THE KING AND...

STILL REIGNING CHAMP

Okay, I did make one tiny mistake. Forgot to power up the phone prior to taking over dispatch. Had it plugged in to charge, which illuminates the screen, and didn't realize that it was still powered off. Very busy with other details at that moment. And that was the only error of my night.

Took those two young ladies from last night to finally get their pasta dinner. They called me just as I was starting the night, requesting a pick-up at 7:15 PM. Had them as passengers twice more during the evening. Finally dropped them at The Prince, down in Makena, where they were to meet their mom. She had arrived about 9:30 PM. They never called back and I presume they spent the night there.

An active night with little sit-time. The only disappointing thing was the non-existent bar-close. There were plenty of people at the "Triangle" but they all stupidly drove home. Also noted that I seldom saw any patrol cars on the road last night. Even though there are ads running on radio & TV saying that the police are out in force looking for DUIs with extra patrols and sobriety check points (e.g. Road Blocks). If that is true, they are doing one hell of a job in stealth mode. I haven't seen a road block in over a year in south Mau'i.

My second fare of the night was a pick-up at the Diamond Resort, in Wailea. Dispatch didn't know where it was going nor how many people. Surprise, surprise, surprise. A solo female to OGG. Had a nice meal before the flight so she wouldn't have to stomach the airline food, which now costs extra. No more free meals included in the price of your ticket any longer. The airlines will probably start placing toilet paper in a coin operated vending machine in the near future. The in-flight movie is still free to watch but to hear it you must purchase a headset, which costs as much as most tickets in land-based theaters.

The rest of the shift was the normal dinner and bar runs and I stayed active right through the dog-watch. Finishing my last run just 2 blocks from where I park #14. Walked in the front door just about 5a.

15 fares / 140 miles / 2nd quarter $200 bracket

Sorry for the late post but I am having problems connecting to the web. I don't know whether its my ISP (Road Runner) or my landlord's wireless router, which feeds me. I've been having intermittent problems all week. Each day worse than the prior. Frustrating. I've been trying to post since 7:03 AM, my time. I personally think its Road Runner. They have started promoting their new "Turbo" service and downgrading all connections that aren't enrolled to something just a bit faster than DSL.

Well, I will be working New Years Eve but not behind the wheel of a cab. I had planned to enjoy my regular day off and not have to deal with amateur drinkers night. The boss called and asked if I would be willing to dispatch from 9p until whenever from my house. Hell, I am going to be awake anyway so why not. Right? Puts a few extra coins in the pocket. Not an option after this for the next 4 or 5 years. The holidays will fall on my regular work schedule.

I plan to skip doing all the regular paperwork for that night associated with running the phones. I am going to be too frigging busy to do anything but answer and send. My brain will resmble fried oatmeal by the end. New Years night doesn't end at the witching hour. It also doesn't end at our 2:00 AM bar-close. For the past 6 years it was still going strong when I would turn my cab over to the day shift at 5:00 AM. After hours parties at private residences and alcohol induced holiday romances keep the phone ringing all night long.

Well, I am tired, hungry and intellectually challenged at the moment. So its a nosh, then bed. Thanks for coming by and I hope you can make it over tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOT A SPECTACULAR SHIFT

BUT BETTER THAN PRIOR WEDNESDAYS

The vast majority of the tourists are from Canada, UK and Australia. Out numbering those from the mainland USA. What does that say about the economy? And the worst is still ahead. With this being an election year, any plans to stabilize things are on the back burner until after the November voting. The "fixes" are going to hurt us very badly and no politician wants to jeopardize their chance of being re-elected. Not much further to go before the US $ is on par with the Thailand Baht.

At 9:00 PM I picked up two sisters, they wanted to go to dinner and were craving pasta. Their original destination was Antonio's, up in the Longs Center. They quit seating at 9p. Same with Gian Don's and Aroma d'Italia. In fact, the only two places still seating were Denny's and Sansei. They opted for the later. That is one problem we have here. The idea of dining is still in the "plantation" rather than "cosmopolitan" mind frame. Folks from the big cities don't even consider dining until after 9p. I know I didn't when I lived in the Bay Area. So, if you do get to visit Mau'i, remember to go out early
---> or starve.

My friend Peggy, and her family, just returned from a scuba trip to Egypt. One of the things she mentioned was arranging a taxi from the airport to their resort. The rate are via negotiation rather than a fixed meter. And when you arrive at your destination, the driver tells you that the fare he quoted was "per person". So you can be charged 2, 3, 4 times the amount that you were expecting to pay. There are many nuances when dealing with cabbies on a global scale. On Mau'i the meter rate is standardized but you can still get gyped. If you are leaving our airport and, passing the first traffic light, you see that Krispy Kreme Donuts is on your left, you are being ripped off. The airport taxi drivers are famous for pulling this trick on first-timers. Whether you are headed for Wailea/Kihei or anywhere on the west side, they'll take you through Kahului and Wailuku. Padding $10 to $20 to the usual fare. If Krispy Kreme is on your right as you pass it, your driver is honest. These same drivers are also cheating the company they work for. They are only going to record on their trip sheets what the proper amount is and pocket the additional monies. This is especially true when the bigger and better runs are few and farther apart during the slow times.

