First Fare

I picked up my phone yesterday and did the tax stuff. They needed the bank account information for direct deposit up front. I thought I read somewhere during training I could wait to setup the bank account - apparently not in 2014. One IRS to rule them all.

So I had a meeting across town for my day job in Vienna. After that meeting I had a few hours before the next and I had already worked a long week, so I mentally signed out from the day job and went online with Uberx and started back to the office. My Android GPS directed my home via 123. That means there was some nastiness on 495 Eastbound which was imposing a delay. All was to the good. As I was driving along, I got my first ping. My heart pounding, I pull off the road (in a safe location naturally) and program the GPS for the pickup location. It is really close and I get there in a few minutes.

The passenger was a little surprised when I asked him to approve the route but he was a good sport and offered suggestions which improved on what the GPS was going to do. We got close to the destination (a block away but totally jammed up) . I showed him the GPS that showed 4 minutes to go around the block and he asked me to pull over and let him out.

I went back to work. After work I decided to drive again and headed over to Silver Spring along 193. In the morning, the GPS had suggested I take 193 West instead of 495. I ignored the suggestion in the morning and spent almost 40 minutes covering 10 miles on 495. So in the evening I took 193 past where it runs into 495 then turned south into Silver Spring. I got my second fare - a group of 4 going into Maggios. Again, they were happy to help with navigation. This was their first Uberx trip so we had a good time talking about Uber.

I need a good voice programmable GPS. My old Android was actually pretty good. This new version of the navigation app does not take voice as well. It may be related to the phone - even though it is newer.

One conclusion so far is there is not a lot of Uberx activity in PG county.

It would be nice if Uber gave them the option to enter the number of passengers. My base configuration is for two - I have the console down in the back seat and I have stuff in the front seat. If I had known it was a larger group, then I could have cleaned that all up before arriving for the pickup.