Random Haiku Poems About Driving and Money

Stuff goes here to write
I need to drive oh so bad
Help me make money!

My wallet cries hard
Driving will at least fill it,
But it hurts my knees...

Oh Uber driving
You are so evil sometimes,
And give me money!

Oh driving in snow
I had to drive for money
Otherwise I wouldn't have drove!

Adventures happen
Driving takes me everywhere
What will I see next?

You hear about life
Passengers share their stories
For life perspective

Cool Rideshare Drivers I've Had

1. I was going to an interview and ended up getting a ride from a nice man who was 57 years old and retired named Harold. I was going to a destination about 20-30 minutes away because I was running too far behind to take the train. Oops. I was super stressed from running around all day driving for Uber myself to get some money to pay off my student loan bill for school (eeeeewwww) and I had a phone interview right before I had to go into the city for an in person interview. He said I had a good attitude when I walked in the car and I thought he was being sarcastic because my stress levels were high; I was wrong because he was happy I had a positive attitude to try getting new jobs... though I did tell him I was stressed. He told me about his life ventures of owning businesses and his lady passing away of cancer :( Some major advice this man gave me was how life happens in baby steps and how taking all necessary steps to accomplish your goals won't happen overnight. I sometimes look at things from the big picture instead of smaller goals and he has helped wake me up to realizing that small wins are still integral to winning, as well as they are wins too! He kept giving me credit and telling me how well I was doing, which was much appreciated. I ended up doing well in the interview, but still no dice in job land. Oh well, it's the effort that counts! I wish I could have given him a nice tip, but I had no cash on me. Oops! He wanted to even make sure I was temperature wise comfortable in the car too. His friends told him he should do Uber because he likes talking to people. That's what makes a good Uber driver, right? But Uber should let me tip in the app! Not just for me receiving tips, but for men like him who I wanted to throw a couple dollars to! Lol!

More coming soon :)

Distant Realizations in the Uber Driver Ventures -- Uber Driving Ventures of 8-26-16

The week before, I had attended a camping trip where I began feeling a restored faith in humanity. It took me awhile to finally write this story and I came back from an additional camping trip yesterday.

With the state of the world being where it is, with hatred and a history of people not being very nice to me, the exact opposite has been occurring lately. At my camping trip, at 4:30am on the last night of partying, I was hanging out at one of the campsites far away from mine and everyone wanted to go to sleep. Everyone except for me hanging out at that time was staying at the area we were at. One of the people I was hanging out with was kind enough to walk me back to my camp without any expectations besides being a kind soul.

Tips while driving for Uber and even Lyft where you can tip in the app are rare and this night I was lucky enough to receive a pretty penny in tips. I will never take this day for granted.

It was about 1am or so on a Saturday night and I was doing my usual weekend driving rounds. I ended up in Lincoln Park on somewhere around Halsted and Ashland picking people up from the Alinea restaurant (an expensive place with Michelin stars aka it's very very good). These people (a couple, 1 man, 1 woman) had spent $1750 dollars for the pair of them. If I ever spent that much money on food and was able to afford it, I'd melt! Their ride request ended up being all the way to Johnsburg, IL, which is in Mchenry County aka about an hour and 15 minutes of a drive. At least I knew I would get a hefty penny because there was 1.5 surge. I needed it that day too.

During my driving ventures to the land of far away, I was mostly having a talk with the woman because after a short while, the man probably had a food baby and lavish drinks and fell asleep (only excuse for passing out in my back seat because I'm used to passing out in my friend's cars). We were talking about careers. Her husband had owned the family car dealership in McHenry County and she was an account manager who worked from home. They had been married for a little bit and were in the process of bettering their lives... and taking a spontaneous trip to an expensive restaurant. It eventually got on the topic of relationships and dating, especially with a female. I mentioned how I would cry rainbow tears and kiss the floor if a man took me to TGI Fridays and treated me (using this place as an example) since I've been treated poorly by many, especially men and boyfriends. My luck is so bad I doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize the shit luck I have, hence why I've abstained from dating for the past 15 months. After I dropped the couple off in their nice home, they gave me a 20 dollar tip (the ride was 75 dollars after surge and still my priciest ride to date). I've been pretty down on my monetary luck lately and people rarely tip with Uber or Lyft at all; I was ready to cry, but managed to hold myself together. I expressed my gratitude and was onto my next adventure in Johnsburg, Illinois, which is generally way out of Uber scope, especially at about 2:30am at that point.

