Gambling. People do it all the time, whether it is for fun or maybe it’s big life decisions. One bloke who I picked does both, but to the extreme. He eventually becomes a regular, who has helped me take a little extra time to train for my new side hustle Expedia. In amongst random weeks of archaeological investigations this man can be described as an enigma. A southern man with a drawl you expect Matthew McConaughey to have. From Missouri a concretor he found himself in Bellingham on his way to Alaska. Traveling through, he had no ties, only his phone, wallet and the shirt on his back. Then his wallet was stolen by a homeless person one year before. This bloke who dreamt about making money in Alaska, became homeless. He pursued any work he could find and eventually found a job at Bellingham Marine. He slept at the Bellingham Lighthouse Homeless Community Center for a few weeks until a federal job came up. Colorado, Portland, Hawaii, Bellingham all cities he could work in. Marinas need concrete and that’s the skill he had for $60/hour. All federal prevailing wage jobs. His down and out story changed pretty fast. I cross paths with him when requests a Lyft. “G’day mate, need a Lyft?” “Oh yes sir. I like ya hat”. “Where can I get one?” He asked. “I can get you one if you want.” I replied. “I sure do!” He exclaimed. “How much? He queried. “$100, but let me find out”. We discussed his life and his luck at the casino. $4000 he won in a week! Holy cow! He obviously tipped me well.
I went south to Bellingham to find more customers. I went to some of my old faithful spots. Then a ping in north. A lady who had lost her job was trying to find her other half. She wanted a multi trip. She had just finished working at 711. It was taken over by a family and the franchise chose employ their own family instead of other employees. I drove my passenger to Sharis pie shop. Don’t get ya hopes up Australians they’re just desert pies. I waited for my passenger to find her man, but she couldn’t find him. Whilst waiting I saw a small noose hanging from a Silverado truck. What is that supposed to mean? You’re pro hanging of black people or you endorse capitol punishment. Two old white sheilas showed up and I really couldn’t work out why they would have a noose like that hanging from their review mirror! I didn’t want to wait any longer. Yes I get wait time money, but it’s not enough. I tapped out and said “I hope you find him”. She was fine with it, she didn’t want to pay a huge fee either after just losing her job.
Now back to seeing mass amounts of tweakers in Bellingham and noticing more and more bad drivers. Ping! A passenger at a warehouse. It’s specifically for imitation crab. Apparently it’s just fish with flavouring. I always wanted to know that. Obviously it’s used in sushi for the ever so famous California roll. On another note my passenger was petrified of spiders and never wants to go Australia.
Next passenger was a computer programmer from Georgia. He works for the City of Bellingham. He was lucky he to get a job in town. The odd thing was he looked like one of my good old mates Tony. A bloke who helped me through a tough time back in 2014. I had to show my passenger a picture of my mate in Australia and he said he’s extremely handsome. I laughed at this because he obviously could see himself. Same moustache. Same charisma. Uncanny.
Then I had a somewhat regular who works at T Mobile, who was concerned for his mate. “I’m worried about my buddy who decided to have a sex marathon with a woman” he said. “What’s wrong with that?” I said “she’s just trouble okay!” A snappy response where I could tell he was jealous about it. It’s almost like he wanted his mate all to himself. Possibly. I plonked him off at a nightclub in B’ham.
The following couple were in town for a skiing trip up to Mt Baker. One works as a technology manager at Boeing and the other works at Amazon as a technology approver. I was really tempted to probe into the Boeing situation with the 737 Max, I didn’t. I was extremely curious about how Amazon approves their. I went on to say that I am an Amazon affiliate, trying to sell products on my blog. Unfortunately it hasn’t been very successful. Anyway Amazon goes through a stringent testing process for its technology. That’s all I got out of that discussion…😒
I dropped these two at a restaurant and proceeded to pick up a bloke who helps run the Commuter City Network. He has to make sure everything runs smoothly. Yikes what a stressful job. Everything has go by clockwork and without a hitch. If a problem arises you have to be ready to change schedules and notify the public. Sounds stressful to me.
