3-2-16 Uber Ventures: Post Leap Day Lessons

What an adventure it’s been! I’ve been doing lots of driving either in the afternoon or night owl/drunk people o’clock. At least I’ve been getting more consistent with “going out to drive period”, but I still need to set a schedule like I had for my 9-5 job (even though I didn’t really follow a schedule for that either). I need to unlearn all of these poor habits and reverse my once broken professional confidence (due to almost 3 years of complete professional failure and almost zero success). I ended up at a gloving event Saturday, which helped my gloving level up, but further threw my schedule off. By the time I got back to Chicago, it was past 11pm and I was exhausted from driving from Chicago to Aurora while trying to Uber after. I am ready to conquer the world, but need to take my time and keep moving forward!

I have also been gradually coming to terms with the fact that there is no more money fairy spilling money into my wallet anymore just for “sitting there looking pretty” and doing a few things here and there. I was making more money than my parents and now I have no more automatic salary. The good news is I still have my tax return to gather and I got some birthday money and my Lyft 50 ride bonus. I am a quarter of a century old and got to stuff my face with Hibachi Grill food. RIP diet! Not only is there no more money fairy, but when I took my car in to get its oil change a couple weeks ago, I found out my car needed to be fixed. I was given a 3500 dollar estimate and thought they were trying to make money off of me. About 2 weeks after this, I noticed my front brakes were acting funny. A few more days later, I feel like I’m tugging on a rubber band when hitting my brakes. I’ve had brake lines snap on me before (I was 18 years old… not fun, but at least I was safe that time) and feared it happening again. As soon as it started to snow, as much as I wanted money, I was afraid it was going to snow very badly and felt nervous taking my car on the express way. I immediately stopped Ubering and took my car to Sears Auto (in Portage Park Six Corners). There ended up being a lot less problems than on the first estimate with my car, but I definitely needed new front brakes. At the end of the day, I walked away with my car about 5 hours after I asked for an estimate and was still able to make it to my karate class at night, only having to pay less than 1050 dollars. Phew! RIP money, but at least it’s not a super detrimental blow.

A lot of people seem to like to travel. Even though most of my travel ventures have consisted of Belegarth and amusement parks lately, My time will come soon! I haven’t exactly had the most social crowd talk to me, but I’d sometimes talk about family (as in ask how theirs is), one kind lady was talking to me about following dreams, and when I took an Uber to pick up my car, this adult Asian man was very professional and kind and I told him I had to get my car before my karate class. I think he was impressed when I told him I was a black belt, but he also had martial arts experience. Doing these types of things will make me rate you 5 stars. I also feel bad whenever I end up pulling in the alley and I have no idea where to pick up the person. I also feel bad whenever oncoming traffic is evil and I feel like people are going to kill me. I know I need to work on not vocalizing my fear when I’ve had moments of “almost dying”. I want my own 5 star ratings. In the meantime, here’s what NOT to do in my car:

*Open the front door and make my purse fall in the mud (and not act remorseful about it… accidents happen and my purse is easily washable)… I guess I should keep my crap off the front seat and take my back seat down for making trunk space. I leave my karate bag in my trunk to ensure I don’t forget it before class, but it is definitely awkward watching people open my trunk and see all my stuff. Oops! I guess I should also take my stuff out of my car too!

*Keep the drama llama OUT of my car! Worsely, no couples arguing in my car allowed. I've been through that way too much and I felt like I heard a slapping noise somewhere but wasn't sure if it was hitting a leg or hitting someone else, but either way, keep your drama out of my car please!

*Be a belligerent drunk person: I was waiting outside for someone at a bar called "Parliament" in River North. I chilled outside by the herd of taxis for awhile. No one showed up. Since there was no sign at the bar, I was worried I passed it. I turn the corner and go to the street corner by the crosswalk (since the bar was at the end of the street) and sat openly with my flashers on. No one showed up. Then I turned around and went on the opposite side of the street, wanting to avoid the taxi herd and I had no idea where this bar was. The Uber GPS isn't great either and I'm still learning to navigate through Chicago. I’ve had to pull into alleys before and I hope that doesn’t adversely affect my ratings. Anyways, I was about to contact the passenger and this man, very rudely, calls me twice and starts yelling at me. He was probably drunk too. Since I don't tolerate yelling, I was about to cancel him until 2 young ladies walked into my car. What a relief. The ladies apologized to me for his behavior and told me he looked like he was about to start a bar fight somewhere X.X Moral of the story is, if you're rude to me before you get into my car, your ass is getting canceled!

With that, I am off to go take my business and life lessons to my yoga class, keep improving my customer service skills, and go on more driving ventures! Have a smiley faced day!

Note: I snapped this photo on Ashland and Foster while at a red light hunting for passengers. We should all recognize how beautiful we are instead of dwelling on life's negativity! I've seen several of these signs all over Chicago. Where else have you seen these?

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!

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: 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!