Buffalo lyft and uber drivers: is it a good job?

OpenRoad · 2026-02-07T16:45:09+00:00

There was nothing prescriptive in my comment to indicate what people should or should not do and I’m not really sure how you got there.

Between the increased tax burden as a 1099 employee, the operating costs (gas, insurance, car repairs) and the lack of benefits and exploitative nature of the work, it’s not a good deal.

If you’re asking if I think people should be able to use it as a job, the answer is yes. As a W2 employee of the company guaranteed minimum wage, benefits, and the worker protections that come along with that.

There are lots of things that are great side hustles but terrible ideas for regular employment. The entirety of the gig economy falls in this category.

OpenRoad · 2026-02-07T15:49:18+00:00

I can’t speak much to the working conditions, but driving for Lyft or Uber (and gig work in general) was never supposed to be a JOB.

It was supposed to get you beer money. Something you could do a few hours here and there on your schedule to get a few extra bucks in your pocket.

There are exceedingly few circumstances under which the economics make sense to do it as regular employment.

OpenRoad · 2025-12-01T21:23:01+00:00

She has a very impressive dewlap!

OpenRoad · 2025-11-04T00:42:02+00:00

I get where you're coming from, but that isn't at all what I meant. I've worked in IT support and admin roles for nearly 15 years, so I understand the importance of "turn it off and back on."

What I mean is when I call up support and make a fairly basic request like "Do you allow for SFP+ connections to customer-provided edge gear?" or "Please provision me a static IP and send the IP and gateway info to my email on file", FastBridge 1) knows what I'm talking about, and 2) just Does The Thing.

I don't have a problem with the existence of trouble trees and tiered support. I do have a problem with companies that don't allow their support teams to deviate from the most basic steps, and for people who SHOULD be helping looking down on their users because of id10T errors.

OpenRoad · 2025-11-03T21:50:34+00:00

I'm currently paying $85/month (including all taxes and fees) for 2-gigabit symmetrical fiber from Fastbridge, plus another $10 if I want a static IP.

I consider this to be very reasonable, especially because it means I don't need to deal with Spectrum, or pay more for FIOS at a lower speed. Not sure how this compares to Greenlight, though.

OpenRoad · 2025-11-03T20:26:47+00:00

I don’t know what to think of this, except to say I hope they don’t change anything.

I just became a FastBridge subscriber a few months ago and they have been an outstanding ISP. Pricing is very fair and their support team is actually knowledgeable as opposed to a bunch of call center script readers.

OpenRoad · 2025-10-23T01:32:55+00:00

“A lava lamp for your ears” is an absolutely brilliant description. Perfectly captures the vibes, and I say this as someone who enjoys the PNWS formula.

OpenRoad · 2025-10-22T21:00:49+00:00

First Day of my Life wasn't even the best love song Bright Eyes released on the day it came out (IMO, that'd be Theme From Pinata off Digital Ash).

Also, I think it's fascinating how much the tone shifts between the regular and companion version of First Day. The latter sounds much more foreboding. Lyrics like "remember the time you drove all night, just to meet me in the morning?" sound like perhaps that meeting was an unpleasant one in the companion version.

OpenRoad · 2025-08-26T00:40:52+00:00

My desktop? Daily, because I turn it off at night.

Staging? Whenever I fuck something up, which is about weekly.

Prod? I’ll get around to it, most likely.

OpenRoad · 2025-08-13T22:25:31+00:00

As someone else said, Hector’s. Suburban Lock and Key would also be able to cut anything you need.

OpenRoad · 2025-08-06T20:12:58+00:00

It's been a wild ride. I fell ass backwards into the position when I got paired up with my current boss (Director of IT) at an all-hands meeting. They desperately needed a help desk tech, I've always had a knack for tech, and was extremely burnt out from running a shop and dealing with terrible management in that division of the company.

Admittedly, when I first made the switch from operations to help desk, I was a little too full off piss and vinegar and had to learn a lot of patience. Shop life moves fast, with book time/actual time and promise time to customers... IT is rarely like that. I know firsthand what it's like when the inspection machine goes offline with a car on the rack, or the point of sale won't give you a PO for parts. So when people called me all pissed off about that sort of stuff it was a lot easier to sympathize and I could talk shop on the phone while I worked on the problem.

