THE BEST OF...

THIS WEEK'S E-MAIL

Talk about "unmarked" traffic enforcement!
"So, this is Florida in the winter."
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Only used once.
Damn steroids
We've all had days like this
"And you said she was naked?"
Future shoes, handbags & cowboy boots

***

HOW TO LIVE LIFE...

Be calm, quiet, tranquil
Bloom as often as you can
Stay close to your family
Explore the world around you
Enjoy the relaxing rhythm of waves
Watch the moon rise
Spread your wings and take off on your own
Then enjoy the comfort of coming home again

***

Have a great week, everybody!

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Windward O'ahu

Warm Soft Tropics

La Perouse Bay
Mau'i

Big Island

Another Day In Paradise

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

TO QUOTE

FREDDYBEACH CABBY

"Saturday Night

One of the things I like about Saturday Night, is the fact that I don't have to work Sunday night. This is why Saturdays are my favorite night. Once again Saturday night started off slow, and gradually picked up..."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

The good news was I didn't have to take the phone until 12:30a. "Mau'i Jim" (#17) had graciously agreed to accept the duties until midnight. The bad news was that he was not quite centered in his universe and his radio was malfunctioning. It got really bad when he got a trip to the "west-side" and we all had to switch to channel #2. That repeater is on the top of the island of Lana'i and it didn't like Jim's radio at all. The rest of us could hear each other okay but not him. I mentioned the problem in the end of shift e-mail I send to the owner each morning.

Good news #2 is that I completely filled up my "trip sheet". Bad news was that I never left town. Some decent runs but mostly pu-pus.

The business at the bars was quiet. Few tourists and devoid of most of those who work the "customer contact" service industry jobs. They didn't earn much in tips this past week.

After I took over the phone, Jim went home, I was the ONLY cab on the "south-side". TMR (#27) was headed to Kahului to pick up a "special" he had dropped earlier. Went to the "Triangle" for a fare. He gets in and it was the usual:

"Aloha. Where to?"
"Kihei."
"Friend, we are in Kihei. Where in Kihei do you want to go?"
"I already fucking told you. KIHEI!"
"Dude, give me an address or condo name or get out."
"Just shutup and drive. I'll tell you where to turn."
"Sir, you now have two options to choose from. I am not taking you anywhere.

ONE, get out of my cab now

or

TWO, I'll call the cops to come and remove you from my cab by whatever means necessary.

After a short extention to our doomed relationship, he chose option TWO.

15 minutes later I am waiting for another fare at the chained off entrance to the "Triangle" near the Tiki Lounge. Guess who opens my rear door and demands to go to "Kihei".

Yep, ol' stupid. That bit'o'negotiation was even shorter than the previous one.

I also chewed out one of the wannabe rent-a-cops at the "Triangle" last night. I have mentioned before about the on going battle between the property management and the bar owners. Security chains all the street entrances closed and limits access to the property to the rear, which is often impassable due to poorly parked cars/trucks. The lot near Tiki, Dog & Duck & Kahale's has a loop where you can make a circle for access and egress. The lot by Lulu's and Bada Bings is a straight one and to exit you must find a space to turn around or you have to back out the way you came in. Backing up with a herd of drunks grazing across your path is dangerous.

Two weeks ago, I started refusing to go into the "Triangle" after the chains go up. I tell the dispatcher to send the people to the nearest blocked street entrance. Last night security called and I told him where to send the people and why I was making the request. He didn't. I call him back to find out where my fare is and he told me that he wanted the cab in front of the Tiki Lounge. I reiterated and the conversation quickly deteriorated to base name calling and swearing between both of us. The people never came out and I never went in. And since I was the ONLY cab available, I don't know how they departed.

As you might have noticed, I am getting real tired of dealing with drunks. I have been doing so for most of my adult life.

I go through these cycles every so often.

Drunks depress me.

12 fares / 123 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

Stop by tomorrow, if you can. I'll have the pot on.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Pa'ia
(foreground)
(OGG, Kahului, Wailuku
In back)

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A STATEMENT...

BEING MADE:

Counting cash at the end of the night and came across this.

***

Didn't sleep well yesterday. Couldn't fall asleep and then didn't want to wake up. As a result, my ying/yang was whacked all night.

A very slow start to the night. Logged in 6th up, out of 9 on duty, in the Wailea queue and it was over an hour before I achieved the first position. And then I sat. And sat some more. Finally given a dispatch to OGG. Maybe my kismet clock had reset.

NOPE!

Still out of kilter, it was a "10-13".

One of the hotels has a concierge who doesn't know the difference between AM and PM. The people I had been waiting for had departed 12 hours earlier. This is about the 7th time this same person has made the same error.

