A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

A REALLY GOOD NIGHT

It wasn't very busy last night but I did get some decent fares.

Started the night a little past 7p and was 3rd up in the Wailea queue. We had 8 cabs on the road and "Crazy" Brian was dispatching. The 2 cabs in front of me each got hotel-to-hotel pupu runs and then my number was called. Imagine my surprise when, at 7:25p, I am sent to the Four Seasons for a trip to the Westin, in Ka'anapali. Three people from Japan. Metered out $95.30 on that one, with a $4.70 tip on the 51 minute/30 mile (48 km) journey. Get back to Kihei and sit. By that time we were down to 6 cabs working.

About 9:40p I am assigned a fare from Maui Ocean Center, in Ma'alaea, to Henry's, our "bikers bar". $27.80 on the meter and a $2.20 tip for the 15 minute/8 mile (13 km) trek.

See a trend here? Great runs, lousy tips.

By 11p we were down to just 4 cabs. 3 at 1a. 2 at 1:30a and then just me after 2a. The remaining 5 fares of my shift were all "in-town" but each of them tipped handsomely. Over-all I made good money, especially considering it was a Tuesday night. If the rest of the week continues this pattern it should be pretty good [KNOCK ON WOOD!].

7 fares / 137 miles / top quarter of the $100 bracket

***

If you have difficulty negotiating a hotel's driveway, then you are probably above a blood alcohol level of 0.08%. At least the woman driving this rental didn't injure anyone, never made it to the street and didn't have to puke up the $1,000 cash bail. She was lucky.

***

Shopping carts, the most general term used in the US, have really evolved over my lifetime.
As a young parent, we didn't have them with built-in "child safety seats".
As an aging old fart, I like the new "mini-carts".
Lets face it. I seldom have need to push one of those big ones around anymore. Unless, of course, I am trying to get some passed out fare to their home. Then I typically need a forklift. Never a pretty young lass weighing 7 stone or so.

***

And thus ends another chapter of:

HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONARE IN 100 YEARS

See ya mañana.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kihei/Wailea
From
Ma'alaea

Challenging Neptune

Rainbow

Haleakala

Front Street
Lahaina

***

90853



"Let's all be careful out there!"

A WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN"

GOING ON

~ story from Mel's Internet Universe ~

A swarm of small earthquakes have hit the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes Natonal Park area for more than 24 hours now. The quakes range from undetectable micro quakes to locally felt tremors of 3.2 to 4 on the Richter Scale. All of the quakes have been centered at Kilauea Volcano’s upper rift zone several miles above the current, active eruption.

As a precaution, park rangers evacuated a handful of campers within the national park and closed most of the park yesterday.

The earthquake swarm could be a signal that a change may be happening with the current eruption and that a new eruption could begin. Scientists are not exactly sure and say this is unusual activity for the volcano. The earthquakes also mean that hot lava is moving fairly close to the surface, about 1 to 2 miles under the volcano.

I thought I had "sensed", not really "felt", a few small temblors this weekend.

***

My son, Rob, called me last night from California, just as I was getting ready to head over to Judy's. Everybody is doing well and I got a kick out of him towards the end of our conversation. He was "walking" his dog, Harley, but Rob wasn't walking. Instead he was riding his new "long" board. Which is a larger than normal skateboard. He'll be 39 next month and I can't think of that many men his age who can still ride a board. He has enjoyed skateboarding for almost 30 years now.

God! I AM getting old.

***

Dinner tonight was at Aroma d'italia. We shared an antipasto salad and some cheese raviolis. Our first time out to a restaurant in a couple of months. As always, the food was ummm, ummm good. Our usual server, Robin, had seen her pic on this blog from the last time we were there. She liked that I mentioned that diners should tip her well. These past few months have been slow for her too.

***

"Queen" Nora is now 3 months old! This a pic of her, being held by my sweetheart Alissa, "Auntie Lissie".

More pics available at The Swarty Family. Link on sidebar.

***

Judy mentioned that she had seen a story about Lori Stewart's (This just in) efforts to get "beanie babies" and soccer balls to the GI's stationed with her son in Iraq, These young guys are giving them to the children there. Make a kid happy and you make a friend of the parents. A universal "law". Lori posted about having done a TV "interview" and now the national TVnews networks are beginning to pick up on the story.