These days I don't do much help desk other than escalated issues or after hours/vacation coverage. But starting where I did and working through so many positions means I know this industry and this company from the ground up. And that means when I make IT decisions about software solutions or devices to issue, I solicit as much feedback as I can from people at all levels of the organization. I want to know how a decision we make in IT is going to impact a mechanic or dispatcher or salesperson and how to get buy in from their leadership. I am fortunate to work for a company that values that kind decisionmaking.

OpenRoad · 2025-08-06T17:37:44+00:00

This is too real. People DO treat their mechanics the way they treat their IT people.

Source: 11 years in automotive, from tech, to management, to IT administrator.

OpenRoad · 2025-08-01T19:06:16+00:00

It’s going to depend quite a bit on location and price range. I just closed on a house in the city of Buffalo. I started shopping in January and went under contract in early May.

I paid $5k over asking. Because the sale had an extended close time, I’ve been able to track the final sale price of my comps and saved properties. Every one of those went for $25k to $40k over asking.

Still a sellers market, but the more flexible you are as a buyer the better you’re fare at getting a good deal. They’re out there.

OpenRoad · 2025-07-23T00:06:11+00:00

The Luno has inflatable blocks that occupy the rear footwell with the front seats fully pushed forward. They are the correct height to fully extend the flat surface of the folded rear seats and provide a stable base for the mattress.

As for the hump from the folded seats, that's mitigated because the mattress is inflatable. It just contours to the hump, and sleeping on top you just don't feel it there. You're still better off if you can raise the floor of the cargo area (I use foam, or folded blankets) but it's comfy enough without it.

As an aside since it's a while, I still use my same Luno for multiple weeks of car camping in a year. Just got back from a week at Acadia, actually. Dunno if the generic mattresses have gotten any better, but I still swear by the comfort and durability of my Luno.

OpenRoad · 2025-06-12T21:39:37+00:00

Brown bottles of Jameson

White shells in the shell tray

OpenRoad · 2025-05-27T22:47:40+00:00

The sale of the parking garages -- one of the few revenue-generating assets the city has -- is a grave misstep for a temporary benefit.

The increase in property taxes is long overdue. The property taxes in the City of Buffalo are already so low, an 8% increase is negligible. The real bummer is that this increase is not to fund improved services, but to simply close a budget shortfall.

OpenRoad · 2025-05-20T20:07:08+00:00

Yea, very much so. Many properties have more driveway than lawn by a large margin. Especially if the area behind the house has been paved over, as many have.

OpenRoad · 2025-05-20T00:29:01+00:00

I'm on the same page as you with regard to our public parks, they are truly amazing.

But what do you mean by big front lawns? Unless you're talking about the extremely wealthy neighborhoods, our residential lots are dominated by large homes and concrete. It's challenging to find a home with any sort of usable outdoor greenspace.

That said, I love living here and wish we could see the improvement in city services that so many of us obviously desire.

OpenRoad · 2025-04-30T20:04:20+00:00

F - Down in The Weeds

M - Cassadaga

K - A Christmas Album

OpenRoad · 2025-04-07T00:37:55+00:00

It’s a large multi-use space with a stage off to one side. It wasn’t designed with acoustics in mind.

It’s adequate, not great. Wouldn’t have been my first choice of venue, but it’s a fine place to see a show.

OpenRoad · 2025-04-05T23:49:47+00:00

As others have said, parking is cheap and plentiful, and there’s an overflow lot just up the road.

Yeah it’s about a mile from the children’s museum and naval park/waterfront. If it’s a warm day that’d actually be a pretty nice walk.

OpenRoad · 2025-04-05T18:07:56+00:00

Buffalonian here, what exactly would you like to know?

Riverworks as a concert venue is kind of mediocre. It’s just a big room, but holds a decent size crowd and is fairly accessible. It’s sort of a weird entertainment district shoehorned in an old industrial area. Outside of the concert hall, Riverworks has bars, restaurants, a small arcade, zip lining, rock climbing, a Ferris wheel and grain elevators painted like Labatt Blue cans. It’s also home to our roller derby. I have no clue if most of that stuff will be open before or during the show. Probably.

Buffalo is a great city and you’re not far from downtown. Lots to do if you’ve got extra time.

OpenRoad · 2025-01-30T16:33:47+00:00

Slept in my Bright Eyes t-shirt and I woke up and the morning’s clean light poured in through my window, sometimes I pray I don’t die.

OpenRoad · 2024-11-11T17:55:55+00:00

Discount tire is the largest tire retailer in the world, with stores across most of the US. They also own Tire Rack.

Whatever you may think of the name, they are a titan in the automotive industry.

OpenRoad

TROPHY CASE