After that ride, it was "peemergency" o'clock. I am very unfamiliar with that area and didn't know where the nearest 24 hour Jewel or Walmart was. I come prepared with accessories in case I have to pee and can't make it to the nearest bathroom facility. I drove a few blocks down the road and saw a giant open area of grass in a place where it was very dark. I pulled into the grass, turned my lights off, did my business discretely, and drove a few more blocks to chill out for a few minutes and text my friends to see if I would get any rides. I sent my first text message to my friend who was still awake and got a ride from Johnsburg to McHenry (about a 15 minute drive). I take this fellow from a bar to back home and we had a decent conversation. I then drive a few more blocks to pull over and sit on my phone for about 10-15 minutes to see if anyone would summon me. Surely enough, a few minutes later, I was summoned 25 minutes away to Crystal Lake. I normally don't accept rides that far away and also needed gas in my car. I figured because it was about after 3am and I was far away from Uber scope. I also didn't want to get canceled on and waste my time. Due to what time it was, I figured someone would be needing a ride to O'Hare airport and accepted the ride with a lot of reluctance. Several closed gas stations later, I eventually find one while praying the ride requester doesn't cancel on me. To top it off, the ride requester also dropped a pin, which means they didn't give me an exact address and I could be driving several blocks away from where the person actually is.

I eventually arrived at this approximate location about 30-35 minutes later, still not being canceled on, and called the person. It turns out the ride requester was actually requesting it for his friend down the street and I need to get ahold of her instead. I eventually end up getting a hold of her and finding her. I ended up taking her to Hoffman Estates, which was 35 minutes away from where I was and it was towards going back to Chicago. I end up having a conversation with this 19 year old girl who walked into my car and she seemed like someone I would be slightly interested in being friends with, though she had a very troubled past (ex lots of miscarriages and her dad recently passed away). The 35 minute ride ends up finishing and it's now almost 4am. I get this young lady to her friend's house and he also gives me a 20 dollar tip. I was ready to hypothetically piss myself because I've never received more than like 17 18 dollars in tips in a night if I'm lucky. So I made 40 dollars in tips that night. Her friend whose house I was dropping her off at, a 42 year old gay male (aka way older than someone I'd comfortably hang out with) asked me if I wanted to stay and chill awhile. My unsafe senses weren't tingling and I had been lacking social interaction due to working so much and not having seen my friends for awhile. We chilled outside this dude's garage for about 3 hours until we were all exhausted and wanted to go to sleep. It wasn't an uncomfortable encounter, but it was slightly awkward... plus the young lady was dealing with drama with one of her ex boyfriends, which I didn't want to listen to. At about 7am, I end up going home and passing the fuck out (on my bed).

Even when you're down on your luck, if you're kind to others on a regular basis, kindness will spontaneously be returned to you. There's always faith to be held onto in humanity, even in this ridiculousness. Thank you kind tippers out there! Kindness will always be appreciated and I will continue to pay it forward!

Uber Vs. Lyft, 10-2-16 -- Not Fruitful Adventures Today in Lyft Land in Chicago

The title says it all! All of the information I am about to disclose is 100% true and actually JUST happened to me.

Today, a Sunday evening I drove from about 7pm to about 12:30am and took 1 bathroom break that lasted about 30 minutes (from driving to the place and doing my business). I also stopped for gas once, which didn't take too long.

I wanted to see which rideshare app would pay me more money... Uber or Lyft. I was also curious if I'd totally make bank because you can tip within the Lyft app on your credit card vs having to tip in cash only with Uber.