Think you might be able to help? Toys For Troops is her website dedicated to this most generous cause. Now, if only some politico with power can step up to the plate and allow free postage on letters and packages being shipped to Iraq and other military points in the middle east.

If this grass roots movement saves just one GI's life, it'd be worth it.

***

Everyone have a great day!

Talk to you tomorrow. After work.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Haleakala Sunrise

Double Rainbow

"Lets Go Surfin' Now..."

A Kihei Beach

Humpback Whales

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SOME CHANGES

ARE IN THE WORKS

Awoke a little after 5p, yesterday. My body really was tired. Not long afterwards Larry, the owner, called me. The poor guy is frustrated. He can't find anyone to cover dispatch duties on Sunday night. The older drivers don't want to do an extra night and the new drivers just flat refuse to accept the job. Lazy ass SOBs. Its not like GOOD drivers are that easy to find. Our unemployment rate on Mau'i is less than 2% and all employers are having trouble finding qualified people to fill positions. Drivers who are honest, reliable and have a clean abstract (driving record) is problematic and rare.

He made me a very nice offer and I accepted. Starting next Sunday I will be dispatching from my home. Don't have to get "gussied up" or drive. A portable radio and company cell phone will be delivered to me each Sunday evening and I will dispatch from 6p to 2a. This means extra cash in my pocket and I can still kick back, watch TV and relax. Only the first few hours are active. Much past 9:30p and things slow waaaay down. Fixed base dispatching will entail a minor change in the paperwork from mobile dispatching, but that will be easy. I'll just be recording things on paper that I normally just keep in my head.

I might even write a simple dispatch "log" program to simplify everything. Its been a long time since I have written a program and it will be interesting to see what I can accomplish. May take me a month or so to do it.

Thats it for today. Dinner with Judy tonight and then back to the "salt mine" on Tuesday evening. Hope to "see" you tomorrow.

A special HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my friends Bev & David. I've been internet friends with them since 1997. They met each other via the internet, back when we were all WebTvers, fell in love and have now been married for 2 years today. Love you guys.

They read me almost daily.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Humpback Whales
Mother & Baby

Hawai'iana

Canna Lily

Hana Side Waterfall

Myna Bird

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"

AHHHHH.....

THE END OF ANOTHER WEEK

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Looking down on Kihei & Wailea
from Waikapu about 12:45a, today.

Some fares are fun

~ Dick & Traci ~

Others are just strange.
Last night capped off a really good week for me. Metered in the second quarter of the $200 bracket. No one out of control, no one truly obnoxious. I stayed busy the entire shift, except for the normal lull between 11p and 1a and even that period wasn't barren.

There were 7 cabs working when I started, that whittled down to 5 by 9p and then just Hardin, last nights phone holder (#25), TMR (#27) and ONE-NINE from midnight to 2a.

A little past 1a, Hardin responded to a request at the Maui Sunset condos in north central Kihei. 2 people going to the Kea Lani. They were "no-shows". Just as I took over the phone, about 2a, I get another call from these people. Now they needed 2 cabs. One couple to the Kea Lani and a second couple to the Four Seasons. Hardin and I both rolled on it. And then waited. I called back the number and some extremely intoxicated male answered and said they would be right down. And we waited. Called back again and told the same guy that he had one minute to make his presence known or we were leaving. 60 seconds later, we left, empty. Around 2:30a the Kea Lani called requesting a cab for their guests needing to return to the hotel from, you guessed it, the Maui Sunset. I told the nice lady that I was declining the call since we had already been by there twice and I wasn't going to be a "three time loser". Explained the rationale for my decision and she understood. I wonder if they walked or spent the night? Honestly, I really don't give a shit either way.

Dollar-wise, the high points were an OGG, assigned as soon as I logged on and a midnight run to MMMC (Maui Memorial Medical Center, a/k/a/ "hospital"), a nine year old boy who wasn't feeling good and his Dad. The rest of the night it was just in-town pupus, few of which exceeded $10.

I did locate a new street. A Wailea subdivision that is still under construction but now has a few residences occupied. If you are interested, these are new condos in the $3-million range. Thats cheap, buy 2!

