AND WE SLIDE

INTO THE "HIGH" SEASON

This is Rosie. Not much to say other than she was a fare last night and looked very photogenic.

The first 7 hours delivered 67% of my fares and 64% of my income. The final 3 hours was 33%/36%. Averaged $15.90 per trip and covered 151 miles (243 km) or $1.58 per mile driven. Thats not a bad night at all.

The weirdoes were out in full force last night. There were definite eddys in the flow of life but nothing so far out of kilter as to be noteworthy as I write this. The worst that I had was one guy who wanted to go to Lahaina but refused to put a deposit up front. No deposit, no ride. Told him to get out of the cab. He refused, so I called 9-1-1 and before the cops could arrive he jumped out, slamming the door as hard as he could. Before I could pull away from the curb, he opened and slammed the door a second time, even harder. Not that race really matters but he was a Tongan and Tongans are known for a lack of social skills among all the polynesian people. Lets just say that they don't play well with others.

Have you completed your Christmas shopping?

I haven't even started. Of course, all I have to do is send money to the grandkids so they can get whatever they want at a price cheaper than I would spend here, which means they'll get more. The only actual gifts that I will be buying will be for Judy. Haven't figured out what it will be though.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Pineapple Field, Maui

Polipoli Park, Maui

Ranchland

The Old Pa'ia Sugar Mill

Tedeschi Winery

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A TASTE OF...

...THINGS TO COME

~Noelle & Alex~
~Orange County~
~California, USA~

This beautiful couple had been going full tilt when I picked them up at the Four Seasons a bit after 10p. Took them out to the Maui Prince. They had been up since the wee hours of Thursday morning, California time. Had flown to Mau'i, on Thursday, for a wedding of some friends that afternoon. They have to leave this weekend. Even I am tired just thinking about it. I bet they slept good last night.

Didn't get off until 5:45a, my usual 5:15a "special" had overslept, but during that 10 hours and 45 minutes I logged 20 runs for just under $300. Not shabby at all.

By 8p, all the day cabs were history and one night cab left at 8:30pm. She had been sitting since 6p with no runs. That left just three of us for the night and then things began to move. #09 and #27 got OGG runs within minutes of each other, leaving me as the only cab available for everything on the southside of the island. I was constantly on the move from one fare to another. After clearing OGG, #09 picked up a fare from there to Ka'anapali. That took him out of the picture for 2 more hours. #27, when he got back, and I never quit moving. Between 7p and 2a I was able to cover 14 trips and 61% of my meter for the shift. The 2a to 5:45a period added 6 more trips and the other 39% of the income.

Asked around and all of the hotels reach 100% occupancy by Wednesday, the 20th. Some will be at 100% by Monday, the 18th. If you can see Dollar signs ($)-($) where my eyes should be, you are right. The average tip last night was right around 40% and that will improve next week. During the two week holiday period I usually get 50%-75%.

KA-CHING

When #09 returned to town he got a famous black TV/movie "star" as a fare. I don't know where they went to or who this "star" hooked up with but #09 didn't get off-duty until 4:45a. #09 spent all of the hours after bar close parked outside some residence in central Kihei. I don't think the "star" was watching the "boob-tube", but I am pretty positive that the word "boob" played a prominent part of his nocturnal activities.

I had two scheduled runs to OGG at the close of my night. One at 4a and the other at 4:30a. No way I could handle both, so I called out a day driver (#27-Flor) to cover the second one. The one I took was a nice young couple from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is a Constable with the Calgary Police Service. Calgary is a city of 1-million people but they only have 1,600 sworn officers in the entire department. That means that on a really good night they might have 400 cops on-duty. I am willing to bet they usually have between 250-300 on the street at any given moment. Thats stretching things really thin. Reminds me of my prior life when we had 30 beats and two sergeants to cover an area of 720 square miles (1,865 km²) and a population of approximately 650,000 (at that time).

If everything follows form, last night will be called a "slow night" next week.

I can hardly wait.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

KA'ANAPALI

MAUI MARRIOTT

Old Lahaina Lu'au

Sunset At The Lu'au

"Let's all be careful out there!"

I ACTUALLY HAD TO

DECLINE A RUN TO THE HARBOR

Last nights income pattern held to form last night. 5 runs and 32% of the shift's earnings between 7p and 2:00a. 7 fare and 68% of the money came during my solo hours. A little after 3a, the Maui Coast called and had some people wanting to go back to the ship, in Kahului. I still had 3 runs pending and a 4:30a reservation, from the Maui Coast, to OGG and a 5:15a on the Kihei/Wailea border. There was just no physical way I could fit it into the lineup.

OUCH!

That would have been another $45 on the meter. As I have redundantly whimpered over the past month or two, times are lean. With all the runs I had during my solo period, I was like a tiger shark on a feeding frenzy and really hated letting a "good one" slip through my fingers.

Oh, don't tell anybody but it is possible to drive the Mokolele Highway around triple digits at certain times of the day?

***

Ordered my Christmas dinner. A pre-roasted turkey, big enough to feed 6 adults (or 1 teenage boy), pie, gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry/orange sauce and some vegetable. Corn, I think. $50. All I have to do is warm everything up. I'll pick it up Christmas Eve about 3p and take it to Judy's place. Then on Christmas Day, we'll nuke, bake or whatever, everything and have a nice dinner.

Judy's cat, Bob, has become addicted to turkey. My cat, Bear, has never had turkey and soon we'll find out his opinion. Knowing him, he'll probably just sniff it and look at me with that "Are you trying to poison me?" look. You cat slaves know what I mean.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

KA'ANAPALI

SHERATON - MAU'I

Black Rock

Interiors

Teppan Restaurant

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"