AND SO ENDS

ANOTHER WEEK

The next time you find yourself on a plane, sitting next to someone who cannot resist chattering to you endlessly, I urge you to quietly pull your laptop out of your bag, carefully open the screen (ensuring the irritating person next to you can see it), and hit this link.

I have mentioned the problem we have been having with the driver who dispatches on Saturday nights. Last night, Hardin (#25) was holding the phone when the owner transfered the calls. He decided to passively resist turning it over to "The Professor". Amazingly, all of the drivers made money on this shift. The change over was finally made between 10pm 11pm and suddenly "The Professor" started having an influx of personal "specials". Prior to that, he didn't have any. I think the guys on Sunday and Monday, the other two nights that "The Professor" works, are going to work out a method of preventing him from acquiring the phone. None of us want to dispatch but we also don't want to be cheated. It really torques your jaw when you have to work with a cheat and crook. His actions steal money from the rest of us. The alternative plan is to throw him a "blanket party" in some distant cane field one night.

It was a generally slow night. Didn't get my first run until after 8pm. A little pu-pu from The Shops to the Renaissance. As I pulled up to the entry the male passenger asked, "Would you like to take us to the airport?"

"Sure. When would you like to go?"
"Oh, about five minutes from now."
"Not a problem. I'll just wait for you folks right here."

They left to gather their luggage and I let the meter continue to "click".

"ONE-NINE"
"ONE-NINE GO."
"ONE-NINE. THIS RUN WILL BE CONTINUING TO OGG."
"TEN-FOUR, ONE-NINE. WAY TO GO (laughs)"

Now that was a good start, finally.

When I returned to Kihei, I lucked into a long roundtrip run from a residence in central Kihei to Blockbuster and then to a pizza parlor and finally back home. A young couple planning to watch some videos and pig out on pizza. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

Between 7pm and 2am I booked 7 runs. From 2am to 5am I booked another 7. Obviously my solo hours were very busy.

I was looking over my notepad and seeing what business was like last year. Back then a slow night was anything below $200 on the meter and I was usually bordering around $300 on the "clock". This year $200 is a good night and often I barely meter $100. Like I said, business has been really shitty.

Well, today is THE SUPER BOWL. The annual extravaganza of idiocy. I hope your team wins. If I wake up, I will go over to Judy's to watch some of it. I enjoy the spectacle more than the sport. I don't even know which two teams are playing nor do I really care. The outcome of the game will not have a minute effect on my life nor on world events.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

THE BIG ISLAND

Kiluea Volcano

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"Let's all be careful out there!"

LOOKIN' GOOD, BRAH!

MO' BETTA MONEY

I failed to mention in yesterday's post that there had been a canceled departure on Thursday night. The airport concierge had called us but since only TMR and I were working, we had to decline. We were just too busy handling our in-town runs. Oh, if you guessed the airline as America West, you're a winner. Yes, the airline whose slogan should be "We'll get you there in OUR own good time" didn't make it out. Again. This benefited The Grand. Since they had that last minute "group" cancellation this week, they had mucho rooms available and were easily able to accommodate the 50, or so, "check-ins". At the end of my shift, I called the owner and told him to anticipate about 50 unscheduled returns to OGG during Friday and we did get them, scattered throughout the day and night shifts. When I logged in we were humping and all the cabs were doing round robins from The Grand to OGG the first couple of hours. I even got two OGG's and a couple of good "town" runs and had metered nearly $150 by 10pm. I nearly doubled that amount by the time my night ended.

Of the 14 trips I did, only 4 were not "tourist". Maybe the tide is finally going to turn to the better.

Had one interesting, and profitable, fare last night. Early in the evening I had taken a couple, out of Melbourne (Big Smoke), Victoria, Australia, from The Shops to the "Triangle". About 1:45am, Hardin (#25) picked up the female half and returned her to The Prince. She had lost her husband and was returning to their hotel. Hardin broadcast a description of him in case any of us happened to spot him. He was distinctive looking. How many 6 foot tall white guys do you see sporting blonde "dreadlocks"?

Not finding him at the hotel, she calls back at 2:15am and requests a pickup from The Prince. She wants to go searching for him. So, from 2:30am until 3:15am, she and I cruise the "Triangle", check with all the open businesses, and park at the perimeter of Kalama ("needle") Park while she screams his name into the darkness. I check with MPD, in case they had made any contact. When I dropped her back at The Prince, I suggested that she should probably call the police and file a missing person report. Apparently, he may have wandered into Kalama Park. She said he was intoxicated and they had had a disagreement. He may have found a place to sleep in the park and, if so, I sure hope he doesn't wake up dead. That is not beyond the realm of possibility. My longtime readers know my opinion about that place. They are/were supposed to depart today. That "Wheres Waldo" run metered out at just a hair under $50 and she let me "keep the change".

Please, if you call for a cab and the dispatcher asks you where you are, DO NOT give him/her a long winded description of where you want to go to before telling us where you are at. That will definitely cause you to hear the proverbial [CLICK] in your ear as we move on to the next call. Be aware that most dispatchers diligently enforce the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) rule.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

BIG ISLAND

Kiluea Volcano

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

TO MY GRANDSON, EVAN

He turns 3 today.

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Last night was these two ladies final evening on the island. They return to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, today.

~Karly & Jayme~

If you added Tuesday night's meter with Wednesday night's meter and then doubled that sum, that is what Thursday night total was. Logged in to find 8 cabs working. 5 day shift and 3 night shift. With that many cabs on duty the "pickins" were pretty thin. Normal attrition eventually eroded that figure down to one day cab and two night cabs. By midnight only TMR and I were left and we just kept motating around our neck of the island. Never really pushed hard but, with only two cabs on, we also never stopped. The majority of my runs were tourists for a change.

I feel sorry for one young bride. Her, and hubby-to-be, and some other friends did the usual final night of bar-hopping to celebrate their last night of singledom. We moved the group a few times. At bar close, I picked up the groom and two male friends to return them to their hotel. The two friends boarded as soon as I arrived but we had to wait for the Lothario. He was asking everyone he could speak to where he could find a hooker(s). He was the classic example of "just add alcohol = instant asshole". Want to bet that he has an affair within the first week of their return to home after the honeymoon? As big of a prick as he was, he'll probably have one while on his honeymoon. I give the marriage a maximum life of two years and that is only if she is very naive.

My final run of the shift was a 6:00am to OGG from The Grand, which explains why today's post is so late. A sweet 22 year old lass from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This was her first time traveling alone. She had spent time here and was continuing on to Australia today where she would spend time along the Queensland area of the Great Barrier Reef. I didn't get her pic but she is as cute as the dickens. Her name is Jessica.

The latest storm front passed yesterday and the island is now covered in a mass of cool air. At the end of yesterday's shift the air temp was about 76f and this morning it was 66f. The local population complained about the "cold" weather. Personally, it wasn't that uncomfortable. Kept ONE-NINE's interior at about 73f the entire night. When a front passes and the "trades" return the windward side of the islands get the moisture blown back towards them and some moderate rain. It was showery in Kihei all night and was pouring at the airport this morning.

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I have nearly 100 pics, from the USGS, of the Kiluea Volcano taken since it started erupting in 1982 or 1983. Today's PICTURE GALLERY is a small selection.

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

THE BIG ISLAND

Kiluea Volcano

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"