04/17/21

The emails from Uber are increasing.  The are obviously pushing to ramp things back up.  I am still undecided about my Uber future although I did buy a new phone holder for the car today.

09/23/20

 I just discovered that Google tracks me most of the time.  I searched through the archive back to days when I drove rideshare and the mapping of the places I went was all over the place.  This would be expected of course, but it is crazy to actually see it illustrated. 

09/12/20

Vacuumed the vehicle for thr first time since I stopped driving with Uber.  It wasn't too bad but certainly needed to be done.

08/08/20

 As I was throwing business cards into the recycle container from two recent businesses I have been associated with, I discovered some business card from FARE when I drove ridesharing for them.  This prompted me to look in the back of my vehicle and see if the magnetic signs were still back there.  They were.  These magnetic signs came in very handy at night in helping the riders more easily locate the vehicle.  The signs are fairly large at about 2' wide by 18" tall.  When a rider would say that they couldn't see me, I knew that they were either blind as hell, stupid as hell, or lying out their ass in trying to work around the cancellation fee.  Anyone with eyeballs would not miss these signs.  The business card photo looks the same size as the magnetic sign photo below but that was certainly not the case.

FARE had office space next to the Four Seasons Hotel and if I ever needed anything from them I could just take a few minutes and walk down there from work.  They were very helpful in this respect but not so much in helping me work with the riders to insure they were happy with their ride.

Also included below is the first e-mail that I received from Fare, and the last e-mail that I received from them.  FARE was more expensive than the others and they made it clear that they were not going to be part of "the race to the bottom" with prices, when Uber and Lyft returned to Austin.  They were not willing to compete and the only advantage they had was the ability for riders to save their favorite drivers in the app and be able to request that specific driver in the future.  Of course the ability for that to function depended on whether or not that specific driver was online when the rider needed a ride.  It wasn't really much of an advantage as I was on multiple riders list and never had a rider specifically request me.  I  had already stopped rideshare driving when FARE left as my vehicle at the time was no longer what I felt comfortable transporting people with.

08/04/20

As someone who has been a rideshare driver for several years, I can certainly relate to the recent shooting incident in Austin that resulted in the death of a protester.  I have driven into downtown as festivals or events were ending and there are people everywhere.  You turn a corner and you are in it with no way to get out.  The protesters, being in their single-minded state, do not realize this.  I have seen multiple videos and read multiple articles of vehicles that accidently get caught in a protest and are forced to defend themselves against protester's aggressions.  That is when people, usually the protesters, start getting hurt.  

Being a protester does not automatically protect a person from being a dumb-ass.  All of the yelling and signs-on-a-stick, are not going to protect a protester, or anyone, from vehicles or bullets.  The protester has to shed the single-mindedness and be aware of their surroundings so they can understand what is going on, what their own body movements could be signaling, and what could be developing around them, to keep themselves safe.

Any driver should be aware of what activities are going on in the areas where they could be driving.  I can say that Uber has been good about posting events although I do not know if this event was posted as I have not regularly been on the app.  Regardless, there are resources that can be reviewed before starting to drive so that a driver is aware beforehand of what may be encountered and does not become a dumb-ass driver.  I have seen plenty of those out there.  (12/14/19 post)  They can't even park their vehicle in an empty K-mart parking lot but they think they are qualified to drive in downtown Austin during rush hour or on a Friday or Saturday night.  (before the pandemic)

Everyone should understand themselves, what they are doing, and what is going on around them so that they don't do dumb-ass things.

  

07/22/20

I guess it is safe to say that I am refusing to let this blog die.  I still hold on to hope that one day I will be able to return to the streets in the middle of the night.

In my never-ending job search, I came across a job at Hertz for a Maintenance Manager.  Obviously this is maintenance on vehicles and is not exactly what I have been doing for the past 35 plus years, but it may be close enough.  I adjusted my resume to reflect my early days in hotels when we also had to manage the maintenance to the guest transportation vehicles.  I also included my days of driving a truck and at working for the highway department where I also had to coordinate the maintenance for that.  Of course I included my time as a rideshare driver as well, including the stats that are easily obtained from the Uber site.  That was another reason that made Uber so inviting.  Helpful data was there and available.  Obtaining this same information from the other 2 companies I drove for while Uber was gone, Get Me and Fare, was limited.  Here are the stats

- 4.5 years as an Uber driver so far.  Technically, I am still activated on the platform.  It is also important to note that even when Uber was "gone" from Austin, they remained active in the surrounding areas.  I actually did several rides for Uber in the areas of Cedar Park and Round Rock during that time period.

- 1,369 rides for Uber

- 4.97 Satisfaction Rating.  It stayed at 5.0 for a very long time.

- $14,436 driving for Uber

- $226.56 driving for GetMe.  I knew it wasn't much but I thought it was more than that.

- $3,482.55 driving for Fare.  I had signed up for GetMe and Fare at about the same time but was able to get processed through GetMe first as they did not require a review of the automobile by a mechanic.  Immediately afterwards I received a call from Fare.  The caller had a voice like "Puddy", the guy that played Elaine's boyfriend in Seinfeld (Patrick Warburton) and the conversation went like this.

Fare, "when are you going to start driving?" 
Me, "as soon as I get the vehicle reviewed by a mechanic." 
Fare, "can you do it soon we need some drivers?" 
Me, "lol, okay.  I am surprised to receive this call."  "I will get going soon." (I am still laughing to myself because of who he sounds like)

You have to know the voice I am referring to or there will be none of the intended humor.

- 71.5 miles was the longest trip.  Corsicana Texas to Garland Texas.

- $75.00 approximate highest earning single trip.  The one from Corsicana was $73.76 but I believe there was one with GetMe that might have been a few dollars higher.  The GetMe ride was a group of bikini-clad females leaving Lake Travis and going to the Residence Inn on 4th street.  Just in case you were wondering who the riders were and what they were wearing.

07/07/20

I never took many pictures while rideshare driving.  There wasn't time and many probably would not want to be photographed.  Plus, the phone was already in use with the rideshare app.  Here are the only ones that were taken.

The first one was a very common sight when going through downtown heading North on Congress Street.

The second one was mentioned in one of the posts.  After dropping off the rider, I drove up on someone selling lemonade on the sidewalk and stopped to get some.  This was out past Leander off of highway 183 almost to the intersection of 183 and 29 near Liberty Hill.  There were only a handful of times that I made it out that far on that side of town.

Photo number three is also mentioned in a blog post.  I do not like pets in the car but was always accommodating to the riders.  This one was well behaved even when his owner left him with me for about 10 minutes while he went into the bank to get money so he could recover his car that had been towed.  This was in the Lakeline area and the drop off was almost to the airport.  I had to stop and clean the dog hair out of the car after the ride and THAT is why I don't like animals in the vehicle.

The last one was a picture of a property for sell in Round Rock or Georgetown, by a realtor friend of mine.  I posted the photo on Facebook, prompting a brief exchange of pleasantries between us.

That is all.  More than four years of driving and these are the only photos that I took.

07/03/20

I gave a friend a ride to down south of Austin yesterday and that was the closest thing to an Uber event that I have had since I stopped driving several months ago.  It was, in a sense, a rideshare type of ride but it was not an "Uber" ride.

The latest update from Uber discussed earnings averages of the drivers.  The information stated that they were averaging $20.00 an hour which I thought was pretty damn good especially considering the situation.  There were a few nights that I only made it to a $10.00 an hour average but not very often.  I usually ran more towards the $30.00 an hour range.  The update also shared rider demand information.  It was not a surprise but did further deepen the sadness felt about downtown as the information and the accompanying map showed that most of the demand was in the Round Rock area.  No indication of any demand in downtown.  Before, there would be so much demand in downtown that the area on the map in the app would be such a deep red color that it was almost black.  Red of course indicating a very high demand.  Its just sad.  The soul of downtown Austin is gone.

06/09/20

I was attending an event that was only a few miles from downtown so I decided to make a quick pass through downtown.  It was going to be the first time I had been downtown in a couple of months.

