GETTING CLOSER

9,000 MILES TO GO

At 8:33p (HST) ONE-NINE hit the 91,000 mile mark.

Remember, you can re-enter if your guess has been passed or you can modify your guess or you can enter for the first time. I will be accepting all "bets" until the odometer reads 99,000 miles. If no one "nails it" exactly, then the entry closest to the correct date/time, without going past the actual date/time, will be the winner. In the event of a "tie", the earliest correct entry will win.

***

A vicious shooting took place on a beach the other day. Definitely pre-meditated. The victim will survive. Police said they had difficulty finding anyone able to identify the faces of the responsibles but had an abundance of physical descriptions.

***

6 fares / 85 miles / first quarter of the $100 bracket

We were going gangbusters for the first 3 hours and then someone threw the switch and everything ground to a screeching halt.

As I was descending into the bowels of the parking structure, where ONE-NINE hibernates in my absence, my cell rings. They need me immediately for that OGG. I thought to myself :

"This is going to be a fantastic shift!"

Boy, was I wrong.

Returned to the southside and had four dinner returns between 9p and 10:30p.

No bar close.

One dog-watch pupu.

Hopefully, tonight will improve and follow the trend that I thought was getting established.

That one late pupu was nice though. A $7.40 fare who gave me $20 and "keep the change". He was appreciative of the fact that I was out there and that he didn't have to walk that last mile or so home.

It is nice to be appreciated.

***

Have a fantastic day and a wonderful weekend.

Hope to see you back here soon.

Its my night to drive/dispatch and play "sheriff" to our "posse" of cabs tonight.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Canoeing At Sunrise

Haleakala

Luau

Lahaina

Rainbow

***

91050



"Let's all be careful out there!"

A DULL NIGHT

BUT STILL MADE MONEY

It took almost 75 minutes before my first run. A dinner fare into Kihei. Then I lucked into a Wailea/OGG. Three dinner returns brought me to midnight. One bar close and three dog-watch trips, taking baristas home. They like riding with me. It gives them a sympathetic ear to bitch into. Lets face it. Dealing with drunks all the time can be depressing and draining.

***

My OGG last night was this friendly couple:
Linda and Matt are from the Pittsburgh, PA, USA area. The "get-away" portion of their honeymoon was coming to its natural conclusion and they were heading home to deal with the realities of the "real" world.

9 fares / 112 miles / third quarter of $100 bracket

***

The solstice occurs at 1806 UTC. Thats 8:06a Hawai'i Time (HST), less than 90 minutes from now. Adjust for your own time zone. North of the earth's waistline it becomes summer. And all our friends south get hit below the belt with winter.

The first day of summer always reminded me that the amount of daylight has peaked and now starts waning.

Our good friend, Dogbait, in about as far south as you can get on mainland "Oz", has been having those wintertime blahs. Cheer up, mate! From now on your "days" will be getting longer as our diminish.

Of course, in Hawai'i thats a rather moot point. 13 hours of daylight in the summer and 11 hours in the winter.

Ain't life a bitch?

***

We have 2 returnees from the "blog-muda triangle"

"Cabbie-X", out of Eugene, OR, USA, has reincarnated Through A Windshield, Darkly. His original blogspot locale was one of the earliest victims of "blog-jacking".

Also rejoining us is Helen. She used to write a blog called Helen's Blog. Then she disappeared this spring. Helen is a fourteen year old lady from somewhere in rural England, UK. Beautiful prose and refreshing insights to her world and the angst of being. Just being. A Good Idea At The Time is really worth your time.

***

Everyone have a wonderful day, or night, and I'll see you here tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Haleakala

Front Street
Lahaina

Rainbow

Sunset Watchers

Gecko

***

90965




"Let's all be careful out there!"

A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

A REALLY GOOD NIGHT

It wasn't very busy last night but I did get some decent fares.

Started the night a little past 7p and was 3rd up in the Wailea queue. We had 8 cabs on the road and "Crazy" Brian was dispatching. The 2 cabs in front of me each got hotel-to-hotel pupu runs and then my number was called. Imagine my surprise when, at 7:25p, I am sent to the Four Seasons for a trip to the Westin, in Ka'anapali. Three people from Japan. Metered out $95.30 on that one, with a $4.70 tip on the 51 minute/30 mile (48 km) journey. Get back to Kihei and sit. By that time we were down to 6 cabs working.

About 9:40p I am assigned a fare from Maui Ocean Center, in Ma'alaea, to Henry's, our "bikers bar". $27.80 on the meter and a $2.20 tip for the 15 minute/8 mile (13 km) trek.

See a trend here? Great runs, lousy tips.

By 11p we were down to just 4 cabs. 3 at 1a. 2 at 1:30a and then just me after 2a. The remaining 5 fares of my shift were all "in-town" but each of them tipped handsomely. Over-all I made good money, especially considering it was a Tuesday night. If the rest of the week continues this pattern it should be pretty good [KNOCK ON WOOD!].

