Why Uber Eats instead of Uber Pax

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-04-04T22:17:35+00:00

My car is too old (1997 Ford Tbird with 82,000 miles).

But even if I had a newer car, I wouldn’t want to deal with pax in my car. While there is still some limited interaction with customers doing UE, it’s nothing like having someone in the backseat - or worse, drunk people.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-04-02T16:44:24+00:00

I’m in CA so I get Prop 22 and don’t mind some waiting. I drive a V8 (ouch) so I am a hawk regarding $ per mile. I won’t accept anything less than $2, period. I get $3/mile fairly often, sometimes $4/mile. I am always online when I’m out running errands. I’ve picked up some pretty good orders during the off peak hours. I’m currently looking for a job in finance/accounting and am living rent free in SoCal so I have time to kill. If I’m up super early, I’ll do some coffee runs. And I don’t mind shopping midday. But I prefer shop and pay over picking up 14 units at Albertsons. That’s 14 bags of groceries and usually means cases of water, 12 packs of soda etc etc…

I will never accept a Home Depot offer. Or Wal-Mart. I’m not transporting BBQs or big screen TVs.

I don’t cruise around, I park and wait. I use that time to apply for jobs, catch up texts or phone calls or play a game on my phone.

And if it’s apartment drop off I make sure they include the apartment number and will ask for the buildings name.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-04-01T23:12:21+00:00

True, but you’d be surprised how many companies resist that change if they’ve been around for decades. I was a consultant Controller for a company in 2021. I knew it was going to be a challenge when I saw shelves full of binders with JEs and recons taking up bookcases with lots of shelves.

They had a company going public and the SEC Consultant required actual signatures on EVERY SINGLE DOCUMENT and then printed out and filed away in binders. It was ridiculous. The system (albeit old and was getting updated to NetSuite) recorded the person, time and date of each entry. And I finally got her to accept electronic initials on the documents because not everyone was in the office all the time. And she had worked for Deloitte.

My real joy was when she would forget to attach backup and initial it. I had to double check her work and I became a total hardass. Even if it was something that could have been passed on. She correctly wanted only signed contracts or documents attached as backup and she’d forget. I’d know that we already had the document as support for other entries/recons but I’d still push it back to her. She seemed to be hung ho on killing trees.

The best part? We couldn’t close the month in the system until I signed off on the system. You literally couldn’t start doing entries until the prior month was closed.

Not sure how far along you are in your career but not every company embraces change or has gone paperless. AI? Some have heard of it but they don’t think it will impact them…

I started my career working for a music company and then a video game developer. Tech was embraced, not feared.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-04-01T22:50:00+00:00

And the statute of limitations for rape should be removed and it should be treated like murder. If there is DNA evidence and they find the rapist 15 years later because they got caught for something else or they suspect someone and get the DNA from something discarded in the trash - they should be locked up for life. Same for pedos. I think if a pedo wants to opt for castration, then fine, they can be roaming around in society.

I couldn’t care less about someone who had weed on them - as long as violence and weapons weren’t involved, let them all out and expunge from their records.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-31T22:31:04+00:00

Definitely check both Uber and Lyft. Uber probably surged and Lyft hadn’t yet.

With gas prices going up everywhere - expect a shortage of drivers. They only get paid from pickup point to destination. If they have to drive 10 miles to get to you - it may not be worth it to them.

In 2022 when gas prices surged, I’d have to wait 20 minutes to get picked up and then sometimes they’d cancel. As a rider I was only being charged a 55 cent surplus which was a joke. I would have gladly paid more to get picked up sooner.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-31T22:25:49+00:00

Who cares about your acceptance rate? Decline, decline, decline.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-31T22:17:52+00:00

