BORING!!!

JUST WATCHING THE SNAILS


The night actually started off on a good foot. Four nice dinner runs, BANG BANG BANG BANG. Then 8:30pm rolls around and the world stops. Two bars in the "Triangle" closed early for lack of business. Next run wasn't until 1:00am. When the other drivers quit at 2:00am I had 6 runs on my log.

But my biggest challenge of the night still lay ahead.

Here was my problem:

• 4:30am - run to OGG


• 4:30am - in-town run


• 5:00am - run to OGG


• 5:00am - in-town run

Since I am the only cab on the southside at those hours and it takes about 1 hour to do the roundtrip to OGG, I was in trouble. Called my relief, Flor, and offered him the first OGG if he would come in early.. He accepted and I covered the other 4:30. Picked up the 5:00am OGG and had to let the other run slide. That was a shame since that fare is a lady we regularly take to and from work at one of the hotels in Wailea. Couldn't contact any of the other "early" day drivers by phone and had to wait until the 5:30am driver checked in to dispatch that run. I am sure she was pissed. I know I was. My OGG metered out at $32.90 and the guy gave me $33.00 and "keep the change."

---

WITH 6 YOU GET EGGROLL


Art, the owner, will have his hands full this afternoon. The Grand called me around 3:45am. They had a lady on another line requesting that she and her party be picked up this afternoon, at OGG. She was in her departure airport, preparing to board her flight.

"No worry, Feliza. We do that all the time."

"Uh, but Wil, there are 30 people in her party."

"Not a problem. I'll have 6 cabs waiting for them and someone standing at the security exit with their name on a sign."

"Thats great. I'll let her know."

In that brief moment between finding out there were 30 people in the party and telling Feliza we would cover it, my mind calculated how many vans we would need for 30 people, plus their assorted luggage, and figured the odds of haveing 6 cabs available. I don't think there was a perceptable pause in my response. Most of us do this multiple times a day without even thinking about it. It is frustrating to deal with someone who is agonizingly slow in making a decision. Very linear thought patterns.

---

PIECE OF SHIT


After dinner at Judy and Dave's place on Monday, I stopped by Radio Shack and saw that they had a notebook on clearance sale. I bought it. A bad decision.

It is a TOSHIBA "Satellite L20/L25 series". Came with an instruction manual that was worthless. Lacking clear information on anything. Took 24 hours to find the unlabeled and unreferenced Wi-Fi switch. After getting onto the net the system would lockup within 5 minutes. 20 times I had to unplug the power cord, remove the battery, wait 30 seconds, replace the battery and reconnect the power cord and then restart.

I am taking it back this afternoon and exchanging it for a different, and more expensive, HP notebook. You get what you pay for.

Sorry for no pics tonight. Nothing happened.




Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

A STORY IN PICTURES

A HELPING HAND

All photos copyrighted (2006) by MAU'I ACTION PHOTOS and used with permission.




Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

FASCINATING!

BAR: LARGEST MULTI-TOUCH TOUCHSCREEN

Found this at "Taxiblog.de".

I wonder where this bar is located?



The tag at "You Tube" said:

This is the surface of an interactive, 10 meter long bar. Every glass, cup, cellphone, car key, businesscard or even fingers will be recognized. www.i-bar.ch

Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

TRIFECTA!

GREAT THREE NIGHTS!

At the end of each workweek, this is how my brain feels. Too much coffee/tea/cola. Way too many cigarettes. Neck muscles tied into knots. A mild headache.

Tonight my biggest problem, personnally, was brief moments of short-term memory loss. Could not remember where streets were located when fielding phone calls. Responding to a call and, halfway there, briefly forgetting where I was headed.

Normally I can remember the exact line-up in both the Wailea and Kihei queues without referring to my notes. Tonight I had to keep checking the hardcopy before making a dispatch.

Being a driver/dispatcher means having to pay attention to four things simultaneously.

• The road


• Your passengers


• The radio


• The phone

That is a hell of a lot to keep track of. Then pile on remembering where each pending call/reservation is and the order/time they need to be allotted. Since it is dark, I can't write them down. Pulling over for each call would be impractical, since the current passengers didn't buy an "A" ticket amusement ride. They want, and have the right to expect, expedious service.