"I should not have done this," was my first thought as I exited the freeway and could already see and feel the sadness.  I could see the indicators of the protests that had been taking place including the barricaded police station.  I turned onto 6th street and observed what appeared to be an abandoned town.  There was no one.  The bars and restaurants were all boarded up and the inevitable tagging had taken place.  Businesses closed, no one in the cafes and restaurants, none of the usual foot traffic from all of the office buildings, hotels and restaurants.  No scooters, no taxis, and no Ubers.  The only activity was around the construction sites.  I turned on Red River to get towards Caesar Chavez street.  As I passed the Fairmont I could see people setting inside at what appeared to be a restaurant.  That was a little encouraging but a very far cry from the quantity of people that would usually be seen.  I turned right on Caesar Chavez and headed for Mopac.  I had seen enough.

The contrast to what downtown was before, is saddening.  Downtown is dead.  I sincerely hope that it can be revived and that the vibe that was always in the air before, can return.  I can now say with 100% certainty that there will not be a big rideshare demand for some time.  I had stated with optimism before that I would continue rideshare driving once everything returned to normal, thinking that normal would be in a matter of a couple of months at the most.  That simply cannot happen.  I wont say "impossible" although I probably should.

It is very likely that this will be the last entry in this blog.  It is unfortunate but I can say that it was interesting and fun.  It made a lot of stories, in fact, the only thing I regret is that I did not start doing the blog sooner.  When reading this blog, be sure and click on the older dates as well.  I noticed that those don't always expand out so they can be selected for reading.  There is a lot of stuff spanning several years.

Thanks for reading and I am hoping that this is not the end although its nice to know that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

05/19/20

I just updated my profile on LinkedIn by putting an ending date for driving with Uber.  I had to do that so it would show further down the experience list and allow my last hotel job to show higher on the list.  As it currently  stands, the last ride I performed was on January 30th, 2020.  I will also be cancelling the rideshare insurance tomorrow.  No need in paying $60 a month when I am sure that I wont be needing it for a while.  The intention is for this to only be temporary but it may be an extended type of temporary.  I would certainly rather be driving and sharing experiences with the riders.

04/03/20

I just opened the Uber rider app.  They are out there.  There were 6 in this area.  I cant beleive there is enough business out there that would make it worth the risk of being exposed to the virus.

03/20/20

I had slowed down my driving due to a hurting shoulder that made it extremely uncomfortable while driving.  Just when that was coming around this damn virus thing started becoming an issue.  I wasn't in a hurry to drive thinking this would soon pass.  This is not going to pass soon.  It is bad and is going to alter the way we live our lives, possibly forever.  The alteration could be for the better or it could be for the worse.  I am optimistically hoping that by the end of May, we will know.  Once this does pass, I anticipate a very high demand of rideshares as people will feel the freedom.  As long as I do not fall victim to this intruder, I will be there with the app a blazin'.

With that, I will close out this journal entry with the hope that the next entry will be one of liberation, celebration, and fascination.

01/28/20

I needed to get out for moment so I turned on the app.  Within 5 minutes I had a request.

Picked up some ladies at Moonshine in Avery Ranch.  A conversation about some of the shows they had all been to broke out.  That conversation then focused down to Bon Jovi and the timelessness of the band.  I had to interject myself into the conversation and share my exposure as well.  Bon Jovi and Ratt, probably about 1984 or 85 ish.  Fun conversation.

01/26/20

I was picking up in Pearson Place at Avery Ranch.  The destination popped up and in one of those moments of random and unexplained outbursts, I blurted out COAST TO COAST MOPAC STYLE!  The trip appeared to be from one end of Mopac to the other which is what prompted the outburst.  Of course as we got closer to the destination and the map was zoomed in more, I could see that we weren't even going to make it to Slaughter.  Fortunately for me there is not a way for rhe rider to select "dork" when they rate the ride.

01/23/20

Many of the posts that I have left begin with an insinuated expression of joy for a trip that is going downtown.  Today, upon picking up the riders and seeing where the trip was going, I cringed at the downtown destination.  It was still early enough in the evening that traffic was going to be horrendous.  The riders were aware of that and away we went.  With the exception of short sections of 183 and Mopac, it was horrendous.  It was like the beginning of the movie Office Space without the old guy and his walker.  Instead of the old man, there was a more sinister critter making light of my lack of velocity that I was experiencing.  There were several times I looked out the window to see a skinny mosquito-looking insect flying up and down and all around.  It would zip ahead of me slightly and then zip back to the window.  I think I could actually see its eyes looking at me with an expression of "c'mon slow poke.  Is that all you got?"  Then it would fly ahead only to return and look at me again with an expression of, WTF dude.  I hope I splattered his skinny little butt all over my windshield once I finally got up to speed.

Once I dropped the riders off at Terry Black's BBQ, I immediately put in my home address to start working my way back home.  Before I even made it back to Mopac I received another request and although it took me to the south, the rider was heading north taking me about halfway home.  The app was directing me along one path and the map was showing another path.  By the time I figured out what was going on I had passed the exit and then it corrected itself leaving me on a path to be taking the rider on a longer ride.  I apologized to the rider and explained what had happened.  She strongly assured me that all was fine and that I should not worry about it but I was determined to put forth some form of an effort to fix the error.  I came up with the idea to turn on Google Maps and plug the destination address in to there.  Once that was done and Google Maps was tracking my location and directing me to the destination, I completed the ride on the Uber app so it would stop charging the rider.  I had explained to her what I was up to and she again told me that I should not worry about it.  I did it anyway and at the drop off let her know what I had done and apologized again.  As I was about to get onto the ramp to 183 from Lamar I noticed a tip had been posted.  It was from the rider and the tip made up any of the savings that I had gained her.  I smiled and stated out loud that she definitely wanted me to know that she was okay with the issue that had occured.

I made it home without any more requests and turned off the app, missing out on a $3.00 bonus by getting 1 more ride.  It could have easily been a $150 night but I am beat down for the day.

01/11/20

So I discovered that Corsicana does have Uber coverage via the Waco area.  I turned on the app to start grabbing the rides but after an hour, there had been NOTHING.  I turned on the rider app to see how many other drivers were out there.  There I was, all alone on the map.  I zoomed out to about a 90 mile radius.  There I still was, setting in the middle of a sea of no one divided only by the multiple lines representing asphalt laden vehicle paths.  Maybe its the colder weather.

We were playing dominos when it happened.  A rideshare request in Corsicana!  It took a while to accomplish the pick up and then, upon starting the ride, I was pleasantly surprised to see a destination in Garland Texas.  Going to have to stop for gas and the rider was okay with that.  This was going to be my longest ride since I have been driving for Uber or any of the others.  The previous record holder was a ride with Get Me (while Uber was not in Austin) and it was from Lake Travis Volente area to the Marriott Courtyard downtown.  Possibly one from downtown to Georgetown but this one would out do them all.

Surprise Dallas!  I'm back!  Unexpectedly so, but here I am.  Upon dropping off in Garland I had immediately set my destination for Corsicana but I was Northeast of downtown Dallas so I was expecting several rides as I worked to get back to Corsicana.  My expectations became reality.  

The app had me picking up at an Applebees that was not there.  I was able to text the rider and they told me that they were across from Target.  No Target anywhere in sight.  I quickly opened the Google Maps app and typed in Target.  The first one on the list  was on the same street that I was on so  I selected it.  There it was on the map about a mile away.  Also indicated on the map was Applebees, right across the street.  I pulled up right as the rider was asking if they should get a different Uber.  From there we had an awesome conversation all the way from Rowlett to Garland.

I used to work in this area.  The hotel had a different name and things looked a little different but all was recognizable.  I don't miss it one damn bit.

I took a young lady down to Henderson street near downtown.  I didnt know that area was there and there were people everywhere on a 33 degree night.  I was briefly stuck in a repeating cycle for this area and it was a bit difficult to navigate with the activity levels and road construction.  There were some very nice femalescapes to enjoy which made the pick ups in a difficult spot, more bearable. 

I dropped the last riders off near American Airlines Center and that was far enough away to break the chain on Henderson.  From there I zipped through downtown Dallas in a world record time and roared onto I30 at Elm street, which lead me around to I45 where I hit light speed and was gone.  See you next time Dallas.

Turned off the app at Ennis and went to Wal-Mart to get a head of cabbage for Charlie.  Will get some more gas after I wrap up  the night with a number 21 at the Whataburger on I45 in Ennis Texas at 2:30am.