Resume #1 at 9p. During the waiting period I had assumed dispatch. A few minutes later I get my first run into the "Triangle".

Tonight, 10:30p was when we began moving. A fare every 15 minutes or so. It stayed like that through bar-close and into the first hour of my solo time. My final run was from the Maui Lu Resort to the "ship" in Kahului. The Maui Lu is the oldest hotel on the "south-side". Its been around for generations.

And no matter what I did, I couldn't do it right. If it could go wrong, it did. That effect has lasted all the way to now. I hope I can finish this post without erasing my hard-drive.

Hardin is off again tonight. Guess who will probably get stuck with the phone again.

13 fares / 105 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

***

Everyone enjoy your weekend. I'll be back tomorrow and hope you will be also.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Pa'ia
Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

I KNOW. I KNOW.

ITS A "GUY" THING





"Let's all be careful out there!"

I JUST LOVE...

NEWLYWEDS!

Chris & Alli
Chicago ("Shy Town"), IL USA

It was an abnormally "normal" night. Stumbled coming out of the gate. Sent for a Wailea pu-pu about 7:30p. Canceled before I arrived. I was just 100 yards from the resort's covered entry. 10 minutes later I finally get a "dinner run" from Wailea to Sansei, in Kihei. A very nice, and chatty early 30's couple from San Diego, CA USA.

Cleared that just before 7p, returned to Wailea and sat for almost an hour.

Second pick-up was at 9p, Hirohatchi back to the Diamond Resort. Hirohatchi is located just a few doors down from Sansei, at the north end of the Kihei Town Center Shopping Center. Also the location of FoodLand and the block due north to the "Triangle". Hirohatchi is a Japanese restaurant. Not "Japanese Style" but a true Japanese restaurant. Very popular among our local Japanese population and our Japanese visitors.

I can't remember ever taking anybody other than Japanese there.

That run started a rush the continued until midnight. By 9:30p it was just "Crazy" Brian (#11), TMR (#27) and ONE-NINE. Chris and Alli were my third run. It was 11:21p before I had a fare below $13. Thats good!

Exactly at midnight everything died. Caught a pu-pu "flag" at 12:30a, just south of the "Triangle".
Then I slumbered lightly at the bus stop in the Foodland parking lot.
Thats "Crazy" doing the same thing in front of me. He went "10-2" at 1:30a. He had a puker about midnight and the smell was getting to him. It does take a while to fade, no matter how good you clean.

The meter wide cherry on the sundae of this shift was a pick-up, at 2:10a, from a gated community in Wailea. She is leaving the island today and her friends had thrown her a "going away party". She needed to get to Ha'iku. She gave me a "Franklin" with the welcomed admonition to "Keep the change" on an $86.60.

Our journey was a bit of an adventure She was sound asleep before I got to north Kihei and I was caught totally "flat-footed". She hadn't seemed excessively intoxicated and we had been carrying on a conversation. Right in mid-sentence, she nodded off.

I didn't have the exact address!

I called her name and she didn't even flinch.

Oh, great.

t was a problem that I was going to have to deal with eventually but right then was not the best time or place.

Drove across the island to Pa'ia, where Mama's Fish House is located, and pulled to the curb under the street lights. She was in the right rear. Seatbelt on, headed tilted to her left shoulder. Sitting "Injun Style" with her hands resting on the seat between her crossed legs. Had to call her name twice before she reacted, then the period of disorientation, that we all get when waking in a strange location, had to run its course. Got the exact address and asked her which way would be best and shortest. She instructed me to continue along the Hana Highway until I got to the Ha'iku Road intersection. The name of her street floored me. It wasn't Hawai'ian! One with an English name. Thats really rare.

She snoozed a bit more as we continued on into Ha'iku but was awake when we got into town and gave great directions to her place. I had located the street on my map while still in Pa'ia and it was going to be a bitch to find, since most of the metal street signs are so badly "weathered" that they can't be read. Ha'iku is way around on the windward side of Mau'i, along the road to Hana.

Got back in Kihei and snagged 2 more fares before calling it a night.

I am a very happy camper.

15 fares / 157 miles / 3rd quarter $200 bracket

Sigh.

Tonight is my phone night. See you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Pa'ia

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WHOOMP!

