The (very) early crowd

A little over a week ago I started getting up at 3:30 am.  I can already hear people groaning.  Yes it's early, it's actually just about an hour or so after what we would consider "late" night.  The bars are closed and crowds dispersed. The only people about are playing Pokemon Go quite unaware, it seems, of the time.  For me it's earlier than I normally get up but not by much, okay maybe 3 hours earlier.  I wanted to see if it would be profitable to be up early in this market oversaturated with drivers.

The first thing I found out is that you have plan to be up early the night before.  What I mean by planning is that you need to:

• have your car gassed up,  
• your clothes laid out, 
• a bottle of water by the bed (to help your brain and body wake up), 
• the alarm set (I have a gentle wake up alarm) and 
• something for your brain to do when you turn on the app and nothing happens.  

If you try to get up earlier than you are accustomed without a plan you spend a good 1/2 hour or more just trying to dress and find keys only to get out to the garage with that first glorious ping to find your car is sitting at 3 bars of gas hoping your fare doesn't want to cross the city too many times.  Been there, done that.

Some mornings are a flurry with the app going off almost as soon as I turn it on.  Other mornings, like today, crickets at 4:10 am. This can be somewhat managed if you have the Uzurv app so you can arrange reservations to take up the time.  Early morning is when many travelers go to the airport and are worried there won't be a driver so they will set up a reservation to be picked up.  This only works however, if you give out reservation cards in advance to everyone. 

Sometimes I'm fortunate enough to get a lead the night before from a passenger or fellow driver that someone needs an early ride.  Networking with others is a great way to build up your Uber business.  And it pays off when you are sitting in the dark at 4:13 am without a passenger.

Once on the road at 4:16, it's interesting to me how quiet the city is.  I love how the lights change to green in perfect timing as I approach each intersection on the way to pick up Jaxon, my first pax of the day who needed a ride to the airport. 

One of my recent passengers turned out to be the traffic engineer for our city.  Very interesting conversation on how the lights actually work, found out what I thought was happening really wasn't at all.  The cameras atop the lights aren't taking photos of people running red lights.  And the weight of your car at the intersection will not trigger the light to change.   I was invited to come visit his office to see everything working in real time - I will probably do that soon.

Heading back to home base after the first drop off just down the road I pass the street cleaners poised to stir up dust along the curbs.  Closer to home I notice debris on the street where, no doubt, some unfortunate soul had an accident hours before.  Turning into my neighborhood a bunny crosses the road startled by the headlights. It's 4:40 and I'm back at the keyboard again.

Some mornings it's all business, other mornings I get a mix of business and over indulgence.  The passenger I picked up last Thursday had not been to bed yet, still up partying with friends who were desperately trying to get him to Uber home.  I was asked 3 times on the way how long I had been driving for Uber.  Like a blind date, you never know what you will encounter with your next passenger.  

It's 4:55, slow morning to be sure.  My cat has decided to occupy space on my table near me while the dog watches from the stairs. They are used to me suddenly hopping up and racing to the door, keys in hand.  I think they may have even figured out that the flurry of activity is preceded by a strange noise emanating from the phone. 

So for the first week of getting up early I have learned that it's a great time to work on my blog, write for other accounts, make motivational memes.  I can quietly manage household finances and grocery shopping (love to just pick up at WalMart) and contemplate life.  Has it actually been more profitable? I can say there have been a couple of days when it did pay off to be up early. Today, clearly, is not one of them.  I am considering going back to bed... and there's another ping! I'm outta here!