When 2:00am rolls around and the bars close and the other drivers go home, the pressure eases. Drastically!!

---

It was a fantastic night for all of us. The two day driver holdovers left between 9:00pm and 9:30pm. The two casual shift drivers were gone by 12-midnite and one night driver was off sick. That left three of us. The entire shift was active and I had just the right number of cabs available all shift.

This marked the third night that was very profittable. The total take on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights was within $8.00 of each other. Thats rare.

While the summer tourist season hasn't started yet, the ratio of FITs (Financially Independent Traveler) to "group" occupancy, in the hotels, is shifting rapidly. All tourist related businesses, including cabs, are reaping the benefits.

---

MOST FUN RUN

~ Richard ~ Heidi ~ Roy ~ Victoria ~

Picked this frolicing foursome up at the Grand Champions and took them to the "Triangle" about 11:00pm. They were the holdovers from a wedding group earlier in the week. The are from somewhere in southern California. I asked multiple times and got multiple answers. On the return run, at bar close, they were expectedly intoxicated. But the type of intoxication that is fun to be around. Jovial, upbeat and still cognizant of their surroundings. Never once obnoxious or needlessly profane.

Roy, who rode "shotgun" with me on the way back, had learned the local term "brah" ("bro" with an island touch) and kept trying to interject it into every sentence. He's going to need a lot of practice before it becomes natural but it was funny listening to his full-hearted attempts. While I had no bad runs the entire shift, these folks were definately the brightest moment of the night.

---

TIKI

Found out what the trouble was at Tiki, a couple of nights back. Two guys had a fight inside the bar. As is SOP, all involved parties were ejected from the bar. One out the front door (party "A") and the other out the back (party "B"). Party "A" hit the ground in front of a police officer who was standing there. He started complaining to the cop. Then party "B", who had run around the building, jumped on party "A" from the rear and put him in a choke hold. The cop tried unsuccessfully to pull them apart and then said "fuck it" and nailed party "B" with a TASER. Since both "A" & "B" were interlocked, "A" was stunned, too.

The fight was instantly over and an ambulance responded as a precautionary move.

Got the facts on this straight from the horses mouth, who got it from the cat's meow, who got it from the hounds tooth. So I know it is accurate.

---

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

Barring any onforeseen circumstances, BBQ dinner at Dave and Judy's on Monday night.

Oh, I have some really neat surfing shots for tomorrow's post.



Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

FROM THE GET-GO

LAST NIGHT ROCKED!


Out of the starting gate was a Grand to OGG. That was the only time I left town. But the next twenty runs were few pu-pus and big tips. The shift ended up just $8.00 less than Thursday night. Drove 153 miles (246 kms).


We were technically shorthanded since one driver went home sick and another left in a huff because I pissed her off. Feces occurs.

The remaining two drivers did one hell of a job picking up the slack. They left at 2:00am and then the phone started ringing at 2:30am. Had 7 more runs over the next 90 minutes. $weet!

---

EYE CANDY


I know. Its a purely sexist view of the "fantasy woman".

But it is taxi related.



And because she is pretty.

---

ATTENTION PLEASE!

In case I haven't mentioned it before,






I


HATE


DISPATCHING!!!!!








Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

TROPICAL PARADISE

GREAT SHIFT

It was a warm night yesterday and I was "hot". Every good run seemed to come my way. Right out of the starting block I had a long round-trip to the ABC Store in Kihei. Followed this with a long dinner run from Wailea to Kihei.

Then four young lasses from Ireland going to a hostel in Wailuku, followed by the return run for the people I had taken to dinner.

Just kept hopping until midnight.

At 12:04am, TMR Alex, last night's driver/dispatcher, announced over the radio, "Its 'payday' guys. Head to the airport."

Departing flight Continental #136 had been cancelled. I took one fare from the airport to Wailea. My second fare from OGG was to the West Side! Papakea to be exact. BIG $$$$!!

