MAY DAY

IS LEI DAY


The northern hemisphere celebration of the 1st of May has its own special twist in Hawai'i. Here it is called "Lei Day". Everyone adorns themselves in beautiful flower garlands.

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A gorgeous "full" Moon rise last night

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I mentioned on Monday's post, that Tina and I had spent the first 90 minutes of Sunday's shift chatting.


We are both "into" digital photography. She had brought her new camera with her and was having fun playing with it.

She took these shots of me and ONE-NINE while we sat at the Wailea Lookout

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A mixed night. Started very slow, one run between 7:00pm and 10:00pm, and then we were all hopping for the next hour. Then it died. Very few bar close runs. Only 2 fares during my solo hours. The last run was the shift's longest, from Star Market to the "baseyard" in Pu'unene (almost to Kahului). It was also the only fare of the night that totally stiffed me on a tip. The fare was $26 and thats exactly what he paid. Actually, tips were below average the entire night. A very high percentage were "passport tourists".

Finally got home about 5:45am.

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This is asinine!

At these prices you think twice about any trip across the island.
You know how this hurts the cab biz.


Tesoro is bucking the trend a little bit.

The Chevron and Tesoro sit right next to each other.

Not much of a "gas war"

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In less than an hour, our friend "Jeepgirl", the wonderful RN from Thoughts From The Night Shift is tying the knot with "Her Cop".

Congratulations to both of them.

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I would like to take a moment and pay tribute to 2 wonderful performers who "passed" over the past couple of days.

Tommy Newsom







Tom Poston

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As always, thank you for checking in and I'll be back tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

LANA'I

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"Let's all be careful out there!"

A PEACEFUL EVENING

AN EXCITING SHOW

Woke up before 11:00am. Thats extremely early for me. Moped about the house, trying to decide if I really wanted to be out of bed or not. Decided "what the hell, I'll just stay up and take a nap later". Fooled with the web, visiting all the blog links on the sidebar. Took the nap about 2:00pm and was at Judy's house by 6:00pm.

HEROES was very good. It dealt with a possible (alternative) future to the storyline, if the HEROES fail in their saga. Alternative universes, or time-lines, is straight up the SciFi alley. This episode was very well written and presented. This type of plot is best served on "the darkside". Good examples are the movies "BladeRunner" and the Donna Reed/Jimmie Stewart classic "Its A Wonderful Life" and the book/play/movie(s) "Scrooge". I know that every version of the Star Trek TV series had at least one alternative universe story.

Hmmmmm

What if there are alternate universes and ours is the one considered as "The Darkside"?

I know that this is one of those subjects that people with IQs way beyond mine like to contemplate. From what I have read, the general consensus is:

If one universe was formed,
then there should be others.

I think thats a logical presumption. But it can't be proven, yet.

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MAUI COUNTY ORDINANCE: 10.48.110 All night parking

No person shall park a vehicle on any roadway for a period of time longer than sixty minutes between the hours of two a.m. and six a.m. of any day; subject, however, to the exceptions granted authorized emergency vehicles, pursuant to this title. (Ord. 413 § 10-13.9, 1965)

Yeah. Right.

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Everyone have a fantastic day.

I'll be back after work, Wednesday morning.

See ya then

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

"BIG ISLAND"

A Kona Park
Preserving Hawai'ian Culture

Lava Flow

An Outrigger Canoe

Volcanic Flow Landscape

Where Lava Flowed Around A Tree Which Then Burned Out

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"Let's all be careful out there!"

THE PRINCE WAS A FROG

AND THE COACH WAS A PUMPKIN


A dismal "Cinderella" shift.

NOW! I remember why I quit working on Sundays and Mondays.

Put $20 in my pocket at the end of the shift.

I left at 11:00pm.

There is going to be some drama later. Hardin, who was dispatching when I left, plans to end his shift around midnight. That will leave just Kimo and TMR. Whomever Hardin gives the phone to will also be the one having to do the overnight.

Believe me. Neither one is going to volunteer for it.

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For those of you who are still accessing
PARADISE DRIVER via
http://wilkyle.blogspot.com
This will be the final posting to that URL.

Please change your bookmarks/favorites and/or newsreaders to the new URL:
http://paradisedriver.blogspot.com

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6:00pm to 11:00pm
No runs the first 90 minutes.
No runs the last 90 minutes.
Squeezed 2 pupus, one moderate fare and an OGG into the middle 2 hours.

Tina (#05) and I spent that first 90 minutes chatting about photography.

I am off, today. Artichokes with Judy tonight. The latest episode of HEROES, a rerun of Friends and some pleasant company and conversation.

Sounds boring, huh?

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

A Hawai'ian Luau

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"Let's all be careful out there!"

GREAT START

"DEAD" FINISH

Went "10-1" (start of shift) at exactly 7:00pm. I was first up and was immediately dispatched for a run to OGG. On our way at 7:02pm. A young couple returning to Stockholm, Sweden via a one week lay-over in San Francisco. The "City" is very beautiful this time of year.

I explained to them that they needed to go though the Department of Agriculture check-point before heading to the departure counter. All luggage is required to be inspected and an approval sticker issued for each bag.

Supposedly this is to prevent invasive species from migrating to the mainland, with possible negative consequences to the agribusiness.

You can see everyone lined up. This is the first of 4 times that people have to queue up to depart the island.

1. DoA
2. Airline Departure Counter
3. TSA Security
4. Airline Boarding

Departing the airport, I got behind this van. His GM vehicle had the "daylight" running lights on, illuminating the road and the lights on the dashboard were glowing. His problem was that, for some idiotic reason, GM didn't include the illumination of the taillights when the vehicle is operating after dark.

I think I scared the living shit out of him when, at a very long 4-way signal, I tapped on his window and asked him to turn on his headlights.

As I entered Kihei I was assigned a dinner return from Sansei to Wailea. Things were looking very good for the night.

WRONG!!

My next job was 90 minutes in coming. Followed by my 4th and 5th fares an hour after that.

Midnight through bar close was active. 6 pupus.

Phone never rang after that.

Turned control over to Wally (#05) a bit after 4:00am and was feeding Bear by 4:30am.

98 miles, 11 lines on my Driver's Sheet and metered in the mid $100's. Not a bad night but definitely less than I really needed.

Feces occurs.

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Tina, usually in #5, took this the other night.
Me in ONE-NINE.
Here's a "photo-chopped" blow-up.

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Cruising through the "Triangle" and spotted this young woman dancing on top of a parked car.

She made it to ground level by the time I snapped these 2 pics. Spoke in a heavy Russian accent. I think she was part of the "entertainment package" that came out of the limo parked by Bada Bings.


Now this is one Hummer that will NEVER see a dirt road.

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Two of the specialty police vehicles parked at the Kihei District Police Station

I have actually seen that little Cushman rolling "EMERGENY" to a call in the middle of the night. Being passed by the standard Ford "Crown Vics". It has the cutest little siren.

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I'll be back out again tonight, doing a "Cinderella ".

I need 6 "OGGs" to break even.

Not bloody likely to happen but never say "Never".

Enjoy your Sunday.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

I'olani Palace
(1882-1893)
Honolulu
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This is our State Capital.
If you have seen "Hawaii 5-0" you've seen it.

Royal Bedroom

Feather Head Dress

Details Of Feather Standard

Royal Cape

Royal Standard

Summer Palace

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"Let's all be careful out there!"