If you plan on visiting Mau'i, drop me an e-mail and I'll do my best to help you avoid the pitfalls. Even if you don't ride with me.

My last fare of the night was a short pu-pu in Wailea. Some tourists had been partying at Makapu Beach and were caught by the Wailea Patrol rent-a-cops at 3:30 AM. One was suffering from alcohol poisoning but refused medical treatment. He had evacuated the contents of his stomach but was still suffering from the excessive dry-heaves. I declined the ride until the rent-a-cop produced a trash bin liner for the guy to use. He kept it sealed around his mouth the entire 3 minute ride, expelling small dribbles of bile into the sack. Luck may just be on his side and he'll live but probably wish he was dead when the hangover kicks in. Binge drinking is not just an American phenomenon, as these kids from Canada and the UK proved.

12 fares / 104 miles / 4th quarter $100 bracket

I have the phone tonight, we'll see how it goes. All the others have done a pretty shitty job since the holiday season started. They've become lax in their procedures and it has shown. I am going to try and set the benchmark for the crew. I've tried to maintain my standards, even though its been really slow this year. Wish me luck.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WAY BETTER...

THAN I HOPED FOR

^^^ 4-1-1 ^^^

***

So, when do you ditch the tree and kill the lights?

New Year's Day?

12th night (January 6th)?

Just curious.

***

Got off to a rough start. #14's day driver had forgotten that I worked last night and thus I didn't hit the road until past 7:30 PM. But I had one run under the belt by the end of the 7 o'clock hour. Never left town but I also didn't sit very often, either. Until 11:00 PM. Then the rug was pulled out from under us. We had taken the last of the dinner runs back to wherever and the bars were mostly deserted. Some had never opened. About 11:30 PM #05 (Tina) packed it in, followed by "Crazy" Brian (#11) at 12:30 AM, Kimo (#22) at 12:45 AM and finally TMR (#27) at 1:00 AM. By that time the only bars open were LAB, Tiki and TipUps up in Azeka Place.

Between 1:25 AM and 1:35 AM I received 4 calls, all decent fares. Took me an hour to clear them.

One final fare, a reservation, at 3:45 AM finished off the night and then I had to wait until 4:30 AM before a day driver checked in, relieving me of the phone.

Pleasant shift.

15 fares / 121 miles / 1st quarter $200 bracket

Before work tonight I trim my beard, swap my "Santa" hat for my cowboy one and try to look more like Willie Nelson for the next 6 months. July is when I quit trimming and let the crumb catcher return. For the next Christmas period.

There is a "back-story" to that picture of Judy & me yesterday. Notice how she is holding my hands. As Richard was aligning the shot, I put my hands if front of her chest as if I was going to cup her breasts. He started laughing and she glanced down and saw what I was doing. So I then put my hands on her waist and slowly wiggled them around. "Wiggle" is the operative word. Judy is extremely ticklish. EXTREMELY! If so much as one joint spasmed, she had every intention of breaking it. Just to teach me a lesson.

ROTFLOL

Mrs. Kyle didn't raise a stupid kid. I knew that I had reached her absolute limit and didn't go past it.

Hey, y'all have a fantastic week. Just think, a week from yesterday and we'll be into a new year. Which we will probably fuck up before it is over.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

MELE KALIKIMAKA

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Santa
Before Trans-global Trip:

After Trans-global Trip:

Me & Judy:

Richard & Me:

***

I received 4 Christmas cards this year!

From The "Daughter":

From "Queen Nora":
(She's 9 Months Old Now)

From The "Ex":

From The "Boss":

Judy baked a delicious ham dinner and we all sat around having a good time. They gave me some shirts and candy. Chocolate, of course!

Back to work tonight. It'll probably be very quiet. Most of the big restaurants will be open until 10p but the majority of the bars will be closed.

The Picture Gallery will resume tomorrow

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

CAN"T DO THIS

WITH "SNAIL" MAIL

Received this cute e-card today

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Please, Do your part.

Every week, there are men and women serving overseas who get no mail from home. It's time for you, my reader, to take a minute and a half out of your day and do your duty so that none of these extraordinary men and women go without a little love this holiday season. I am personally asking you to visit Let's Say Thanks, select an image and a message or create your own and submit it. Cards will be printed by the Xerox company and sent to our troops overseas. Leave a comment letting me know that you sent one. or six. or eighteen.

Bloggers, if you can, I'd appreciate you putting this(or a post similar) on your blog sometime during the holiday season to help spread the word.

And for your enjoyment, here's a great song/video written by a soldier serving in Iraq.

Mike Corrado - My Watch Tonight

Just a minute of your time can really make a difference in someone else's life. Thank you in advance, my friends.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS STORY

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the
snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your
sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice,
I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl' on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram' always
remembers."

"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her
smile."

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home".

"I can stand at my post through the rain and the
sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother."

"Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not
fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
"It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're
gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long."

"For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"