A DECENT FRIDAY NIGHT

BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THURSDAY

~Nikki~
One of my fares last night.

Logged on at &p and took over the phone at 7:05p. I was fourth up in the Wailea queue. By 7:15p I had my first fare of the shift. A nice run to Roy's from The Grand. Got back to Wailea and "dropped tag" for my 8p "special". A return trip to OGG, with the people I had picked up from the canceled America West flight the prior shift. I didn't get a call from them, so they apparently got off okay.

The first 2 hours were a typical Friday night. Most of the cabs were busy on OGG or long dinner runs. We were booked solid until 9p.

About 7:30p I get a call from a guy at Long's Drugs, in central Kihei, who wanted to go north to Kihei Villages, an apartment/condo complex at the north end of town. I apologized and explained that I had no cabs available for 90 minutes.

"Thats not acceptable. I want a cab, NOW!"

"Sir, apparently you didn't hear me correctly. I don't have any cabs to send to you until 9 pm at the earliest."

"No. You did not understand ME. I said I want a cab NOW!"

"Sorry. No can do."

[click]

Ten minutes later, he calls back.

"We seem to have been disconnected. I need to be picked up at Long's Drugs. NOW!"

"Is English a second language for you sir?"

"No. Of course not."

"Okay. Then what part of 'THERE ARE NO CABS AVAILABLE' didn't you understand?"

"What is your name?

"I am the dispatcher."

"No. I want your name and I want it NOW. I am going to call your owner and complain about you."

"You may call the owner tomorrow morning, if you wish. He knows who I am. Of course he is less tolerant of stupid people than I am, so be prepared to be yelled at and then hung up on."

"I am going to have you fired."

"Good luck. The next sound you hear will be me hanging up on you. Aloha."

[click]

He didn't call back.

Just after 7p Maui Jim (#17) and TMR (#27) took about a dozen people from the Renaissance to the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center in Kahului. QKC is our regional shopping mall, the largest shopping center on the island. The people were going to do some shopping, have a late dinner and then do some grocery shopping at the FoodLand store, next to the mall. All the arrangements were made for them to call us back about thirty minutes before they were ready to be returned to Wailea. The clock marched on and about 10p I ask Jim if he had any idea about when they would be calling. The mall closes at 9p and the restaurant they were going to closes about 10p. FoodLand is open 24/7. About 11p he was making a drop at the Renaissance and three La Bella taxis, from Kahului pull in and deliver the 12 people that Jim and TMR had been waiting for. The two cabs over had cost them about $100 but taking three cabs back would have been $150. La Bella drives those little (and I mean LITTLE) Scions, which only hold 4 passengers. I guess they were more interested in not waiting rather than saving money.

*** *** ***

The Love Shack is an adult fantasy store located in the "Triangle".

I have no idea what these young folks were doing outside of Lulu's on Thursday night, but it looked interesting (strange) enough to snap a pic.
Another interesting paint scheme


For the next week, we'll be visiting the Pacific Cove Luau, on O'ahu, for a close-up look a a great luau.

Mahalo for dropping over. See y'all tomorrow.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

PACIFIC COVE LUAU
O'AHU

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

WOW!!

A WONDERFUL NIGHT!

Last night was the way it is supposed to be. Busy.

Accomplished 16 runs, including 3 OGGs of various length, and metered what was normal for last year. BIG BUCKS.

It did start off slow but the encouraging thing was that I only had to wait an hour before my first run. Most nights it has been two hours.

• 1900 - 1 run
• 2000 - 1 run
• 2100 - 1 run (OGG)
• 2200 - 3 runs
• 2300 - 2 runs
• 0000 - 1 run
• 0100 - 3 runs
• 0200 - 2 runs (1 OGG)
• 0300 - 0 runs
• 0400 - 1 run (OGG)
• 0500 - 1 run

My first OGG was a guy who had ordered a towncar pickup by one of the limo companies. He was having dinner and was expecting to walk directly from the restaurant to his ride. He ran a bit late and when he came to the lobby of his hotel, the car had departed. The hotel tried calling the company back but couldn't get the driver to return. I was called and he asked me to expedite the journey as much as I could. Yes, he did use the word "expedite". I told him that the trip is normally 30 minutes at that time of night but I would do everything I could, without risking my license, to shorten the time. Since most police departments generally give a cushion of 10mph before making traffic stops, I set my "cruise control" at exactly 9mph over the posted limit. I did push a couple of the yellow traffic lights a bit tight but not dangerously. If we get traffic light cameras installed, heaven forbid, I wouldn't have done it. Cut 6 minutes off the journey and he gave me $70 on a $53.90.