01/10/20

Finished getting the vehicle serviced in Round Rock and headed out to .near Hutto to return some rental radios from work.  Turned on the app at about 10:30am and got a request just a few minutes later.  This was a young man that worked at Sonic and was very enthusiastic about his job.  He shared with me the various specials and other things they regurlaly have going on and we ended up talking about management where I provided some quick advice.  Good rider and it turned out to be the only one for the day.

12/15/19

I little activity on a Sunday night.  It started out as just a couple of individual incidents of people going to their gatherings but the short night ended up being a double record breaker.

I had a large group of employees from a restaurant in Cedar Park that was closing for the night and going to what sounded like the company Christmas party in Georgetown.  Absolutely the most profanity I have heard from any group since I have been doing this.  Of course that is not a fuckin' problem for me but wow, it was a lot.

I decided to take FM2243 from Georgetown across to Ronald Reagan Blvd to get home.  There was not much going on, as was expected, and it was a nice cruise.  I was surprised when a request came in.

The most amazing conversation to date.  There are few things I love more than talking about unique and crazy situations that we go through in life, and how funny they can be to talk about.  I do not recall how we somehow arrived at a conversation about a pregnancy test for cows that involves the cow "peeing on a stick" instead of having to shove your hand and arm into the cows butt.  Then the indicator of pregnancy on "the stick" would have an indication of "Moo" if pregnant or an indication of "Meh" if not pregnant.  That is the most I have laughed in my Uber surroundings since I have been doing this.  I am still smiling as I set here writing this.  Thank you Holly for an awesome and very humorous conversation.

12/14/19

Started a little before 6:00pm and rides were almost constant until I turned off the app at about 1:00am.  Fairly straight-forward night with lots of Christmas parties although there was an atmosphere of impatience out in the traffic, especially downtown.

Some of these rideshare drivers are not very good at what they do.  Just because they have a car and can drive it doesn't mean that they are qualified to be on the streets as a rideshare driver.  It doesn't make it okay to stop and block lanes of traffic just because you turned on your emergency flashers while you wait for the passenger.  You need to get your ass and your emergency flashers and go around the block until the rider shows up.  They will just need to wait for you if they come out while you are on the other side of the block.

Several groups of girls and not any groups of guys.  Multiple trips to the Fairmont tonight.  

A couple of comments from the night.  These are each from different riders.

- "I don't trust drunk boys.  Girls are different.  They make noise and and act silly but boys are different and I don't trust them when they are drunk".

- " I told the guy that just because I was flirting does not mean that I want to have sex with him".

People talk about personal stuff when they are in the vehicle which is one of several reasons that I typically do not mention names in this blog although all I ever see as a ride share driver is the first name of the person's account that is being used.  Listening in on these conversations gives me a little window into a lot of differing opinions from a lot of different perspectives.  Many times it is an educational experience for me while other times it is an experience that will serve no purpose for me, or anyone, ever.

And to get to see all of the cool Christmas lights all over town, is great!

End of night taquito stop was at the Whataburger at 620 and Lake Creek Pkwy.

12/13/19

Picked up a group of 1 nice-looking girl and 4 guys at HEB Center that was going to Pflugerville.  A conversation about board games started and that led to a description by the girl of a board game called Descent.  Apparently the game functions around a topic that is presented and each player proposes discussion towards the topic.  The example the girl used in her description was a subject of whether or not it is acceptable or not to pee in the shower.  The conversation immediately diverted from board games and the vehicle erupted in opinions on whether or not it was acceptable to pee in the shower and the variations of how to pee in the shower to perhaps make it more acceptable.  I was laughing so hard and was asked my opinion.  The girl was setting next to me in the passenger seat when she realized that I was agreeing with her she called me a son-of-a-bitch as an expression of pleasure and compliment.  All the guys except me stated that it was okay to pee in the shower.  Then one of the guys in the back announced that he had farted and needed a window to be lowered.  Everyone gave him a hard time about that.  Then 5 minutes later the same thing again.  The girl and I laughed and I told her there would be a "per fart" surcharge and made the motion on my phone like I was adding in the surcharege.  She laughed loudly and called my a son-of-a-bitch again.  This conversation / outburst lasted for the rest of the trip.

There have been several times where I have picked up a pair of riders and one of them is in the position of teaching the other the ropes or the tricks of the trade, etc.  It is unclear whether this person has been assigned to this type of role as "the master" or if he just thinks he is.  "You know.  I didn't know anyone here and now look at me.  If you just stick around me it will help you're career."  Usually you can tell by the "Padawan's" response or lack or response as to whether are not he thinks the "Master" is an idiot.

12/12/19

Had a rider from downtown going out to the Hilton airport.  Once I dropped him off the new pickup system for the airport kicked in.  I had read about this a few days ago and the rider that  I had just dropped off asked if I had experienced it yet. 

A pop up came up on the app asking if I wanted to take advantage of nearby opportunities.  I felt look like I should give it a try so I would be familiar with it.  So I did and it worked just fine.  I was really pleased when the destination of the rider popped up.  Airport to Cedar Park.  Nice.  I was close to home and called it a night.

12/11/19

I am trying to decide whether that specific aroma is a ladies perfume or some type of a side-effect to the feminine consumption of alcohol. Those are the two common denominators every time that this smell presents itself.  Maybe its both.  ??

Every once in a while there is a request into an area that I drive by almost daily but have never gone in to.  Many times it is an unassuming street that is barely even noticable.  Then there is that first time where you make the turn down that street and only a few feet away from the intersection is a huge neighborhood that you didnt know even existed.  As you navigate through the neighborhood you end up leaving at a completly different place than where you came in and discover that you are on a different street and it is one that you drive on every day and know very well.  Its like you have just been transported through a time warp or something and you are left wondering what had just happened.

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.

10/29/19

A request came in about a half hour after turning on the app.  The route was taking me right by the gas station on Brushy Creek that has the lowest gas prices ever.  Yes, I completed the worlds fastest $10 splash and go pit stop.

She was a 38 year old lady (she blurted her age out during the ride) requesting a ride from her home, to 7-11 and back to her home.  During the ride she asked if I was married and we briefly discussed her marital situation or lack of as well as my own.  I made it back home after this ride and was sure that I was done for the night.  That was not to be the case and I ended up getting home at 12:30am.

After a couple of bounces around Cedar Park I had a request that took me all the way to Manor.  As I was arriving back in Austin I received a request on Airport Blvd.  I was about to arrive when a call from the rider came in.  "Are you close?  We're cold".  I told them that I was right around the corner and the caller seemed happy to hear that.  Upon arrival there were two people waiting outside a club.  One got inside but the other one was acting silly, I thought, then he began to stagger backwards while loudly babbling a bunch of incoherent bullshit, then tripped on a curb block and went crashing to the sidewalk.  He was very drunk.  His friend stayed in the vehicle which was a good 30 feet away and kept asking him if he was okay.  I never thought that he might be dead but he laid there for a moment without a single movement.  He finally got up and staggered towards the vehicle.  The door was wide open and he still missed the target but eventually got in with no help from his buddy.  I reached back and patted the pocket on the back of the seat and clearly stated that the barf bag was inside the pocket if he needed one.  His friend said he was fine but the drunk dude immediately grabbed it and put it over his mouth.  Their destination wasn't far away and I tried not to make any drastic moves with the vehicle to help keep the dumb-ass from throwing up.  We made it to the destination where the drunk guy opened the door and fell out onto the grass in the yard that was nearby.  His buddy finally showed a little concern and was helping him.  I rolled down the window and asked if everything was okay and the moment I received confirmation that all was well, I hauled my ass out of there at the highest optimal velocity.

I had already set my home address on the app when I left Manor but still received 3 more ride requests including the one above.  Did not plan on stretching tonight out this late but the Manor trip was a win even though it was the reason that the night got stretched.

10/27/19

A busy Sunday evening.  The 2 trips in the downtown area revealed a very active place with a great vibe.

It is amazing the many different professions that people have.  There are entire industries out there that are completely unknown to some yet they are there and are the life sustaining force for all of those who are in that industry.  So many things that can be learned when our mouths are shut and our brains are open to any possibility.

