I turned on the Heat this morning. I was actually feeling cold. I am not getting sick, it was actually really cool in my apartment.
At least I didn't think I was getting sick. But I went to bed early and I slept for a full 8 hours. And I didn't want to. I was trying to stay up until after noon like I did yesterday, instead I ended up waking up at 11:00 a.m.
So here is round two. I'm in my car now, getting ready to go to work.
I am starting to compare what just happened about my sleep to withdrawals. I have not touched Facebook. The last comment I made on Facebook was to my aunt about a prayer she had asked for. And then I shut it off. I remembered I wasn't supposed to be on Facebook.
Who knew withdrawing from Facebook would have physical implications?
It is now 12:24 p.m. I am sitting outside of Walmart waiting to be loaded with groceries to deliver. The order is going to pay me $17. It's worth it to sit here and wait for an hour.
While I am waiting I am watching ads and updating my gaming apps. I might as well make a few pennies while I'm sitting here. I call it picking up techno-cans. For the youngsters out there, when we didn't have money we would pick up aluminum cans on the side of the road. It was hard work. It only paid pennies but it was better than nothing. Playing games for money is about the same thing. Basically what I'm doing is watching ads and getting paid a few pennies every time I do. And, it's a lot easier than picking up aluminum cans. It takes about the same amount of time too.
It is now 12:37. I have been sitting here since noon waiting on my car to be loaded. If I wait an hour I will cancel the order. It will be time to move on to another delivery before I start losing more money.
While I am sitting here waiting, I am listening to K-Love on the radio. It is positive encouraging uplifting contemporary Christian music. I need to keep positivity flowing in my life.
Also, I have logged all of my trips from Friday onto the QuickBooks app. It keeps up with all of my finances so I can see how much I am actually making in profits. It also helps me at the end of the year when it's time to do taxes. Last year I actually got $300 back. I talked to another Uber driver who didn't log his trips or do any paperwork at all, and he ended up owing over $5,000. I don't think I could afford that. Needless to say, he got frustrated and quit.
When you work for yourself and not somebody else it's not all about making money. You have to do the paperwork involved. You have to pay your taxes. You have to file your deductions. It's just like any other business. If you don't do the paperwork involved you will owe a whole lot more than you should.
When I first started doing this a lady tried to talk me out of it telling me how much taxes I'm supposed to pay. I told her it's no more than any other taxes you have to pay. And as long as you do the paperwork it isn't. I was right.
While I am sitting and waiting for my car to get loaded, it is turned off. I am not even running the air conditioner and it's 100° outside. I'm sure it's even hotter than that in this car as I wait. The heat is beating me up. If I get too hot I'll just turn the car on for a few minutes. All of my windows are rolled down. Gas is too expensive to waste running your car for an hour waiting to be loaded.
I finally canceled the order at 12:50 p.m. I got paid $2.50 for the wait. That was generous of Walmart. And it's better than nothing. I just wasted an hour for $2.50 sitting in the hot sun. It is frustrating.
But, now I can turn on the Uber eats app and maybe get a ping while I'm waiting for another Walmart order to show up on my screen. I also have the GrubHub and the ASAP app on. Whichever pings first I'll take and turn the others off.
Before I left the house today, I threw some chicken into the Crock-Pot. It's a lot easier than cooking when I get home, and I know I'm going to be hungry. I have also prepared enough tea to last me for the next 5 days. So I don't have to do that anymore either for a few days.
I just accepted a delivery at 1:15 p.m. that is going to pay me $31.52. It is 72 items on one delivery and 14 items on another. It is well worth the $31. I will wait for it. Pick up time is at 1:45.
I will write the order down in my notebook so that I can log it into my Quickbooks when I start work tomorrow. They will have until 2:15 to get me loaded, and after that I will cancel and move on to the next delivery if I am not yet loaded and on my way to drop off.
A lot of this job is twiddling my thumbs and waiting. But the jobs that I actually get to get done more than make up for the time I waste waiting. I probably shouldn't have accepted this order because the status is that it is getting ready and it is not ready already. Unfortunately the app does not tell me until after I accept the order whether or not it is getting ready or it is already ready.
As soon as I got to the Walmart it was 1:25. I got a ping from the waiter app that I forgot to turn off to go pick up an order it On the Border that is going to pay me $6.26. I accepted it. It's a good way to use my time while I'm waiting on the other order to get ready.
When I got to On the Border, I realized that I forgot to accept the order in the app and it moved on to another driver. So I lost my chance at delivering that order. And wasted my gas getting to On the Border. It happens sometimes if I'm not paying attention. So I'll return back to Walmart for the other order. That one is already accepted. I still have time.
