BEAUTY

AND THE BEACH

Image Courtesy Of:
MAUI ACTION PHOTOS
Mahalo, Van!

***

It was a night of action, adventure and excitement. For everyone, except me.
5 "10-13's" (no-load/no-show). Not my personal best worst but just one shy of that infamous figure. Other cabs getting dispatched to OGGs or long dinner runs. I kept getting pu-pus that never showed up. And while I was waiting for those "no-shows", the cabs behind me raked in the moola.

First run of the shift was a medium length dinner return from town to Wailea. A family from Moscow, Russia. $13.70 fare and he hands me a $100 bill at the destination. I tell him that I don't have enough cash to change it out. I didn't understand his mutterings in Russian but I am sure I was being royally cussed out as he and the missus searched her purse for the $15 I was eventually given. There has been a large contingency of Russians at the Kea Lani this week. I think I am the only driver that received any form of a tip from any of them.

Later in the evening I picked up a nice family out of El Lay from Safeway back to Wailea. They expressed an interest in living on Mau'i when they reached their sunset years. I told them that it is not as idyllic as it seems from a tourist POV. On any given day 100 people move here from the mainland. One year later maybe 1 of those is still on Mau'i. They can't adapt to the culture shock. We are the richest "third world" nation and the operative phrase is "THIRD WORLD". The way things run here is like nowhere else in America. I've harped on this before, as my regular readers are aware. Mau'i is not Lodi nor Springfield and is definitely not El Lay, "Shy Town" or NYC. Anyone thinking about living here should probably take an extended leave-of-absence before selling the ol' family estate. Come and rent a place for a year before casting your lot. This way you have something to fall back on when everything goes to hell-in-a-handbasket.

9 fares / 105 miles / 2nd quarter $100 bracket

***

Well, I made it through the week. I sure hope this Quasimodo hunchbacked stance I've developed starts fading over my days off.

I know, I know. Life's a bitch and then you die.

Two days off!

I plan to sleep through most of them. Alone, sadly.

I'll be back for Monday. Hope you will be too.

Sorry about the blurry image of the "hotrod" above. There was some sort of car show going on at Azeka-Mauka Shopping Center last night. I didn't have time to stop and snapped that image on-the-fly.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Gated Home
Wailea

Wailea Beachwalk

Wailea Seascapes

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98201



"Let's all be careful out there!"