January 2023

Sunday nights after I have been driving all day on St. Pete Beach and or Down Town St. Petersburg, Florida
are the best! When I get home to Manatee County, I come in the house, pee if I have to, and take my vitamins, Sundays
are the days when I take vitamin D. for the entire week. Blog about my day driving, then get on the peloton. The rides I do
when I get home are a lot less “intense” than my morning ride. When I get home, I choose either a beginner, low impact
, or recovery ride and I come up out of the “Saddle”  (Peloton speak for the seat) 6 or more times. What I want to do in the afternoon ride
is keep the resistance 60 or below (as low as possible) What I always try to do is survive and thrive. To do that you
have to always be as cheap as possible. Sunday nights are the nights that I eat (I love to eat lol) a grass-fed ribeye steak and of course
some veggies usually Green Beans and Mushrooms too. I do all the grocery shopping since I am my mother’s caretaker and
because she is elderly. she receives snap benefits (food stamps) ain’t no shame in my game lol I am fat

The Uber driving app says I took 4 trips total today I made
a little over $105.00. Whatever! I accepted a request today that had a surge of $14.00.
I picked up two couples and took them from the Post Card Inn (A popular place on St. Pete Beach) about 1 mile down the beach
to (another popular place on St. Pete Beach) called the undertow beach bar. for a total of a little over $19.00.
I was like, “I’ll do that!” so I pulled it in, and sent them the no-drink message. When they got in the car, they had
Yetti-style cups, I asked the requestor if it was empty, the way she was carrying it, it seemed to me to be empty, (but those cups are heavy)
so I had to double-check. She said “yes it is empty” I was like “cool” the other cup that I saw had some type of paper product (probably a napkin from the bar)
coming out of the top of it so I knew it was empty. I remember when I first started driving for Uber, a young man on his 23rd
birthday (was crazy drunk) spilled a beer in my car. I was driving for Lyft back then that is how long ago it was. That beer stunk up my car for a week.
Lyft gave me $50.00 for that. which makes me think, I hope all the funds for damages also went up with hyperinflation like everything
else did! That $50.00 sux but the driver is the one that has to deal with the smell and the bad ratings until the smell goes away.
That is when I created the no-drink message posted on the miscellaneous tab. After that, I would send out the no-drink message as soon as I accepted
the request and if I see a drink in anyone’s hand from inside my car, I would not stop and have a conversation with them, I would first drive past them,
then cancel that request and ride on to the next request. There is no way to rate a canceled ride. So that is how I protect my car and my rating
I do not care at all about Uber pro (which is a choice-based program.) I need to be able to cancel or decline a trip for any reason I as the driver choose.
If the driver makes a mistake there is no discussion it’s on them, if a vehicle does damage to property it is on the driver. There is no discussion
the driver is the captain of their ship and for that reason, they need the ability to decline a trip or cancel a trip whenever they want.

I will post some videos of canceled drink requests from my dashcam when I have time.

Update: Look on the videos page for canceled drink request from my dash cam.

The Uber app says I completed 3 trips today. I made a little over $110.00.

The reason(s) I do not drive for Uber on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day anymore.

My first New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day 2018 – 2019 driving for Uber was awesome! I always drove at night at that time anyway. I was waiting all night to see the difference and there were definitely more “Geronimo” rides (long trip +45 minutes) but other than that, I didn’t notice much of a difference. At like 12:05 AM ET on 01/01/2019 I was at Isla Del Sol by St. Pete Beach and it was undeniable/it popped off! I couldn’t believe my eyes, surges were everywhere, and they were crazy high too, like 20-40 bux! (That is what the rider pays before the ride even starts) In those days there was no upfront pricing or trip radar, you didn’t find out where the rider was going until the Uber driver started the trip. So I went and picked up a rider and they were going like 30 minutes North to Clearwater. I drove them and dropped them off and the surges were now 30-60 so I drove and drove until about 4 AM ET. I did pretty well that night (for an Uber driver anyway) So the next year (2019 – 2020)

          I was salivating over New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. I drove again and the surges were way less like $15.00 was the highest surge. So I drove and drove until like 4 AM ET. I did okay but not at all like the previous New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day that I remembered so well. Then I drove again the next year 2020-2021 and the highest surge was like $5.00 and the riders were saying when they tried to request a ride using the Uber rider app, they and everyone wherever they were were all getting the same message “there are no drivers available” (This was in Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, which is very busy 24/7 and I also checked St. Pete beach and the surges were even less there.)

I picked up several riders that night and they were all saying the same thing to me. They were thinking that it was somehow my fault. So I got back to Manatee County that night at like 4 AM ET. I cut driving short that night and will never drive another New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day for Uber. Spring Break is way better and it is a week long. Remember this: Everything you see in the Uber driver app or the Uber rider app is controlled by Uber. What they pay out to the drivers is an expense, their profit (Uber is out to make a profit) is basically everything after they pay their drivers and employees and expenses. So if they have to pay out less to their drivers, that increases their profits. Uber is out to make more money for their shareholders, not their drivers!