WHERE ARE YOU?

ADDRESSES

Bob, over at TAXI TALES, posted about the difficulty in locating addresses. There were a lot of comments from readers relating their difficulty in the various locales in which they live.

Obviously, this is a worldwide problem.

It's no different here on Mau'i.

First, we have street names that most people really "butcher" when trying to pronounce them.

When you finally determine where they are at , you hope that the address is easily readable from the street

If not this:

Then at least this:

This is what you usually get












MY MAILBOX

It also has reflective numbers on the side of the box.

I wonder if King Kamehameha-I had this much trouble locating people?

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GOOD NIGHT

Do to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't have to start dispatching until 9:30pm. Great way to start the shift! 2-1/2 hours of peaceful driving with no phone!

Everybody stayed busy and made money.

The most notable ride of the night was a 3-pax from Tsunami's to WorldMark about 12:30am.

The two ladies were very nice. Their male companion was a loud, obnoxious, overly intoxicated boar (bore?). He had been escorted from Tsunami's by hotel security.

As he entered my cab he was yelling "Take us to 'Trend West'", repeatedly. I was busy on the phone and was involved in radio traffic with two of my drivers, trying to organize their runs. I had to tell him to "sit down and shut-up."

During the ride, we diverted to FoodLand for one of the ladies' needs. Repeatedly, I had to admonish the male that it was not necessary to yell, since he was seated next to me, on the front passenger seat. He took umbrage to my statements, but the ladies in the backseat told him to "shut up" and that he was the one being rude, not the cabbie (me).

The ladies apologized profusely for the man's belligerence and tipped me very generously at the end of the trip.

After 2:00am, the town died and I spent the next few hours photographing mailboxes.
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Later.....

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

GET LEI'D ON MAU'I

LEI GIRL

Daniella

We have a unique occupation on Mau'i. A "Lei Girl." These young ladies circulate the restaurants and bars during the night with their baskets of beautiful flowers.

A great way for comely new arrivals to earn an income and begin "networking" for better job opportunities.
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HOT ROD

The affinity for "hotrods" and classic cars even extends to Mau'i.
This is the first time I have seen this one.





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LEASON LEARNED

The following two pics are totally useless. I am only posting them as examples of being careful when using a "flash" near reflective material. My "from experience" little camera lesson for the day.


Its a shame that last one didn't come out. It showed MPD's latest weapon on crime. The ATV patrol. Pictured are Officers HINCKLE and BROWN starting patrol of Kalama Park and the "Triangle". I'll try for a better shot down the road.
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LAST NIGHT

Looking back over the recent posts, I've noticed that I have been in a negative mood about business. I really shouldn't complain. I am making money, more than enough to cover my needs, and I am having a good time doing it.

So, I'll just let last night fade away by noting that there were no interesting fares or incidents.
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MOON SET


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Later.....

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

PARADIGM SHIFT

HOTELS NEAR CAPACITY
CABS SIT IDLE

Since the tsumani in southeast asia and the Atlantic hurricane seasons of 2004 & 2005 destroyed so many winter resort meccas around the world, Mau'i has seen a marked increase in visitors.

Initially, these visitors were FIT's (Financially Independent Travelers). FIT's are money spenders. They go places and do things. They come here to relax and have fun. These visitors are the life blood of our tourist based economy.

This winter we had very few.

Instead, all the major hotels are booked out by major corporations for their annual group meetings. Groups are great for the resort/hotels. They have had an occupancy rate of 95-98% all winter. But groups tend to stay "on campus" and only partake of the recreational agenda provided by their corporation. If the company ain't paying for it, they're not doing it. Groups are traditionally frugal. Actually, they are down right cheap!

This causes a trickle down effect on the local economy. Since groups don't do "things", then local tourist related businesses lose income. Their employees work fewer hours and thus have less disposable income for their own social needs. Second tier industries have less call for their services as a result.

What little money is spent by group members is usually "on campus" . A delight for the resorts but a bane for everyone else.

The sponsoring corporations of groups are heavy hitters in the tourist industry. They enjoy their annual "get togethers" and currently have few choices in the world to go. For us it has becomed a mixed blessing. I hope we survive.

Corporations want a location that is safe, warm, luxurious, and easily accessible. Currently that just about limits their selection to the State of Hawai'i's various resorts.