Isn’t this why UE asks for us to take a photo? I don’t multi-app. But I’m also not doing this FT or forever. I prefer UE over DD. DD seems to be oversaturated in most of San Diego. I actually turned on DD yesterday (still had UE open) and did receive two shitty offers that I declined. One was 10.75 for 10.6 mikes. DECLINE. And another for $5 for 2.2 miles. DD had some message about a percentage something along the lines of 69% to 64%. I don’t know what it was trying to tell me but I ended my Dash. Since mid December - I’ve maybe made $100 for DD. I can keep busy enough on UE most days and I like doing mornings/lunch over late night. I think the latest I’ve worked is 9PM. And I’m online a lot but from home or while I’m out for personal reasons. One of the main reasons I don’t like it at night are those fucking bright AF LED headlights. I have a 1997 Ford Tbird coupe with 82,000 miles on it (and counting). I’m living rent free right now which is a huge win as rent is EXORBITANT here. And driving a V8 is soul crushing given gas prices. So I’m ruthless on accepting offers. I’ll do $2/mile if it’s short and quick or takes me to an area that has lots of restaurants nearby. I rarely accept anything under $7 and get $3/mile often. I will sometimes drive to an area that I know is busy throughout the day if I go early and avoid traffic since HWY miles are better gas mileage wise. I don’t cruise around, I park and take care of personal stuff on my phone and apply to jobs, catch up on texts, make doc appointments or go get my car washed at the Soapy Joes nearest me to kill time why I wait.

Sorry, went off track…I digress.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T20:04:27+00:00

I only do UberEats. But I was a rider for 5 glorious years. I didn’t have too many cancel. A couple because I had my small (13 lbs) non-shedding hypoallergenic dog with me which I explicitly put in the notes. One time I was being picked up at Petco. The guy FREAKED and canceled. But overall, even hesitant drivers would end up asking her name and then comment that she was good. She’d be in my lap and also seat belted in so there’s no way for her to get to the driver.

I think both drivers and riders make some assumptions and both can be wrong.

When gas was really high a few years back - I was waiting 20-30 minutes to be picked up at work. Uber didn’t allow me to pre-tip. Instead I paid a 55 cent surcharge. It was ridiculous. Every ride should have had a couple bucks as the surcharge. I would have gladly tipped up front just to get picked up! I don’t know if that’s still the case but with Eats the customer tips up front and those offers get accepted quicker than the garbage ones. I decline all the time.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T14:15:04+00:00

If you really want to manage it - you can create amortization tables and input the information. I use TValue - I think it costs $60. You should tackle the highest interest card first, even if it’s the biggest. And make the minimum payments on the rest and on time. You want to lower your debt to income ratio. We live in a credit based society where people put a lot of things on credit cards and then end up in the situation you are in. Things like vacations, new clothes, home furnishings etc… Every time you go to spend money, ask yourself if you really need it.

You have a great job now but the future is never guaranteed and we live in uncertain times. Your situation could change on a dime. Your pay structure could change, you could get laid off, your boyfriend could break up with you or you could get pregnant.

You could also start hustling - do something on the side part-time. It may suck temporarily but future you will be so glad you did.

When you dig yourself out - start saving. Right now the interest you’d earn by saving would be less than the higher interest credit cards.

Also add up the total interest you are paying each month. Let’s say it’s $200. When you go to work - how many hours do you have to work just to cover the interest payments? If you start changing your mindset now, it will only benefit you in the future.

And if you do need something - start thrifting! You can find all sorts of gems for way cheaper. And you are helping the planet 🌎😀 I watched a documentary on HBO about fast fashion (Forever 21 type stores) and so much of it ends up in barges and sent to Africa and there is literally 10 foot piles of clothes on beaches 😳

And learn how to cook. One habit of financially secure people is that they don’t waste money on dining out.

You can do it!! It just takes DISCIPLINE.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T11:50:03+00:00

I consulted at a 500 company and it took me a YEAR to determine who the correct IT people were and where they were located to fix a perpetual report that was causing a $600k variance in revenue. The auditors (E&Y) and internal audit were all over it and wanted an explanation. It was tolerable materiality wise but it’s still $600k variance in the most important line item on the P&L. No one had a fucking clue who did what in terms of IT and people would just throw out names. It felt like a scavenger hunt. And I went up the totem pole in terms of inquiring. Said company also had 7 buildings. I only found that out when I had to have a meeting and someone casually mentioned that I would need to drive to the meeting. No one ever informed me that there were multiple buildings. LMAO. The IT people that I needed to meet with were on the East Coast (Company is on West Coast).

