Tales of a Driver (Lyft & Uber)

Yesterday, was my first day driving for Lyft and Uber.  I had some speed-bumps but by the end of the night I felt like I was playing Daniel in France’s hit movie Taxi.

With my first attempt of the day, I tried to go to the Milwaukee Airport to get a passenger but failed.  I logged-in on my apps but I wasn’t collecting any requests. I quickly gave up and texted one of my friends who has experience driving.  He told me about this parking-lot at the entrance of the airport which is GPS coordinated where all drivers must go in order to get a “queue” line-up for an airport pick-up a passenger.

After lunch, I returned to the airport and joined the airport queue.  After waiting a few minutes, my phone dinged and a ride request from Ana appeared.  She was in town from San Diego for her grandchild’s baptism and of course to see her daughter (a Marquette Alum).  I informed Ana that she was my first ever passenger—she was excited.  Right off the bat, I had issues with Waze and my GPS navigational system.  Thankfully, Ana was very patient with me as we made our way to Wauwatosa.  She wished me luck in my job search and tipped me five bucks!

Another passenger was very happy despite just finding out that it may be two months before he can move back into his house after he suffered a fire last week. He was a big hockey fan and immediately commented on my Alex Ovechkin jersey that I was wearing.  He spent much of this five minute ride explaining to me why he despised the Chicago Blackhawks—needless to say, it was very entertaining.

My night concluded giving back-to-back-to-back rides to three separate ladies.  The first was from a young lady named Megan who was impressed with my 5-star rating.  She only requested a ride because “her feet hurt.”  So, our ride together was literally 6 blocks.  My next ride was for a UW-Milwaukee Finance Professor who appeared she could pass as a student herself.  Turned-out she was only 27 years young!  After dropping of the Professor, I picked-up a UWM-Student.  I jokingly told her about the young-looking professor I just met and she told me that she had a young Asian looking professor last semester for her Finance class—imagine if she was her student—small world!!

Anyways, this UWM student requested a ride to the Irish Pub in the Third Ward.  She voluntarily divulged that she was nervous on what she was getting herself into.  She apparently dated her best friend who she broke up with; but surprisingly she was able to salvage her friendship with him.  Now, she is dating one of her ex’s friend’s; and tonight will be the first time they will all be hanging out together…

Let’s see what today holds!

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Summer in Milwaukee

Cold, snow, cheese, brats, Harley’s.  These are a few things that come to mind when the average non-Wisconsinite thinks of Milwaukee.  Here are a few other terms that I think about when I think of Milwaukee: Festive, tailgate, relaxing, and delicious.

Last night, I went to SummerFest, an 11 day music festival which includes 11 stages with over 700 bands.  The most notable bands in attendance were 311, Maroon 5, Wiz Khalif, Owl City, and Ben Harper.  All these bands and singers performed on eleven general admission, street stages, which cost $15 per ticket.  Artists such as Kanye West, Britney Spears, Toby Keith, and Katy Perry performed in the Marcus Amphitheater which costs a minimum of $50 (lawn tickets) and goes as high as $170 for reserved seating.

Fortunately, my favorite band, Of A Revolution (O.A.R.) whom I saw play, always performs on a street stage at SummerFest.  The best part about last night was the OAR group members meet and greet/autograph session prior to their show.  Having already met Richard On, the guitarists, at a bar in Arlington, VA, I was excited to meet the lead vocalist, Marc Roberge. The crowd was treated to an exciting two-hour performance, including saxophonist Jerry DePizzo, while O.A.R. rocked the Miller Lite Oasis Stage.  O.A.R. played a few songs songs from their up coming (Aug. 2) album “King” including their new single “Heaven.”  My favorite song they played was “Hey Girl” which was the last song of the night.

When you aren’t at SummerFest, “sipping beers and making faces at the senoritas” you can be tailgating outside Miller Park before and after a Brewers game! When driving down I-94 with the windows open, seeing the parking-lots at capacity, you can smell the brats and charcoal burning. Miller Park is a spectacular place to see a ball game (rain or shine) since it has a retractable roof.  If you are a baseball fan, you have to come to Milwaukee to witness the Sausage Race.

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Finally, my favorite place to hangout in Milwaukee during the summer is Bradford Beach!  Yes, there’s a beach in Wisconsin and there aren’t any worries like jellyfish or sharks–I’m talking about Lake Michigan.  If you are the athletic type, you can either go on a jog, or play beach volleyball/soccer in the designated areas.  For the less adventurist individuals, you can just relax and catch some sun and people watch.  My activity of choice was people watching! After spending the day at Bradford Beach, you can conclude your evening at my favorite restaurant Lake Park Bistro which is located just north of Bradford Beach on top of the hill, over-looking Lake Michigan.  Lake Park is part of the Bartolotta family, but it isn’t a chain.  It is a romantic French restaurant that has delicious food and great service.  I either order the steak frites or the entrecote aux Champignons (Steak Ribeye with grilled mushrooms).  A typical meal (for two) costs between $60-115 depending on what you order.  But my motto is “You only live once” and each dollar spent at Lake Park is well worth it!

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