2-26-16 Lyft Ventures: I FINALLY Hit 50 Rides

Well, that took forever, but after some hard work and determination, I finally attained my 50 rides. During the cold, passengers weren't as talkative as I would have expected. A lot of people seemed to be going home from band practice. One of these people going home from band practice was in a Japanese Taiko Drumming group. I feel it's ironic because I did a project during my sophomore year of college in a general education music class where we had to do a presentation on a cultural music concept. The other person I had to drive from Roscoe Village/Logan Square area to 87th and S. Chicago Street. I made a lot of money from that trip, but feared my safety. It definitely didn't look as bad as Englewood, but I'd rather not be that far not the south side of Chicago. Also, when I'm super tired and am reaching a point where I'm questioning going to sleep, I should probably listen to that instinct, especially when I drink too many energy drinks for my own good. Energy drinks are naughty; try to avoid them if possible!

Another nuance about driving for Lyft or Uber is that you have to be ok with using public bathrooms while "pretending" to be a paying customer. You also need to not have anything on your front seat because some passengers think it's "customary" to sit in the front seat. My purse and bottle of air freshener tumbled into the mud. This particular lady proceeded to tell me about her travel experiences; it made me yearn travel ventures since the farthest west I've been to recently is St. Louis, Missouri.

On another note, I am a RIDESHARING service, NOT a furniture moving service. First a small couch, then a 65 inch TV. At least I made decent money from those trips, but I feel it's absurd to ask for such a thing. I felt like Squidward in the "Spongebob Hotel" episode when there was a plaque saying "we shall never deny a guest, even the most ridiculous request". I told myself, "not the customer service", as I took the furniture into my car with a smile. During the "blizzard-pocalypse" of 2016, I actually continued to reinforce the belief of attaining more passengers past 8pm than during rush hour. The good news is, thanks to the cold and lazy people who requested for my Lyft services, I was able to tell them about my blog and nab the 50 rides I needed for attaining my bonus. Now my roommates can have money to pay for their cat's surgery...

In the meantime, I plan on never going down Michigan and Chicago Ave. again during rush hour traffic. I feel sorry for the poor lady who was in the car with me when I feared other cars were going to crash into me. It's very difficult to contain your outward expressions when you fear for your life. I'm also sorry to all of the people I drove right past in the Loop or River North. If someone tells me they're "flagging me down" while I'm trying not to get into an accident, I feel like I'm playing Where's Waldo while playing drunk Mario Kart at the same time. However, it's quite nice to pass an Ugg boot store, an Aston Martin car dealership, and a Rolls Royce car dealership. Oh the loveliness you pass through your drive. I definitely feel a lot more of Chicago now that I'm driving all over the city. More city ventures shall be happening on my journey to chasing paper and making it big. I'll see if Uber can make me some more money than Lyft. After 70 rides combined Uber and Lyft, the very last ride I did before wanting to go home to hanging with my roommates was a lady who worked in Bottle Service at the Mid. I am not too knowledgeable about the nightlife industry and most people would assume the worst about these types of people. This lady had lived in Vegas and attended major EDM festivals, works for React Presents, attended Burning Man, met major artists, and is studying Biomedical Engineering in a PHD program. Smart people be smart! Happy Weekend! Stay safe and have tons of fun!

2-23-16 Lyft Ventures: I NEED To Drive... How Do You Maximize Income With Ride Sharing?

One of my roommates also drives for Lyft/Uber full time. Which one is better/could we probably maximize our income with? In the meantime, he had a conversation with someone who claimed they take home around 9-1100 dollars per paycheck (which is more than I made at my "desk job where I thought I made a ton of money") and he wondered how the heck that was possible. This man claimed to go at 3am, areas that weren't directly in the surge area and still popular, and apparently didn't work weekends either. Working at 3am seems a bit odd and would likely throw me off way too much, but I do need money. I eventually want ubering and lyfting to turn into a side gig, but maximizing income is always the best way to go. I've never been one to go out too much (unless I designate a specific time, such as my camping trips for Belegarth to party). I feel like you need to just go out "a lot"... except not from around 10am-12pm or so because it's completely dead. I will DEFINITELY go driving tomorrow (well.., today because it's almost 1am Chicago time) and not let life "totally" get in the way this time. The transition and struggle of actually having to manage and monitor time is real!