We had a group of 20 that we shuttled from one of the Wailea hotels to dinner at the Seawatch and then to the "Triangle" following dinner. As the night wore on we gradually brought them all safely back "home".

Just after the last evening driver logged off for the night, I received a call from my most favorite airline. Yup, America West had another canceled flight. Luckily they had a low passenger count. I called TMR on the radio. He hadn't parked yet. When I told him what was going down, he jumped at the chance to make a few extra bucks. The airline had told me the people were going to the Renaissance but The ones that TMR picked up went to the Ritz-Carlton instead and the two that I collected went to a private condo in Makena. In fact, TMR was double lucky. He had two separate parties and thus was able to bill two different vouchers on one trip. Kewl!

My scheduled runs at the end of the shift had me worried for a while. I had reservations for a 4:30a to OGG. A 4:45a to OGG. A "special" at 5:15a. Another 5:15a for a pupu run. A 5:20a for another pupu and finally a 6a to OGG.

I could field the first one easily but the 4:45a was going to be tight. TMR drives cab #27 at night and Flor drives it in the day. I spoke with TMR and he said he thought he could make it back by 4:30a. I called Flor at 4a and told him what was going down. TMR arrived at exactly 4:30a and turned #27 over to Flor, who made the 4:45 on time, barely. These folks had actually called me at 4a and wanted to leave for the airport then but I had to tell them that I couldn't do it but we would be there for the 4:45a scheduled time.

Just as I picked up my fare, #21 logged on. The pressure lessened a bit. I knew I had the hotel 5:15a covered. At 4:45a, #09 logged on and the 5:20a was doable. I dropped at 4:53a and immediately called my 5:15a "special" and told her that I might be a couple of minutes late but that I was just leaving the airport headed her way. She appreciated the call and I was only 2 minutes late.

Finally logged off at 5:30a.

Ugh! Tonight is my dispatch night. I need it to be busy but I pray that I am not overwhelmed. The first few hours of Friday nights are normally (which is a moot word, of late) overloaded with multiple OGGs and dinner runs. I typically run out of cabs during that time, which disappoints a lot of people.

I had taken a few interesting "street" shots last night but neither "old" or "new" Blogger seem to want to upload this morning. I'll save them for tomorrow.

Mahalo for coming by and I'll with y'all tomorrow morning.

Aloha!

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

No Rain

No Rainbows

And The Flowers Love It

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

RAIN WOULD MEAN GOOD BUSINESS

IN ANY OTHER PART OF THE WORLD

Not here on Mau'i.

It was humid as I got ready for work last night. Took my shower, dried off. Dried off again, and again. In fact, I had to dry as I donned each article of clothing. Step outside and there is a steady rain falling, with Kona (southerly) winds. This lasted until about 8:30pm. The cold front continued south, down the island chain. After that the air was dead calm. Around 3:00am the "trades" kicked in and blew a lot of the moisture back onto the windward side of the island. The winds were strong enough and there was enough precipitation that the leeward side was getting drenched in a very heavy mist. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees when the winds picked up and made the 67f seem a lot cooler.

Why am I talking about the weather? Because that was the most interesting event of the night.

One day driver had set so long waiting for a run that his battery went dead. A bit later, cab #27's alternator light illuminated and he lost his two-way radio capability. It was being driven by Kimo and he had to pass the phone on to me, when he went home. He didn't miss much. I used to have keys for all the cabs that are parked at The Grand but they have been borrowed and never returned and thus I wasn't able to offer him an alternative vehicle.

I handled 2 runs more than Tuesday night but the meter total was $6 less. Never left town once. This is the time of year when I should be putting money aside for the "slow" times. Instead, I am starting to reach the bottom of the cookie jar. I haven't reached "critical mass" yet, but I am not far from it.

I was just looking over my records and last Wednesday night I had the exact same number of runs and metered the exact same dollar amount as last night. Thats rare.

Mahalo for dropping by and I hope everyone has a fantastic day..

Aloha!

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Today's PICTURE GALLERY is, mostly, courtesy of my friend, Van, the owner of Maui Action Photos.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Surfer Babe

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

POLTERGEIST

Just after 2a, I took a lady on a roundtrip to Safeway. While I was waiting for her, I kept watching these doors do their little dance. It was about 7 minutes long. Once another person entered or exited, the dance would start again.

Just some of the weird stuff I see at night.



"Let's all be careful out there!"