Remember the Flintstones?  Remember the part in the intro where they are at the drive-in and are being served a large rack of ribs?  The ribs are placed on the tray that is hooked on the side of their car and the car turns over.  Yeah.

A group of riders from a week or so ago selected the station of PopRocks on Sirius XM and it is still playing.  A slightly better station than the other two I had been switching between.

10/22/19

Oops, I did it again

Into the midnight hour

A 10:30pm a request to downtown sparked off an explosion of activity.   1 3-trip series bonus, 2 surge bonuses, and 3 tips made for an unexpected Tuesday harvest that was carried out on a 1/8 th of a tank of gasoline.  On top of that I successfully tracked down a store that was still open at 12:45am so I could purchase some frickin' ham that no one mentioned was needed when we were in Target 4 hours earlier.  I now know that Randalls in Cedar Park is open until 1 am.

10/19/19

First trip at 7:35pm went downtown. Somehow I was able to miss the craziness of the football game when it finished.  I ended up west of town again during that time.

About 1:30am.  I made a run for it on Bee Caves Road, away from downtown.  I ended up getting pinged with another request in the west and after that was successful at escaping tbe grasp of downtown.  

This last request was a drunk guy leaving a party.  It appeared that he had been at a formal event but most of his clothes were in his hands and not on his body.  He apologized and stated that he had gotten carried away with the partying. 

#20 at the Whataburger on Lake Creek and 620/45.

10/18/19

Late start at 10:30pm made the night feel weird.  No rides to downtown which was the way I prefered it tonight.  

620 through Lakeway was the most travelled road tonight and had a drop off at The Grumpy Grouper.  The last time I was there was several years ago.  In a previous post there was a rider that I picked up and the first thing he blurted out was "ya got any weed?"   That was the previous time at the Grumpy Grouper.

Actually made it home at 1:30am but stayed online.  Mostly drunks that time of day especially when the bars close at 2:00am.  Received 2 more requests.  Barf bag saved the day / night / car.  Stopped it there and swung by Whataburger to close out the day. 

10/17/19

I had almost 0 intention of driving until midnight but that is what happened.  The first request pinged me from directly above as I was still in the parking garage and the pickup was at the hotel.  In fact it was a night with a bit of a hotel theme.  Omni Downtown, The Archer, Omni Barton Creek twice and the Grand Ducah.

Good conversation with a gentleman that was part of a big Republican Party gathering at Omni Barton Creek.  He asked for my honest opinion about the President and I shared that with him.  The conversation turned into a conversation about the "homeless" (yes " ") issues in Austin and how he does not agree with how the mayor is going about it.

I was tried when I started and tired when I finished about 3 hours later.  Averaged over $30 dollars an hour and was 1 ride away from another bonus but had to call it a night.

09/21/19

The plan was for tonight to be epic but little did I know about how epic it was going to be.

I turned the app on earlier than usual at 6:00pm and within seconds a request came in.  That was the last time I saw the home screen until I went off line at 2:45am.  One request after another adding up to 22 requests for the night and over $300 both of which may be personal bests.  Even when I set the address to my home address I still received 3 more requests as I worked to steer towards home.

Lakeshore Boulevard ended up being the frequently traveled road tonight and I only had 2 requests related to the UT OU football game.

When I received the first football game related request, the app was routing me to the standard pick up spot.  The rider called and wanted to know if I could pick them up on I35 service road at Manor Road.  I was only 1 exit away but was headed the wrong direction.  I accelerated my way through the traffic and did a u-turn at 38 1/2 street.  She was still on the phone describing the clothes they were wearing  when I spotted them about a quarter of a mile ahead of me.  "I see you and I am coming up fast."  The traffic light was red and they were not far from the intersection as I caught up with the vehicles in front of me.  Thinking that I had the timing worked out in my head I told her that I was the next vehicle.  She repeated that out loud to her friend who immediately bolted onto the street, yanked open the right rear passenger door of the vehicle in front of me and climbed in.  "Not that one, the next one, the next one", I was almost shouting over the phone.  She got her friend out and they loaded up in my vehicle rolling in laughter.  "Oh my God", she said.  "You should have seen the look on that guy's face".

I could only imagine some of the scenarios surrounding adopted children or children in foster care.  After a long ride with a couple of ladies involved in this discipline, I have so much respect and admiration for those who try to help kids in these situations to be able to still have a chance at a good lo life.

Had several groups of younger than me guys and the usual f bomb sprees with some other stuff thrown in.  "Oh my God dude.  They have incredible genetics" at least 15 times.  For the first time I became tired of hearing these 2 guys talk.  "Its gas" is apparently the new cool thing to say about something cool.  Became completely bummed out as one of the guys began to talk about his failed dreams of making it to the NFL and that damn song by Lewis Capasomebody was playing.  It is the number 1 song for 8 weeks in a row now and just wish it would go away.

Then later, as the guy in the group that sat in the front seat borrowed one of the other guys phones to play music, he read a text to his buddy that had been received.  "Hey man, you got a text from the chinese chick.  It says, I think I want you to f*** me again."  All riders blurt out stuff like I am not there or like I am one of their group.  No descretion whatsoever.  These guys talked a lot and seemed to be good friends but for me they had a vibe that felt odd.  Almost like they were misguided in life and had no direction.  It was a very empty and alone type of feeling.

There was one group of guys where we once again successfully sqeezed 8 people into the vehicle.  Then later a group of large ladies filled up the same space with fewer people.  Great and fun conversation with these ladies.

The last ride of the night was crazy fun.  I picked up 2 young couples at Rock Rose and the conversations immediately started.  By the time the ride was finished, I had 2 Pepsis, over $50 in tips, some of which was placed in my right breast shirt pocket (freebie thrill for her) and had been addressed as a DILF by both of the young ladies.

Tonights adventure ended with a #20 at the Whataburger on 620 and Lake Creek Parkway.

09/20/19

Was feeling completely drained of energy but around 11:00pm I decided to turn on the app anyway.  Wasn't too long before a request came in.  Dont understand why the app can guide me to a pickup using "backways" but cant guide me back to where I just came from via rhe same "backways". 

Took 3 gentlemen from Moonshine (north) to their homes and picked up a group going to Rock Rose street in The Domain.  Rolled down the street's a few yards and picked up some guys going home.

One group liked my voice and kept telling me things to say.  "I think it was the Clintons", was the one they got the biggest kick out of.  They said something about it sounding like Ashton Kuchner's dad's voice.  I have no idea of the accuracy of that.

Here is a conversation take away.  Comment from rider.

- 30 minutes is a long time.  Ask any guy.

Note that the driver does not necessarily agree with the comment.

09/12/19

Always like it when they cancel and I get a cancelation fee.  3 rides on the way home.

The "kung fu" school I drove by looked to be finished with classes for the day.  I found an odd humor about the way it looked to see one of employees vacuuming the carpet while still wearing his "karate kid" uniform.

09/07/19

My acceptance rating just took a hit.  I turned on the app and immediately started receiving requests from downtown, which is about 20 miles away.  I accepted the first one but then the rider cancelled.  We probably both said "holy shit" at about the same time due to distance away that I was.  Another came in and I declined it while trying to hit the offline button as I realized what was going on.  Another one came in and I declined it as well, then was able to get offline.  Obviously the UT game has just finished and the app is reaching waaaaaaaay out for drivers.  There would be a pick-up premium but it would still not be worth dead-heading it down there, fighting through the traffic to the pick up point, fighting the traffic back out and then dropping off at a hotel only a couple of miles away.  Even with surge I might get $20.  That would be good if I was already downtown but I am far from downtown.  Oh, and I was downtown earlier today, not doing rideshare but took a moment to do some recon with rideshare on my mind for later.  I could tell that it was going to be a massive night downtown tonight.  I have become very good at downtown rideshare driving but tonight I do not want to be down there.  I will go back online a little after 11pm and hopefully get in on the 11pm ish demand up here closer to where I am at.  Otherwise, this may be the first rideshare post where there was not any actual ridesharing that took place.

