Sunday, November 25, 2018
11/24/18
Incredibly dead Saturday night. 4 rides. But it was more than enough to pay for that tank of gas that I paid $1.95 a gallon for.
11/23/18
Rides where the rider and I talk for the entirety of the trip, are few and far between. I had two tonight.
I did not know there was a Deep Eddy Cabaret. I have driven by it a thousand times and had not noticed it. I certainly know it is there after tonight. Three trips in a row from there tonight and interestingly all three had women as a passennger and two of them were married couples based on what I overheard.
The second couple that I picked up from there were considerably drunk and had me laughing my ass off. They wanted something to eat and for me to stop at the first place that I saw. The only thing I could think of was Whataburger on Guadelupe near the campus so we blasted our way over there. They were kind enough to order a taquito meal for me as well. After leaving Whataburger the lady started trying "drunk call" friends. She mentioned one of their names and they guy said to me, oh, that is the hot one with the nice breasts. His wife in the back yells out, "how the fuck do you know? You don't know that!" "Don't be a fuckin' moron." "Yeah, she does have nice breasts."
On a similar note, later in the night I had a rider that I dropped of at Rick's Cabaret. Uber LUX. I usually get one of those about once a month.
Upon the completion of a small amount of research, it appears that Deep Eddy Cabaret is not a Gentleman's Club as I was somewhat insinuating. That is an error on my part as the word Cabaret does not necessarily refer to a place where naked women entertain customers. It would appear that I have learned something today.
I did not know there was a Deep Eddy Cabaret. I have driven by it a thousand times and had not noticed it. I certainly know it is there after tonight. Three trips in a row from there tonight and interestingly all three had women as a passennger and two of them were married couples based on what I overheard.
The second couple that I picked up from there were considerably drunk and had me laughing my ass off. They wanted something to eat and for me to stop at the first place that I saw. The only thing I could think of was Whataburger on Guadelupe near the campus so we blasted our way over there. They were kind enough to order a taquito meal for me as well. After leaving Whataburger the lady started trying "drunk call" friends. She mentioned one of their names and they guy said to me, oh, that is the hot one with the nice breasts. His wife in the back yells out, "how the fuck do you know? You don't know that!" "Don't be a fuckin' moron." "Yeah, she does have nice breasts."
On a similar note, later in the night I had a rider that I dropped of at Rick's Cabaret. Uber LUX. I usually get one of those about once a month.
Upon the completion of a small amount of research, it appears that Deep Eddy Cabaret is not a Gentleman's Club as I was somewhat insinuating. That is an error on my part as the word Cabaret does not necessarily refer to a place where naked women entertain customers. It would appear that I have learned something today.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
11/21/18
A Wednesday before Thanksgiving you would think to be lifeless. Indeed it felt like downtown had been abandoned. I turned on the app and immediately received a request for a pick up at Perry's. Even before I had dropped them off another request came in. It was across rhe street at a place called Perla's. Maybe I am about to be surprised again like I was on Monday. Nope. I almost made it all the way home before the next one.
I have now completed my first non-human ride. The request showed on the app to be at a place called Biryani-N-Grill. I pulled up and the app appeared to be stuck but I payed it no attention. Then I received a call from the rider asking when I would be arriving. I told him that I wss right outside rhe front door of the restaurant. He came outside and signaled for me to roll down the passenger side window. He showed me a plastic shopping bag that had some other paper bags inside. He asked if I could take it to his freind. I breifly hesitated with my answer as all kinds of thoughts are going through my head but then told him that I could do it. The app was still acting stupid so I wrote down the address where I was going. I headed out thinking about all of the possibilities of this scenario. Was it a bomb? I said a quick prayer just in case. Was it a practical joke of some kind that will get me punched in the face when i deliver it? I can smellbthe food so it is probably not anything bad. The app is still being stupid and now my phone is frozen. I pull over to get it going and end up having to power the phone off to get it to clear. I started the app again and "boom", everything started working correctly. I pulled to the drop off address and took the bag to the front door. A woman answered and when i told her that the food was from the restaurant she seemed to have been expecting it. This all happened close to home so I surrendered the remainder of the night to other capable drivers.
11/19/18
I really thought that this Monday would be slow due to it being a holiday week but that was not the case. Mondays have become a staple in my routine. They are just as busy as a Saturday night without the alcohol factor.
