Pulled over by a cop while Ubering

My god-daughter, Prudence became an Uber driver today.  We drove out to Anaheim where they had a Saturday inspection post for her car.  It was not organized!! The people at the table were amazing and efficient, but the inspectors were not paying attention to the order people were coming in.  They finally had us re-line up and took us from there.  There was a girl who was thourough and paying attention and a guy that seemed to do o.k.  But one of the inspectors was more interested in his cell phone than in doing his job.  But after an hour, Pru's car passed with flying colors!  She made her first outing tonight and even took a fare to LAX!  She is close to that $100 bonus for 10 rides and then she'll get her $150 after 20.

One of my fares tonight pinned their location as being in a parking lot at the VA hospital where only government employees are supposed to be.  They were actually next door at a concert at Cal State Long Beach.  So when I realize that I'm not where they are, I pull over and call them to see where they really are.  That's when the cop pulls up behind me.  I explain to the fare that I will be there as soon as the cop is done with me.  He ran my plates (about 3 minutes).  Then came and asked me what I was doing on government property.  I explained that Waze had routed me to the wrong pick up location and I was trying to reach the person I was picking up. He asked for my I.D., which I gave him.  He ran that, came back and told me there have been a lot of car break ins and that since I was stopped, he was suspicious.  He then told me how to get back to the road.  I called my fare to see exactly where they were.  Picked them up.  They felt so bad for giving me the wrong location they tipped me $10.

All in an Uber days work.  Still having fun!!!!

Uber Driver Referral Code

Lyft Driver Referral Code

$20 off your first Lyft ride

Ooops! Late for my day job!

I was up early, about 4:45.  I get ready for work and decide to drive since I haven't in a few days.  I get the cold waters out of the fridge and restock the doors with room-temp waters in the doors.

I remote start my car and let the windows defrost and the temp warm up.  Even though it's June in So. Cal., we still have what we like to call "June Gloom".  It's cold and cloudy in the morning and beautiful in afternoon.  We think of it as natural air conditioning.

It's around 6:00 AM.  I have two hours before I have to get to work at my "real job" as a medical secretary in a physical therapy clinic.  No problem!  I get the ping from Uber and see that it's close, about 12 minutes away in Carson.

I've actually dropped off another Uber driver in this neighborhood a couple of weeks ago.  I wonder it that's my fare again.  It's not.  A young man comes out of his house and gets in.  I have to look twice to make sure he's old enough to ride.  I saw on another blog that some parents are using Uber and Lyft to transport their kids around town.  It's against policy to take an unaccompanied minor anywhere.  He is definitely old enough on second look.  Just a slim youthful appearance.  I must be getting really old myself as I found out later he is actually a Physician's Assistant.

The man has had an interesting life and has just moved back from NYC where he was in school.  Along the ride, I find out he is truly homesick for his friends and neighborhood in New York.  He works in Santa Monica and got the job just 2 days after moving back, but hasn't found an apartment close to work so is staying with family.  He is a Buddhist, a vegan and has decided to go back to school after working for a few years to pursue his love of philosophy.  We talked pretty much the whole time he was in the car.

He complimented my driving and said he had a driver the week before that refused to get on the freeway and it had taken over 2 hours to get him to work.  YIKES!!! Not everyone is cut out to be a driver!  You really have to love both driving and people, in my opinion, to make it a success.

My Waze App routed me around traffic twice. On my way back, I saw 2 different major accidents on the 405.  But even with that, I saw the arrival time go from 7:30 (get myself to work on time or 5 minutes late) to 7:59 (a minute until I am due in).  I dropped the gentleman off at his job right at 7:58!

I pulled over real fast to check my phone.  A text from a co-worker asking me to call her into security as she didn't have the pass with her and 2 calls from the hubby.  I call work first, arrange for the pass and let my boss know where I am and how late I'm going to be.  Not happy, but not too terrible!

I call my hubby and let him know what's going on and he keeps me company all the way back to Seal Beach!  He's so sweet!  

I arrive at work at 8:40!!!!  I've got a lot of butt-kissing to do and 40 minutes to make up another day. LOL

Uber Driver Referral Code

Lyft Driver Referral Code

$20 off your first Lyft ride

Time for a new phone!

So, it's a usual Saturday night.  I have both Uber and Lyft Apps running.  I pick up a guy close to my home and drop him off in Bell and immediately get a call from my favorite type of passengers, 4 girls headed out to party!  They're excited that I have cold water in my insulated bags and gum. Yay, gum!  As usual, they are cute and funny and razzing each other.  One of them is getting married soon, she is in the front seat so we chat about DJs and flowers and venues.

BOOM!!! My iPhone4s shuts down!  Completely DEAD!!!  YIKES!!! My phone will NOT turn on.  I'm using my car charger. I'm switching between direct plug in and the lighter.  Nothing!  Finally, it's starts to slowly charge, but still will not turn on.  Real fun times on the 10 freeway!

These girls are so sweet, they pull up Waze on their phones and get us to the destination without incident.  But my  phone still wont turn on.  I drop them off at the club and assure them I will not move until I can end the ride so they wont get charged for mileage they didn't use.  This only takes 15 minutes, LOL.

After I get charged up, I turn the apps back on and immediately get a fare.  I accept and 3 blocks later, BOOM no phone again.  I give up (I'm in Santa Monica again, of course) and just go home.

