So I ended 2016 with a marathon - 150 Miles, but I also hit a milestone, currently I have 101 Uber riders logged in less than 30 days... Lyft, maybe 25... I'm still new but tonight I did have a proven concept, stay put for a bit... I used to pickup a rider, take them to their destination and go offline back to "my comfort area" usually Fullerton/Yorba Linda - tonight I simply camped unless I saw a surge nearby I could get to in 5 min or less... by doing so, I have less gas, mileage, wear and tear and personal time without a fare... I do end up, however, in places I dont know well and drunk people dont necessarily realize if they dont enter a destination, I rely on them to get us there or I have to pull over and enter it for them, countless times tonight distances were increased due to a drunk backseat driver, shoot at $18 per mile, I dont mind...
SO, without further ado, NYE!!!! 10 riders on Uber, 1 rider and 1 billed cancel on Lyft...
Logged in at 7:09pm after a quick meal at McD's :)
Ride 1 - Uber - a nice family from Alta Vista to Yorba Linda, they had a few bags of food I asked if we could put in the trunk as it smelled awesome but also very strong, they obliged and we were there in 5 minutes...
Ride 2 - Uber - This guy was frustrated as all get out - 5 Ubers had cancelled on him - unfortunately his address wasn't populating and it said drive to "pin" - I called and texted but no answer, I then see a rather large guy waving his phone - he had hiked down the hill to meet me, I pulled up and we drove about 1/8th of a mile to where he really should have been picked up to pick up his GF... I told him the best way to get an accurate location would be to walk to the end of his street and request it there - he was ordering the ride from inside his home, which literally backed up to the next street over... Anywho, we were on our way to a place in Orange called Jeff's - evidently his buddy had opened a small restaurant with a bar and is absolutely killing it (in a good way)... Dropped them off and ran across the street to Target to pee..
Side note - some areas it is extremely difficult to find a place to simply go to the bathroom... I find grocery stores and shops like target are the easiest, however gas stations have been known to open their doors for drivers to use the facility and even get a hot cup of coffee (Long Beach Chevron!!!)
Ride 3 - Uber, a ping back to Jeff's a nice couple had just finished their dinner and were heading to a movie - they said the food was phenomenal and their friends had just come in on a Uber that found them when no other driver could :P They called them and sure enough, it was Jeff in a white Avalon - bonus kudos for staying put... I dropped them off at the large theater near the pond, they were seeing Creed with Sly Stallone - sounds like an epic movie! Handshake tip and was on my way!
Ride 4 - Uber - her name was Hang and I picked her up a the new transportation facility across from the Pond - poor thing was bundled up in a down jacket sitting outside... I cranked up the heat for her and we headed off on a very quiet ride to Garden Grove...
Ride 5 - Uber - picked up 2 guys at D&B at the block and dropped them at DT Disney - these guys cracked me up, Waze had me to their destination in 3.5 miles but they insisted on navigating - 8 miles later we arrived - the entire trip was them snapchatting and taking selfies... the irony came in while about a mile away, "Let me take a selfie" came on the radio - I turned it up and said I dedicate this to you guys... LOL, Dropped them off and got a 4* from them, but it was very worth it!
Got 3 calls to inside Disneyland - contrary to popular belief, I cannot pick you up on the Autopia - went offline and headed to Fullerton as there was a surge going on!
Ride 6 - Uber - First Surge of the night, 2 guys and a lady, dressed to the nines - Best riders of the night for certain! Pickup by my place in fullerton, ride to DTF - this is normally an $8 ride, but surge took it up to $20..., these guys were probably some of the coolest riders I've ever had... I actually saw them later that night and they came up to wish me a happy new year, they were super bummed I was picking up another rider... I gave them a card and told them how to ensure it's me who picks them up - it's tricky but I now know it works....
10:40pm, surge by CSUF
Ride 7 - Uber - Kaern (SP?) gorgeous couple hop in, both with the most exotic of names - these two were dressed to kill and super cool! a quick ride down to Orange (less than a block from Jeff's, OK I get the hint, I'll try it) - the address was a bit hard to find, but they were super cool, we called the host of the party and he texted me a link - we were 3 houses away... Handshake tip and I was on my way...
3 to go to 100!!!!
Ride 8 - Lyft - went back to a surging YL - picked up Nicole at Alta Vista and too her to the Holiday inn off nutwood - dropped her off at 11:30pm...
After sitting for 5 minutes nearby I headed to DTF - figured it's close to 12 and they were hosting 1st night - many families attending might be the best place... I parked in front of the Train station with another Uber driver and 2 taxi cabs... All 4 of us were having a smoke but no one was really talking - I get the Taxi cabs hate us but Uber and Lyft driver should get along... The Slidebar was going off and just as the countdown started I got a Lyft ping - I heard 3-2-1-Happy New Year just as I pulled out and headed to a fare off Valencia... this was a ghost run! Bummer for them the didnt cancel within 5 minutes and I got $5 for sitting there for 5 minutes...
Cancelled my next Lyft and shutdown my 2nd phone - the big Surge was up and way too hard to manage... Uber puts me literally next to my clients, Lyft says they're somewhere around here..
Ride 9 - Anthony - DTF to LBC on a surge! He wasn't sober but not drunk - he got lucky, it was a 2x surge ride - $70 later I finally found his new friends house and I realized I'm in LBC - literally a block away from my MIL's house...
LBC is at an 8-10x surge - I dont know the area well but why not, that's what Waze is for...
Ride 10 - Uber - #100 actually, totally planning on making a big deal and giving a $10 sbux card... Shelly and her friend hop in fighting, She's very dressed up, he's wearing jeans and a t - I'll never understand why women like her are attracted to guys like him, I dont know the full story, nor do I care to, She got out and slammed my door, he handed me $5 and said sorry - who was wrong here?!? BTW, this .75 mile ride cost a huge $27.45
Ride 11 - I feel bad on this ride, LBC has a ton of 1 way streets and I messed up - missed the riders by a block and took 5 min running back around to them... they were still totally cool with it, the EL Uber sign was the key... A 2 mile ride cost $30...
I was going to go back to DTF but decided that we were very close to puke in the car and I had a $22 bottle of terreaux at home - I dont drive for the money and the experience was becoming a bit drunk! I may have said I want to pull every drunk off the road, but I now realize I meant every sophisticated drunk - I saw the worst of people tonight and realize, I want to drive those who respect the ride....
Hope everyone had a safe and sane change in the New Year - happ 2016 to us all~!
Jeff
#UberOn
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