One young couple was excited to be going out for the third time. Visually they didnt look like a match at all. She had a more mature and business-like look where he had the jeans and leather jacket thing going on with a big mohawk haircut. However, based on their conversations, they are a pretty good match.
When the app shoes that a tollway is going to be used, I ask if the customer agrees with using the tollway. In today's case, the lady was on her phone and by the time she was finished, there were not any good options of non-tollway roads. And I offered anyway, then opted for a toll free route. The route almost took us full circle and the passenger lady was upset. I made a mental note of the destination address and then closed the ride, letting her know what I was doing. It was at that point a miracle happened. She was suddenly the happiest person on the planet. I will no longer being offering alternate routes.
Lots of riders with a British accent.
It has been well over a year since I had a repeat rider and have only had a handful in over 3 years.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
11/17/18
Anticipating a busy night even though I had completely forgot about the UT game. First ride was from Avery Ranch to North Italia in downtown. Good way to start out. Upon dropping them off on beautiful 2nd Street, I received another request at Trinity and MLK. Easy enough. NOT! This is when I was reminded of the football game. Numerous street closures and it took a while and several deviations from the navigation to get to where I could pick them up. They did get picked up and off to The Domain we went. Other than a midnight drive by on Mopac, this would be the last time I saw the streets of downtown Austin for the night.
Had the first completely Spanish passenger and conversation. I can tell a hard working Mexican male a mile away. They are polite and have a certain confidence in their voice. This guy was certainly one of those hard workers.
Young lady was out with a friend for the first time since her and her husband had a new child. She was riding by herself using her friends Uber. Fun conversation about the Jalepeno Ranch sauce that Chuy's serves. That stuff is frikin' awesome.
Shortest ride of the night was a young female that lived close by her work but felt that it was too dark for her to walk home. Good decision. The younger ones usually do not tip but I noticed the next day that she did.
Picked up a group of people that were going to The Post Tavern. The gentleman setting shotgun asked me to tell him about an interesting experience while driving rideshare. I told him about the bachelorette party that I picked up on the south side of the Congress bridge and how they were all completely wasted already, handing out all of the windows of the vehicle and "blessing" everyone we passed with their little wands that had a penus on the end of it. I told him about how the traffic was terrible and we were stuck on the Congress street bridge with these ladies coming on to all the guys and waving their penus wands around for all to see. I thought we were going to get out assed kicked. There was a brief laugh then he went into information sharing mode about how it is natural for males to seek somewhere to stick their penus. He had seen a documentary or something and males of various species naturally look for something to stick their "pee pee" in. His wife is one of the people in the group and they are all a little set back that he is telling the story but all are laughing and enjoying the moment. He shook my hand as he was getting out. That doesn't happen very often and for me is always a sign that they enjoyed the trip. I know that I did.
A request for a pick up in downtown Pflugerville came in. The address was the Red Rooster. I pulled up and a female came over and I asked if she was the rider. She said yes but it was for a friend and he is soooo drunk. He is just going home but he is soooo drunk. "Will he need a barf bag?", I asked. The woman turned around and yelled, "HEY! ARE YOU GONNA NEED A BARF BAG?" I never did get an answer but when I saw it was an older man, I wasn't as worried about it. He looked like a seasoned veteran at this kind of thing. He and his friend got in the vehicle and he wouldn't close the door. He kept talking to the lady who was trying to get him on his way and allow the traffic we were holding up, to flow. We finally got on our way and his first words to me were, "does that fuckin thing tell us the right place to go?" I told him what it said and was okay with that but then asked what mother fuckin service is this? "Uber" I said. Fuckin son-of-a-bitches. Fuckin' Uber. Shit, I think I really fucked up. I told me ex-wife that I loved her. Was that the wrong thing to do?" I told that it probably was not as long as no-one did anything wrong. "Well that piece of shit husband she has now probably want like it. Fuck him. I do still love her. Fuck it, we'll see what happens." "It's the next street up there. Bunch of fuckin niggers in there always shooting everything. You got a gun?" I hadn't heard anyone use that word in a long time and I didn't answer his question about a gun. "Turn left and then turn left again. Do you know how to fuckin drive?" "I am following your directions so we are depending on you getting us to where we need to be", I told him in a confident voice. That seemed to shut him out, for about 5 seconds. "There's some of them fuckin niggers", he said. I didn't see anyone and as we turned the corner to where he said he lived I saw 2 Hispanic ladies to which he referred to as niggers as well. He got out and turned to look at me. "You take care of yourself", I demanded. He smiled and gave a kind of a salute wave off thing to me. Wow! Glad this was a short trip. I immediately received another ride request but stopped on the way to look in the back and see if everything was in order.