08/29/19

Sometimes, at first site, there appears to be a mismatch between people and their interests.  I could not help but feel this way when a tall, 22 year-old beautiful female with a British accent, loaded up in the passenger seat next to me and then went nuts when she saw a '65 refurbished Ford pickup truck.  It did look very nice.  I cannot help but wonder what the chain of events in her short life were, that lead her to this specific type of vehicular interest.  Oh, and it was a real turn on to hear her say words like Uber, beer, and any word that ended in "er", with her British accent.  I am sure she was turned on by my Texan accent as well.  We had an awesome conversation.

In fact all of the riders tonight were talkers.  This most likely was the first night where that has been the case.  Lots of interesting conversations.  Tarrytown to ATX Cocina, back to Tarrytown then to Shady Grove, The Oasis on Lake Travis to the Renaissance Hotel in the Arboretum, Estancia Brazilian Steakhouse and dropping off at Seaholm area.

08/25/19

Avery Ranch to Georgetown, Round Rock to the airport, a canceled ride and a guy with freshly turned brake rotors, made for a Sunday Slam Dunk of a quick $75.00.

The airport ride ended up having both terminals included which was good as I had not been to the South terminal yet.  This gave me a daylight opportunity to figure it out.  No arrival passenger to pick up this time.  Disappointing.

I was about 100 yards away from the pick up point when the rider cancelled.  It always ticks me off when I am that close and they do that.  I am sure that it is not anything mischievous but I always have this vision of a couple of kids watching me approach on the app and see how close I get before they have to cancel the call before the grace period time runs out.  I guess it could be considered as payback for those times we would call someone and ask them if their refrigerator was running, and when they said "yes" we would tell them they better go catch it.  Then we would hang up.

It is interesting how a specific road will end up being the road most traveled for that given day.  I have made comments in previous posts about this phenomenon.  Today, there were not enough rides to really qualify any road although I35 at the Kamer Road area was visited 3 times today.

08/20/19

A most awesome Tuesday evening and night from my rideshare perspective.  Not the weekend type of riders although there a couple of "clubbers" but steady all night.  I finally had to go offline and go home.  14 rides and $104, on a Tuesday.  First time ever for me on a Tuesday.

Another great conversation from the passenger seat and from a female.  Her frickin' driveway was almost straight up for 50 yards.

08/15/19

Almost 11pm when I finally left work.  Had a nice little flurry of activity that ended up with a drop-off at Mopac and Wells Branch that left me in a good spot for a little shorter drive home.

I had picked up this last group after rolling 25 feet down the hill on 7th street from where I had just dropped off the previous group.  Some just starting their fun on 6th street while others were done.  Well, almost done as they were having a good time all the way to Round Rock.  They were Mexican Americans and we were laughing about the different accents of saying my name.  The guy in the group was cheering on one of the girls as she kept saying it more and more sexy.  Then she added the word "abajo".  "Abajo Yose, abajo".  I had to keep myself from getting too carried away as I think she was actually serious, based on the way she was looking at me.  I was tempted to say, "hasta donde", but I kept things professional and kept myself out of trouble.  The next headlines would have been,
Uber Driver Overtaken by Fun Foreign Phonetical Fornication game.

08/14/19

Sometimes it just works out.  Picked up a rider at the Doubletree on 15th street and dropped him off at the Domain.  That put me half-way home with the earnings paying for a couple of days gasoline.

08/12/19

Very busy.  I probably could have made a million dollars tonight.

It was after 6pm and I was thinking most of the rush-hour traffic would be done.  NOT.  I picked up the first rider on West street next to the new big ass library.  We almost immediately ended up with a conversation about the idiots that many refer to as homeless but these people are not homeless.  You could give them a house and they would have it destroyed in less than a year.  Most of them are just stubborn belligerent assholes.  We had a good conversation and as she was exiting the vehicle with her nice looking workout gear, I thanked her for such a good conversation.

I knew Keller Williams was having a big event at the Convention Center but as I made my way to Mopac I thought maybe my timing was off and I was just going to miss out.  I got a ping from Mopac and picked them up.  They were going to the Launderette which was the first time in a long time that I had dropped of there.  Before we arrived I had received another request and from that point forward, it was on.  Uber X, Comfort, XL and even a LUX tonight.  Ride after ride and they were all dropping "F" bombs.  I was starting to feel like Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.

I finally got to see those darn bats flying out from under the Congress Street bridge.  Just happen to pass over the bridge at the perfect time.

As always, after each ride I start migrating towards home.  If I make it I stop and if I don't make it, I don't stop.  Surprisingly, at about 9pm my migrating pushed me out of downtown, passed the Arboretum and Domain areas and nothing going on in the Lakeline area at that moment.  I made it home and went off line.

Lots of tippers today.

08/10/19

One of the later starts that I have done but I knew that even at 10pm there would be someone wanting to go somewhere and that I would probably end up downtown sooner or later.

Sure enough, a request came in.  Beautiful young lady that went straight for the passenger seat.  We talked for the duration of the trip to downtown Austin.  I noticed that the app had me going to I35 but in our conversations I wanted to run her by West 6th so she could see that area.  Even as we turned south on Mopac, the app kept trying to redirect us.  I begin to suspect that something was up downtown and then I remembered that it was Pride weekend.  My offer to show off part of the town turned into a traffic and pedestrian nightmare as the events were ending and we were right at 5th and Guadalupe where they had all ended.  I was finally able to make our way to 6th and Colorado and she was fine with walking a few blocks to 6th street.  She asked if it would be safe and I told her it would but to not talk to strangers. 

So, I dropped off the first rider but was still stuck on Colorado and now another request had come in from west 6th and I had no way to turn around and get back to 6th street.  It took forever to get up to 7th street where I turned west and then begin working my way to the pick up.  I had been texting the rider and letting him know what was going on.  I made it to the pick up spot and couldn't find them.  I went around again and saw who I thought was them across the street but I was in no position to get over there so I started around again.  They sent a text letting me know they were outside and I explained to them that I thought I had seen them and was going around again to be able to pick them up.  I went up an extra block and then turned west on 6th giving me lots of room to maneuver in the packed traffic to get over to them.  DAMMITT! the guy yelled out when I pulled up and called his name.  He wasn't mad, just relieved that I had finally made it.  I too expressed how glad I was to see them and to finally get them into the vehicle.

After dropping them off I had a pick up at BT2 and going downtown.  Dropped them off and had a Pool ride with 2 of the riders going back to that same place.  The other group in the pool was headed to Top Golf.  From there picked up someone on Rock Rose in the Domain that were going out to 360 and 2222.  Got pinged from Shooters and took them to Steiner Ranch.  I usually don't have a problem with 2am stuff but I was feeling like I was going to fall asleep so I headed home.

08/09/19

I was supposed to head home after work today and I did, kinda sorta.  I turned on the app and set my home address to see if I could sneak a ride in while I was headed home.  Since I was still downtown, there was a very good chance I would get a request even with the address restriction in place.

I immediately got a ping and it was just around the corner at the state capital.  As soon as turned left from Brazos street on to 11th street the riders spotted me and began waving at me.  I easily pulled up and two nice looking oriental ladies ran to the vehicle and jumped in.  "We have to get to Greyhound and catch a bus" they franticly stated.  "Okay, we are on our way", I responded and we took off.  I looked at the clock at it was exactly 5:00pm.  "What time does your bus leave", I asked.  Keep in mind that the evening rush-hour traffic is in full effect although it is usually a little lighter on Fridays.  They told me that their bus was at 5:25pm and because sometimes the busses leave a little early, they were not sure they were going to make it.

By now we were on Lavaca and I could see that there was a delay up at the light at MLK.  I cut across 17th street to Colorado and then continued over to MLK and successfully avoided the jam up at the Lavaca and MLK light.  MLK to I35 was a little slow but it was moving and the turn to the I35 ramp was packed and not moving.  I swung wide and stayed on the frontage road bypassing all of the stopped traffic and then had to do the same thing again and the next on-ramp.  As I zipped past 38 1/2  street I held to the far left lane.  I could see that past the tracks and up the ramp the traffic was moving slower in the other lane.  I was easily able to slide through the traffic, over the hill and down onto the on-ramp to I35.  The next exit was the one that I needed so I never really merged onto I35.  The whole time I am taking glances at the clock and we were getting really close on time.  I exited on 2222 and just as before I was able to slip through in the left lane all they way to the traffic light and after a brief wait for the light to change I lifted off while in a left turn for the final leg of the journey.

