I went down to the city around lunchtime yesterday. I had several runs with Uber before the 3PM slow. Then I picked up with DoorDash and ran the dinner rush with it. Its higher tier finally got a chance to work its algorithmic magic and give me some better runs. So that was good. I was able to make $100 yesterday, a Saturday, after fueling the car up again. IT was a long time for it, but it will put some money in the bank, where I need it.
Nothing in particular happened that I really thing I need to journal about. I delivered two sets of flower arrangements meant for funerary purposes. The rest was all food. I got hung up at a couple of places because they were very busy. That is a lot of standing around waiting, and then I run the delivery, and almost nobody comes to their door till after I am gone. Nobody wants to talk to people anymore. When waiting at the restaurants, nobody there wants to talk. They talk to their crew just fine, but as the delivery person, they are not interested in you. So it is a lonely job. I spend my time in only one meaningful conversation all day, and that’s with my GPS, and she is crazy. Sends me in circles around parking lots trying to find her way out. She won’t do me the favor of just orienting north so I can tell for sure what direction she wants me to go out. So I get a little lost till I get moving in a committed direction. Yeah, she is nuts. So, since my only conversation is with a lunatic, I am doing my best to keep myself sane. Everyone else is just some transitional face in the flow of the day. And it’s not that I don’t think they are worth talking to. They don’t show any desire to talk to me very often, at all. There’s been a couple who will hold a decent conversation for the brief minute I am there. But it is not much over the course of days. If I didn’t need the money!
Today is Sunday. I will no doubt go down to the city again today. I expect it to be slow. But will it be a waste of time slow? There is only one way to establish that. I need the experience. I am tiered up on DoorDash to get better runs. So that might make a difference. I am also 30 runs away from levelling up again. I’d like to see what that gets me for deliveries. Again, maybe it is worth it.
I also need to rethink some strategies. I was offered a run in the city yesterday that had me waiting while the shop fixed up the food. It took them quite some time, but I waited it out thinking I am there to provide timely service. The app offered me to drop it for something else, and I refused that offer. So, I ended up waiting for a while with nothing to do. That was probably not worth it. I could have made more money by giving that one up and getting something else. I sat there, then when I finally got to go, there was no particular reward in it for me. There is no appreciation. The customers are not forming any kind of bond. They are just paying a tip out because that’s what they think they should do, and they should. It is a voluntary amount to pay for delivery. Not everything we buy and sell in this country is on such a payment system. But they do pay what they want for it. I accept because the app gives me more work and better work for taking everything it throws at me. So, I have to suffer the crap along with the good ones. But the customers generally don’t meet me or see me, except on their doorbell cams. That is intentional on their part. It is very transactional. No waves and smiles. Just drop and go. That’s what they want. I try to get the food there fast and hot. That is to me, my end of the bargain. Plus, the fast part gives me more time to get more work before I wear out for the day and go home. So, in the spirit of fast, I think I should drop the long waits and let someone else pick it up. I can wait somewhere else where I don’t look stupid there with nobody to talk to in the restaurant. My GPS never stops talking to me. She is crazy.