2-22-16 Lyft Ventures: Too Many Adventures, Not Enough Driving

Oh the joys of adjusting to actually having to do something besides showing up to a place to make money. I've visited with 2 friends from out of state this month, which is nice, but I need to make money or else. Waking up to drive for morning rush hour has proved very difficult since the earliest I'm used to waking up is at 7 something. In order to drive in the morning, I'd have to get up at about 5 or so in the morning to get myself ready and awake enough to drive for awhile. It's also difficult to drive when a lot of your friends don't understand what it's like to be fully independent and have to be the sole breadwinner for myself. Taxes for self-employment I'm sure are going to be absurd and without a steady paycheck, I need to bust my ass or else. Now that there are no more planned ventures, visits, major Belegarth events, etc. until the end of April, I need to focus on busting my ass to gather as much money as possible so I can enjoy my summer. At least when I drive, I get to talk to people most of the time, even though it's a lot of high level conversation. I'm on a quest to become closer to the people I have in my life now, but a lot of my friends I feel most comfortable around live out of state and I need to work and make money. I at least have my roommates; otherwise, I don't know what I'd do.

On one of my latest driving ventures, my big car and I were driving around Logan Square and received an invoice for a ride. A random California area code calls me and I answer. He mutters a few words and some vague directions to me. I eventually find him and he shows me what he needed; I thought he would have needed help carrying his groceries and wanted me to drive him and his groceries home. But nope, I end up looking like a deer in headlights at seeing a small couch. I fold my back seats down and he places his couch in my car. A few circles later because he didn't even wait for me to follow him, I eventually arrive with his couch. He thanks me and I drive off on my merry way. I'm not one to expect tips from people, but I am a Lyft driver, not a furniture shipping service. I ended up receiving a tip from someone else at one point or another, but in one of those instances, I felt like it would have been neat if I did get a tip. It's not a big deal, but I feel like these experiences help me understand the value of tipping and how it feels to be a low wage worker who mainly relies on tips for their income. I don't want to carry around the "people suck" mentality, but from a realist perspective, they can sometimes.

I also received my first "Lyft Line" ride for 2 people who had to be dropped off on the same street. I think it's pretty interesting and definitely saves gas. I have noticed as well that driving for Uber or Lyft can be a prime networking opportunity. One of my friends told me he hands out flyers for the Chicago SLAMWorks house ensemble shows to the people who drive him around. I've been able to share and gather more information about open mic nites I either currently attend or plan on attending. Meanwhile, I'm 13 rides away from getting my roommates and I $250 dollars, but keep getting held up by doctor's appointments, insurance issues, trying to go the gym, and life happening. For now, here's to working super hard and maintaining a healthy lifestyle!

2-13-16 Lyft Ventures: Country Bars are Bad!

Last night was definitely an interesting night. I’m still feeling shaken up over Friday night and had trouble getting myself to go drive because it’s been causing me very much anxiety. I woke up to meet with a lady for a brand ambassador gig to serve samples at Whole Foods and I think I got it, so that makes me happy! I need to be able to organize myself and create a schedule, otherwise it will be very difficult to go out and get the hours I need.

I met with the lady at like 1:30pm and ran some errands; it took me until almost 8pm with all factors considered to go drive. I still feel like I run into a lot of Columbia college or Depaul students. I at first headed towards the Aragon Ballroom because I knew STS9 (an EDM artist I like) to try getting some money there. I definitely picked up people from their friend’s houses to go home or to go a bar. The first lady I picked up was at the Emporium in Logan Square and lost her jacket after a friend’s birthday party. I don’t think I picked up any couples going on dates at all. The next person I picked up was a female surgeon who was spending time in “cute boy land” (as she put it, as would I) and wanted to go home and be with her dogs. She was telling me how Facebook was toxic and she barely uses it because it causes a lot of anxiety. She was also telling me about the Cardiovascular surgery field (because that’s what she does for a living) and I had never talked to a surgeon (especially a female surgeon) before. Go women in surgery! I then picked up a guy from his house to go meet with his friends in Wrigleyille. He invited me to go hang out and I felt like it would be cool and gave it a chance. I somehow found free parking too next to Wrigley Field, legal parking mind you. We went to Merkle’s, which was a country bar. I don’t like country bars and they bring up bad memories. I also don’t like country music. That was strike 1. The guy bought me a bud light. Then his friends started reminding me of my high school bullies, claiming they do “drag”. They didn’t show me pictures. That was strike 2. His friends seemed to have an attitude and my internal signals were telling me I needed to go drive. My roommate texted me wondering where I was because he wanted to chill with me for a little bit while I’d come home to eat dinner. That woke me up to wonder what I was doing. I then texted one of my dear friends who lives in Dubuque after the guy went to the bathroom. He suggested I leave. Both of those forces together prompted me to go chug the beer (Bud Light), probably a very expensive beer, and I disappeared like a ninja. Poof. Gone I was. Thanks dear Brandon and Noah! I don’t know what I’d do without you two!

