So Friday started at the quarter car was, I spent $2 rinsing off the dust, dumping any trash and wiping down everything - I restocked the waters in the front and back seat, filled the gas tank and camped right off Kreamer and YL/BLVD - went online at 7:05pm and got pinged immediately...
That started quite a few runs, a couple to "The Bench", a Student from Valencia to his house, 2 young ladies to Rembrandt's, 2 young ladies to to DTF (Downtown Fullerton), back up to Placentia as DTF was dead took a nice lady to Macy's at the Brea Mall, was going to head down to CSUF but got hit for a pickup at the Mall - 2 guys headed to DTF...
As I sat for 30min in DTF, I had a cancelled ride, I guess drivers spoof out other drivers from time to time, more on that in a bit, It was then I realized something quickly that could end my night, my phone was not charging from the cig plug... CRAP! Went "offline" and headed home as I realized the Avalon had a 110v plug in it :) - grabbed my quick charger and a new lightening adaptor... Ate some food and went online in my apartment...
5 minutes after going online another call from Fraternity row to DTF, 3 guys promising to book me for 3 rides with the "ladies they met" - Yeah right, still slow so I logged in as a passenger and saw 15 other uber drivers sitting in the same area - that can make for a long wait so I scrolled around and saw a ton of drivers heading to CSUF, I had already seen there was something formal going on over there so I headed there...
Within a mile I got hit to head to the parking lot at CSUF, there had been an inter fraternal social mixer going on and there had to have been 4 big party buses, 10 Limos and 15 Uber/Lyft drivers - this also was the first time I had to say no as they tried to sneak in 5 passengers into my 4 available seatbelts... "It's only 2 blocks", yeah, uhhhh NO... They finally understood and I took 2 of them safely home...
Another call to Fraternity row to pick up two more guys headed to DTF - finally an immediate pickup upon drop off, a lone guy who forgot his passport in his car 7 miles away, a nice 14 mile round trip :)
Thats when things got more fun, a company holiday party had the traditional "She's too drunk to drive home" so they put her in my car - they asked if she could sit up front and I was OK with that, easier for me to pull over and open the door if she got sick - fortunately she did not and one of her neighbors pinged me for a ride to, guess where, DTF!
Pulled over for a bit to have a convo w/ my son, went back online and got my first "long drive" from DTF to Cypress... Went offline to get back to DTF and got 2 cancels in a row, mind you it's surging now...
Finally got a surge call and it was only 1 mile - Arrgh - they wanted to go through a drive through, I apologized and said I cant do that at 1:30am, I feel obligated to get back to get the drunks home safely - they appreciated that so I gave them the number to their local dominoes :P Thank you Siri!!!
Back to DTF and instant Surge fare to South Orange - very nice couple dressed to the nines... They were professional Uber riders too, they knew what drivers deal with and gave me some tips too, however they said even though you are new, you've got a great thing going as I could charge his iPhone and I had waters for them... Upon arrival he shook my hand with a little green and his card, he told me to email him with my driver code... Great feeling...
So it's already 2am, I knew I could still get back to DTF by 2:20 I did, I've never seen so many police and their crazy DUI tactics... I had a call in the middle of an arrest and the officer lifted the tape for me to go through - couldn't find the passenger and cancelled them after 5 min (I get a $5 spiff for waiting) - got a call from a guy who put his destination as his pickup, another $5 spiff and finally 3 ladies at Dominoes just off the SoCo area needed a ride back to Kreamer and Imperial - boom done! Headed home after that...
Filled the gas tank back to full - $16 - car wash, $3 - water still ok from day 1, insurance covered from day 1 - Day 2 cost me $19 and a few hours - total fares, today, $135, total fares from 2 days $165 - Uber take - $65 - my take home = $100 +$25 in tips - 10 hours means I have made $12.50 on average - not great but I'm learning....
So about the cancellations - this is a loophole that Uber has and Lyft has addressed - you can order a ride and as long as you cancel within 5 minutes, uber wont charge - uber, lyft and taxi drivers will utilize this loophole to put you to the back of the line again - if you get a fare and they cancel within 5 minutes there is no charge to them so they'll make you chase a ghost for 4 minutes and then cancel... I'm working on the counter measure... I am a phone guy afterall!
I printed a lyft placard off the internet, tomorrow night I will drive both to see what happens...
I've made money, I dont consider my time when I dont have my kids as important or billable at a specific hourly rate... Education, friendliness and social interaction win here!
Need sleep now however - GNite all!
Jeff
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