DON'T DELETE AN IMAGE

UNLESS YOU ARE POSITIVE IT IS NO GOOD


I told you about the savage beating that occurred behind FoodLand on Thursday night/Friday morning. The above image is what the camera caught. Not very useful. Then I ran it through PhotoShop and brought out the following details (see below). These are the absolute threshold of what I can do. I contacted MPD and am waiting to hear back from them. Maybe they can glean some useful info out of what is here. Hopefully their SID has more sophisticated image processing software.

***

When I picked up ONE-NINE, the damn phone was on the front seat. I was the only cab in Wailea and had an OGG waiting for me. Now thats a mixed blessing.
Took control of the operation a bit after 7:30pm, when I cleared OGG. Hardin was supposed to be dispatching but he had been sent to Pa'ia before he could retrieve the phone. We scheduled a meet as soon as I got back to Kihei/Wailea. Then we flushed the schedule when I gave him a Wailea to Lahaina fare. As soon as I was in Wailea, I had to cover another OGG. Back-to-back OGGs is GOOD!

I was already exhausted from having the phone on Friday, it is very mentally stressing and halfway through last night that stress became physical exhaustion. Saturday was very busy and I kept running out of cabs the entire shift. Anytime I thought I had a good handle on the calls, the other drivers would pull themselves out of the lineup to handle "specials". Then the callbacks would begin as people wanted to know where the cab was that I had said would be there in 10 minutes. I was a one-armed paperhanger in a windstorm.

When you are up to your ass in alligators. It is difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.

There was no slow period during the night and we all stayed actived through bar close.

It was so busy that my [click] finger stayed active. "Call waiting" was beeping behind any call I was on. If I got the "I don't know where I am" Bozos, they were instantly disconnected.

Bar close was an exaggerated cluster fuck, made more difficult by trouble in front of Bada Bings, in the "Triangle". That entire driveway was blocked by MPD, MFD and paramedics. When the bars on that side of the "Triangle" would call for a pickup I told them to send the people out to the street by Bad Ass Coffee and Serendipity. To complicate matters even more. There was a large group at Mulligans and I would get calls from there for 15-20 people at a time. Each time I sent 3 of the 4 cabs that were working down there, only 3 to 7 would actually need a cab. Of course, while those cabs were out of the Kihei loop, those Kihei requests would continue pouring in.

By 2:15am, the madness was over. The phone stopped ringing and the other drivers went home. A couple of pu-pus during my solo hours and then the first day car checked in by 4:00am.

I was home by 4:30am. Totally wiped out.

I am off to bed and will be back out tonight for my Sunday special. I won't be working all night though. Probably no later than 11:00pm. Not a hell of a lot of bar activity on Sunday evenings.

Check in tomorrow and find out if I go totally "postal".

Thanks for stopping by.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

MIDWAY ATOLL

Great Frigate Bird

Laysan Albatross In Dance Ritual

Red Footed Booby

General Shots Of Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

MY CAT, BEAR

TURNS 7 TODAY

He does this a lot

***

Thursday was busier than Friday was.

Took command of the team (9 cabs) and was #2 and last up in the Wailea queue. The 7 others were scattered far and wide. Was chatting with Larry, the new owner, when "call waiting" beeped. Now I was first up.

Second run of my night was a Wailea to OGG reserved for 9:00pm. I had sat for a very long time at the Wailea Lookout, waiting to go somewhere. Anywhere. Shortly after 9, my guests came out the hotel, we loaded the bags and then went nowhere.

Dead battery!

Shut off everything electrical and tried again. No joy. The fates had really hit me with a sucker punch. Then they kissed me. I was only 100 yards from my personal car and I keep an emergency power pack jump box in the trunk. 5 minutes later, we are on our way. My people, from Florida, were impressed. They thought they were going to miss their flight. LOL. Not with SuperCabbie at the wheel.

The night was so slow that driver attrition was rapid. First, the day drivers. Then Hardin at 11:00pm, Tina at 1:00am. Just before Tina went "10-2" (end of shift), "Crazy" Brian rolled on a Lahaina return (to Wailea). That left only TMR (The Mad Russian) and myself to handle bar close. We immediately backed up 30 or more minutes in response time. Just before 2:00am, TMR got "flagged" to the harbor (Pride of Aloha) in Kahului. I bounced like a ping-pong ball from one end of town to the other, covering everything. Finally cleared the board by 3:00am. A couple of graveyard fares then the day shift started checking in. I was home by 5:00am.

***

The Wailea Lookout is somewhere between 200 to 250 feet above sea level. You can see the western end of Kahului, which is 15 miles away, from there.

So I took this time exposure:
As clearly visible as a black cat, in a coal bin, at midnight, on a moonless night.

Decided to "photo-chop" it a little some a whole hell of a lot and brought this out:
Poor quality but it gives you an idea of what I could see.

