11/27/19

I had taken the day off work as we had plans to head out to dad's today but a sick little one changed all of that.  I went ahead and turned the app on while I was doing some other tasks around the house.  To my knowledge, I had not drove on a Wednesday during the day and being the day before Thanksgiving I didn't have any idea what to expect.

I have been doing this for over 4 years and today was the first time I had picked up or dropped off at Dell.  It was dropping off in this case.

Picked up a nice couple that was in town for the holidays to have Thanksgiving with their daughter.  The daughter used her account and then sent a text as to whom I would be picking up.

I had to cut it short at noon as I cruised through the HEB parking lot and saw how busy it was.  Had some things I needed to get before they were all gone.

11/08/19

A trifecta of scholastic engagement.  Dropped of my daughtet at an elementary school, had a rider to a middle school and a rider to a high school.

His car had been towed overnight.  He had a fairly large dog and a series of stops to complete to get his car back.  We finally ended up at the final destination in east Austin.  The dog was well behaved but shed quite a bit of hair.  The rider had given me an extra $20 tip so I decided to go offline and clean up the hair.  Since I was also hungry it made sense to just return home to clean the car and get something to eat.

I probably had a conversation with my soul-mate and now will never see her again.  I dropped her off at the airport and she flew into the setting sun.... Except it was raining and was 1 pm in the after noon.  It was the most awesome conversation.

I was immediately pinged for a pick up in the arrivals area.  I dropped him off close to Airport and 2222.  Upon looking at the earnings for the day, all was good and I called it a day.  

Fridays during the day are busy.   

11/02/19

It did not feel like 20 trips even though I was fully aware that I drove for almost 8 hours.  Was able to take advantage of some of the promotions to the tune of about $50.  Throw in another $14 in tips and that makes for about 30% of the earnings coming from being a good, friendly driver and making sure that I am in the right place at the right time.  Even when there is no desire to be downtown. 

And of course the first ride was from the Lakeline LaQuinta to downtown.  After getting bounced around downtown for a few rides, I set my home address in the app so I could get out of downtown.  I made it to the UT campus and started getting bounced around there with the rides supposedly on the way to the destination that I had set.  That address timed out but I had made it far enough away that the gravitational forces from downtown couldn't reach me anymore.

Coming into downtown on Congress street from the South is a completely beautiful experience. Such so that I almost missed a left hand turn comimg down the hill.  

Those frickin' flashing yellow left turn arrows are tripping me out for some reason.  They are an excellent idea but seem to make my mind drift kinda like the Jessica Alba shower scene in Machete.

Another first tonight.  Dropped off at Terry Blacks BarBQ and picked up without moving an inch.  I dont think the doors even got closed between riders.  Passed by Terry Black's 3 times tonight and the line was out to the street each time.

Picked up a group of guys that had been to a show at Stubbs.  They were very impressed with the performance and just as I was about to ask who it was, one of the guys blurted out that during one of the songs he could feel hair growing on his balls.  That pretty much killed my question and all interest that I had in who the group was.

Another party up in hills.  6 young girls and 2 of them were drunk as hell.  Almost like a flight attendent on an airline I went over the drill of where the barf bags were and what my expectations were.  I turned the a/c cold and drove those winding, dipping and diving roads like I was hauling a nuclear bomb as I tried not to cause motion sickness.  It worked.

Back to the hills in a different part of the lake where the driveways are almost vertical.  Deer and foxes walk right up to the vehicle while waiting in the driveway.  Another drunk person.  Actually, no, he was not drunk.  He had "over-served" himself.  I cannot help but recall Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  (I did not know that they had split up until just now when I looked them up to make sure I spelled the names correctly)

Picked up another supposedly drunk  guy that the bartender was arranging the ride for.  It is always interesting how much more in control the older drunks are when compared to the younger drunks.

The last ride ended up being just up the street from my house.  So close that I had to go out of my way to get to a Whataburger.  I wanted to add a different one to the list but the closest one was Lake Creek and 620 so that is where I went.

11/01/19

The second I went on line a request came in and it was a good one.  Uber Comfort from Cedar Park to Downtown.  $30 plus a $20 tip.

I saw a surge zone that was south of downtown and headed in that direction.  The traffic was messed up and I couldn't go very fast.  Just as I was breaking through traffic and had touched the outer edge of the surge zone and gained $1.25 on the next ride, the surge zone moved.  I kept pushing south on I35 and caught up with it just in time to exit on 290 where the heart of the zone was.  I watched and counted up as the bonus began to ratchet up the deeper I plunged into the zone.  It made it up to $4.00 and then a request came in.

Good and fun conversations with the next group of riders.  I was confirmed brain dead when I sat at a traffic light waiting to turn left with a flashing yellow arrow and no traffic around.  I knew then that it was going to be a short night.

Bounced around uptown Austin awhile.  A really good looking hearing impaired lady was one of my passengers tonight.  I always try to accommodate any way I can and the two of us were able to communicate good enough for all to turn out good.

Had a rider that talked an enormous amount about food and specifically sushi.  His business partner has a large number of restaurants 3 of which are well known and frequently visited here locally.  Good conversation and apparently an octopus has balls.  I was going to ask which tentacle it would use to scratch them but I got distracted.

Nice elderly oriental lady guided me away from the tollway as we made our way to drop her off.  I learned a little work around for that area if I ever need it.