Unfortunately, I feel like this was probably the lowest grossing day of rideshare driving I've ever had or at least very close!

Sunday nights at anytime are generally pretty steady. There isn't much surge going on, but getting rides usually isn't a problem... except for today. I also feel like Uber has a higher chance of landing surge prices than Lyft, as well as Uber's fares are higher. Rides are also more frequent with Uber, but seem less likely to get canceled with Lyft at least from my experience.

I have noticed the quality of Lyft passengers are higher and I don't get rides under 10 minutes with Lyft (with Uber I do quite frequently). At 7pm when I turned my Lyft app on, it took me about 5-10 minutes to land my first ride. Until about 10pm, rides were pretty steady. Then, duty called and it was bathroom o'clock. I didn't want a slight feeling of having to pee to turn into a "peemergency"; I decided to take care of it right away. Since most places are closed at 10pm on Sundays, I needed to find a 24 hour Jewel. Thankfully, I only had to drive 5 minutes to get to it. I also walked around, stretched, checked my phone, etc. Once I was done in bathroom land, it took me FOURTY minutes to land my next ride. I really needed to do an instant pay because rent is due soon. With Lyft, you need $50 dollars to cash out right away and with Uber, you can cash out with any amount greater than 0. It was also almost midnight and I didn't want the new week to start and be unable to cash out. I was so desperate for a ride I even drove into the areas I purposely avoid driving in just for someone to call me. I drove a couple laps around the area and ended up parking in a gas station to chill out and wait a bit. As I was about to text my friend how upset I was, I landed a Lyft Plus ride (same as Uber XL). Thank goodness because Lyft Plus has a higher fare rate. It was about a 5 mile, 15 minute ride. I finish the ride. Lalalala, I continue to drive some more. Another 10-15 minutes had elapsed and I was rideless. I end up receiving another Lyft Plus ride. It was about a 12 minute ride, $10 dollar fare. Ok, I'll take it. At this time, it was about 11:45pm. I was finally able to cash out and took care of it. At that point, I turned my Uber app on simultaneously with my Lyft app (11:45pm). Since I'm desperate for money right now, I was going to keep driving; I also have an interview tomorrow and need to get some rest to be on my best game. I cashed out at 11:59pm and was still waiting for a ride once again.

For Chicago people, I was on Ridge Street and Damen. I took Ridge all the way to Broadway Street, passed the Green Mill, passed the Target, passed the Jewel, passed the Holiday Club and turned right on Irving Park Road at Sheridan (I was close to Lake Shore Drive) to head back towards my apartment, as I was fed up with not getting rides. I told myself, "if I can drive all the way home down Irving Park Road and not get a ride with either app, I'm calling it quits." Driving from Sheridan/Irving Park to Elston/Irving Park is about a 15 minute drive without traffic. At 12:20pm, without a ride, I parked my car. Fuck that noise. I don't need to drive around, spending my gas, not making any money due to not getting any rides. I went home to post some items on Craigslist and hope my friends who don't have the Lyft app installed would download it and use my referral code in order for me to attain $20 dollars a pop. I need it! Bad!

Now that story time is over, despite all my riders being cool and talkative, here is how the moneys break down. Again, I am being fully honest, but people need to be aware of what a "bad" day in rideshare driving land looks like. It is a reality!

I was out for approximately 5 hours in the driving lands. I will consider myself "at work" during this time period. I had 1 40 minute period and 1 30 minute period where I was rideless (2 total). During the second bout of no rides, both apps were turned on simultaneously. During the first bout, only Lyft was on.

*Before deductions and overhead expenses (gas/caffeine to stay awake), I made about $73 dollars (rounded to the nearest dollar) in total fares. Only THREE of those dollars were from tips, thus, even with a tip option, I still don't get tipped extra. In addition, on a Friday/Saturday night of driving, I only made $7 in tips on a very long day/night of driving. LAME!!! I guess people still don't like tipping, though when I do receive tips, I am very thankful. On another note, the most I have received in 1 night of driving in tips was 2 people giving me $20 dollar tips for doing far drives. No matter the app, tips are still rare!