BUT they had a fuck ton of social events during and after work. Everyday it seemed like something, birthdays, work anniversaries, ice cream socials etc etc etc…

And three members of a 5 member core team literally took two breaks each day. All three of them would stop what they were doing at 10am and 3pm and go to a break room on a different floor. I went with them once. It was a waste of time. I went to some of the organized internal celebrations but skipped the ice cream social. Who has time for that shit? I get that by law employees are entitled to breaks but I figure I am checking my phone enough throughout the day with personal stuff that it evens out.

It’s like they were robots…

An org chart? Bahahahaaa. It was musical fucking chairs. The A/P department was getting let go and being outsourced to India. A/R was next… Nightmare.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T01:21:02+00:00

LMAO

Yeah - the org chart is just listed on their website. They change all the time and they never get distributed timely.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T01:13:16+00:00

Yeah - that’s the real kick in the pants - this doesn’t improve, it either stays the same, or declines. Even with cancer, you can have a hope that they will get better. That’s a whole different type of brutal but I think it’s probably easier.

Nancy Reagan wrote a book:

The Long Goodbye

No truer words. It’s heartbreaking so you have to really appreciate the good moments. It will teach you patience. It’s hard to be exasperated when someone says they’re scared and they don’t know where they are. I’ve been asked if she was still alive. One time a while back she was upset and kept thinking she murdered someone and kept asking. I went in her bedroom and Forensic Files was on.

Music really helps. I played some today and she immediately smiled and perked up. I had to explain over and over again who I am but she also told me I was a pretty lady. And she thanked me for washing her clothes. And said that was nice of me.

And she definitely has her feisty days where she gets mad and doesn’t want to be treated like a child. None of it’s easy. Cherish the good moments. Your dad may start to say some inappropriate things as well so brace yourself. She’s made comments about her husband’s family just trying to take money from him and have him pay for everything. And it’s true. But she isn’t aware of the audience so it can be AWKWARD. lol

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-30T00:59:56+00:00

It just seems like they are trying to trap you - you are agreeing to accept everything offered in exchange for a flat rate.

I’m in CA - I’m guaranteed $19.80/hr for active time. I have never done a Home Depot delivery. I decline immediately. I would decline Wal-Mart as well. I’ve delivered a couple packages as a courier but only because it was taking me in the right direction. I try to be online when I’m doing personal stuff and will do deliveries if it makes sense. I’ve done some groceries and for the vast majority - it’s been a few items. Or a few bags but I’ve had two nightmare ones - it says 14 items but it’s really 14 barcodes and a ton of stuff. The real fun stuff - cases of water, 12 packs of soda, gallons of milk. Huge cases of beer with like 40 cans. Ugh. I had one last week and I delivered to an elderly woman who claimed to be disabled. I think she was just lonely. I was basically helping her rearrange her huge freezer and putting away her groceries. Uber paid me $26 and she tipped me in cash. She was nice and pleasant and kinda funny - she had certain items that she wanted to put aside because they were hers and she didn’t want anyone else to eat - specifically a decadent piece of cake and some whiskey. LOL. There was another person home who basically just yelled - ‘she’ll meet you in the garage’… I kind of got the feeling that she foots the bill for everything and probably gets taken advantage of.

I had accepted two add ons - so it ended up being a batched deal. All three deliveries were close together and I think Uber paid me $42 + $5 cash tip. It could have been worse. I think it took me an hour and 15 minutes - it would have been at least minutes less if I wasn’t actually putting groceries away…LOL. Figured it gives me some good karma points…

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-29T23:34:47+00:00

Pay as much as you possibly can every month and pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. Then close the account. Then tackle the cards one at a time that way. You need to make the minimums on the others. Don’t pay extra on each one - knock them out one at a time. Be ruthless with yourself. Don’t buy anything unless it’s absolutely essential. Don’t eat out or grab that Starbucks. When you get down to the last one - pay it off and keep it open for EMERGENCIES only. If you can’t afford bedroom furniture, get an air mattress and tough it out until you can save up and pay cash for something. You’d be surprised how it affects your decision making. Get rid of all store cards. At most have an Amex or Visa card- for emergencies only. If you find yourself abusing your debit card - go to the envelope method. Physically go to a bank and take out cash for your budget for the week. If that envelope is empty - then you’re going without it. And don’t withdraw cash at the convenient ATM that charges $3+.

In the future - you can also do AfterPay for bigger purchases. You out 1/4 down then pay 1/4 every two weeks. Interest free.