7 fares / 137 miles / top quarter of the $100 bracket

***

If you have difficulty negotiating a hotel's driveway, then you are probably above a blood alcohol level of 0.08%. At least the woman driving this rental didn't injure anyone, never made it to the street and didn't have to puke up the $1,000 cash bail. She was lucky.

***

Shopping carts, the most general term used in the US, have really evolved over my lifetime.
As a young parent, we didn't have them with built-in "child safety seats".
As an aging old fart, I like the new "mini-carts".
Lets face it. I seldom have need to push one of those big ones around anymore. Unless, of course, I am trying to get some passed out fare to their home. Then I typically need a forklift. Never a pretty young lass weighing 7 stone or so.

***

And thus ends another chapter of:

HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONARE IN 100 YEARS

See ya mañana.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kihei/Wailea
From
Ma'alaea

Challenging Neptune

Rainbow

Haleakala

Front Street
Lahaina

***

90853



"Let's all be careful out there!"

A WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN"

GOING ON

~ story from Mel's Internet Universe ~

A swarm of small earthquakes have hit the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes Natonal Park area for more than 24 hours now. The quakes range from undetectable micro quakes to locally felt tremors of 3.2 to 4 on the Richter Scale. All of the quakes have been centered at Kilauea Volcano’s upper rift zone several miles above the current, active eruption.

As a precaution, park rangers evacuated a handful of campers within the national park and closed most of the park yesterday.

The earthquake swarm could be a signal that a change may be happening with the current eruption and that a new eruption could begin. Scientists are not exactly sure and say this is unusual activity for the volcano. The earthquakes also mean that hot lava is moving fairly close to the surface, about 1 to 2 miles under the volcano.

I thought I had "sensed", not really "felt", a few small temblors this weekend.

***

My son, Rob, called me last night from California, just as I was getting ready to head over to Judy's. Everybody is doing well and I got a kick out of him towards the end of our conversation. He was "walking" his dog, Harley, but Rob wasn't walking. Instead he was riding his new "long" board. Which is a larger than normal skateboard. He'll be 39 next month and I can't think of that many men his age who can still ride a board. He has enjoyed skateboarding for almost 30 years now.

God! I AM getting old.

***

Dinner tonight was at Aroma d'italia. We shared an antipasto salad and some cheese raviolis. Our first time out to a restaurant in a couple of months. As always, the food was ummm, ummm good. Our usual server, Robin, had seen her pic on this blog from the last time we were there. She liked that I mentioned that diners should tip her well. These past few months have been slow for her too.

***

"Queen" Nora is now 3 months old! This a pic of her, being held by my sweetheart Alissa, "Auntie Lissie".

More pics available at The Swarty Family. Link on sidebar.

***

Judy mentioned that she had seen a story about Lori Stewart's (This just in) efforts to get "beanie babies" and soccer balls to the GI's stationed with her son in Iraq, These young guys are giving them to the children there. Make a kid happy and you make a friend of the parents. A universal "law". Lori posted about having done a TV "interview" and now the national TVnews networks are beginning to pick up on the story.

Think you might be able to help? Toys For Troops is her website dedicated to this most generous cause. Now, if only some politico with power can step up to the plate and allow free postage on letters and packages being shipped to Iraq and other military points in the middle east.

If this grass roots movement saves just one GI's life, it'd be worth it.

***

Everyone have a great day!

Talk to you tomorrow. After work.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Haleakala Sunrise

Double Rainbow

"Lets Go Surfin' Now..."

A Kihei Beach

Humpback Whales

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SOME CHANGES

ARE IN THE WORKS

Awoke a little after 5p, yesterday. My body really was tired. Not long afterwards Larry, the owner, called me. The poor guy is frustrated. He can't find anyone to cover dispatch duties on Sunday night. The older drivers don't want to do an extra night and the new drivers just flat refuse to accept the job. Lazy ass SOBs. Its not like GOOD drivers are that easy to find. Our unemployment rate on Mau'i is less than 2% and all employers are having trouble finding qualified people to fill positions. Drivers who are honest, reliable and have a clean abstract (driving record) is problematic and rare.

He made me a very nice offer and I accepted. Starting next Sunday I will be dispatching from my home. Don't have to get "gussied up" or drive. A portable radio and company cell phone will be delivered to me each Sunday evening and I will dispatch from 6p to 2a. This means extra cash in my pocket and I can still kick back, watch TV and relax. Only the first few hours are active. Much past 9:30p and things slow waaaay down. Fixed base dispatching will entail a minor change in the paperwork from mobile dispatching, but that will be easy. I'll just be recording things on paper that I normally just keep in my head.

I might even write a simple dispatch "log" program to simplify everything. Its been a long time since I have written a program and it will be interesting to see what I can accomplish. May take me a month or so to do it.

Thats it for today. Dinner with Judy tonight and then back to the "salt mine" on Tuesday evening. Hope to "see" you tomorrow.

A special HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my friends Bev & David. I've been internet friends with them since 1997. They met each other via the internet, back when we were all WebTvers, fell in love and have now been married for 2 years today. Love you guys.

They read me almost daily.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Humpback Whales
Mother & Baby

Hawai'iana

Canna Lily

Hana Side Waterfall

Myna Bird

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"