After a throw away Thursday, the Friday the next day began with a lady who I had picked up before. A pilot who does freight transport for a living. She told me there’s a real need for pilots. There’s not enough for all the work right now. I picked her brain further. “What do you need to do to become a pilot?” I asked. She responded with all the intricacies of the profession. To the point that I might even consider getting a pilots license one day. It can cost up to $10,000 initially and then eventually $50,000. Bit pricey, but you end up getting $52,000 – $100,000 / year. Most days you work 7.5 hrs a day, but up to 6 days a week. Not bad at all.
After parting ways at Bellis Fair Mall. I got a ping from a lady who wanted to see her sister at a salon downtown. She needed another pickup later. “Oh yeah where are you heading?” “Lynwood” she responded. “I will definitely take you south!” Lynwood is about an hour and a half away. Essentially $150 right off the bat. So I gave her my number so she could text me later. I obviously dropped her off and tried to get another ride before she needed me. I got one rode in between her rides, I also managed to fill up my car. Petrol is finally cheap again $2.98/gallon. The bloke I picked up was from New York who had just purchased a landscaping business. He was in town for a conference. Never heard of a mowing business before going to conferences. Guess there’s new technology for keeping your yard maintained. I dropped him off at his hotel.
The lady I dropped off at the salon texted me. I made my way to her. After I picked her up we continued our conversation. She told me she works as a nurse but owns a toy shop business. Her stores are located at Bellis Fair Mall, Lynwood, and Spokane. It was only meant to be a side job, but turned into something more. The lady asked me about Australia and my career. The conversation was extensive all the way to Lynwood. In amongst this, she couldn’t find $1700 in her purse, and realised she had left it in a safe in Seattle. That’s a lot of dosh to leave in a safe. She rang the hotel and queried her lost property. “No ma’am we don’t have any money in that safe”. Was the response I could hear over the phone. Then she responded “can I please speak to a manager?” She gave the lady on the other end her details. “The manager will call you back as soon as possible”. I felt awful for my rider knowing potentially her money was stolen out of a safe. Admittedly it was her fault for leaving the cash behind, but it was left behind in a safe. After about 15 minutes the manager rang. Sure enough the money was present and was ready to be picked up. My rider rang her son to coordinate the pickup. He apparently lives near Seattle and was willing to collect it for her. The money was from her toy stores. She carries it around with her from store to store. Risky, but she didn’t look obvious. After I dropped her off I drove through traffic and a storm that night. I knew my night wasn’t over. I still had to get my quota.
When I got to Skagit County, I turned Uber and Lyft on. One ping in Burlington, but as I clicked it, my phone decided to not cooperate. That 12 minute ride disappeared forever. I drove slow, just in case I’d get the ping again. Nope nothing. Dammit!
Finally getting into Bellingham when a 32 year old birthday girl needed a pickup at the Blue Fin sushi joint. Coincidentally I had my birthday there also. My 32nd birthday. She works as a teacher and her man friend is a nurse.
Next was a cancelled ride. Frustrating.
Then a refinery worker. Told him to do the tap trail. He said he wasn’t in town long enough.
The following lady was visiting from Cali. She used to live in Bellingham, she was in town for exes grandmothers funeral. They remained friends, due to her having a baby with him back in the day. Unfortunately the infant died 6 months after the birth. She still visits the grave every now and then. I picked her up over at the reservation. She was heading to a drag show at the gay bar in town. She had never seen a drag show before. Last time I saw one was at a mining camp in 2015. It was funny, but not really my cuppa tea.
I dropped her off and said she might schedule me later. Ping! Students. Here we go, are they obnoxious? Drunk? Obsessed with raccoons? Yes the later fits the perfect description. I had to slow down so they could snap so.e pics of the trash pandas. Yes they’re cute, but I’ve never had a rabies shot. Apparently it’s three injections. I really need to get that sorted. Not that I’m going to play with rabid animals. Anyway moving on, one of my riders was studying Anthropology and another thought she could an Aussie accent. She couldn’t. It sounded British and she said Brisbane wrong. Apparently she convinced some people she was from Australia once and they believed her. Crikey crumbs stop doing that now! You’re embarrassing yourself. 🙄 I said “Brisbane is pronounced Bris-bin, not Bris-bayn!”
I dropped them off shaking my head. Chuckling to myself, muttering “American, students”.
I got another student who wants to be a graphic designer. I delved into my cousin in the UK. How he made the logo for my website. She instantly got inspired. She’s going to look his business up “Quince”.
My next passengers knew I was an Aussie and told me they had been to Tweed Heads and Sydney. They loved Australia and said they’d definitely go back. One passenger said they worked at a Community Co Op. “Is that for homeless people?” I asked. “No, it’s locally sourced produce that is generally more expensive than Fred Meyer or Haggen”. He replied. “Well that’s not what I expected at all. This whole time I thought it was for homeless people. I think it’s because the word community is in the title”.