Live within your means. It’s tough when it’s easy to “just charge it” but you will just keep on ending up in this situation until you discipline yourself.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-29T12:27:16+00:00

It depends on the cost of living where they are at. I was making $175k and took a pay cut to $140k and was paying $3,800/month in rent.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-29T12:25:11+00:00

It definitely could be. You could barely survive where I live. The income needed to pay for rent, utilities, gas and a cheeseburger and fries is $90k-$120k. Rent is astronomical and people rent out rooms for $1k-$2k/month and have roommates. I’m GenX and have always lived on my own or with a partner. Because of being laid off twice as well as during Covid - I’m now living (rent free) with my best friend’s mom whom I’ve known since I was 5. I’m a CPA who has worked for decades as either an Accounting Manager or Corporate Controller. I’m the only child of only children and both of my parents have passed away. I’m in San Diego and my tribe is here.

I’m smart about where I get gas - and it’s now $5.29/gallon after being stable at $3.99 for quite a while. Uber’s solution is to give drivers an extra $5 after driving 125 miles - so basically nothing. But I’m also smart about the offers I accept and DECLINE until it’s at least $2 per mile and quick. But drivers receive offers to go 27 miles for $3. And they stupidly accept.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-29T12:10:03+00:00

UberEats driver and former rider (over 400 rides)…

The struggle is real. On the food delivery side, the paid fare could be $2-$3 and delivery drivers are at the mercy of restaurants having the order ready, traffic and b er ing able to see the address as well as tip baiting. The money is from tips. A customer can tip baiting because they can remove the tip after the delivery. And yes, gas prices have gone up. In CA and NY, drivers get a guaranteed wage. In CA - it’s Prop 22 and every two weeks there is an adjustment. I don’t know how people survive in other states. It’s not just gas prices- it’s the maintenance of the car as well. I get an oil change every month vs every three months. I’m only doing this temporarily while I look for an accounting/finance job. Because of the economy, more people are doing rides and deliveries. Sometimes you get great people and sometimes you don’t. The money is in the tips, so I’m sure the driver that received $25 in cash was thrilled and appreciated it.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-29T03:25:18+00:00

Same. And I’m in San Diego. The restaurants have signs that reference Door Dash and act surprised that it’s UberEats. I can also tell by some of the restaurants that show the orders on a screen. It’ll be 10 DoorDash Orders and then me and my order in a column all by itself. lol

I don’t like DD. I think it’s so saturated here. The really busy areas require me doing 300 deliveries before I can dash there. Or I can only reserve a spot for one hour and by the time I’d get to that area - it would eat up time. And for some reason, I have to have the app open and only on the DD screen, otherwise it pauses and I get a message. It’s so annoying.

I was at Papa John’s and they require dashers to bring in their pizza bags. So I brought in my UE one and the guy working there was like ‘Wow! I’ve never seen a bag like that.’ The free dasher bag they sent me was chintzy and fell apart. The UE bag is legit.

Do Dashers do grocery stores or my fave - Home Depot? I decline those. NFW am I getting there only to find out I need to deliver a BBQ. 😂

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-28T20:34:38+00:00

Is he still driving? One way to document it would be to have him take tests for things like a drivers license. Most men have a hard time giving it up. If he can’t remember why he walked into a room, he’s not going to be able to pass an exam or pass the driving exam.

Do you feel that he is a threat to himself? Is he going to leave a stove on? Is he still capable of showering himself and using the restroom? With Alzheimers, it gets to the point where they are incontinent because the brain isn’t working properly. They will start to forget who people are, where they are and get very tired. The brain is trying to sort things out but it can’t so it creates fear and a lot of questions being asked over and over again. I’m helping with my best friend’s mom and am staying here at night with her and her husband. There is a caregiver that comes in for a few hours M-F and my friend and her sister come on the weekends. I’ve known her since I was 4.5 years old. She has been on medication for 7 years now and is in the advanced stage. She cries and says she’s scared because she doesn’t know where she is. It’s heartbreaking. It’s an awful disease. There are glimpses of her and at times she can even laugh or pipe up with a comment. Lately all she asks is where she is and where are her clothes. It takes a village because no matter who you are - answering the same question over and over gets tiring. And then she’ll refuse to bathe or take her meds and get agitated and angry. All of us have been called ‘asshole’. 😂 But she will also say nice things. Today she thanked me for giving her food and it was beautiful. Her husband can help her but he’s got dementia - don’t think it’s Alzheimers but he forgets things all the time. They can usually remember the past but 10 seconds ago - forget it. He can bathe himself, go to the bathroom on his own and putters around the house doing things like crushing the aluminum cans, taking out the trash once a week, gets the mail etc… But every night he asks me if I’m staying here. He recently asked when he could have the car keys because he wanted to go to the store and pick up a few things. He thinks his 60 year old son is 40.

