.

Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination.

Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up & fulfill all his dreams.

Now that was no longer possible.

The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true.

She took her son' s hand and asked,
"Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up?

Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix

She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6 year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day.

He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards!

And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat,not a toy one, with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots."

They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix , so we can get them fast."

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck.

Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station.

He was in heaven.

There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls.

He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van, and even the fire chief's car.

He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept, that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital.

Then she remembered the day Billy had spent asa Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.

The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire?"

"It's the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?"

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window

16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room.

With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?"

"Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand," the chief said

With those words, Billy smiled and said, "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.."

He closed his eyes one last time.

I'll wait while you get a tissue

***

Have a great day! See you after work tomorrow.

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

BOY, DID I SLEEP...

ABOUT 16 HOURS WORTH

Was sawing logs by 8a yesterday morning. Rolled out of the sack around 6:30p. Read my e-mail and had something to eat. Started to watch TV about 8p and my eyes opened again at 2:30a today. Thats tired. With the return of the tradewinds last night to Kihei, all the allergins on Mau'i seemed to be blowing right at me. I made it through the shift but the sinuses were chock full of snot. And as hard as you resist, it still takes its toll on the body's energy.

I know, what a disgusting image I've created.

***

Edge Designs is an all-women run company that designs interior office space. They had a recent opportunity to do an office project in NYC.

The client allowed the women of this company a free hand in all design aspects. The client was a company that was also run by all women execs.............

The result.........

Well.....

We all know that men never talk, never look at each other....

And never laugh much in the restroom....

The men's room is a serious and quiet place...

But now...

With the addition of one mural on the wall......

Lets just say the men's restroom is a place of laughter and smiles.

***

Most everyone in the States has an abbreviated work week, with the vast majority taking off sometime after 12noon on Wednesday for a very long and calorie stuffed weekend.

Drop by when you get the chance. I'll be here, plugging away.

MAHALO

ALOHA

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"