A medical aviation expert was next on my customer list, who had an interest in ancient historical diseases. From smallpox to the plague we discussed various epidemics and pandemics. How did people cope? Well they didn’t. If you had a disease you died, especially if you had a weak immune system.
Then a bloke from the town of Concrete, he works in construction. Another regular who makes prosthetics needed groceries. Ah yes then the gambler texted me. My new favourite passenger. I picked him up and he won $2500. Crikey crumbs. “What’s your secret?” I asked him. He replied with “blackjack and roulette”. He targets odds, black, and his kids birthdays. All came up multiple times. The house didn’t win tonight, this man was happy and gave me $40 for a 10 minute trip. Super generous.
Next passenger fell asleep when I was talking to him. I was talking his ears off and then he started to snore. Poor bugger. He was pretty drunk. After him a lady commended my great ratings and said “No wonder you have such great ratings you have candy. Oh and you’re Australian!” I laughed and said “I got upset when my 5 star rating has now dropped to 4.97”. “Other uber drivers have low 4 point ratings” She said. Made me feel better about myself.
Students…then an Iron Union worker and a lady whose husband works as a firefighter. She went to Thailand whilst his hubby went to Australia. Weird relationship. She wanted me to meet with them later and gave me her number. Heh. I’m going to bed later. After that I took cash from a couple who couldn’t be stuffed crossing the street. Four Points Sheraton to the Guesthouse Inn. Are you kidding me? Sure I’ll do it 🤨.
Oh boy breath. Next passenger was a student studying anthropology who thought mimicking me was a fun thing to do. 🙄 She apologized, but it was really annoying. Then Brian who worked with British solar to create a better solar system. A nurse followed who says the healthcare system needs an overhaul. Seriously I’m aware. Basically went on a huge rant on how good Australians have it.
A customer who works as a painter, put in the wrong address and we started to head south when he ridiculed me for going the wrong way. I showed him where we were going on the app. Fairdinkumhaven. “Oh I’m sorry that’s my buddy’s address, can we go to the ampm?” “Yeah sure, just change your address and add the stop please”. I honestly hate doubting myself in these situations. Customers aren’t always right. Anyway as a result of his mixup he gave me three Pacifico beers.
After dropping the painter off I took my three beers and went south. Yeah I dropped 15 minutes northeast from where we were in Suddenly there’s a valley. I picked up a boiler maker. Then there were two cancellations. Ping! Oh you going to cancel too? Oh good. A bloke who works at a dealership, with a FedEx driver, and another guy who works for a moving company.
Which brings me my next customer a bloke who works for Stormtroopers a party bus company from North Carolina. He drives all over the country for bands. He was getting dropped off at the Wild Buffalo to pick up one of the nicest bushes I’d ever seen. Black and very large. The African American had a cool accent and I wanted to speak with him longer. In fact we both complimented each others accent. This man was about to drive the bus from Bellingham to go and pick up the artists responsible for Dubstep in Vegas. He was going to drive then around for a week down there. Seems like a long way to go. However I’m sure they’re paying well.
Finally my next customer was wanting to be a brewer and has dreams of moving to Japan. He wants to marry his Cousin and become a Japanese resident. Wait what??? Are you kidding me? “No I really want to marry him and become a citizen”. “Fair dinkum! Can’t you find a woman or man who you’re actually interested in?” “No he’s totally cool with it”. It’s amazing what people will do just to get into another country. Marrying a family member would not be high on my list. Bloody hell. Anyway I changed the subject. “What do you want to brew?” “A German style lager with prickly pear in it” was his response. “It sounds interesting, why that?” I queried. “Oh they’re juicy and it would be an iconic beverage from Arizona exported to Japan”.
After an eventful Saturday night I still was thinking. Marrying a cousin, yuck! I had 22 trips uber 6 rides lyft.