Finally, at 2:07 p.m. I Got Loaded for my $31 delivery. I finished the delivery and went back to my usual waiting spot at the Exxon on New Boston Road at 3:00 p.m.. I've been working for 3 hours now and made $31. Hopefully things will get better. But I'm not complaining because it's still over $10 an hour.
At 3:05 I arrived at On the Border for a delivery from ASAP that's going to pay me $6.13. I turned off the other apps until I finish this one. Maybe I'll get another one before I settle somewhere again.
One of the things I like about food orders is that the wait time is a lot shorter and the experience is a lot cooler in the heat.
Before I got back to the Exxon I got another order from GrubHub going back to On the Border to pick up an order. I took it as well. This one pays $6.39.
When I got to On the Border there was a guy standing out in front of me with a white T-shirt on. The back of his shirt said "Follow me on YouTube." So I asked him, "It would be easy to follow you if I know who you were! Who do I follow on YouTube?" He pointed at his car. It said "Doordash around the USA."
He told me he has been to over 40 States already. I told him it sounded very interesting. I told him that when I retire I planned on doing something similar. I also let him know that I had my own blog. LOL.
Then I took my order to the drop location. It started raining and the wind started gusting, so I figure I won't be doing any more spark deliveries today.
When I got back to the Exxon I got another order for $5.85 from GrubHub. On my way I got a severe weather warning on the radio for Texarkana. I am not the United States Postal Service, but I will work until I can't.
My next order was Uber Eats for 9 dollars. I talked to a couple of Doordashers who we're curious about how Uber Eats worked and if it was worth it. I told them it was just as worth it as any of the other apps. And, I told On the Border they should put me on the payroll. This was the third order today that I have picked up from three different apps. LOL
I went back to the Exxon to twiddle my thumbs for a while. I have the Uber, ASAP, and GrubHub apps turned on. Waiting for a ping. It is 5:21 p.m. and I have made $58.80 today so far. That's not bad. It's a little over $10 an hour. But it's easy money.
I still miss my Uber passenger app. I can't drive until I get my permanent tags on this vehicle. But when I can I will make more than I am making now. Until then I have to do what I have to do. And, I do it without complaining because two years ago I was working as a cook at a local Diner in New Boston Texas. I was only making $215 a week. What I made today already was more than I would have made working 8 hours there.
By 6:22 I was in the midst of a delivery that was going to pay me $16 which would bring my total up to $87.12. It was not a bad day at all so far. In spite of the rain and not being able to do Walmart deliveries because of it.
I don't like delivering groceries in the rain because it's too easy to slip with heavy items. Sometimes I have to walk through yards and the grass gets Slippery When Wet. Not to mention the holes seem to be bigger and I've already twisted my foot once and don't want a repeat. So whenever it rains I focus on all the other apps.
Normally, if it's raining I will focus on just doing passenger rides. However I'm not doing passenger rides until I can get my permanent tags on this vehicle. My paper tags are good until October 22nd so maybe by then I will be up and running again. That is, if I can make enough money to pay my car payment until then, in spite of not being able to drive Uber and Lyft.
While I was sitting at Sonic waiting on my order for delivery, a homeless guy came and asked me for some money for some food. I gave him a bag of my Chex Mix that I got from the Food Distribution Center and keep in my car to snack on. It might not have been what he was wanting really, but it is what he asked for.
When I went to Cracker Barrel to pick up an order before the one at Sonic, I saw that the restaurant they are building beside Cracker Barrel is almost complete. They are advertising for employees. It will be great to have a Panda Express here in Texarkana finally! I can't wait until it opens!
By 8:00 I had made $97. It was close enough to 100 and I had worked my 8 hours. I decided to head home and work in the call center for the rest of the night.
I was looking forward to seeing my baby dogs, and eating some of that chicken that I plan to fix stove top stuffing with, using the juices off of it.
I will try to stay up as late as I can. My hours have got to change so that I'm waking up in the mornings again. I have no idea how to do that. I know I can't use an alarm clock and wake up early, because either I will sleep through the alarm clock or whenever I do get up I'll be so tired I can't drive. I fear driving while I am tired for good reason. It is not safe for me or for anyone else on the road.
And this is my day.
And, as usual something went wrong. As soon as I got home and check the chicken, I realized I had forgotten to plug the Crock-Pot in this morning. Sigh. Now I will have to wait at least 4 hours for the chicken to get done.
Have a blessed day!
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