The longest ride of the night started near Parmer and Anderson Mill and went down to Southwest Parkway. I was struggling to stay awake, which usually does not happen. On the trip back I had the app set to find rides going towards my home address. It was after midnight and there is usually always someone going home at that time. Not tonight. I made it all the way to the Whataburger at 45 and Lake Creek. I felt obliged to stop at Whataburger and do a quality control check of the taquitos.
Had the first completely Spanish passenger and conversation. I can tell a hard working Mexican male a mile away. They are polite and have a certain confidence in their voice. This guy was certainly one of those hard workers.
Young lady was out with a friend for the first time since her and her husband had a new child. She was riding by herself using her friends Uber. Fun conversation about the Jalepeno Ranch sauce that Chuy's serves. That stuff is frikin' awesome.
Shortest ride of the night was a young female that lived close by her work but felt that it was too dark for her to walk home. Good decision. The younger ones usually do not tip but I noticed the next day that she did.
Picked up a group of people that were going to The Post Tavern. The gentleman setting shotgun asked me to tell him about an interesting experience while driving rideshare. I told him about the bachelorette party that I picked up on the south side of the Congress bridge and how they were all completely wasted already, handing out all of the windows of the vehicle and "blessing" everyone we passed with their little wands that had a penus on the end of it. I told him about how the traffic was terrible and we were stuck on the Congress street bridge with these ladies coming on to all the guys and waving their penus wands around for all to see. I thought we were going to get out assed kicked. There was a brief laugh then he went into information sharing mode about how it is natural for males to seek somewhere to stick their penus. He had seen a documentary or something and males of various species naturally look for something to stick their "pee pee" in. His wife is one of the people in the group and they are all a little set back that he is telling the story but all are laughing and enjoying the moment. He shook my hand as he was getting out. That doesn't happen very often and for me is always a sign that they enjoyed the trip. I know that I did.
A request for a pick up in downtown Pflugerville came in. The address was the Red Rooster. I pulled up and a female came over and I asked if she was the rider. She said yes but it was for a friend and he is soooo drunk. He is just going home but he is soooo drunk. "Will he need a barf bag?", I asked. The woman turned around and yelled, "HEY! ARE YOU GONNA NEED A BARF BAG?" I never did get an answer but when I saw it was an older man, I wasn't as worried about it. He looked like a seasoned veteran at this kind of thing. He and his friend got in the vehicle and he wouldn't close the door. He kept talking to the lady who was trying to get him on his way and allow the traffic we were holding up, to flow. We finally got on our way and his first words to me were, "does that fuckin thing tell us the right place to go?" I told him what it said and was okay with that but then asked what mother fuckin service is this? "Uber" I said. Fuckin son-of-a-bitches. Fuckin' Uber. Shit, I think I really fucked up. I told me ex-wife that I loved her. Was that the wrong thing to do?" I told that it probably was not as long as no-one did anything wrong. "Well that piece of shit husband she has now probably want like it. Fuck him. I do still love her. Fuck it, we'll see what happens." "It's the next street up there. Bunch of fuckin niggers in there always shooting everything. You got a gun?" I hadn't heard anyone use that word in a long time and I didn't answer his question about a gun. "Turn left and then turn left again. Do you know how to fuckin drive?" "I am following your directions so we are depending on you getting us to where we need to be", I told him in a confident voice. That seemed to shut him out, for about 5 seconds. "There's some of them fuckin niggers", he said. I didn't see anyone and as we turned the corner to where he said he lived I saw 2 Hispanic ladies to which he referred to as niggers as well. He got out and turned to look at me. "You take care of yourself", I demanded. He smiled and gave a kind of a salute wave off thing to me. Wow! Glad this was a short trip. I immediately received another ride request but stopped on the way to look in the back and see if everything was in order.
The longest ride of the night started near Parmer and Anderson Mill and went down to Southwest Parkway. I was struggling to stay awake, which usually does not happen. On the trip back I had the app set to find rides going towards my home address. It was after midnight and there is usually always someone going home at that time. Not tonight. I made it all the way to the Whataburger at 45 and Lake Creek. I felt obliged to stop at Whataburger and do a quality control check of the taquitos.