AND THEN THERE WAS SILENCE

I was home around midnight. Sitting at my desk, I heard/felt a loud WHOOMP! outside. Couldn't tell where it came from but it was definitely the sound of a car colliding with something. Hard. I stepped out front and neighbors were running toward Kanakanui Road, which borders my back fence, The entire area had heard it. Since my knee doesn't allow me to run anymore, I did my best "Chester" (that's a 'dated' reference, isn't it?) impression. As I rounded the corner I heard one of the first arrivals shout that someone needed to call 9-1-1 (our equivalent to Australia's 0-0-0 and UK's 9-9-9). I could hear the lady in the closest residence already speaking to the emergency operator. Then the guy said that everyone was okay but there was some bleeding. He sounded excited but unstressed. I got to the intersection and could see everyone in both vehicles moving. There were no screams. No shouting. I didn't go any further. As I returned home I could already hear sirens approaching rapidly, from every direction. Grabbed my camera, walked back and snagged this shot. I didn't hang around to see if an ambulance arrived, but it probably did. Thats pretty much S.O.P. None left rolling "emergency".

***

We had a minor power outage in central Kihei. I cruised the inky black Azeka Plaza area. Never know, someone might need to go somewhere else. Lasted about 2-1/2 hours and covered about 1 square mile. Alas, it didn't bear fruit for my basket.

***

At the end of Tuesday night's shift I brought ONE-NINE home. It was infested with roaches. Just like every other vehicle and structure on the island. That's one of the hidden facts about living on an island and why pest-control businesses flourish here. Parked ONE-NINE and set off an aerosol "bug bomb" and then aired it out and wiped down the surfaces when I awoke. Shouldn't see any creepie-crawlies for a long time.

***

I mentioned the problem I am having with my cell-phone battery. I had already tried Radio Shack, to no avail, and even though I had purchased the phone there, they no longer represented Verizon Wireless. And, despite the fact that they have for years touted themselves as the place you could always find unique electronics batteries, they didn't carry a replacement.

Last night I made it by the Verizon Wireless store.

1. They don't carry batteries.
2. They no longer have the program that I am currently under.
3. I needed to buy a new phone and sign-up for a 2-year contract.

I think I just might get a new phone/contract, but with Sprint, not Verizon.

***

The owner called me last night and asked if I would be interested in resuming Sunday night dispatch duties. That was a toughie. I need the money but I still haven't even come close to recovering from my "incident" at the end of July. I can now barely make it through my 5 nights as it is. While not physically tasking, dispatching is a major stress center and I just don't have the reserves to accomplish it. Plus I could risk missing my "normal" days. I truly felt bad when I declined. On Sundays he has the phone until 9p, when a night driver takes over. No one is scheduled for Sunday so it is a hassle to get someone to take it. Kimo told me that he would take it until a returning driver, Joel, can start doing his share at the end of the month.

Sounds like things might work out.

***

• One OGG
• One Ma'alaea to north Kihei
• One pu-pu
• One bar-close
• Zero "dog-watch"

"And thats all she wrote".

Thats actually pretty normal for the week following Labor Day. We should see some increase in tourist business this weekend. The resorts normally book as many "groups" as they can, at extremely discounted rates. Not that we are going to be swamped, by any means, but just a bit more active than the past couple of shifts.

I did hear that day-shift had an extraordinary amount of OGG's, which made their day. We'll see how this weekend goes.

4 fares / 83 miles / 4th quarter below $100 bracket

***

TRIVIA

• There are no seagulls in Hawai'i.
• Mau'i had cowboys (paniolos) over a half-a-century before the mainland did.

***

Everyone have a fantastic day! Hope to see you again tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Makawa
Upcountry Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

ONCE AGAIN

GRAVEYARD SAVED THE NIGHT

Gas dropped another 2-cents. When I was in Lahaina on Saturday night the price was $3.549. In Kula, on Sunday, it was $3.529. Kihei was $3.579 on those days.

As anticipated, it was very slow last night. Labor Day ends our summer vacation season and we enter the doldrums until Christmas. As slow as this past year has been, it is foreboding to guess what the next, almost, 4 months will be like. We will spike on Halloween. I can usually take home between $300-$400 on that night, working Lahaina. Also, Thanksgiving week in November is always good and marks the part of the year when we are a ghost town. Monday following Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November) until 5 days before Christmas is the absolute slowest time of the year. Thats also when drivers quit to find more substantial employment. Thus reducing the driver pool and leaving what little there is available to those of us who are there all year round.

7 fares / 67 miles / 3rd quarter below $100 bracket

***

Just as I was getting off this morning, I spied that a cane field was being burnt for harvest today. The field was close to the home in north Kihei. I took the picture (left) from about 6 miles away. It looked like the mushroom cloud associated with a "nuke". There was no wind and as the smoke hit the thermo-cline it began reflecting the flames. You'll need to look at the fullsize image and scroll to the lower center.
This an enhanced cropped/blowup.

Digital cameras just don't do justice to this type of night shot. You need a long exposure film camera.

***

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Makawao
Upcountry Mau'i

Annual Fourth Of July Parade
Makawao

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"