$30,000 Note Pad

I had attended this little college back in the early 1980's and could not get a job in my field upon graduation, or even so much as a job interview. It really is who you know and not what you know when looking for that first opportunity, but I did not know anybody, at least anybody in corporate America. I eventually went to work for my Father's company, but he was not of the philosophy that I should be paid very much, and that position eventually petered out, after my surviving five years or so. Three-plus decades later my first college is sending me little gifts, asking for donations to the school, which I am, unfortunately, unable to provide.

Here is their latest gift, a little note pad. Since I blew about $30,000 on that education, I figure this is a $30,000 note pad. Here it is:

$30,000 Note Pad

Uber Blues

I did not make a profit in September in my Uber gig... 

Of course it was no help that I worked only half the month, due to another part-time job out-of-state involving farm work, from which driving for Uber is a major break. I just had very bad luck with my low profile Continental brand tires, which are not very tough, and I would highly not recommend for city driving. 

First, I dropped off a couple of gay guys, who flew in from the West Coast, in front of an apparently very popular gay bar here in Nashville, judging from the line to get in, composed of both boys and girls. So, in my attempt to drop them off as close as possible to the front door, I ran up on the curb a little bit and what happens? The frigging right front tire blows out through the sidewall and goes flat.

So I manage to drive the car to the empty lot across the street and ended up paying a homeless guy $25 to help me change it, providing entertainment for the night-clubbing crowd. This guy was actually a God-send, as he really knew cars and prevented me from jacking up the car in the wrong spot on the plastic trim. His name was "Terrel" if I recall correctly.

Luckily the tire was covered under warranty from Discount Tire, but of course I had to buy two tires to balance out the car, so that one new tire hit me for around $200 after sales tax.

Finally getting back to driving for Uber the next Thursday night and I run over something - I don't even know what - and the next morning I notice the right front tire has a deep slice in it.

Amazing it didn't go flat.......

Luckily this is part of the other two tires left, not the new pair on the rear of the car. Back to Discount Tire again and it's covered under warranty-awesome-and I have to buy another pair of tires, $200 for the one new one to make another pair, so I'm getting killed so far in the profits department.

The reality is, as appealing as it is to make my own schedule and get paid to drive around in the car, the income to expense ratio is just not going to allow me to continue working for Uber that much longer. Though my Uber career will probably be short-lived, I will definitely continue to use the service as a passenger. It's a great deal for riders. For the drivers, not so much.

Back out tonight to try again on the busiest and craziest night of the week.......

Update - Sunday, October 5....

Saturday was busy from my start at 2 p.m. through my quit time around 1 a.m., when an apparently very drunk teen girl barfed in my car, into a barf bag luckily. I managed a gross earnings of around $180, after slapping another 220 miles on my unfortunate vehicle, but I managed to earn almost one of my damaged tires back in one night, so a good night, for this business anyway. Met young people from all over the country, so the young-generation migration continues.....

Driving for Uber

Having been chronically underemployed during the year 2014, due to my trying to escape my previously ill-advised involvement in the chiropractic personal-injury racket, I am always searching for ways to make money, as it seems I am unemployable in my old age for anything other than "self employment", which means I'm on Craigslist a lot, searching in desperation for any opportunity to earn a buck.

Regardless, I spied this ad for Uber drivers on my local Craigslist, so, naturally, I applied. To my surprise, I actually got "hired" after a lengthy month-long background check and they promptly sent me an iPhone programmed for the Uber share a ride system. This is where you take your vehicle to your local city where Uber is operating and hang out until some stranger, who is already signed up for the Uber system, requests a ride through your Uber-issued iPhone.

Then you have 15 seconds to tap the phone screen and accept the ride. Punch the requested address into your GPS (purchased with your own funds) and, hopefully, it directs you to the waiting fare. There, you pull over, greet the customer and get the destination address, which you also punch into your GPS, unless you already know your city really well. Proceed from point A to point B, after touching the go button on your Uber-phone and it records the time and mileage and computes a fare, after you touch the stop button on your phone at the end of the trip, of which Uber takes 20%. The rest is deposited a few times per week directly into your bank account.

Sounds like the perfect job, right? No day is the same. Meet lots of interesting, tech-savvy people. Set your own hours, get immediate feedback on what you earned on any ride given, work in any major city.

My experience after three nights? Here are my numbers after being available from 4 through 8 p.m. two nights and 4 p.m. through 2:37 a.m Friday night:

• Total Miles: 493.2. So I put about 165 miles on my car per working night. To be fair, I drive 34 miles just to get to the city before turning on my Uber-phone, although I did turn it on immediately Friday night and actually scored a rider halfway to town. So I am spotting myself 68 miles every day that I work, regardless.
• Total Rides: 34. So I'm averaging just under 12 rides per session.
• Hours: Weeknights, I work 4 to 8 p.m. Friday night I worked 4 p.m. to almost 3 a.m. 8 + 11 is 19 hours on the clock.
• Earnings: After three days, my stats show total earnings of $371.82. So, let's see. The reward for totally killing my car for three nights is 371.82 - gas at about 23 mpg comes to about 22 gallons of gas at an average price of $3.45/gallon currently for regular = around $76.00. 371.82 - 76 = $295.82 net income. I forgot to mention that my GPS cost $200, so I have netted only about $95.00 so far. So it looks like about $100/night profit.
• Keep in mind that commercial insurance is recommended if you ever want your car to be repaired by your insurance company if you get in an accident. Research shows that insurance runs around $1,000/month,which of course, I don't have, although Uber does cover your passengers at one million dollars each, so if I'm in an accident, I'm out of a vehicle.

In conclusion, I see ride-sharing services as a nice novelty and the software system is ingenious, but I think it's a fad whose time is limited, especially by the time these drivers have an accident, or have to buy a replacement vehicle for their beat-up Uber-wagon and realize how they've actually been run over by the costs involved. It looks like the passengers and the company are making out great, but, ultimately the driver is getting totally screwed.

In summary; It looks like a good strategy to make some quick cash, if you have a good vehicle and a clean driving record and are somewhat tech-savvy, but it's no full-time job.

The End