Any location that requires a passport is chopped from the corporate selection list. Turn around time from application to issuance of a passport is now nearly one year. Our State Department treats applicants as if they are terrorists attempting to elude Dubya's God sanctioned crusade for world domination.
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A few years back we had a multi-level marketing group with their top producers. They were way out of their league. Awed by The Grand, they were a Motel 6 crowd.

On their one "free" night, Jim G. took a group of 6 to dinner. At Denny's. The fare then was $8.25. On arrival, these 6 clowns "chased their tail 'round the tree" trying to determine what each's share of the taximeter was.

Jim finally said, out of frustration, "Look. This one is on me. Its obvious, by your choice of restaurant and this petty bickering, that not one of you has the financial ability to just hand me a 'ten-spot' and say 'keep the change'. You folks need the money more than I do." He even handed them $5 and told them that dessert was on him, but they would have to "split it" six ways.

I admire properly executed sarcasm. ;)
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When I started my shift last night tere were 9 cabs on duty. An hour later we were down to 7 and by 11:00pm we had 3, one more than we really needed for the entire night.

I didn't get my first run until 8:50pm but still was "top dawg" at 2:00am. And I added 3 more runs during my solo period.

The most interesting ride of the night was a very intoxicated couple from Wales, UK. Picked them up at the "Triangle" and took them to the Best Western motel (yes, we have them here, too). I had to admonish him about bringing an open container of beer into the vehicle. He said I was "a 'bloody copper'" for "nicking' him". Little did he realize how close to the truth he was. :) (I think "nicked" is the British slang equivalent of the American slang term "busted")

He and his lady companion couldn't stop their beratement of the British, the Scottish, the Irish, all police officers and THE Queen, especially THE Queen. I'd like to think that all Welsh do not have that much of an inferiority complex. The few others I have met didn't seem to.

As spring progresses, we tend to slow down each month until the 15th of June, when our summer tourist season begins. We seldom have groups in the summer. I hope we can survive until then.
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Later.....

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

I"VE GONE MULTI-LINGUAL

SITE UPGRADE!

Visitors here now have the ability to read "PARADISE DRIVER" in eight other languages using the "Babel Fish" translator from Altavista.

Just "click" on the appropriate flag on the Altavista link above "About Me".

Reading left to right,
the first row is:
CHINA
GERMANY
JAPAN
KOREA

The second row is:
FRANCE
ITALY
SPAIN
PORTUGAL

I hope my non-english speaking visitors find this useful.

Other page translation languages are available at their main site. Just cc&p the URL of the page you need translated into the appropriate box.

http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/
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ANOTHER DRIVER
Alex V.

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LAST NIGHT

I woke up. I went to work. I made money. I came home. I went to bed.

That was as interesting (yawn) as it got.

See ya tomorrow. :)
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Later.....

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

WAY TO GO GIRL!!

MELISSA PLAUT
(aka: New York Hack)

She announced yesterday, 04APR06, that she has signed a book deal with Villard, an imprint of Random House.

She went from "downsizing" to cabbie to blogger to soon-to-be published author. FANTASTIC!

Currently, she plans to continue driving and blogging.

Here are some pics I garnered off the web:



For those who don't know her, she is a 30 year old, NYC woman. Her prior job was as a staff writer with the webzine PopSmear. Eventually she was "downsized" ("fired", "canned", "sacked", "shown the door", "given the 'boot'") . Running low on funds and opportunities, she decided to become a NYC cabbie. 1 of 197 women among the 40,000+ licensed cabbies in NYC who drive those 13,000 yellow taxis.

Here are a couple of stories she wrote while at PopSmear.

"Man-Tits"

"Siamese Twins"

I don't know about you, but I plan to buy her book.
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VERY SLOW

Last night was like a "stoner" trying to form cognitive thought. Tedious. The runs were happening but with long periods of downtime. The "10 o'clock magic" continued in negative mode.