I could see the building with the Greyhound letters across the side and could also see that there was no traffic for this final stretch.  I accelerated rapidly, then slowed equally as rapid to turn into the driveway.  The time was 5:20pm.  Nice, we had made it with 5 minutes to spare.  The ladies had already bolted out of the vehicle thanking me as they ran to the door.  I once again began my journey home as the earnings for the ride popped up on the screen.  Wow.  It seemed like more than what it should be.  As I stopped for traffic on Airport Blvd I reached up and opened the detail section of the earnings to see why it was so high.  What I saw made me smile.  It was almost like receiving a secret message.  The ladies had added a large tip to the ride signifying that we did make it in time and that they were pleased with how I had accomplished that.

I made it the rest of the way home, picked up my wife a daughter and we headed out to try out a restaurant that I had seen on one of the past journeys.

08/08/19

First ride was to the airport.  Just like earlier in the week, when I dropped off I immediately received a request for a pickup.  This time I nailed it.  Yellow Zone 3.  Present and waiting when the rider arrived. 

As I headed up the acceleration ramp, that was at a slightly steep angle and was aiming the vehicle at the sky, the collision warning system picked up a traffic sign that was 20 feet up in the air and activated the collision warning.  I almost had a natural disaster in my pants as the alert was totally unexpected due to the fact that there were no cars in the vicinity.

Third and last rider of the day was headed to the Mohawk to see Mike and The Moonpies.  Her good friend's son is in the band.

08/07/19

After making it all the way out to 2222 on Balcones, it was good to finaly get a request so I could get away from the fumes of this frickin Dodge Charger that was somehow picking the same roads that I was.  I think I breathed in enough of that crap to take care of the ozone layer for the next 2 years.

Took three people out on 620 south of Mansfield dam.  Surprisingly I immediatly got another request out there.  I pulled up to the Hudson Tavern and waited for the rider.  I saw him coming in my rear-view mirror and although he was not staggering or anything, I could tell that he was drunk.  He opened the passenger side door and before I could greet him he announced to me and anyone else that was within a hundred yards in all directions, "I am day drinkin!'".  We had good conversation and he was guiding me through the navigation of the roads to get to his house.

I had no idea that today was Blues on the Green at Zilker Park.  Picked up a group of 4 guys in Cedar Park and dropped them off at the event.  Made it all the back home without another request and called it a night.

08/06/19

Wide awake at 5:00am so I decided to head out early and see if there were any riders going downtown.  I set the address on the app and made it to work really early as no one was going my way at that time of the day.

Much later evening start than what I wanted, in fact it was almost 10:00pm when I left work.  Still was able to get 2 rides.

08/05/19

The evening rush out of downtown was over but I turned it anyway to see if I could get a few rides.  Made it almost to the arboretum before getting pinged.

The ride was to the airport and after an uneventful trip and dropoff I immediately got pinged for a pickup.  The pickup was in the new pickup area that I was not familiar with yet.  After two misses and having to loop all the way around, I figured out how to get in to the pickup area.  The rider was there patiently waiting and then off we went to the Hyatt Regency.

From there I made it home without any additional activity.

08/03/19

Dropped off first riders in Leander in one of the new subdivisions. The streets weren't even on the map.  Turned the corner and some girls were selling lemonaide so I stopped and bought a cup.

The next rider was on an HOA board of directors somewhere and was on the phone for most of the ride, dealing with a problem of a neighborhood dog that had been biting other dogs and people.  It was one of the longer rides that I have done.  Leander to down south past where Mopac ends.

I kept Mopac ablaze tonight with over half of the trips being via Mopac.

All male group of 3 riders.
Rider 1:  we should do our formal thing
Rider 2:  yeah, I would be totaly down with that.
Rider 3:  ....

Rider 2:  which dates should we bring?
Rider 1:  no dates, just us.
Rider 3:  .....
Rider 2:  we have to bring dates.  I could bring Sarah.
Rider 1:  Okay.  I could bring Katie.
Rider 2:  who the fuck is that?
Rider 1:  she's got big fuckin tits!
Rider 2:  .....
Rider 3:  .....
Driver:  .......

One female rider was having her 25th birthday.  She wanted different  music and climbed into the front seat to find a good song on the radio since I was driving in downtown and couldn't mess with the radio.   Another large group of females was able to get their Bluetooth to link up and play their songs, all of which I could have done without.

3 Comfort rides tonight.  Uber may be on to something by adding this level of service.

Finished off the night at 1:45am at the Whataburger on 620 near Lake Creek Parkway.

07/17/19

It has been well over a month since I have driven.  Turned on the app and set the address for home.  Had 2 riders on the way.  Wasnt much money but it paid for my gas to and from work for today and to fill up my gas can yesterday so I could mow the damn grass.

The second rider today was blind but gave better directions than anyone with full vision.  He wanted to talk about politics and Donald Trump.  I had to be careful with what I said as I did not want to end up in the emergency room with a white cane stuck up my ass.

06/08/19

It was 11:30pm as I began accelerating up to the speed limit, aimed the vehicle to the north and then down the ramp towards I-45 from Business 287.  The app was already active so I entered the destination address and went "online".  There was the usual flurry of activity on the screen followed by the confirmation that I was now online.  I noticed a light out of the corner of my eye to the left and turned to see a moon that was not going to be full tonight.  "Good", I thought to myself.  "No crazy full moon bullshit tonight."  Dallas Texas, you are about to have a guest Uber driver tonight!

I had been planning this for quite some time and although it was late, I was going to go ahead with the plan as long as I didn't feel like I was forcing the issue.  Now, I was only a few moments away from realizing the adventure of rideshare driving in a different city for the first time.  About 30 miles out, the active map on the display jumped to life and the targets came into focus.  There were surges in what appeared to be DFW Airport and just east of downtown Dallas.  I suspected that there were more specific rules at DFW Airport, which I later confirmed, so I begin anticipating the first pickup would occur as I approached downtown Dallas.

As I crossed Loop 635, still considerably south of downtown, the first request came in.  It was actually a good distance away, further that what I had seen in the past for a regular Uber X request.  It made me wonder if rideshare companies are being as successful as they would like to be in covering the massive area that is the DFW metroplex.  The route took me across south Dallas from I-45 over to I-35.  Just moments from my arrival at the pick up address, I recive a phone call that takes over the screen from the app and leaves me blind.  It is my mom and she is worried and asking where I am.  I immediately have multiple flashbacks to high school days.  The only difference is that we had no cell phones back then and the question that was asked was "where have you been" instead of "where are you at".  I laughed to myself thinking, "Wow, we have advanced".  "Now parents can be proactive and find out what you are doing in present tense instead of having to wait until it is over and you are back home".  "I am driving mom.  I told everyone that I would probably do this tonight."  She said that she did not know and was worried when she couldn't find me in the house.  I told her that I had to go and would see her later.  I laughed to myself again thinking about being 57 years old and having my mom call me at midnight and ask where I was at.

Picked up the riders and following the route on the app, jumped right onto I-35.  About half a mile later, we were at a dead stop.  It took what seemed like an eternity to move up so I could exit and take an alternate route.  Then I saw the cause of the delay.  Construction!  Or in this case, destruction.  The alternate route that the app was suggesting wanted me to turn left and back over I-35.  This wasn't going to happen.  The work area was more lit up than a Friday night football stadium and I could clearly see the "wrecking balls" were hard at work.  The only thing that was left of the bridge over I-35, that I was being prompted to use by the app, were 6 concrete columns sticking 20 feet up in the air.  I picked my own alternate path and in seconds we were past the delay and once again heading in the direction of downtown.

The maze of freeway intersections in the Dallas downtown area has always been challenging.  Apparently they are equally challenging for the app.  I ended up on the incorrect freeway and had to circle around and try again.  This doesn't happen often but is always embarrassing regardless of who or what is at fault.  We pulled up to a traffic light and the lady passenger commented that she did not understand why the app wanted us to go right when we should go left.  I asked her if she could guide me the rest of the way and I would end the trip.  That would free us from the confused app and make up some of the cost associated with the previous small error.  She agreed and guided me into Deep Elum for the drop off.