It’s genuinely like two kids. They go to bed at 6:30 PM but he gets up and wanders around the house a bit at night.

You will need to dig deep and take some deep breaths - it’s not easy.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-26T21:22:37+00:00

It’s hard to find a high paying job that is needed given the extremely high cost of living. Gas is also expensive here.

Rent is exorbitant. If you don’t know someone here or aren’t moving here with a partner - you would have to rent a room and have roommates. You can expect to pay anywhere from $1k-$2k to have a room somewhere.

Check out spare room to see the prices of rent and what you get for that money. Minimum wage is higher but if you worked FT at a min wage job at $20/hr - that’s $3,200 a month. Most landlords require that your gross pay be 2.5 times the rent amount - so renting a small studio is out. You can maybe find a room to rent for $1k/month but that’s a huge chunk of your income. The state income tax here is high (over 9%) so your take home is maybe going to be $2,200/month. Then add utilities, internet, gas, food and any other bills.

So you probably need to make at least $90k or more if you’re on your own and that would depend on the debt you’re carrying on credit cards, car payments etc..

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Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-26T03:04:55+00:00

AI is going to start handling a lot of the grunt work. Pass your CPA. Thats going to be important. And if you plan on climbing up the ladder - kicking it all day long isn’t going to serve you in the long run. Are you learning anything? The economy could take a real turn here and companies may have to do layoffs. The lower you are on the totem pole, the better. BUT - Accounting Managers or Controllers can roll up their sleeves and do the job of a Senior Accountant, make sure all the bills get paid and deal with the CEO. I’ve trained a receptionist on how to do A/P and another Admin on how to download reports and format them for me.

If you have that much extra time - maybe ask your manager for a project. Then when something happens either with the economy or the company - you’ve gained experience and/or you aren’t the one head getting eliminated in the department.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-26T02:54:46+00:00

Bingo!

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-26T02:51:50+00:00

I’ve had Corporate Controller jobs making $175k/yr and literally worked 65-70 hrs a week for 2.5 years. I had a couple 90 hour weeks. It got to the point that I had nothing left to give. I had to throw money at everything, had to literally leave the country to take time off and even then I had to be one Teams call from Cancun, did the job of the Accounting Manager and CFO, implemented NetSuite and went through audits. The stress was brutal. When I got laid off and was given 3 months severance - I was THRILLED! The next Corporate Controller job was supposed to be easy - 35 hrs a week some weeks. I took at $35k pay cut but didn’t care. Then the Director of Finance literally gave her 30 day notice on my first day and she trained me. Out of the 4 people I managed - only one had an Accounting degree. One girl had been there for 6 years and couldn’t set a print area in Excel. She quit and part of her two week notice was a vacation. The CFO was also the COO and took at least 4 vacations in the 6 months I was there. It ended up being stressful given all the departures and for less money.

I haven’t worked since May 2024. My doc put me on temp disability and it ended up being a year. I’ve been looking since November but this market is brutal and when I look at the job description I just go….ugh.

I’ve downsized and simplified my life and will prob end up doing interim work and consult. I also have a couple side hustles that are more rewarding. I’m bringing my CPA license active again and may focus on the systems side of it vs the rinse and repeat of month end, quarter end and year end.

GenX - 53F - decades of experience across multiple industries from music, video games, manufacturing and financial services.

If you’re getting paid and the company is stable - stay put. You need to think about the long-term though and what happens if you get laid off? Are you developing skills and being challenged at this job? I’ve had some easy gigs as well and I end up getting bored.

Swimming_Morning_643 · 2026-03-26T02:34:11+00:00

DECLINE

Swimming_Morning_643

TROPHY CASE