A DAY OF JOY

A DAY OF FUN

My landlords' son has a birthday tomorrow. Yesterday he had his birthday party.

I love the sound of kids just being kids. Laughter, squeals, screams and excitement. Games played, songs sung. gifts given. No better elixir than the joy of life.

A lot of guests complain about there being children making noise at their resort. I don't get it. They must be the most self-centered individuals alive. If I have my druthers, I'd rather hang around the kid's pool than one reserved for adults only. The energy is contagious with the kids. Their world is still fresh, alive, mysterious. Full of adventure.

If anyone disagrees, just keep quiet and do your own thing.

Happy Birthday, Austin!

***

Slept. Ate. Slept. Ate

That was the sum total of my day. And one that I relished immensely.

Let me check my schedule for tomorrow.

Yep. More of the same.

The recovery from my back problem of three weeks ago is still in progress. The Quasimodo look is disappearing. An old injury has flared up in my shoulder again but will eventually go away. It always does but each recurrence and recovery take just a bit longer than the prior time.

Nothing interesting in the local news. No good funny stories arrived in this weeks e-mails.

So here's an old "war story":

It was around midnight. I had a partner with me. Just cruising our beat. Radio traffic very quiet.

Get waved over by a citizen. He had seen a young man sitting at the base of a traffic light pole on an island in the middle of an intersection a few blocks away.

Sitting with his back against the pole was a mid-teenage male, clutching a silver tea service tray to his chest, hunkered over. Unconscious.

My partner taps the kid on the shoulder. The kid opens his eyes and slams the tea tray into my partners face. Cartoon style. You could almost see the face highlighted in the flat surface. He wasn't "out for the count" but he was out of action. Kid tries to run away. I tackle him. Back then I had great upper body strength, I could bench press about 250 lbs. (115 kg). I didn't care how big the opponent was, all I had to do was get them on the ground and I could easily handle anyone except a trained wrestler or martial arts expert. This kid was neither but no matter how hard I tried to control and subdue him, nothing worked. I hit him across the knees with my baton. No reaction and "Holy Shit!" he grabbed the baton, breaking the leather strap, and tossed it into the street. Attempted a choke hold and he easily shoved my arm away. Maced him, and he didn't even feel it. My partner finally rejoined the fray and the two of us wrestled the kid, rolling into traffic lanes as John Q's, with family in tow, slowed and watched the show as they passed by.

Most physical altercations are done in 30-seconds or less. This one easily passed the 5-minute mark and only my partner and myself were showing any signs of exhaustion. And it was far from over.

I finally got him face down in the dirt, shoved my Mace canister into his mouth and emptied it. Thats not a slow process. I felt like I was riding a Brahma bull in a rodeo. Just as the canister emptied, his body went limp. He was gasping for air. Got the cuffs on him and found an ID.

Just barely 17 years old. A long juvenile record of burglaries and narcotics use. That night was my first experience with an individual on PCP, which is a pig tranquilizer. In a human it creates a high that gives the individual almost super-human strength, as I found out the hard way.

He had committed a burglary in an adjacent city, taking cash and the Revere silver tea service tray. Very expensive. The intersection was as far as he had made it, about 4 blocks, before falling unconscious. The burglary hadn't even been reported yet. Took him to "Juvie" via the Emergency Room at County Hospital.

He was released to his parents custody before I had even started to write my report.

He didn't show any bruising or other identifiable marks of the fight. My partner and I had destroyed uniforms (torn shirts, ripped pant's knees), black and blue marks everywhere and a couple of minor, but tender, bite marks. My partner had a broken nose. Smashed flat.

Added that one under the "Learning Experience" column of my life.

***

Thanks for stopping by. Check back tomorrow. Maybe I can find something more interesting to write about.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

The Un-Official State "Symbol"

Makena Shore

North Kihei

Napili Bay

Molokini & Kaho'olawe

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

THE WEEK IS FINALLY OVER!

LONG LIVE THE WEEKEND!

A so-so night. The runs kind of petered in and then petered out.

Had another successful puker. Taking two young ladies to their apartment complex. A short 1.3 mile trip. At the midpoint The girl behind me made that unmistakable pre-vomit sound. The other girl shouts

"Pull..."

I am at the curb. Instantly!

"...over!"

Puker is trying to comprehend how the electric window switch functions.

"Open the fucking door! NOW!" I barked.

Girlfriend opens the door and shoves Puker half-way out.
A police car cruises slowly by. I have my emergency flashers activated and I am still partially in the traffic lane. Then he u-turns and pulls up across from me.

"Everything okay?"
"Just a puker. Amateur drinker."
"Okay. Good luck."

He creeps away.

Finally Puker has spilled her guts to the world and we finish this pleasure trip. The cop had followed me into the apartment complex.

Having two positive experiences with pukers in one week is unprecedented. I think that qualifies as "Good Karma".

13 fares / 86 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

***

As the image shows, we are almost "there". "Murph" will probably add 300, or so, miles today and tomorrow. Occasionally ONE-NINE is used on the Wednesday "Day" shift. I think it will occur between "Hump" day and Friday.

Left of the "Date-Line", its Monday. Deal with it.

Right of the "Date-Line", tomorrow is Monday. Deal with it.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Ma'alaea Bay

Makena Road

Kihei

Junction
Kihei Road / Mokulele Highway

***

99492



"Let's all be careful out there!"

BREAKING NEWS!!

WEB CRASH - 2007

***

My first fare of the shift was a total fluke. One cab had been assingned a Wailea-OGG. Turns out there were 8 people, not 6, and he needed a second cab. 8 people means one hell of a lot of luggage. The dispatcher queries whether ONE-NINE, I was next up in the queue, would be adequate or was another van necessary. Luckily, ONE-NINE would suffice. I picked up one nice lady and three stair-step brothers, all pre-teen and a stroller. The initial cab also had four people and was stuffed to the headliner with luggage. A half-hour of pleasant chat and back to Wailea.