I lived in the Dallas Ft. Worth area for almost 30 years.  I could not believe that I had never been to the nightlife hotspots before.  I knew about them but had never been.  The next pick up was in Cedar Springs.  Tons and tons of people and since the streets were not closed it was similar to what would be experienced on busy West 6th street in Austin.  The riders could not find me and after a great deal of coordination, we finally linked up.  Their drop off was in Carrollton, which is where my destination address was set for.  After dropping them off I took a break for a couple of hours and then started up again.

The next pick up was from the XTC Cabaret.  I never realized how many vehicles this place can park and certainly don't see how that building can hold that many people.  The riders appeared to realize this mess and met me on the frontage road where I was waiting in the line.  They began talking about how the place was a big shit storm and all kinds of things going on.  They were complaining about one thing after the other.  I finally cut in a asked, "hey, how were the girls"?  My question finally drew some positive comments from them.

The guy's hotel was very close by.  After dropping them off, I was going to try and make a run for it to get further from the strip club but I didn't make it.  I texted the rider and suggested they come to the frontage room as it was easier to pick up there.  The rider responded to come to the club.  This time I had to fight my way into the parking lot and over to the club to pick up the riders.  Fourtunaly they ended up meeting me in the parking lot just I had negotiated with security to move the cones and let me closer into the front drive of the club.  The riders were one of the female employees and a male friend.  During the ride it became obvious that they were friends and had been friends for a while.  Very well spoken and polite.  Their drop off was further away and that got me away from that madness.

Had another request that was from a distance.  Upon arrival he was setting on the curb in an industrial warehouse type of area and no clubs anywhere around.  Perhaps he was just getting off work.  I didn't ask although we did talk quite a bit.  He was interesting to talk to.  When I dropped him off, it was almost 5:00am.  I turned off the app and set my course back to the south so I could get some sleep.

A successful night although the first trip errors didn't set well with me as a good way to start of this adventure.  I will probably do it again sometime in the near future.

05/29/19

I had my story after the first ride and was going to call it a day but instead stuck around for 3 more ride requests.

Picked up a group in West Campus.  One of the girls dropped the "F" bomb and then apologized.  Gave me a chance again to do my DJ voice announcing that "this Uber ride has the added bonus of being "F" bomb friendly".

Then one of the guys in the group starting talking about weird dreams that he has had.  Apparently one of the dreams was taking place in a bowling alley and he was badly beating everyone in bowling.  Such so that he ended up shitting all over the bowling alley.  His dream not mine although in all fairness we have all had strange dreams.

Another item out of this group had to do with a short friend of theirs who was dating and even shorter girlfriend.  Someone in the group used the word "midget" and was immediately scolded by the rest of the group, for using the "M" word.  A correct word was identified and used for the remainder of the conversation.  It is great that there is a level of respect for everyone regardless of their "variables" and I hope everyone is happy with the this.  When I was growing up some of my friends would have called them fuckin' dwarfs and went on about their day.  A lot has changed in 40 years and it has changed for the good.

05/23/19

Oh yeah!  A smorgasbord of four-letter words surrounding  a cornucopia of f-bombs. A very colorful conversation with an ex military gentleman that was equally as interesting as it was colorful.

It is UT graduation this weekend.  I had one rider tonight that will be part of those activities as he is part of the "UT Class of 2019".  He didn't talk much but I was able to get out of him that he was glad to be graduating and would be going on to law school after a brief vacation period.

Dropped off the rider in an area near Mount Bonnell and couldn't find my way out of the damn neighborhood.  I usually just turn around and retrace my steps but I was sure that I knew where the roads would lead me to.  They did not lead me to anything except half a dozen cul de sacs on the sides of hills.

Wow how the tall, shapely, confident, well spoken, sociable, engaging, Australian accented female had my attention.  Additionally, I was running extremely low on gasoline and was not sure how I was going to work in a gasoline stop.  Like a dream she climbed into my vehicle and then said, "would it be okay if we stopped somewhere so I can buy some cigarettes".  "Of course", I said, knowing that my problem had just been solved.  There was a convenience store near by and we pulled up to it.  "I'll be right back," she said as I was trying not go into shock at the $2.74 a gallon price of the gasoline.  I had $10 pumped into the vehicle and was back in the drivers seat and she never knew what had happened, although it may have seemed odd to her that I was parking next to a gas pump when there was acres of parking next to the store.

I screwed up twice on one ride tonight, which has not happened before.  I drove past the frickin' hard to see drive way when trying to pick them up, then I took the wrong entrance ramp getting on the freeway.  I decided it was time to go home after this trip.  I offered compensation to both (it was an Uber Pool ride and there were 2 people) and neither accepted stating everything was fine.  Then I went home.

05/22/19

Blues on the Green.  I never know it is coming up but I always know when it happens.  Did a few pickups of people that were going to that but I wasn't really into the thought of a bunch of short rides so I set my home address and turned to the north.

The ridesharing gods once again came through.  I picked up a man from the Amtrak station and his dropoff point was about 2 miles from my house.

I really don't care to know about a person's medical conditions and some are more than willing to help make you aware of their's. I learned about a new one today but I can't spell it and don't know how to pronounce it so we will leave it at that.

05/20/19

Interesting conversation that was initiated by talking about the weather.  Some say it is clicheic to talk about the weather but it was perfect to get the conversation going today. 

This rider was determined to have a career being a stuntman.  His dad was young at heart and had a life surrounded by race cars, motorcycles and the likes which is probably what helped to have such an idea in ones head.  The rider ended up as a financial advisor but his dad, at 70 years old, still does that stuff.

He said that the front part of the male brain does not completely form until 24 years of age.  This is the part of the brain that controls reasoning and is why young males do some of the crazy things they do up to thay age.  Great conversation.

I dropped the rider off at the Saxon Pub.  I have dropped off there a lot but not lately.

From there I turned south on Lamar to move towards the next ride request that had come in.  I pulled up next to the restaurant and the ride was cancelled.  Fortunately Uber charges a cancellation fee after a period of time on an active request.

05/19/19

I have had suspicions for quite some time that there could be a lot happening on Sunday evenings.  People wrapping up their day at the lake, the golf course, sports bars, etc.  I finally was able to take a moment today and test my suspicions.  I was right.

Not a lot of blog worthy stories from the riders (or the driver) but I had this strange idea to do a "mash up" of a single sentence pulled from things that each rider group had said.  Of course these are out of context as they were from the 4 separate trips from the evening, but they were actual words that were said.

Rider 4: "He was behind me and knew who I was just by seeing my bottom".

Rider 1: "Ohhhhhh".

Rider 3: "That's what makes us who we are".

Rider 2: "That's fuckin' awesome".

I think this week is the least serious driving week that I have ever had.  I did it at weird hours and odd days, whenever I wanted to, and am still coming away with at least $231 for the week.  If I do this every week that is almost an extra $1,000 for the month.  Not bad for just messing around.

05/18/19

Could this be an addiction?  I was restless and finally turned the app on at 1:00am.  Immediately got a ride request from the Wild West and all of the anxiety went away.

And what a request it was.  Cedar Park to the Mueller area followed by another on E. 6th over to Lamar and Shoal Creek.  Left me in the heart of surge city and upon picking up another group near W. 6th on their way to the Arboretum, I had generated $20 in Surge charges alone.

One of the guys in the last group, that consisted of guys and girls, expressed interest in going to a strip club.  No one else was for it and one of the guys had never even been to a strip club before.  "We would be supporting someone.  It would be putting food on their table.  She probably has a couple of kids so we would be keeping a family alive".  Before he was finished, he had declared that going to the strip club would be philanthropic.  Made sense to me.

05/16/19

I needed to get home and do it couple of errands so I set my home address in the app and headed out.  I was expecting something but was not expecting a trip that would end only a couple of miles from my house.  Jackpot!  Lamar and 12th to 183 and Anderson Mill.

Texas Card House

05/15/19

Second time in the Rob Roy area of West Lake Hills but the first time during the day when I could see the surroundings.  Some beautiful houses and an even more beautiful view.

No smells today so maybe we are done with that chain of events.

05/14/19

A rare Tuesday outing.  First ride was a home run.  Avery Ranch to Alamo Draft House on South Lamar.

Different day, different smell.  I think the guy was a human cigarette butt.  Not looking forward to next day's smell.