I had three "10-13"s (no show/no load) dispatches, in a row, last night. All of them occurred in the worst of the doldrums (10:30pm to 12:30am). Each time this occurred, the driver who had dispatch duty was second in line for a call. 30 seconds after I was responding, he would send himself off for a really good run. My run would be a "bust" and I would resume "first up." That was a bit strange. Strange enough that one of the other drivers had to "talk story" about it when our paths crossed. I sure as hell hope we don't have a cheating thief among our ranks.
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THE RIDE HOME

My 5:30am fare. In the center.
I finished my last run at 6:00am (late for me, early for most of you), at OGG. I was disappointed that I hadn't found one thing interesting to take a pic of. I was watching the sunrise on my return trip when it dawned, no pun intended, on me

"Hey, Wil. It's daylight. No flash necessary!!"

So here is my ride home:
PU'UNENE SUGAR MILL

ITS UNDER OGG's GLIDEPATH

THE "NEW" MOKULELE HIGHWAY

OLD MOKULELE HIGHWAY

WELCOME TO KIHEI

S/B PI'ILANI @ KAONOULU

SWAMPS BEHIND AZEKA-MAUKA

S/B KIHEI @ WELAKAHAO

S/B KIHEI @ THE MAU'I COAST

S/B KIHEI @ MAU'I HILL CONDOS

LOOKING NORTH ON KIHEI @ OKALANI

WELCOME TO WAILEA

SOME OF THOSE "GATED" $30-MILLION HOMES

SUNRISE


And, finally, HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY to my friend Tim Weaver of MisterWeave.com Forums.

Aloha!
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Later.....

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

TUESDAY TIDINGS

DOG THOUGHTS

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. -Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. -Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. -Will Rogers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. -Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. -Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. -Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate. -Sigmund Freud

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. -Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. -Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. -Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. -James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise. -Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money. -Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth! -Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. -Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!' - Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them. -Phil Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good a person my dog thinks I am. Kim
==============================================

Later.....

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

MONDAY MOP UP

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

This is BEAR, my companion.

He is never satisfied with my work. We have a running disagreement about use and ownership of the desk chair in front of my PC.

His favorite time of the day is when I go to bed and he gets to have his ears and tummy rubbed, at the same time, until I drift off to sleep. Then he'll move over to his side of the bed and go to sleep.

He'll be 6 on the 21st.
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OVERLOAD

The amount of luggage people bring with them to Mau'i always amazes me. Its as if they've "downloaded" their entire closet (wardrobe) for the trip.

The large bags usually weigh over 200# (91kg), and each person usually has two of these, plus assorted other smaller pieces.

I thought the airlines had weight restrictions?!!

Trust me folks. You really don't need that much clothing on Mau'i. No restaurant requires a jacket or tie. Just bring some decent sportswear or buy alohawear here and you'll be fine.

And, especially for the ladies, don't bother wasting your time trying to find swimwear in your local mall in the middle of winter. All the latest styles, in all sizes, are available all over the island.

In November, 2004, I was loading some of these megaton(ne) bags into "one-nine's" trunk (boot). Followed the cardinal rule of "LIFT WITH YOUR LEGS, NOT WITH YOUR BACK". On the initial uplift, two ligiments under my right patella (kneecap) "snapped". Now I must wear a knee brace and occassionally must use a cane to walk.
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FEMALE CABBIES

Bob, from TAXI TALES, commented on the number of lady cabbies that I work with. Thinking about it, I guess we do have a larger percentage than the industry average. The main reason is that Mau'i really is a safe place to drive cab.

Officially we've only had one cab robbery in the 13 years I've lived here. Unofficially, I know of one other that wasn't reported to the police. Compared to the rest of the country, thats pretty low. Overall, Mau'i has a very low crime rate.
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KIHEI

Kihei is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Maui County, Hawaii. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 16,749. The local paper recently cited state/county estimates of 25,000 population in 2003. I'd say that in 2006 we are around 45,000 to 50,000 population. We are one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

Kihei has a total area of 11.9 mi² (30.8 km²).

10.2 mi² (26.3 km²) of it is land and 1.7 mi² (4.5 km²) of it is water.

The total area is 14.55% water.

The 2000 demographics were 47.76% White, 0.74% African American, 0.48% Native American, 24.72% Asian, 7.85% Pacific Islander, 1.58% from other races, and 16.87% from two or more races. 7.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Microsoft Virtual Earth provides a pretty decent satellite view.

We have 300+ days of sunshine per year and average less than 10" (25.40 centimeters) of rain per year.
==============================================

Later.....

