BAH! HUMBUG!

THE DARK SIDE OF THE HOLIDAYS

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^^^Click For Animation ^^^

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOT AS ACTIVE...

AS I WAS HOPING FOR

But a definite "keeper".

We had two day holdovers and #05, #11, #14 (me), #25, #27. Additionally, Kimo (#22) had been called in to help with overflow. Thats 8 of us and no one had any significant "sit time". Started with a resort to The Shops dinner run. Then immediately had a Wailea to OGG. Just minutes after I checked back into Wailea the first fare called and were ready to return.

After that it was just one bar run after another. To, from, & between.

Bar close was shitty. For which I am glad. AA#161, which has a normal arrival time of 8:15 PM didn't land until 1:00 AM and we had two reservations on that flight. #27 and #11 rolled on that one and I took over the phone about 75 minutes early. Just myself and #25 were left to cover "close" and we didn't have any trouble doing it with just 2 cabs. And we never stopped moving.

You're only earnin' when the wheels are turnin'.

Had one amusing phone call during bar close:

"Good morning. Royal Cab. How may I help you?"

"I need you to come get me, bro."

From that brief tidbit I could tell that he was:

1. not a local (its "brah", not "bro")
2. white (there is a very distinct difference in the pronunciation between races)
3. Stoned (a whole lot different than drunk)

"Okay. Where are you at?"

Standby
You know its coming

"Kihei."

"Kewl. Where in Kihei?"


"Uh....................................
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................
..................."

"Are you at a bar or at a residence?"

"Uh....................................
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................
.......................................
......"

[click]

60 seconds later:

Ring...Ring

"Good morning. Royal Cab. How may I help you?"

"No. Really, bro, I need you to come pick me up."

"I'd be more than happy to send you a cab, friend. But you have to tell me where to find you. I need a bar name, a condo name or an street address. Can you give me that information?"

"Sure, bro."

"Okay. Where are you?"

"Uh....................................
.......................................
.......................................
..........."

[click]

I ponder what it must be like to be that divorced from (our) reality.

17 fares / 160 miles / 3rd quarter $200 bracket

Mele Kalikimaka

Hauole Makahiki Hou

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WE ARE EXPERIENCING

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

I am not ignoring your comments but Haloscan keeps giving me an "Internal Server Error" message whenever I try to get to the Dashboard or Manage Comments.

Been doing that since Friday morning, my time.

I am sure they'll rectify the problem, hopefully before 2008.

Time to go to work.

Be back in the morning.

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"

TWAS 3 NIGHTS...

BEFORE CHRISTMAS

And all hell broke loose. At least for the first four hours anyway. I only made it OGG once, from central Kihei. After 11p, it slowed down to a regular Friday night. Most of the tourists that did go out, didn't last much past 11p. Adjusting to the time difference.

Our operation did get some sore muscles last night, from lack of use. The new guys didn't know that it would be that busy (They Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet). The after 9p driver/dispatcher has developed some lazy habits and they bit him in the ass. He used to be able to talk on the phone and monitor the radio, like I do, but he's lost that talent. I sure hope he finds it again.

11 fares / 130 miles / 4th quarter $100 bracket

***

Do you have On-Star in your vehicle.

Is your cell phone still an analog model, rather than digital?

In the USA, the major cell carriers will discontinue analog service on February 18, 2008.

Details Here

***

Follow-up on The Storm of 2007:

"On Maui alone officials now say there was a total of $1.2 million in damage when 25 inches of rain fell in three days causing massive mudslides and major damage."

***

If you should happen to be able to make it by on Christmas Eve, I'll have lots of cartoons and funny stories to lighten your stress level a bit.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"

THE SOLSTICE OCCURS:

AT 8:08 PM, HST, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21ST

Thats Saturday, December 22nd, 0608 UTC

Adjust accordingly for your time zone.

***

A 100% increase over Wednesday.

Yesterday was the day the resorts raised their "rack" rates to the maximum. Everyone was leaving, as expected, and everyroom is sold out until at least after the New Year. Also had a substantial number of arrivals. Day shift had stayed very busy going both ways. Some of that lingered into the night hours.

I was the only driver that never got out of town but I had very little "sit" time. Even had 4 fares on the dog-watch. One of those was an MPD request a bit past 2:30 AM. Its that time of year, it was a "domestic" and the male half was going to a friend for the rational cooling off period. Very peaceful, very calm. Very BIG. There isn't a lot you can talk about in that situation. Very quiet ride.

TMR wanted to add the new driver, Jon, to the dispatch rotation, with Saturday night being his first stint. I told him that that was assinine. You don't put a gnubee on the phones on the second busiest night of the week. I told him that Sunday would be more practical. Since its the holiday boom-time, even Sunday won't be quiet but it will be more manageable than other nights. Personally, I think he's going to do a great job. With him added to the rotation, we'll have 8 people sharing the work load.

An even mixture of residents and tourists was enjoyable. Not one sober person but, also, not one obnoxious one, either. It was a great shift. No major tips but all were at the high end of average for me. I hope its an indication of the remainder of this year. It would really help.

19 fares / 128 miles / 1st quarter $200 bracket

***

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Longs Center
Kihei

***

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WELL...

IT BEAT TUESDAY

In fact it was 65% better. Which isn't really bragging. Tuesday's $$ take was very poor. After deducting the gas and a credit card from the company's 60% of the meter, plus $6, they owed me $7.51, I'll roll that over to tomorrow's trip sheet. Earlier this year I had a 4-day period where the company owed me money at the end of each shift. It was gradually increasing. Then came Saturday night and it was a GOOD Saturday. Well into the $300 range. With all the rollover I think I had to pay around $12 to the company. Even though a portion of the cash had been mine for days, just seeing that much cash at one time was psychologically gratifying. I am sure you understand.

One strange guy from Chicago was a double fare. To/from Mulligans out of one of the resorts. He stayed about 3 hours. Very well maintained on the return. What was different about him was that every time I spoke on the radio, I was dispatching, he wanted to know what "that" meant. Not obnoxious, though he would have been on a long ride, just curious.

I believe in keeping radio chatter to the minimum and to "shorthand" every thing.

"One-four, Four Seasons, Kea Lani."

That identifies me as the transmitting unit, where I picked up from and where I plan to drop.

K-I-S-S
Keep It Simple, Stupid

7 fares / 86 miles / 1st quarter $100 bracket

***

I got "Elfed" today.

Twice!

The first one features the Muppet family from Australia. Featuring Holly, accompanied by Muppet's Mum and Muppet's Daddy.

Enjoy

The second was sent by my sweetheart, "Wiskers".

Don't laugh too hard

***

Please, I know you are rushed right now but just take a moment to stop, look around you and enjoy the Season. Step back and look at it through the eyes of a child.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

***

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

"Let's all be careful out there!"