I am now the proud new owner a ZTE ZMAX phone from Metro PCS.  I LOVE IT!!! it has a 5.7" screen holds a charge forever and is just plain awesome!

UBER Driver Code

LYFT Driver Code

LYFT $20 Rider Credit

My First Rider Story

My first pick up as an Uber driver was very close to my home.  I was so nervous I messed up the pick up and drop off function, but I got my fare from their house and dropped them off at a bar in downtown Long Beach.  They were so much fun!!! They were heading out for a birthday celebration and all giggly and happy and so excited to be "busting my Uber cherry"!!  I think I love picking up girls heading out to party the most even now.  They are always so happy and supportive of each other and full of hope and happiness.

The rest of the night I got to know my app better and picked up couples going out and home, a man taking his in-laws out their last weekend in the States before going home to Ireland and Frat Boys picking up munchies in Belmont Shore.

Ubering and Lyfting In my new Hyundai Elantra

I got my new car in March!!!!!

 This is the back seat!!!!

 I started driving for Uber a week later.  My friend, Stacy talked me into it.  She said it was easy money and she was so RIGHT!  After 10 rides, I got $100 and after 20 rides I got another $150 bonus.  I told her I'd complete the 20 so she could get her $200 bonus for me joining.  But, I have kept going because it's so much fun.  If you like people and you like driving, it's a great way to earn some extra cash.

I decided to join Lyft and see if they were any good.  I just used a promo code off the internet.  I should have looked for someone to go in under.  I only got $50 after completing my first 30 rides, but they have a promotion where you and the person who refers you gets $250 after completing 30 rides.  Doh!

I'm going to insert the promo codes here in case someone would like to give it a go.  I plan to talk about some of my specific rides in later blogs so stay tuned!


Here is my Uber Driver Referral Code:

Pattie's Uber Driver Code

https://get.uber.com/cl/rideshare500?invite_code=lqaac


This is my Lyft Driver Referral Code:
Pattie's Lyft Driver Code

https://www.lyft.com/drivers/PATTIE409802

This is my Rider Code for $20 off your first ride!
Pattie's Lyft Passenger/Rider Code

https://www.lyft.com/invited/PATTIE409802

Happy Mother's Day

I know it's been forever since I posted anything new.  Haven't really been feeling like writing much.  Plus, with Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, I feel like most people I care about know what's going on in my life.

My daughter and her husband have been happily married for over 1.5 years now.  They are still living in Hayward so I don't see them anywhere near as often as I'd like to.  No grandchildren on the horizon yet.  My daughter is a total fitness nut right now.  She worked hard to get her body into great shape and then had a monkey wrench thrown into her routine when a drunk driver hit us on the 15 freeway right before Christmas. No broken bones, but a few months of recovery until she could get back to where she could work out again.  I'm very proud of her dedication and devotion to her routine.

This is my first Mother's Day without my mom.  She passed away last September. I thought I would feel really bad.  But, I'm actually doing o.k. I guess I really did know that she was ready to go and that she is no longer in pain.  Plus, the last 3 years of her life were the best I'd seen. She really blossomed at Alamitos Belmont.  She made new friends her own age, became quite social and the staff loved and cared for her.

It probably helped that was able to see 2 of my 4 sisters on Friday as well. We still have eachother even after she's gone.  We've never been particularly close.  I really thought after she passed we would just fade from eachother's lives.  Luckily, that hasn't been the case.

On the great news front, I have a new god-son!  He is 5.5 months old.  He makes my world new again.  I am really enjoying the time his mom lets me spend with him.  I'm also grateful to my husband who indulges me and let's him come over and occupy my time.

That's all for now.  Love your mom's while they are here.Love your kids while they are close. If you didn't have a great mom, you can still BE a great mom!  Surround yourself with people that not only love you, but that genuinely LIKE you.

Grandma Won First Prize at the Halloween Contest AGAIN!!!!

Grandma Sparring with another resident before the contest.

So, the winner is..... Grandma Evelyn!  Two years running!

They have a little costume contest after lunch the Friday before Halloween.  Then they have a carnival that starts at 5:15 where the staff's children come in and go trick or treating room to room.  Everyone loves it.  The kids get to interact with grandmas and grandpas and the residents really love seeing children especially in costume.

Sorry I haven't been able to upload the pro-pix yet.  I'm trying to get some books done at Snapfish and Walgreens before the specials end so I've been neglecting my blog.

Randy outside of Binion's

Randy and I went to Vegas last weekend.  We had such a good time!  We stayed at La Quinta near the airport.  And I mean we could watch the planes take off and land at McCarran out our window.  But I really never heard them and the room was so nice.  We got one with a hot tub in the bedroom and let's just say we made good use of it.  We gambled on the strip and down town, watched the light show on Freemont Street, and went to a K9 competition at the Orleans.  I discovered a new favorite slot machine.  Based on the movie, The Hangover.  It's multi-screened, loud, obnoxious and I couldn't stop winning on it.  It was soooooo much fun.  I even got a progressive jackpot at the Statosphere ($65 it wasn't a big one, LOL).  But not bad for a penny machine.  This is the only pic I have of the whole trip. 

Here are the rest of the pix from Mom's Halloween.