*Legal minimum wage in Chicago for a worker is $10.50

*Lyft takes out 25% of your fares for their commission fee (Uber does the same percent). It also costs 50 cents on both apps to use the instant pay function!

*After the commission deduction, I took home about $57 dollars (rounded to the nearest dollar). That's a bit more than 11 dollars an hour, just barely over minimum wage. Do you think a single independent person putting wear and tear on their car (and body) can LIVE off of that? But WAIT!

*I also had to stop for gas during this trip. I feel like on average of my gas expenses of hitting the least expensive gas station I can find, especially having an SUV, I spend about $60 or so dollars (up to about $80) on average on gas per $200 dollars I make. Sometimes, I spend less, but it depends on the rides. That's about 30 percent of my take home fares being spent on gas...

*Out of the 57 dollars I made today, I spent 20 on gas and 2 dollars on caffeine (22 dollars). So after my daily overhead, I took home a whopping 35 dollars! Don't even get me started on needing to set aside 1/3 of your pay for end of the year taxes...

*All in all after overhead, removed commission, etc, after being at "work" for 5 hours, I made about 7 dollars an hour. I live on my own too and pay for everything myself and do this mainly full time. Can anyone live off of that?

*I am also injuring my knee and hurting my poor 2004 car with 180,000 miles, driving on weekends because they are the most lucrative times to drive, and I drive 40-55 hours a week, which feels endless, especially because I am also looking for jobs and playing the hustle game on top of driving for my main source of money. Since my car is older, I am also throwing myself in the hole with lots and lots of repair bills! Before overhead on a normal week, I average $500-$650 a week before overhead (after commission deduction) and on my best week I made about $800. However people make greater than $1000 dollars a week, unless it was when the "guaranteed fare rates" existed, I have zero idea how it's possible to do that anymore... :(

*This is a more lucrative "extra money" side job, but a decent placeholder job on most days. Today was just el sucko and I want to show people what a bad day in rideshare driving land looks like. I am also super stressed out because my bills are mainly at the first half of the month and I am surely surviving while riding the super struggle bus! The head honchos don't care if you make shit money, because they get money while you're driving anyway!





***In the meantime, I will always post updates on rebsuberdriver.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/rebsuberdriver to share my quirkiness, mischief, and mayhem. Please like and follow my pages :) ***

************If you don't have the LYFT app installed and you use the code REBECCA569169 you can get 20 bucks in free ride credit.***** You will also help a Rebs get 20 dollars who imperatively needs the money. Using this code for the driver side will also get you a bonus if you complete the allotted number of rides. Please share around. Much love <3 It will only take you a minute or two to do this and it would mean the world to me, especially because I feel like rideshare companies are finding ways to screw over drivers and I barely made rent this month (I also have a relatively low rent in general and for Chicago)************


************Also, Uber is having a promotion where if you sign up as a driver (even if you never do it again), it's 75 rides for $750 dollars. That's a lotta money and the only time I've seen the promotion that high!!!!! :D ************

One of my Least Favorite Rides for Uber 10-1-16

Reasons I don't trust people confirmed. Dude wants to "hang out" with me after an Uber ride. We exchange numbers and he invites me back over. He also buys me tamales, a red bull, and gives me a beer. Mind you, it's 8am on a Saturday morning and I have money on my mind. This dude was still in party mode. There's a time and a place where I'm in party mode at that time and it wasn't today. I tell him, "I need to give my roommate a ride to work" and after awhile of purposeful awkwardness, he tells me to come back later and finally leaves my car. I ask to bring a male friend when I "come back" since most of my friends are male and I don't wish to encounter questionable strangers alone. He said no. Immediate red flag. The last time that happened a dude crossed the line and I was traumatized from it. I don't need free money or anything else. I just want my dignity and to be responsible... and not hang out with people in gang banger land who's a coke addict. No thanks!