11/16/18
I failed and I felt so bad about it. I had accepted a ride request from a female to be picked up on rhe north side of rhe capital. As I pulled up there was a couple rhat lookwd like they were waiting for a ride but rhey did not look up when I arrived. I looked around and the only other person i saw was an elderly lady with a cane that was 30 yards away and slowly working her way up the walkway. I went farther up and started a u-turn to go back. There was no traffic anywhere around as I begin the u-turn when this idiot comes around the corner and down the street like he is trying to escape death or something. I was acroas the rode and about to make the final turn but he wasn't going to wait. Without even slowing down he shot his knotted up dreads through the shrinking gap between the front of my vehicle and the parked vehicle un front of me. Now I am pissed and trying to find my rider. I pulled up in an open parking spot at the address and didn't see anyone except the old lady with the cane trying to get off od the sidewalk and was hanging on to a sign pole to lower herself down. I didn't feel comfortable with the way I was parked, so I pulled out and went up a few more spaces. From there I waited and looked around for about 30 seconds and then decided to turn around again and park in a wide open space directly across from the address. As I pulled up I saw that the old lady with a cane had made it to the middle of the street. She had not looked my way on any of our previous encounters that would indicate that she was the rider, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to ask her. I pulled over and the moment my window had come down enough to allow outside influences in, I heard the old lady with the cane call out my name. My heart sank. "I am so sorry. I passed you two times and didn't realize you were the rider." She kept coming across the street and then informed me that she would be walking in front of my vehicle. She opened the front door and asked if was okay if she set in the front. "Of course", I said. "In fact, I would prefer it." "I really messed up on the pick-up and I apologize." I asked if she needed any help getting in and she did not answer me. She got in somewhat okay but then did ask if I could help here with the seat belt. The destination was south of town via Mopak. I attempted conversation several times to make her feel comfortable and there was a couple of brief exchanges. I got the impression that she was fine whether we talked or not. I usually do not pull up in the driveways of the passengers but I informed her that I would pull up in her driveway and come around to assist. I opened the door and she put up her arm in what appeared to be a gesture to request assistance. I reach to her arm and was about to lift a little when she said "no". I apologized and stepped back to give her some space. Based on the pick up and now the drop off experience, I really don't think she wanted help from me or anyone. She wasn't rude or grumpy, she just seemed to want to do everything on her own. She thanked me and went to her garage door and started trying to enter the code to open it. I begin to slowly back down the drive, leaving my lights on her until she make it safely into her house. It appeared that all had ended well but I was still on edge about how things had started.
They typical plan on Fridays is to get home at about 6pm and take the family out to dinner. Today, I was going to leave work as close to 5pm as possible, accept 1 ride then switch the app over to get rides that were on the way home. With the first ride going several miles south of downtown, it wasn't going to do much good to switch the app to my home address. Being south, everything was going to be on my way. Sure enough the next ride did get me a little closer to home but not very much. A gentleman going to the Moontower Saloon. As soon as I dropped him off, another request came in at an address not too far away. As the couple got into the vehicle, the lady asked me if these were my cigarettes. "SHIT!", I thought to myself, completely upset that I had not checked to make sure the vehicle was okay when the previous rider got out. Apparently he dropped his cigarettes and didn't notice it. The lady said she would throw them away at their destination, which was fine with me. They were going to the Frank Irwin Center, so that was going to at least get me back to downtown.
I knew that I was supposed to order pizza for this Friday's dinner and my severely altered plan had put everything in jeopardy. The moment I dropped of the riders, I went offline and ordered the pizza to be picked up. Arriving at Papa Johns Pizza, I discovered that I had ordered it from the wrong location. I was screwing up and everything was irritating me to no end. Although the night was going to be incredibly busy, I decided to play it safe and just stay home.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
11/15/18
I probably could have gone later than 8:30pm but the last ride was from downtown up to the Homewood Suites at 35 and Parmer. That was close enough to home that I headed West and went offline when not far from home.
Very interesting lady that was in the tech industry. Her fiancé is in politics. It was a short ride but one of the most interesting. She talked a lot about the mix of the two skill sets and it was all very interesting. In one portion of the conversation she talked about politics in California and how crazy the liberals get. Apparently, at a time not too long ago, there was a political hot topic of legislation that some were trying to get passed that would allow a 14 year old girl to get an abortion without consulting her parents. That is crazy talk.
