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.....

Uber Damsels in Distress...

So I went to drive for Uber Saturday night, normally the best night of the week for earnings. I started around 6 p.m. and I got pinged right away by a couple of Welshmen who needed a ride from their Air Bnb rental house to the downtown area. It never ceases to amaze me, the people who visit here from all over the world.

Anyway, from the minute I went online, it was a fairly constant flow of rides, mostly medium and long rides, only because I made a point of staying at least 20 minutes from the center of town, where people were steadily grabbing rides back into town, until about 11:30 p.m. Then I changed my strategy, to lingering close to the downtown bar areas, where people were starting to head back to the outskirts.

I cruised by one popular and crowded spot, where I noticed a gorgeous young woman in white, attempting to hail a cab with her obviously drunk boyfriend, with no apparent luck. The problem with Uber is that I could not actually offer them a ride. I would have to wait for them to click on the app on their smartphone, if they had actually already signed up for Uber, and hope I was the closest driver.

So I made a right with the line of slow-moving traffic, to go around the block and maybe park close by, when my phone lit up with a ride request. Amazingly, it was right back in the same area where I had just seen the girl. I clicked to accept the request and proceeded to turn around.

When I finally got back there, I waited for "Stephanie" to find me parked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, the only empty curb-space available, information which I had texted to her. After about a five minute wait, guess who opens the passenger door and hops in next to me, but this same girl in white!

She thanked me profusely and asked me to take her to a club on the other side of town. Remembering her partner, I asked if there was anyone else on the way and she said "no", she was the only one. During the trip, she called someone and seemed to be arguing with them about treating her badly and how she had no time for such treatment.

She hung up and informed me that I was a lifesaver for giving her a ride, because her boyfriend had got drunk and become quite abusive and she had been unable to find an available cab to get away from him and go hang with her friends instead. Then she had requested Uber and I had shown up in "under two minutes" and how great that was, to be able to just call a "personal driver" to escape the situation. This was actually the third time I can remember, that I picked up a woman that was in an abusive situation and whisked her away.

So, I may not be getting rich from Uber, but this part is pretty cool.