I later went home to go chill with my roommates to come home to loveliness and the Fairly Oddparents waiting for me. I guess I was a lot more tired than I thought and fell asleep on the couch. This was around 11pm. At around 2:30pm I realized I needed some more hours and went driving until about 6:30am, where my bathroom senses were tingling way too much. The first ride after I went back out, I picked up two people going to Garcia’s (one of my favorite Mexican Restaurants in Chicago Lincoln Square). They invited me to hang out with them and I told myself “nooooooo not again” and politely declined. They were also probably drunk. I ended up in Skokie (a girl coming home from her birthday celebration at her friend’s house and telling me about her dreams to move to LA and be a film producer and she had graduated from Columbia), Oak Park (taking 2 girls home from the bar where they were hilariously telling me about their friend’s boyfriend who’s a jerk), and Maywood (a cute Italian man was telling me about his drone and friend’s viral youtube career). I also was telling some people about the storytelling scene who didn’t know anything (I told him about “Do Not Submit” and some of Scott Whitehair’s endeavors, which is actually where I had my first feature performance ever), and some Depaul freshman about choosing careers and what can happen in jobs once you graduate. I also have a 7 seater SUV and was thrown off guard to have to use my back seat twice. I had rarely used my 3rd row seat until recently. Now it can help me make some moneys. On my very last ride, I took a man from Albany Park to Edgewater for working at a restaurant and he handed me 5 dollars. That was my first tip in 50 rides (excluding being offered food like 3 times). After that, it was 6:30 in the morning and since my car doesn’t have a bathroom, a 24 hour Walgreens down the street it was! I wasn’t a paying customer that time (was contemplating buying something when I went in there), but it was either or #2 in my pants. Sorry I’m not sorry grumpy cashier lady! Uber/Lyft drivers need bathrooms and I don’t look shady (lol). After my Walgreens ventures, it was almost 7am, I was out of my amino energy drink, and I was starting to feel like I could fall asleep at the wheel. The end! Adventure complete! Onto the next one! Happy Valentine’s Day! The sunrise was beautiful this morning!

First Free Food!

As "Your Friendly Neighborhood Uber Driver", I definitely was on an adventure in order to attain this food. I was in Rogers Park on Wednesday night telling a story to get some more open mic practice (Heartland Cafe). After the open mic, I was walking back to my car and spotted a couple people smoking a cigarette outside of a bar. I was curious what was still open at about 1am and it was the Red Line Tap. I didn't know that bar was located next to the Heartland Cafe and I'm telling a story there on Monday for the Lifeline Storytelling Project (in Chicago). I decided to check out the venue after talking to one of the men standing outside with a cigarette. It was definitely nice, that's forsure. We ended up talking for a bit and he told me he needed a ride home because his friend who was going to drive him home flaked out on him. I told him I drove for Lyft and gave him a ride. It was almost 2am at that point and he was hungry. He offered me food and asked me if I wanted American or Indian food, which I of course wanted Indian Food, and I was quite humbled he did this for me. I was once offered McDonald's, but I'm not much for fast food and wasn't hungry that time. He got me some chicken curry and jasmine rice dish from a place on Devon and Leavitt street that started with a "G". It was quite tasty (and all gone). Thanks kind man! My stomach and heart were happy :D

2-8-16 and 2-9-16 Lyft Ventures: First Rush Hour and First Full Day

Yesterday, I went on my first full time Uber drive... well, Lyft (to get my roommates a money bonus for a promotion). I want to figure out if Lyft or Uber makes more money, but for now, Lyft it is!

It is also today my 2 week a versary of being self employed. Making a schedule and abiding by it is definitely in my best interest, but I am starting to get hit up with some of the freelance roles I've applied for. I'm meeting with someone tomorrow to possibly serve samples at whole foods for snazzy pay. It's only a few hours, but it will be enough to help motivate me to organize my times. I went at morning rush hour (yesterday) for the first time ever too. I feel like a lot of my passengers want to talk to me, even at 6am. Some nice lady also told me about sitter city. I've been wary about doing babysitting gigs, but those would always be fun. I would never babysit an infant though because I've never changed a diaper. But yay money! I had stayed up all night prior to driving due to night owl mode kicking in. I started driving just before 6am and it was practically dead. Around 7, it started picking up. When it hit 9, I had dropped a passenger off at U of C (in Hyde Park) who was an academic advisor. She told me about her career, which it's fascinating to hear about everyone's career path. I definitely ran into a number of students who attended Columbia college as well. After I dropped that lady off, I had to run to the bathroom. Driving + needing to use the bathroom = stop at a McDonald's/Burger King/Wendy's, Walgreens/CVS, or a large department/grocery store. 