Getting back to the last ride of the night. The two riders were discussing Pittsburgh and how it is more of a technology place than the image one may have in their heads. I shared with them that my only Pittsburgh experience was in the airport changing planes but that there was an announcement over the public address system where the lady announced a phone call on the white service phone for a Mr. Harry Long-rod. The second time she was saying it she stopped in mid-sentence and didn't say anything else. The two gentlemen laughed and one of them made a reference to a scene in the movie "Airplane" where there is an announcement for Captain Oveur that he had a call on the white courtesy phone. He walks over and picks up the red courtesy phone nearby and the announcers voice is heard over the phone saying, "no, I said the white phone". He picks up the white phone and the same voice can be heard saying "okay, I am connecting a call for you". We all laughed again.
Very interesting lady that was in the tech industry. Her fiancé is in politics. It was a short ride but one of the most interesting. She talked a lot about the mix of the two skill sets and it was all very interesting. In one portion of the conversation she talked about politics in California and how crazy the liberals get. Apparently, at a time not too long ago, there was a political hot topic of legislation that some were trying to get passed that would allow a 14 year old girl to get an abortion without consulting her parents. That is crazy talk.
Getting back to the last ride of the night. The two riders were discussing Pittsburgh and how it is more of a technology place than the image one may have in their heads. I shared with them that my only Pittsburgh experience was in the airport changing planes but that there was an announcement over the public address system where the lady announced a phone call on the white service phone for a Mr. Harry Long-rod. The second time she was saying it she stopped in mid-sentence and didn't say anything else. The two gentlemen laughed and one of them made a reference to a scene in the movie "Airplane" where there is an announcement for Captain Oveur that he had a call on the white courtesy phone. He walks over and picks up the red courtesy phone nearby and the announcers voice is heard over the phone saying, "no, I said the white phone". He picks up the white phone and the same voice can be heard saying "okay, I am connecting a call for you". We all laughed again.
11/12/18
Trying to control a runny nose and sneezing when customers are in the vehicle, is a torturous thing.
Mondays continue to be just as busy as weekend nights. Just a different type of customer. Went to the airport twice and both times I ended up getting pegged for a pick up as well. It works good that way in that I return to downtown with a rider instead of wandering back in the direction of downtown with no rider.
Mondays continue to be just as busy as weekend nights. Just a different type of customer. Went to the airport twice and both times I ended up getting pegged for a pick up as well. It works good that way in that I return to downtown with a rider instead of wandering back in the direction of downtown with no rider.
11/09/18
The map was on fire with the red overlay representing the demand. Just going online laid claim to a $3.75 bonus on the next ride which immediately popped up.
The moment I dropped off the first rider of this Friday morning, I received the next request and it appeared to be in the vicinity of Cedar Park Medical Center. A call was comimg in and it was from the rider. The location of the pickup was indeed the Cedar Park Medical Center. The emergency room had a patrent that was needing to go home and the ER staff had been trying for over an hour to get a taxi. She asked if I would be able to help and I told her that i would be right there and I would take care of it. On the way there I am imagining all of the different scenarios that I may be encountering in just a few moments.
I pulled up to the Emergency doors and they begin rolling the guy out in a wheel chair. Something had happened to his knee and it was wrapped up such that it looked like it had been something serious. The man looked really rough and unkept and I felt that I needed to prepare for the journey ahead. I started talking to him so I could get an idea of his level of awareness. To my surprise he was very well spoken and very polite. He loaded himself into the vehicle and I closed the door behind him. In almost a whisper the ER person said, "thank you sooo much". "I am going to give you a huge tip". I smiled and told her "you're welcome".
We verified the drop address and headed out. There was a short conversation and then he said to ease excuse him if he falls asleep on the way after what he went througn3 last night. Five seconds later he was snoring. A few minutes later he lowered the window and then there was snoring again. The poor guy was dead tired but was right on the spot to help guide me to his house. The navigation had it nailed down but I followed his directions anyway. We arrived, he shook my hand and demanded that i stay put as he could get out just fine.
I completed the ride in the app and turned back towards the main road. The results of the ride popped up and true to her word there was a $15 tip.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
11/07/18
Usually 8:00pm would not be a most optimal starting point for an evening of ride-share driving. Not the case tonight. Got a ping right out of the garage.