***

I am really pinching pennies to make the rent on the 1st. In fact, I am going to go in the next 2 Sundays and try to get some extra cash. So you'll get some bonus cabbie stories, I hope.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll look for you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

MIDWAY ATOLL

Gooney Birds

WWII Gun Mount

PBY Hanger

Wedge Tailed Shearwater

White Fairy Tern Eggs
Hatched On A Tree Limb

White Fairy Tern

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WHAT A CHANGE UP

THURSDAY NIGHT WAS

photo credit: Maui Action Photos
Mahalo, Van
~ Amanda & Amanda ~
Greenbay, WI, USA

***

Started my shift with a Wailea to OGG trip. And that was before 8:00pm. Shortly after arriving back in Kihei, I get a small fare from the Safeway area to the north end of town. Then nothing for 2 hours. Deja vu. Just before 11:00pm things began hopping again and, since the day-shift drivers had finally gone pau hana, we had just the right mix of cabs to calls. "Crazy" Brian, TMR and myself just kept motatin' for a straight hour. Everybody headed out to the bars. That rush was followed by another hour of down time until bar close started around 1:00am.

A little after 1:00am, I was responding to a call at the "triangle" and saw a large group of local males dragging someone across the roadway from the "Triangle's" rear parking area to the rear of FoodLand. Then everyone proceeded to hit and beat the victim. Kicking and stomping him when he finally fell to the ground. 12 versus 1. I knew I needed to do something, quick. Grabbed my camera and started taking pics. The flash caught all the assailant's attention and they took off running. Some tried to chase me down, shouting to each other to "get the cabbie's camera". LOL. That wasn't successful. Naturally, none of the pics were any good but my intent was just to stop them from killing the guy. Police arrived a bit later, along with an ambulance.

Just as I checked in to Wailea from a drop at The Prince, I am dispatched for a fare, out of Wailea to Kapalua. The Ritz. About a $120 fare. While enroute, he called a friend who lived in Lahaina. After a bit of chit-chat the decision was made that he would be spending the night morning with his friend and thus the trip was truncated. Still metered just some coins below $80 and he gave me $130 in total. $50 tips are always appreciated.

Since I was out of town, TMR stayed on and did pretty well during my absence. He got a run across the island to Waihehe.

Took over the phone, finally, at 4:00am just as the new day-driver, Wally (#25) logged on. Compiled the reservations and e-mailed them to the owner. I knew I was going to be hanging around for a bit, since no other day drivers showed up early. Finally made it home by 6:00am. Even though I metered over $200 for the night, by last years standard I was still 1/3 short of what I was doing then. This has been my worst year in the business.

***

Routine traffic stop,
Azeka Place - Mauka

***

The addition of the Moon and Venus to a sunset just makes them even more interesting

Venus and the Moon were really close together last night.

***

This really hurts!


BAD!

***

Hey, thanks for stopping over. Its Friday and we all know that means I'll be dispatching tonight. Hopefully I'll find some interesting tidbits to write about and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'll make BIG BUCKS!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Artist Credit - James Coleman

Kaua'i

Black Sand Beach
Near Hana

Hanalei Bay
Kaua'i

Hilo Bay

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SAME SHIT

DIFFERENT DAY

,Anyway, thats how the night started.

After logging in, I went to the Wailea Lookout:

To watch the fading embers of a beautiful sunset. A thin waxing moon being shepherded to bed by Venus. Please excuse the slight blurriness. This was a time exposure (about 5 seconds) and as hard as I tried to brace the camera, there is still some inherent wobble (couldn't get my heart to stop beating for a few seconds).


By dispatch option, I was moved into Kihei at 9:00pm, sans any fares. About 50 minutes later I am finally assigned a run. Out of Wailea, of course, and took a very nice Japanese couple from there to far north Kihei.

Next run was at 11:15pm. An elderly lady who loves to play "Texas Hold'em" at a residence right behind the Kihei District Police Station. The "buy in" is $35 and the pay out is to the top three winners, with #1 usually getting about $900 (thats some serious "chump change"). She never leaves a "winner" and she always requests me, since riding in a sedan is so much easier for her.

A 1:30am "flag" took me from the "Triangle" to Wailea.

And that ended our "busy" hours. 3 runs, less than $50.

Maybe I can get by on just 1/2 of a PB&J sandwich, a day, for the next 2 months.

But fortune and fate turned a kind eye towards me right after everyone went home. "Flagged" from the "Triangle" to the south end of town. A phone request from FoodLand to north central Kihei. Phone request from central Kihei to the Pride of Aloha, at Kahului Harbor and capped off the shift with a "regular" bartender, taking her home.

Flor (#27) was in by 4:00am, Prim (#22) was there by 4:30am and I was home by 5:00am. Passed on some decent reservations that should bring some smiles to the day driver's faces.

***

ONE-NINE at The Shops At Wailea.

LOCATION:

Intersection Mokulele Highway (SR-311) and Pi'ilani Highway (SR-31).

TIME:

0330 hours

ACTIVITY:

Checking out an abondoned vehicle.

***

Yes, the "professor" is gone.

But me thinks he shall not go softly into the night.

For legal reasons, I'll just leave it at that , with one caveat. He WON'T be missed.

***

Thanks again, as always, for stopping by.

Don't forget to change your links, blogrolls, bookmarks/favorites and/or RSS feeds if you are still using the wilkyle.blogspot.com (PARADISE DRIVER) URL. As noted on that site, I will discontinue posting there as of May 1st and will only be posting to the paradisedriver.blogspot.com (Paradise Driver) URL.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Front Street
Lahaina

I'ao Needle

Mau'i "Cruiser"

Silversword
Haleakala

Along The Roadway From The Airport To The Resort On Lana'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"