Finally got back to Kihei about 3:00am and the other three drivers were just finishing off the last of their trips.

Did a regular pu-pu run at 4:15am and was surprised when both of the dayshift drivers checked in. "Murph" at 4:17am and Flor at 4:19am. I was home by 5:00am.

I was so bushed that I fixed my dinner and fell asleep for 10 hours.

No one was receptive to having their pic taken but I did get a closeup of the interior of one of La Bella's new Scion cabs.

It can only hold 4 passengers, without luggage, or three passengers with a moderate amount of luggage. The left rear seat folds flat. If they have a lot of luggage, then the right rear side can also be folded but then you can only carry one passenger.

Using a vehicle as small as a Scion means having to accept a lot of trade-offs. I am not positive that this is practical on Mau'i. I can see where it would be a great cab in larger metro areas.








Well, its Friday night. My turn with the phone. Lets hope this night is as good as Thursday.





Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"

MY BEACON

IN THE DARK

---

SCION CABS

La Bella Cab, in Wailuku & Kahului has added 5 identical new Scions to their fleet. I spoke to this driver, Tony, and he is impressed with their MPG/KPL (fuel economy). I just wonder how they'll endure. First year models of any vehicle usually have undiscovered problems and growing pains. Usually its the third year before the bugs are generally worked out. I like their paint scheme.

---

NEW CRUISE SHIP

Started my shift a bit late, last night. I was having a "senior" moment. Actually, a series of them. I kept getting out to my car and then remembering something I had forgot in the house. Did this three times. Geez!

It was a pretty mundane shift. By 9:00pm there was just Kimo (BTW - thats Hawai'ian for JIM), TMR Alex and me.

Just before 12 midnight I was dispatched to the TIKI, in the "Triangle". Picked up a nice young man who wanted to go to the harbor in Kahului.

"Where to in the harbor, sir?"

"The ship."

Thats strange. The Pride of America is in harbor every Monday night and the Pride of Aloha is there over Friday night.

"And what ship would that be, son?"

"The Pride of Hawaii."

"When did it start coming here?"

"This is its maiden visit. We just sailed over from California and she'll be placed in regular service, in the islands, next week. I don't know, yet, what day of the week will be our regular port-of-call here. My friends still wanted to party but I have to work in the morning."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a waiter in a french bistro."

"Kewl. How does she compare to her sisters?"

"She's the biggest. 2600 passengers. The America carries 2200 and the Aloha can accomadate 1900."

Ladies and gentlmen, the Pride of Hawaii.



Okay, YOU try taking a pic of something this big, in the dark.

I had just returned to the "Triangle" when a guy in his early 60's opened the door and got in. Wailuku was the destination. Two, count 'em, two $40+ runs in a row. That definately improved my night.


After 2:30am, it was just me out there. As usual.

Did my grocery shopping and went home. Compiled the reservations for Thursday.

• 4:30am regular in-town "pu-pu"


• 4:45am Grand to OGG


• 5:00am regular from north-central Kihei to the Grand


• 5:45am 7-pax Grand to Ma'alaea harbor

Going to be a busy morning.

Just as I am leaving for the 4:30, I get a call. MOF had a guest who wanted to make a roundtrip to Denny's. I told her that I could only accommodate a "one way", since I had conflicting reservations. A lot of cross talking occurred with her as the intermediary. Made the pickup and this big city mahu wouldn't stop saying "I am in Siberia. Fucking Siberia." He wanted me to call him another cab and was stunned when I told him there wasn't anyone else to call until 6:00am. "OH, GOD! THIS REALLY IS FUCKING SIBERIA!"

Dropped him and headed north for the 4:30. Just as I am pulling up, the phone rings again. Drunk Don, one of the early drivers, calling off for the day. The first time this month (well, its only June 1^st) but the 20th time in the past 30 days.

Picked up the 4:30 at 4:20 and easily made the 4:45 from the Grand. Flor, my other dayshift relief, was able to cover the 5:00 and 5:45. Good end to my shift and a good start for his.



Later.....

Wil
=8^))
"Let's all be careful out there!"