Picked up near Rio Grande and 16th street. Holy shit! That was a fox that just ran across the road. Not what I would expect to see in the middle of the city but then again, deer run all over the place so why not a fox as well. The rider was going to the airport and just as the last 2 trips to the airport, I received a request for a pick up the moment I had dropped off. The couple I picked up where headed right back where I had just came from.
Just as I dropped them off at a hotel, I received a ping for a rider just up the street. He was headed to Lakeway, which is a somewhat long trip, and asked if that was going to be okay. Of course it was okay. On the way to the drop off address, the rider stated that he had just had dinner with Dennis Quaid and last week with Richard Linklater. We had good conversation for the duration of the ride.
Upon dropping him off, I received another request nearby. This was the first time I had dropped off or picked a rider in Lakeway and now I had done it twice. I dropped this one off nearby and unbelievably received a third Lakeway request. Equally unbelievable was that they were headed north and would be dropped off near home.
I had one more rider that pushed me even closer to home and upon dropping him off, I declared that the night was finished.
Picked up near Rio Grande and 16th street. Holy shit! That was a fox that just ran across the road. Not what I would expect to see in the middle of the city but then again, deer run all over the place so why not a fox as well. The rider was going to the airport and just as the last 2 trips to the airport, I received a request for a pick up the moment I had dropped off. The couple I picked up where headed right back where I had just came from.
Just as I dropped them off at a hotel, I received a ping for a rider just up the street. He was headed to Lakeway, which is a somewhat long trip, and asked if that was going to be okay. Of course it was okay. On the way to the drop off address, the rider stated that he had just had dinner with Dennis Quaid and last week with Richard Linklater. We had good conversation for the duration of the ride.
Upon dropping him off, I received another request nearby. This was the first time I had dropped off or picked a rider in Lakeway and now I had done it twice. I dropped this one off nearby and unbelievably received a third Lakeway request. Equally unbelievable was that they were headed north and would be dropped off near home.
I had one more rider that pushed me even closer to home and upon dropping him off, I declared that the night was finished.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
11/05/18
Almost a steady back to back night of requests again. Not much out of the ordinary except a drunk woman that could barely talk but that was able to get out of the vehicle when we arrived at her destination.
I decided to set the address for home and head in that direction with a mostly un-eventful night behind me. Then another request came in. At the pick up point, the first passenger wanted me to tell the second passenger we he arrived, that I would not be able to take them to a gentleman's club. I did so when the second passenger arrived and there was just silence until the first passenger started laughing. We headed out and they begin talking about rider number two's girlfriend that he was thinking about asking to marry. That is all well and good but both riders are big fans of gentlemen's clubs and were wondering if that would cause a problem. But wait, the girlfriend is a stripper. How could that be a problem? Lots of very personal information exchanged between them as if I was not even there. Anyway, these passengers know what they are doing and are business owners of some kind. I dropped them off at the Yellow Rose and once again headed for home.
I decided to set the address for home and head in that direction with a mostly un-eventful night behind me. Then another request came in. At the pick up point, the first passenger wanted me to tell the second passenger we he arrived, that I would not be able to take them to a gentleman's club. I did so when the second passenger arrived and there was just silence until the first passenger started laughing. We headed out and they begin talking about rider number two's girlfriend that he was thinking about asking to marry. That is all well and good but both riders are big fans of gentlemen's clubs and were wondering if that would cause a problem. But wait, the girlfriend is a stripper. How could that be a problem? Lots of very personal information exchanged between them as if I was not even there. Anyway, these passengers know what they are doing and are business owners of some kind. I dropped them off at the Yellow Rose and once again headed for home.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
11/03/18
The night was busy with back to back requests, but it didn't feel busy.
First request I have had for someone specifically wanting to go to downtown Round Rock for the evening. There are numerous restaurants and bars in downtown Round Rock and this group was not wanting to deal with the madness of downtown Austin. Makes sense.