150 miles / 14 fares /

Prim (#22) and Wally (#05) were both "10-1" by 4a and Flor (#27) would be in around 4:30a, followed by Murph at 5a. I was home by 4"30a.

Monday will be dinner with Judy and today, when I rejoin the world this evening, I'll be scouring the web for more images for The Picture Gallery. I have actually run out! Can you believe that?

Everybody enjoy your weekend. Except Qz, where it is already Monday morning.

And, at least in "The States", don't forget to wish your Dad a Happy Father's Day.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

"Surf's Up!"

North Coast Of Moloka'i
"Jurassic Park"

Hawai'iana

Hula Dancers

Reflections

***

90482



"Let's all be careful out there!"

"CLUSTER FUCK"

THATS A GOOD DEFINITION FOR LAST NIGHT

We have 14 cabs in our fleet. We just recently added 2 more. When I took over the phone, I had 11 of them on the road. Thats the "stretch" I have been looking for. And, taking a bow & patting myself on the back, I did one hell of a good job. An A+!! By 8p, I was down to 8 cabs. Only had 6 left at 9p and just 4 after 11p.

I never left the southside during my night. The only driver who didn't. And while I metered just over $200, I was the low man on the totem pole. My longterm readers know that this is usually the case on the nights I have the phone. I could have easily added another $200 to my night, if I was a cheat but I always play by the rules. I couldn't live with myself if I violated my personal Code of Ethics.

It was a typical Friday night. Dinner runs, OGG trips and a shitpot full of drunks (but not one puker, in anyone's cab, thank god).

As the night wore on, the IQ of the callers diminished, expotentally. Doesn't anybody EVER figure out where they are before they call? Not in Kihei. It must be some unwritten rule that I missed.

The other frustrating parts of the night were the concierge departments in the various hotels. I wish they would hire people for whom English is not a second, or third, language. With accents so heavy that I have to have them repeat their requests 3 or more times until I can finally understand them. Or they call and just start talking. Never pausing for breathe or identifying who/where they are. My other irritant last night was one hotel's valet desk that called for pickups, 3 times. Each time it was my call to handle and each time I would arrive, speak with the person who had made the request, and they didn't know what happened to the guests and once even denied they had called.

Had an MPD request a bit past 2:30a. My friend, Bill Melton - MPD, was giving a couple a big break. He had them dead-to-rights on DUI. I was to take them home to Makawao, about a $90 trip. Before I had started moving the guy tells me to just drive around the block and bring him back to his truck. He still planned to drive home. I told him that I wouldn't do that and we could just halt the bullshit right now and they could get a ride in the "blue light" taxi, instead.

We didn't go to Makawao, naturally. Instead, I took them about 4 miles north to the "Park'N'Ride" lot at the junction of SR-30 & SR-310, just outside of Ma'alaea. While enroute he called a friend in Waikapu, about 3 miles east of the junction, and had him meet us. This moron still intended on driving his vehicle home. Dropped them and called MPD. Told them to relay to Bill what I had heard.

The solo hours stayed very active. I had a scheduled 4:15a to OGG from Wailea but I called "Murph" (ONE-NINE's weekend "day" driver) and he came out early to cover it. I just didn't have the energy left to do it, safely.

I guesstimate that I processed between 250 and 300 calls last night. About 1 call every 60 seconds. But it wasn't spread out that evenly. We had some lull periods around midnight and spurts where the phone was beeping in my ear as I answered another call. Never stopping. By 4a my brain was mush.

16 fares / 127 miles / Bottom of the $200 bracket

The first night this week that I didn't double last week's meter.

Oh, the above image is of one of the screens for the Maui Film Festival. This one is at the Wailea Marriott and was just visible from the far west end of the Shops At Wailea parking lot, just past the Wailea Beach Villas main tower. Too far away to really see or hear anything.

***

One more night to go.

Y'all have a wonderful weekend.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Kihei Surfside Sunset

~ image courtesy ~
~ Mike Weldon ~

I'ao Needle

~ image courtesy ~
~ Mike Weldon ~

Molokini

~ image courtesy ~
~ Mike Weldon ~

Hawai'ian Sunset

Reflections

***

90142



"Let's all be careful out there!"