I went to Mickey D's and got myself an egg white mcMuffin since I was hungry, don't feel like blowing too much money, and want to keep as healthy as I can. I had stayed up all night and needed 2 energy drinks. An hour later, I hit the road again, but no one was hitting me up. I drove in the loop, Wicker Park, River North, and was getting nothing. I was debating when I was going to go home and take a nap, I headed over by the United Center, and ended up getting a call. That call was shortly canceled. I then stopped at a gas station because my phone charger cord broke and I needed a snackie. Right after I went to the gas station, I was going to head down Damen and go home. I ended up turning the wrong way on Damen due to being too tired, which led me to getting a call. That call ended up taking me to Berwyn to take a lady to her new job at the local gas station. 

I've noticed I get calls from the following demographics mostly: people in their 20s and 30s, and people running a few minutes late to work or appointments. At least I'm not alone in the running late department. I've been there before. I ended up picking up a couple people in Lawndale after that, one of which took me back to Columbia college. At that point it was about 1 and I was ready to crash. I drove home, took a nap, and ate a little bit. I drove Wednesday night for a little bit before I went to the Heartland Cafe for an open mic nite, and ended up running into a man at the Red Line Tap who I didn't know. I approached him outside because he was smoking a cigarette and I was wondering which bar was still open after the Heartland Cafe closed. I ended up going inside and talking to the man for awhile because I am performing a show (telling an 8 minute story) at the Red Line tap on Monday and wanted to check out the venue. That man ended up needing a ride home, which I did. He ended up stopping at an Indian restaurant on Devon and Leavitt where the name started with a "G". He got me some chicken and curry noms (which I'm going to post a picture of). I love Indian food and was blessed. After my nap, I wanted to hit evening rush hour to get some extra dough before my karate class. I guess a lot of people wanted to go to Japanese restaurants too. I even met this man who was with his girlfriend who had the most adorable accent ever. He was trying to explain to his lady friend what racquetball was, as well as tell me what “Squash” was. I had never heard of it, so it was nice to learn something new. I also met a lady who owned her own spray tan business and was a full time flight attendant. She told me about red faced ex boyfriends who were hitting on their yoga instructors, as well as about her business and being a flight attendant. She gets to go to Cancun or international on her flights too. Haaaaaaayyyyy!!! I also met a man who worked at a Linkedin office in Chicago. I didn’t know they had any office here. I had also met a man who was looking for a free class to learn how to give massages to his girlfriend too. I ended up recommending him to a place I found online, as well as told him to hit up Groupon to take a couple’s massage class like I did with my last boyfriend. 

Time had flown by and it was time for me to go to my karate class. Two weeks into my self-employment ventures and I may be very stressed out in learning how to create and abide by a schedule, but I am much happier. The dead weight of being unhappy at my job is going away. I would walk into my karate class and one of my instructors would often either point out I looked like I had a chip on my shoulder when I’d walk into class or try to make me laugh. Now, I feel like constant giggle mcGiggle pants who can’t stop laughing and smiling while being my sparkly self. Don’t let my smile and giggles fool you, because the belt I wear on my waist is nice, shiny, and black! Muahahaha! I have also done yoga 3 times since my adventures and have began noticing my fitness results. I had always wanted to do yoga, but hadn’t been to a class in 3-4 years (since college) until 2 Wednesdays ago. The first class I went to, I feel like I cakewalked through the entire class, including the challenges. I generally don’t have that happen to me and it felt pretty incredible to feel like a natural at yoga while having very little actual yoga experience. I’ve always been flexible though and can do very high kicks in karate. I definitely don’t want to take that for granted. I have also been working on implementing more meditation in my life. I am starting to get some calls back for my freelance gigs, which is making me happy, and I am learning more about what it takes to me a successful and happy self-employed woman! For now, I will keep showering my passengers with unicorns and rainbows and hopefully be of some entertainment to people’s days! Happy Friday everyone :D 

2-8-16 and 2-9-16 Lyft Ventures: Rough Transitions

I am currently going on Lyft ventures because I need to get 50 rides in 30 days to make myself and my roommate 250 dollars. I will be driving for Lyft for now until I attain all 50 rides!