It was several requests before I ended up in downtown Austin. After dropping off on West 6th, I had a request from a little further over on West 6th right before Whole Foods. The app showed that the pick up was on the south side of the street. The only people that I saw there was a couple and they did not look like they were waiting for an Uber. It would have been hard to catch a ride when you are making out like it is the end of the world. I am sure they were about to get a ride to the closest apartment or hotel. I turned into the parking lot near this spectacle and was going to try and circle around and see where my passenger was. I then received a phone call from the passenger and she said they saw me turn into the parking lot and they were on the other side of 6th street from where I turned. I told them not to worry that I was circling back around and would be there in a few seconds. I looped around 5th to West and back to 6th. I saw a group of ladies with one of them happily jumping up and down and waving at me. It was a group of 6 ladies and they were a bachelorette party. As they all got in I asked them if they saw that couple making out like there was no tomorrow and told them that was what had distracted me. They all laughed and the lady in the passenger seat said that she blew her penis whistle to try and get me attention. There was a moment of silence after her comment and it was not to remember the deceased. I made some sort of acknowledgment to her penis whistle comment and all of the ladies in the back laughed. There was one lady in particular that giggled at everything I said after that.
A large number of female passengers again tonight. It makes me wonder what the statistics or demographics for Uber riders looks like. It would be interesting to see those numbers.
I had a ride that ended up near 290 and Mopac so I took 360 out and around in the general direction of home. It was about 12:30am and I did not get any additional requests as I pulled up to Whataburger to contemplate the conversations and activities of the night over a Combo meal #20.
First request I have had for someone specifically wanting to go to downtown Round Rock for the evening. There are numerous restaurants and bars in downtown Round Rock and this group was not wanting to deal with the madness of downtown Austin. Makes sense.
It was several requests before I ended up in downtown Austin. After dropping off on West 6th, I had a request from a little further over on West 6th right before Whole Foods. The app showed that the pick up was on the south side of the street. The only people that I saw there was a couple and they did not look like they were waiting for an Uber. It would have been hard to catch a ride when you are making out like it is the end of the world. I am sure they were about to get a ride to the closest apartment or hotel. I turned into the parking lot near this spectacle and was going to try and circle around and see where my passenger was. I then received a phone call from the passenger and she said they saw me turn into the parking lot and they were on the other side of 6th street from where I turned. I told them not to worry that I was circling back around and would be there in a few seconds. I looped around 5th to West and back to 6th. I saw a group of ladies with one of them happily jumping up and down and waving at me. It was a group of 6 ladies and they were a bachelorette party. As they all got in I asked them if they saw that couple making out like there was no tomorrow and told them that was what had distracted me. They all laughed and the lady in the passenger seat said that she blew her penis whistle to try and get me attention. There was a moment of silence after her comment and it was not to remember the deceased. I made some sort of acknowledgment to her penis whistle comment and all of the ladies in the back laughed. There was one lady in particular that giggled at everything I said after that.
A large number of female passengers again tonight. It makes me wonder what the statistics or demographics for Uber riders looks like. It would be interesting to see those numbers.
I had a ride that ended up near 290 and Mopac so I took 360 out and around in the general direction of home. It was about 12:30am and I did not get any additional requests as I pulled up to Whataburger to contemplate the conversations and activities of the night over a Combo meal #20.
Friday, November 2, 2018
11/01/18
Eberly, Uchi, Baby Acapulco, Lambert's, Indigo, DoubleTree, Palmer Events Center, The Rustic Tap, West 6th Street, Rainy Street, West Campus. A very comprehensive list of the evenings pick-ups and drop-offs. 14 trips in all and I still made it home before midnight.
The music that college kids are listening to is completely vulgar. Most of the time it is not really music but just a rant with some form of musical instrument that just happens to be making noise at the same time. I would say that this primarily rap music is demeaning to women, but the girls are listening to it too. They are just as vulgar as the guys.
Picked up a couple of nice ladies at Uchi. One of the first things one of them said was that she had figured out how to change the color on the beacon. I found that very interesting as I did not know that the rider could do that and I had not noticed that it had changed colors from green to pink. We discussed the very frequent conversation about how I started driving for Uber and how it was a great source for storied to tell others. They laughed and commented that I would not have much to talk about with their boring activities. Then one of them reminded us about the beacon color discovery to which I replied that this alone would be a talking point and therefore qualifies.
Picked up a lady at Lambert's and ended up having a great conversation about agriculture. She provided a first hand story of a time when Blight killed all of her families pear and apple trees. I had heard of the Blight but never had a first hand accounting of an incident.
