It's all Uber now ...
I don't know who Serge is, but his pricing model sucks!
I’ve shared my thoughts on public transport in recent missives. Now it’s time to turn my attention to ride-sharing.
I went to a party the other night — not something I do often, but it was an opportunity to celebrate an old friend’s “significant” birthday and to catch up with a bunch of friends I’d not seen for a long time.
It was also a chance to see the recent renovations at the Jubilee Hotel, one of my old haunts in Fortitude Valley. (The photo, above, shows the Jubilee Room, part of the original hotel that’s been given a little extra love since its days of hosting union meetings.)
Anyway, since there were track works on the railway line from my place to the city, I decided to travel both ways by Uber (rather than in by train and home by Uber).
It was before 6pm when I logged on to the Uber app and I was soon offered a ride for around $23. I accepted, and waited as it counted down from 11 minutes. It got to about 6 minutes then everything disappeared.
After getting the Uber equivalent of a “no ride for you” message, it started searching again. Then it offered up another ride for (I thought at the time) $72, which I reluctantly accepted. It turned out, when the receipt came in, that the trip had cost $98.86 — for a 9.1-kilometre journey at 6pm on a Saturday.
The ride home, just after 9pm, cost $19.50.
I do, sort of, understand the rationale behind “surge pricing” but it’s hard not to think that the original driver who cancelled my trip was gaming the system. Will they get punished by Uber? I doubt it.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
One of the downsides of having a “real” job that involves a commute to an office in the city is that one tends to purchase lunch rather than prepare it at home and “brown bag” it.
That can be expensive and unhealthy.
Does anybody have suggestions for meals I can pre-purchase or quickly prepare in the morning that are filling, tasty and cheap? Let me know here or in the comments below!
On the subject of food, I had this excellent steak (above) for lunch with some old friends (yes, I have been a veritable social butterfly lately).
We ate at the restaurant at Woolloongabba’s Morrison Hotel — which, I’m delighted to say, is still trading under the name Fiasco’s, which, from memory, it acquired in the late 1980s or early 90s.
With the exception of the venerable Spanish Garden, which opened at the Brekkie Creek in 1968, I can’t think of another Brisbane restaurant name that has endured for so long.
Are there other contenders? Email me or comment below.
FALSE FOOTING
I made a few AFL fans a little unhappy when I stated that no other nation plays their sport. The game formerly known as Aussie Rules is, I’m assured, “huge” in America.
Sure enough, according to this website, the game is represented across the United States. But are any of the teams, or a team comprised of the best players in the USAFL, good enough to compete at the Olympics?
VIDEO VIBES
My YouTube channel continues to entertain me in my spare time, and I’m trying to roll out some form of content everyday — usually shorts during the week and a longer-form video on the weekend.
The latest 6:33-minute offering is about how YouTube thinks I’m obsessed with certain stars of the 1970s TV series The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched.
In case it’s not clear, the point I’m trying to make is that a lot of other content makers are peddling exaggerations and even untruths just to get views. I’d never do that!
Brett, long time reader, and never before have I felt the need to post a comment. However, your recent statement concerning AFL fans being "a little unhappy" has caused my outrage to be sufficiently prodded to make this comment.
You say that AFL is "the game formerly known as Aussie Rules". Nothing could be further from the truth. That's like saying that all rugby players (other than those playing Union) play "NRL", or those playing the beautiful game (soccer) are playing "FIFA", or those playing the sport with bats and wickets playing "ICC". "AFL" is simply the league that runs the major Aussie Rules competitition. The sport has not, and never will change its name. There are plenty of leagues playing Aussie Rules - VFA (Victoria - where there are dozens of leagues playing Aussie Rules), TFL (Tasmania). WAFL (WA) ... . Need I go on. The sport is Aussie Rules.