After a nice getaway to Michigan for a few days to take a break from life, I get back to find out my insurance didn't end when I was told it would end. I wanted to go drive, but had been in the car 3 hours and was also exhausted from the lack of sleep attained during the weekend. I also want to ensure I balance between making money and trying to get myself gigs, but have been struggling to get myself to go drive. I'm still nabbing residual money from my previous job and chopping off extraneous expenses from my current budget. I'm also needing to file my tax return and sell a bunch of large items, which will also yield me some extra money. At least my tax return for 2015 is all a W2, so no complicated crap as of yet. I got rid of my couches/entertainment center and now save myself almost 88 dollars per month. I have also just about paid 2 of my long term doctor's bills (I am 1 payment away from both of those being fully paid off and each bill is due in the next week or so). February is flying and January went poof. It's almost my birthday too and I haven't planned anything yet either. I just need to make sure I get done what I need to and make sure I give my time to myself instead of what isn't worth it/people who take my time for granted.

So far, I got back mid afternoon Monday, it's now Tuesday, and after a little bit of sleep, I've applied to a bunch of paid studies and various other gigs involving writing or some creative endeavor. I've been up for almost 3 hours, have thrown my name out all over the place,  I'm so used to doing all of these things during paid time and now it's quite the adjustment knowing I have to make the money instead of it "coming to me" and magically appearing in my bank account. Not going to work at a set time is still a bit wonky; that just means I need to set a schedule and treat it as if I'm going to work. I currently take karate 2 days per week and go to my "sword fighting practice" (search "Belegarth Medieval Combat Society" for more information) 1 day a week. I block time out for those, even those are events taking place at set times, so I guess I need to do that to make sure I get my butt out to my car and drive... well... after I FINALLY setup my seat covers and put down my leopard mats. I just better hurry up, get ready, and make sure I drive enough before my karate class tonight. Happy time budget Tuesday everyone!

Welcome to Your Friendly Neighborhood Uber Driver

Hello World!

I have decided to launch this blog in light of a new chapter in my life. A little backstory about me is I graduated from college in May 2013 and decided to study Web Development with a minor in Business Administration. I entered the work force right after I graduated from college to work at a very prestigious bank in Chicago as a Java developer. Java was the programming language we used in school. It definitely wasn't the "web development language" I thought we were going to end up learning, even though it's a very trendy programming language that's being used very widely across the world (and is even the most available job in Chicago according to Q101). I had questioned whether or not I wanted to be a programmer since my freshman year of high school (2005). When I landed my job out of college, I saw that as the test of whether or not I'm going down the right career path. A few months later, I was noticing how much success I wasn't having. A few more months later I noticed how far behind I was from my peers, including the ones who started after me. A few months after that I noticed my drive and passion going completely down the drain. I know my own sense of drive; since I was always the kid who won the perfect attendance awards, did all my homework, and even did the extra credit, I began throwing red flags. After a significant amount of reflection and realizing I was behind the starting line 2 years and 8 months later, I was excelling at all of my hobbies. It was definitely career change time for me. I spent a year and a half throwing pennies into a fountain hoping mine was the shiniest and would be seen while applying to jobs in various industries. After awhile of doing that, it was deemed I was was wasting my time and I wasn't getting anywhere. I realized what I actually want to do doesn't fit a job description and feared going somewhere else and becoming unhappy, later screwing myself over. I didn't want to go from a grown up salary to making 10 dollars an hour either. It was also hard to figure out what I wanted to do with my life as an identical twin who started finding her identity (and realizing what an identity was) at age 20, after I had picked my college major and everything. I also had no room to find myself until becoming an adult because I ended up doing everything with my twin sister (well... basically everything) until college. We also went to the same school together and picked the same field of study. My successes in my leadership positions were far greater than my working accomplishments because if I'm not making a difference and making people smile, I will feel like I'm not accomplishing my mission.

With that, I decided to launch this blog and try the "self employment" game for awhile. I luckily had a car from right after I graduated, which I took with me when I moved out of my parents' house and into the city, and kept it well maintained. Thankfully in Chicago, you only need a 2001 car to qualify for Uber and 2000 for Lyft (I have a 2004 SUV, which also qualifies because it has 4 doors). I asked around, including my roommate and my other friend who drive for Uber full time. They said I'd probably be fine and I decided to go for that (and Lyft) while picking up as many gigs as I can and focusing on creating my own personal brand. I ultimately want to be the CEO of myself and my own ridiculous empire, but for now, I need money, so Uber (and Lyft) it is!