After reminiscing about Australia and chatting about an expensive local grocery store I dropped them off at their home. Then a ping near their house. Three shielas three sheets to the wind. They were having a girls night whilst their hubby’s played poker. They were loud and didn’t guess my accent at first. Eventually they saw the koalas on my review mirror. Finally! As I rocked up to their house there was a bigfoot tours bus at their house. “Bigfoot tours?! What’s that about?” I asked. Then two out of the three ladies got out of my car and walked to the front door, meanwhile the other lady walked to my vehicle door. “He’s out there you know, do you believe?” My response was intrigued yet fascinated by what she would say. “Yes, I’m very curious about these so called sitings people have had over the years. Many of them hoaxes. People in suits or game cams with strange noises going on in the background. What have you seen?” “We have cameras set up in Skagit County. No visual footage, but definitely noises on them. A sheriff gave us a cask of a foot found by the river a few years ago. He’s definitely out there”. Curious about what this lady was saying I probed her for more information. “So what does this tour accomplish?” “We go out for 6 hours and go to all the possible hot spots and see what we can see. We have night vision and cameras set up just in case. It’s about $75”. Not bad to be honest if you want to go out for a day and see more wildlife. I’m sure you would see other creatures in the evening. I’m skeptical about the existence of big foot, but some have hypothesised if it does exist it is most likey a Gigantopithecus. In Australia we have the legendary Yowie, which is 9feet tall and it stinks. One of my mates brothers apparently saw one in the bush in QLD. It was way too quick for him to snap a clear photo. Sitings are usually in thick vegetation where it is harder to see. Stories like this spark the imagination for sure. In NSW I remember seeing rock art of two large charcoal paintings and two small paintings next to each other near a cliff. The aboriginal community had various beliefs associated with the art. One bloke said the two big ones were Yowies, they’re tall and they stink. Another said they were humans, but the small motifs were tricksters that pretend to be human children. They pretend to play near the cliff and then when you get close to the cliff they push or pull you off. The larger motifs on the other hand were a warning about these evil spirits. My passenger gave me a card. Sure I’m curious, but if I went I want a better camera for such an investigation.
I drove off thinking about this elusive creature. Then another ping. On my way to pick up my passengers downtown I had a weird thought that I have never picked up a plumber. Electricians, pilots, mechanics, environmental people, refinery workers, musicians, IT professionals, students, CEOs, financial advisors, builders, roofers, and even surveyors. Then when my I asked my passengers what they did, one said he is a landscape architect and the other you’ll never guess it, a plumber! I told my passengers how uncanny this was and they laughed at this coincidence. My passengers wanted to know what I did besides ubering. I said “archaeologist”. One of my passengers asked me if I knew a certain someone in Blaine who does the bulk of the archaeology work there. I said “Yes he was my former boss haha”. They realised that I wasn’t particularly happy with losing my job from him. I was honest. They loved my honesty. Especially when I used various rude words to describe my situation and the former boss. They laughed and gave me a monster tip. Prior this they asked me how I do with uber and I said the cash in hand jobs are great. Had one this evening. One bloke laughed hysterically and then I realised where his mind went. They were great people and they offered me a beer, but I had to keep on working.
Next passenger was Public library manager from California. She flew in around midnight and was visiting her daughter. She took me south of Fairdinkumhaven. Which lead to an unofficial big foot adventure in Skagit County. A ping after I dropped her off took me to the Skagit Valley Casino. A Russian man from Chechnya. He was hammered, but wanting to drink at the Train Wreck. He told me about Russia and how most of his family is still there. I dropped him off and began to head north. Ping. The same Russian at 1.30 am needed me to pick him up about 8 minutes after I already dropped him off. Pretty sure he was denied entry. I had to wait for a bloody train to pass. Then eventually I picked him up. He wanted to go a sports bar further south from his pickup point. Crickey crumbs just go home man. I delivered him to his destination and he thanked me. Ping! What now? Another person in Skagit. Again the casino. I feel like I’m trapped down here. I picked up two mum’s heading home after a night on the tipple and gambling. Sure enough their house was out there. In the woods where I’m sure big foot roams. I even said that to them. I changed my apps so I can pick up people going north this time. I’m missing the B’ham action. When we arrived the stay at home mum’s said can do donuts in the potato fields if I want. Um OK. Little random. No thanks I’d rather get some more cash. Thank you.
So I headed north and thought about heading home. However there was a surge on. Fine I will take another couple then go home. Ping. A pizza place worker. Then finally after dropping her off a golf course worker. He gets free rounds of golf, but he doesn’t even play. Lucky bugger, I would be playing every week. I miss having a hit every now and then.
11 Trips Uber. 11 rides Lyft. The most fruitful Friday Ever. Mainly because it took me to Lynwood and back. I got over $300 in one night. Next is moody Monday. The last Monday before fieldwork.