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

A DAY WITHOUT RAIN

TONIGHT'S GAS PRICE


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BETTER MAP

This one is easier to read and understand. Most, but not all, of the place names are correctly situated.

(click to enlarge)
This gives you an idea of the island's topography.

(click to enlarge)
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REALLY BAD

Between 7:00pm and 11:00pm I had a total of 2 runs. Grand to OGG and Grand to Mulligans.

7 cabs sitting around doing nothing.

I had decided that it made no sense to keep everyone on duty and was getting ready to make an offer for 3 of the cabs to go home.

Then the phone rang.

It was the "airline concierge" at OGG wondering if I had any cabs available to assist them with a canceled America West flight. They had 130 people that needed to get to The Grand Wailea and Fairmont Kea Lani.

Uh, duh!

I sent all seven of us to OGG and we started moving the people out. The only other company called was La Bella Taxi in Kahului. They had 2 cabs available.

Those nine cabs moved the entire group in under 2 1/2 hours. We just did "round robins" until everyone was accommodated. This really improved my driver's income for the night.

During our absence from south Mau'i, I only had three calls from the "Triangle". That's really slow for a Saturday night.
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WEATHER

It didn't rain yesterday or last night.

Actually saw some stars in the moonless night sky.

What a relief. Nice way to end my week.
==============================================

Later.....

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

MAU'I MAP

This is a scan from my mapbook.

Over my weekend I'll try to find a better one.

(click to enlarge)
==============================================

Later.....

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

STUPID

CONTRASTS

There is "fun" stupid and there is "dumb" stupid.

The valets at Tsunami's last night were bored. Very bored. I decided I would take their pic since I did not have a photo of Krystel or Jerome. They chose to do a take off on the "Charlie's Angels" logo. Just good old fashion stupid fun.

Krystel, Debbie, Jerome

And then there is "dumb" stupid.

I had just made a pickup at Denny's restaurant at 2:35am and was headed north on S. Kihei road. A red Chevy "S10" pickup truck pulled out in front of me, Accelerating heavily on the rain slick street. "Fishtailing." Rather than backing off the gas, he continued to add more throttle. End result was he lost control and rammed thru the traffic light stanchion at the intersection of S. Kihei and Alanui Ke Ali'i.

Tremendous shower of sparks and then the intersection went dark. The pole was laying across the northbound lane, knocked over 30 feet from its base. The pickup had left the roadway and was in the shrubbery surrounding the decorative fence at the Tradewinds Worldmark hotel/condo. The entire right front of the truck was "pole molded" by about 2 feet and the rightfront wheel was shoved all the way back to the firewall.

I immediately called 9-1-1 and stopped to render aid. The driver was drunk and shook-up. I took his picture, both for use here and to show the police should he decide to take "footbail" before the cops arrived.

His buddies decided that I was a "prick" (probably the first time they've ever been correct in their short lives) and then proceeded to block all further shots.



Police took the driver to jail. DUI and, if this incident follows the paradigm for Mau'i, probably also unlicensed and uninsured. Those last two are pure speculation on my part and I have no facts to make a validity judgement.

Police, fire, paramedics, a tow truck and a MECO (Mau'i Electric Company) truck all responded. Roadway was clear in less than 2 hours.

The flash on my camera is worthless for distances greater than 10 feet. Using the ambient light keeps the shutter open for 1-3 seconds. Thats why most of my "natural light" shots are blurred. Even with your arms braced, your own heartbeat will cause minute, but detectable, movement of the camera.
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FRIDAY

The dawn brought muted, cotton candy daylight. Good "sunburn" conditions. Very few showers.

Started my shift at 7:00pm and assumed dispatch at 7:15pm.

Started with 9 cabs. Until 10:00pm we stayed steady and I was able to cover every request within 15 minutes or less. By 10:00pm, normal attrition had left me with 5 cabs.

10:00pm is the "magic moment" of the night. The point where business slows or stays busy. Tomight it slowed. Went into a coma, with brief fits of activity. "Push out" was very manageable.

At 1:00am, the rain began. About second slowest speed on variable wipers. About 2 notches below "irritant" and one above "nuisance".

My solo part of the morning was satisfactory. While I was refueling, in the middle of Kihei, a man approached and wanted a ride to Wailea. Nice way to end the shift. A paid ride home.
==============================================

Later.....

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