It is very difficult to pick up on Congress.  Thanks to rider Matt at Coopers BBQ for realizing this and walking to 2nd street and walking righr up to the vehicle as I was turning around.

05/13/19

If that guy stands to close to the pizza warmer at CiCis it is going to be FLAME ON for him.  Very strong gasoline smell.  After I dropped them off at CiCis, I rolled down all of the windows and headed north on Lamar.  Took forever to get to a point on Lamar where I could pick up some speed and get some air moving.  Then just as it was clearing out I drove through the "stinch zone" of a dead animal and had to start all over again.

05/04/19

OMG!  How many weddings, proms, festivals and miscellaneous social events can one city have at the same time?  People everywhere!

It was sunny and beautiful all day today so I was sure that I would have  a ride from the lake.  And so it was for the second ride of the night.  Lake Travis to downtown.  Highest fare of the night.

One couple was discussing why they had not invited one of their friends. 
Rider 1: "He would want all of the attention and get on everyone's nerves".
Rider 2: "Okay so lets wait and see how things go and if they suck anyway we can invite him over and see what happens".

You could hear the whole town cheer when the Houston Rockets won tonight.  I picked up 2 females from one of the clubs on West 6th and they were extremely pumped up about the game.  They had an accent that I couldn't quite figure out.  In the conversation and somewhere in between the barrage of "f" bombs, I figured out that they were from California. I think they were using some kind of California dialect like the whole "valley girl" thing several years ago except this was  definitely not valley girl stuff.  One of then commented that James Harden's beard was gross and looked like a blob of pubic hair.

Some things I hear are just sad and can bum me out.  There are some sad and misguided individuals out there.

I had picked 2 couples from a spot that was a little calmer and they were headed out of downtown to the Doubletree Hotel up north.  I thanked them for getting me out of downtown.  From the same hotel I picked up a pair of prom goers.  As I was diving them to their destination, I recalled how it is the young and inexperienced drinkers that cause the messiest problems.  Hopefully I can steer clear of them.

Picked up from a wedding venue and during conversation discovered that the wedding was Star Wars themed.  Mom didnt seem too excited about that.  Dads light saber activated in the back seat.  (Star Wars prop)

Are the girls with a raspy voice destined to party more or do they have a raspy voice from partying more?

The requests had been comimg in before I had even finished with the ride I was on so I had no idea what my status was for the night.  After the Stars Wars wedding drop off, I went offline to see where I was.  It looked very nice.  I did my traditional wrap up at Whataburger with a #20 and an additional taquito with cheese and bacon.  Tonight was at the Whataburger at Parmer and McNeil.  It is well after 1:00am and this place is packed with a line out the door and a line of vehicles around the building.

04/11/19

The vehicle was loaded down to capacity with 7 people all in their early 30s .  A Japanese women was one member of the group and was talking about culinary things.

"You guys and your forks".  "You're fucking up all of your pans".  "You should be using chop sticks to cook with".  I laughed out loud and she punched me in the arm saying that I probably hear a lot of fun stuff like this.

03/28/19

Yet another confirmationthat that ladies use nicknames when talking about guys and this time the nickname was Lord Farquaad.

The Uber Pool that would not end.  A chain of 6 when it was all said and done.

From the moment I accepted the first ride at 8:43pm,  it was non-stop until 16 rides later and 1 am.

2/23/19

This was one of those nights that I never made it downtown.  It happens every once in a while.  Of course people can get just a drunk up north of town as they can downtown.  Such was the case with a Pilipino gentleman that I picked up at the Westin in the Domain.  Nice long drive to out north of Leander.  He assured me that even though he was drunk, he would not barf in my vehicle.  I told him where the barf bag was anyway and drove as fast as I could to get him home.  Fortunately he called a friend and talked to her for most of the trip.  This kept him awake and helped limit the risk of any drunk related incidents.  Nice guy.

Had about a 30 minute break in the activity before picking up a couple at Wild West.  That pushed me over where I wanted to be with the money for the week.

2/22/19

A renewed drivers license with a fresh new bearded photo was an inspiration to turn on the app again especially after several days of being beat up until late hours of the day at the real job.

Wow, there is a $6.50 surge bonus south of town but I am not interested in trying to blast my way down there.  The requests immediately started and after a short run I was headed to UT Campus for a pick up.  I arrived and 7 beautiful petite young ladies loaded up.  That may have tied a record for the number of people in vehicle (8 total).  These ladies acted quite bit more mature than most that I pick up over there.  They probably would not have fit had they not been petite.  Of course that ride was followed up by a group of 5 ginormous dudes that could barely fit through the door to get inside.  They were headed to SOCO (South Congress).  When I closed out that ride in the app and the active map came back to the display, KAPOW!  The $6.50 surge bonus was still there and the heart of it was only about 2 miles away.  I blasted off and nailed it down right at the 290 / 360 split in south Austin.  I was sure I would get pegged for a ride as I drove back north an Mopac and passed close to downtown and West Campus but I managed to get all the way to the Arboretum before the next ride.  Other than that stretch it was busy and I was getting bonuses on the rides.

Until I got a call that there was a fire alarm at the hotel.  That stopped the momentum and I was there for about 3 hours taking care of that crisis.

About 12:30am I started the app again and being a Friday in downtown Austin, I immediately got a request, followed by another.  The drop off for the second one took me out of downtown.  Even though the late night surge bonuses were starting to show up in the downtown area, I opted to continue to the north and see if I could make it home before getting another ride.

I was approaching the tollway (45) at 183 when the next request came.  I was having trouble staying awake and it scared the shit out of me when it activated.  It is interesting how I never get drowsy when I have riders late at night but give me 30 seconds without a rider in the vehicle and gets tough to stay awake.

I picked up a young guy at a club in Cedar Park and I could immediately tell he was drunk and that there was going to be conversation occurring for the duration of the ride.  He immediately started talking about nutrition and how it had affected him.  He was using big words that he could not pronounce in his drunken state and it was starting to frustrate him but I let him know that I knew what he was saying so he would keep talking and get on with what he was trying to say.  He absolutely could not say "artificial ingredients" and even as much as he was battling and being frustrated, he kept revolving his conversation around those words and kept having to attempt to say them.  It was really funny but, the point he was making was a very good one and after all of the drunken babble, his point boiled down to, "read the ingredients of a product and if you don't know what an ingredient is, then it is probably artificial and should not be eaten".  He says that the body does not know how to process artificial ingredients and there for they just stick around anywhere they can, kind of in a limbo situation until they are cleansed out with a product you can buy at GNC or by eating things that will help get them out of there such as blackberries or blueberries.  It sounded logical to me so perhaps I will come up with a new diet with the spirit of the above at its core and will name the diet, "La Dieta del Muchacho Borracho" (the Diet of the Drunken Dude).

It was 2:00am and I was heading back into Cedar Park from Jonestown I was fully expecting to receive a request from the Wild West.  It happened and I picked up a couple that were going to Leander at 2 stops.  The passengers were talking coherently but I could tell that the lady was about to go down for the count.  As long as she was talking, she stayed awake.  Of course the first stop was the drop off the guy.  He even commented that I was going to have to carry her when we got to her house.  As we left for the short remaining distance to her house, I began talking to her to keep her awake.  That worked for about 32 seconds as her side of the conversation slowly faded away into nothing.  "Well shit", I said to myself.  She was a big girl and there was not going to any successful lifting and hauling of her ass from me.  We arrived at the house and after 3 announcements of our arrival and turning on the inside light, she begin to move around, opened her eyes and noticed that we were at her house.  She begin a process of movements that seem to slowly build up to the final action of reaching over and opening the damn door.  I asked her if she needed any help.  She said no and successfully got out of the car and thanked me.  She stood for a moment and as I pulled away she started up her driveway.  I was going to just go straight out but had the though of her passing out,  falling down and rolling down her driveway into the middle of the street where she might get hurt, so I turned around to go back by and  see if she made it inside.  As I drove by she was at her front door looking down into her purse, presumable for her keys, and looked to be in control of her faculties.

I was done.  I ended up making more money than what I had intended for the day and had a couple of great stories.  And I got to drive around town all night.  Could that be some kind of weird latent subconscious addiction going back to the days on "the drag"?