Attempted several times to pick up a rider on Rainy Street. The pin on the map was no accurate and the riders were not doing anything to make themselves obvious to me. I received a call from the woman that was waiting and she asked if I was her Uber driver that she had requested. I answered yes and that is why she was able to call me. She went on about how she did not understand what was going on and was I getting close. 4 huge horses from the Police Department had just passed and I had fallen in behind them to hopefully have an undisputable reference for this challenged person to see. I called the rider back and asked them if they could see the Police horses. She said that she could and that they were right in front of her. I told her that I was vehicle that was immediately behind them. She said I see them and I am wearing a red dress. I immediately saw her and it would have been nice to have hard that information from the start. Her and her boyfriend get in and we have to drive about half a block behind the horses. She asks if there is another way out and I answered no that we would stick with the app. What app do you have, she asked. The Uber app. No, I mean what maps app are you using. The Uber app. Yes, but what map. The Uber one. Her boyfriend had to cut in explain to her that Uber had its own map app. She then started talking about how great the Ways app is and asked if could go ahead and switch to it so we could get out of here (from behind the horses). I told her no, that we are about to be out of the traffic and I would then be free to quicly get them to their destination. The lady had an incredibly uncomfortable aura about her and she kept her mouth moving the whole time. I was glad to drop them off.
Picked up several elderly couples that appeared to be traveling together. The ladies were drunk and everyone was having a good time. One of the ladies that had not used Uber before did not understand how the driver knew where to pick them up at. The guys in the group begin to have fun with this and told her that it was magic and that the app knows what you need. Kind of like Santa Clause, but without the gifts, I added. I then told the lady I was psychic and could read her mind. That is how I now where to pick them up and where to take them. Oh dear God, you don't want to be reading my mind. As she would talk she would hit me on the shoulder like one of the good ol' boys. Lots of fun with this group.
The music that college kids are listening to is completely vulgar. Most of the time it is not really music but just a rant with some form of musical instrument that just happens to be making noise at the same time. I would say that this primarily rap music is demeaning to women, but the girls are listening to it too. They are just as vulgar as the guys.
Picked up a couple of nice ladies at Uchi. One of the first things one of them said was that she had figured out how to change the color on the beacon. I found that very interesting as I did not know that the rider could do that and I had not noticed that it had changed colors from green to pink. We discussed the very frequent conversation about how I started driving for Uber and how it was a great source for storied to tell others. They laughed and commented that I would not have much to talk about with their boring activities. Then one of them reminded us about the beacon color discovery to which I replied that this alone would be a talking point and therefore qualifies.
Picked up a lady at Lambert's and ended up having a great conversation about agriculture. She provided a first hand story of a time when Blight killed all of her families pear and apple trees. I had heard of the Blight but never had a first hand accounting of an incident.
Attempted several times to pick up a rider on Rainy Street. The pin on the map was no accurate and the riders were not doing anything to make themselves obvious to me. I received a call from the woman that was waiting and she asked if I was her Uber driver that she had requested. I answered yes and that is why she was able to call me. She went on about how she did not understand what was going on and was I getting close. 4 huge horses from the Police Department had just passed and I had fallen in behind them to hopefully have an undisputable reference for this challenged person to see. I called the rider back and asked them if they could see the Police horses. She said that she could and that they were right in front of her. I told her that I was vehicle that was immediately behind them. She said I see them and I am wearing a red dress. I immediately saw her and it would have been nice to have hard that information from the start. Her and her boyfriend get in and we have to drive about half a block behind the horses. She asks if there is another way out and I answered no that we would stick with the app. What app do you have, she asked. The Uber app. No, I mean what maps app are you using. The Uber app. Yes, but what map. The Uber one. Her boyfriend had to cut in explain to her that Uber had its own map app. She then started talking about how great the Ways app is and asked if could go ahead and switch to it so we could get out of here (from behind the horses). I told her no, that we are about to be out of the traffic and I would then be free to quicly get them to their destination. The lady had an incredibly uncomfortable aura about her and she kept her mouth moving the whole time. I was glad to drop them off.
Picked up several elderly couples that appeared to be traveling together. The ladies were drunk and everyone was having a good time. One of the ladies that had not used Uber before did not understand how the driver knew where to pick them up at. The guys in the group begin to have fun with this and told her that it was magic and that the app knows what you need. Kind of like Santa Clause, but without the gifts, I added. I then told the lady I was psychic and could read her mind. That is how I now where to pick them up and where to take them. Oh dear God, you don't want to be reading my mind. As she would talk she would hit me on the shoulder like one of the good ol' boys. Lots of fun with this group.
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