As soon as I arrived in Kihei, I was assigned a trip from the far north-end of town to the far south-end.

Followed this with a pu-pu in Wailea.

At 9:00p I took over the phone and by 9:30p I had charge of 5 cabs. We normally start moving out of Wailea around 9:30p as the focus of activity shifts to Kihei. Just as I enter Kihei, and was "#1 up" in town, I received a request from MOF (Maui Oceanfront Inn). 2 people headed across the island to Wailuku. A nice early 20's couple from the border of northwest California and Oregon, who have lived here for about 3 months. Eagerly anticipating the arrival of their car next week from the mainland. He was politely quiet and she was a chatterbox.

Our 2 casual night drivers bailed by 11:30p and the 3 of us remaining stayed busy with bar rush fares.

Right at the end of the bar close portion of the night I get a flag from the "Triangle", headed to Wailuku. A sales rep from the "spirits industry". About half-way, near Waikapu, to his home he asks me to pull to the shoulder when I had an opportunity. He didn't sound stressed nor in discomfort but, as ALL cabbies know, when you are asked to "pull over" you are there and stopped in less than 2 heartbeats. He stepped out and walked about 10 feet away and puked his guts out for almost 5 minutes. Returned to ONE-NINE, thanked me and we continued the remainder of the journey, without incident.

Best "PUKER" I've ever had.

Rounded out the night with 2 dog-watch runs. Home just at 5:00a.

12 fares / 162 miles / 3rd quarter $200 bracket

***

Everyone enjoy your weekend.

One more night to go. Talk to you after work tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Sunrise
In Kihei

Shoreline
Kihei

Waterfront
Kihei

The Pacific Ocean
Lana'i In The Distance

***

99292



"Let's all be careful out there!"

MEET THE...

KRAZY KITTENS

Jessie, Karie and Catherine are from Mau'i's "North Shore", the Pa'ia/Ho'okipa area. Playing "tourist". on this side of the island. Thats my hat that Karie has on. Sorry, the auto-focus messed up.

Had them twice last night. The early pick up was from The Shops to the "Triangle" and then I brought them back to their resort in Wailea. They were a lot of fun.

Three runs in a row, right around midnight, I took folks from the "Triangle" back to Wailea. Their commonality was that each group sensed a mood change in the crowd and were wise enough to go with their gut feeling and "beat feet" back to the safety of their hotels. The crowd was actually pretty peaceful last night and bar close was anti-climatic.

By 9:30p it was just #27 (TMR) and ONE-NINE. We stayed steady. Constantly moving from one call to the next. Never rushed. Never overloaded. The cab/call ratio was perfect. A 3rd cab would have ruined everything

It was very hot/humid yesterday. I fell asleep about 9:15a and woke up at 1:30p. Soaking wet Dehydrated. The sun had shifted far enough to the west that it was beating against my windows. Radiant heat baking everything in the room. Never did fall back to sleep so it has been a very long "day" for me.

17 fares / 119 miles / 1st quarter $200 bracket

Those that won't be back here until Monday, have a great weekend. Everyone else have a great Friday!

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kihei Morning

Kihei Afternoon

A Kihei Beach

Kihei
Looking North

Kihei Shoreline

***

99130



"Let's all be careful out there!"

THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

NO ENTRIES/RE-ENTRIES/ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED


A vehicle exited the south entrance to the "Triangle" about 9:30p. Drove directly across South Kihei Road, over the curb, through the fencing and trees into Kalama Park and struck a person in the park. The vehicle then left the scene. The injured party was transported to MMMC. The fatal accident response team was NOT called out, which indicates that it was not an apparent fatal. The image was a very long time exposure, hence the blurriness.

I picked up my best fare of the shift at 11:12p from the Prince, way out in Makena. A lady from the San Jose, CA USA area, here for a wedding today. She needed to go to Safeway to do some shopping and "Would you be so kind as to wait for me?". Mileage alone on that trip would be just under $60. DUH!!

"Not a problem,Miss."

She was inside Safeway for almost 1-1/2 hours! She tipped more than $20 at the end. She also had an interesting story A little over a decade ago she was employed by a major car rental company in the "Bay area". She and her co-workers were robbed and taken hostage. Threatened with execution unless the robbers got more money than the $800 the agency had on hand.

"You know how people say that your life passes before your eyes when you think you are about to die?" She asked.

"Yes. I do."

"That didn't happen to me. All I saw was a blank slate. Nothing on it."

"Thats when you were reborn, 'Susan'. The moment your new life started."

"You are absolutely right. Thats how I look at it. I am a completely different person today than I was then. I suffered from a long bout of post traumatic stress but have finally come to terms with the whole issue and am happier than I have ever been."

It felt good speaking with her.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what company the owner of this vehicle might be associated with? The first two don't count.

10 fares / 92 miles / 3rd quarter $100 bracket

***

As I stated earlier, when ONE-NINE's odometer reached 99,000 miles that would be the closure of accepting guesses for the 100,000 date. I turned over 99,000 miles at 3:16a today. I will revise the CONTEST post in a while to reflect the remaining entrants. The winner will be the person who comes closest to the date/time that ONE-NINE turns over 100,000 miles without exceeding the actual date/time. It should occur sometime next week.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Flash Flood
This is what we need badly.
Okay, maybe not THIS much
but close

Kamaole Beach

Beach Flora

Another Kihei Beach

***

99011



"Let's all be careful out there!"