NOTE: DO NOT JUST LEAVE YOUR JOB ON AN IMPULSIVE DECISION! I spent a year and a half trying to figure out what I wanted to do for my next endeavor, sought out much advice (friends/professionals), did my research, and most importantly, I put away some "emergency money" in case I'd struggle with the transition and not be able to make enough immediately. Worst case scenario, if I don't need the emergency money, I'd just use it as my savings and summer fun fund! I also had a previously established base of other projects I had been working on and 2 years of being active in the literary scene. The moral of the story is, don't quit your job until you have a gameplay established!

After cleaning out my car, filling out all the paperwork, and fixing body damage from a previous accident, my car was passed and ready to pick up passengers! I was super nervous, but thankfully I'm an extrovert and love talking to people. This is something completely missing from my desk job. I was legitimately alone all day. I picked up my first passenger and had a nice conversation. The second person I picked up, I ended up having to go all the way from Streeterville to Inverness (the suburbs). Subsequently after that, I decided to do "one more", since it was a Friday night at primetime hours. Of course, I'd end up having to go from Lincoln Park to O'Hare airport. I knew I'd be in for a major adventure after that. On my next adventures, I ended up picking up 2 men who looked to be in their late 20s who were on a business trip from California. I drove them from River North to a nice hotel in the loop. They were looking for nightlife activities and I suggested "Dick's Last Resort" since it was right up the street, "The Green Mill" because it's open very late, some places in Wicker Park are open til 4am, and I also mentioned there were tons of open mic nites in the city. They asked if I performed at any and of course I answered yes. I'm a storyteller and wish to share my stories through this blog, as well as I write poetry, song lyrics, and plenty more. I ended up coming with a haiku on the spot since I don't have any of my poems memorized and couldn't pull up my work from my phone because I had to drive. It was pretty entertaining at the very least. The next day, a few aimless trips through the loop and my spazzing GPS later, I told some people about the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (one of my primary hobbies), took someone to a sushi date, transported people (including a hot and drunk English entrepreneur who thought I was cute) to various other dates, concerts, magician shows at Zanies, and much more. With one of the people going on a date, I ended up meeting a man who got into a lot of EDM events for free and discussed how to stay safe at an event (from cops and in general). He went into his tangent because I am looking to go to more EDM shows this summer as well; he also gave me some contact info for how I'd be able to write for events since that's what he does. I definitely plan on reaching out to him ASAP! Later that night, I was driving to pick up another passenger (with my car empty) and at a red light by the eastbound entrance to the Armitage and was practicing my hand movements for my light shows. I'm a glover and like to dance around with my hands. A homeless man saw me dancing around in my car and when I noticed he saw me, I giggled and stopped. He then told me thank you for making him smile. I gave him a heart and would have given him 3 dollars or so had I had small bills on me. Twenty trips later, I was 150 dollars richer for both myself and my roommate who could use the money way more than me.

Of course starting Lyft would be an adventure too. After a day's worth of running around in circles to find a doctor to remove my ingrown toenail, after filling out the paperwork a few days prior to this, I went to an Irish community center about 5 minutes down the street from my apartment. Of course, I would have no idea where I'm going and park in the opposite parking lot. I somehow found an entrance into the building and hoped to eventually where the Lyft people were to inspect my car. As I entered the building, I noticed some beautiful artwork painted on the wall and snapped a picture on my phone (more pictures are on my Instagram account, Superandroid15). While taking a picture, an elderly lady spotted me and began talking to me about how there's artwork all over the building and such. I told her I was going to meet the people for "Lyft". She thought I meant I was on a mission to go lift people's spirits. I am, but I had to explain to her how Lyft was a ride sharing company similar to a taxi service. I eventually found the people I needed to and after 10 minutes of aimlessly looking for my keys, which were in my butt pocket of my pants, my car passed inspection. I need to be more organized...

My Chicago Uber and Lyft ventures are definitely going to come with challenges, but for now, I will share my humorous encounters with passengers on this blog and spread the love to all who enter my big red rocket ship! Enjoy the loveliness and safe travels to all!

***ALSO, please like my page, Your Friendly Neighborhood Uber Driver***

***If you are interested in driving for Lyft or Uber, my referral codes are:

REBECCA569169 — LYFT CODE
mvsja                      — UBER CODE