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Getting a Lyft

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The weekend post comes to us from CrystalBay.

I have increasing anxiety about driving after dark, so I decided to scope out Lyft. I couldn’t figure out how to use the app to determine the cost of being driven to the few locations that I regularly go to. After messing around for half an hour, I decided to order a ride because then the price would pop up. My clever plan was to then immediately cancel it. The problem, however, is that I couldn’t figure out how to cancel it!

Within minutes, Jeff texted he’d be here in ten minutes. I called him directly to cancel, explaining what I’d done. Two minutes later, Amy texted she’d be here in five minutes. I again called her to cancel. Three minutes later, Tom called saying that he was pulling up in my driveway! I told him my woe story and he showed me how I could use the app, then mentioned that each canceled ride had cost me $5. Altogether, I’d just lost $15 because of not understanding how to use this app. What still troubles me is that, after my initial call canceling, other drivers kept coming. I wondered how many more would show up.

The good news is finding out that, between here and Navarre, where 90% of my needs are met, Lyft only cost 87 cents!

What technologies have challenged (or defeated) you??

43 thoughts on “Getting a Lyft”

  1. Cool! Congrats on a big step forward.

    No technology currently frustrates me, but it seems almost once a day that some person or tutorial tells me that I should “take out your phone and . . . .” Of course, they don’t mean “phone.” They mean “mobile phone.”

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  2. The assumption that everyone has a smart phone has created a kind of class division where those with a phone have benefits and abilities unavailable to folks without one. For example, could you even get an uber or lyft ride without a smart phone?

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    1. Welding vinyl flooring seams was a challenge. For decades, material was fitted net meaning no gaps between pieces. That is still done but in commercial (as opposed to residential) construction, we fuse the material at seams. This involves grooving out a portion of each sheet or tile to a proper depth and width. Then a cord-like plastic material is passed through the noozle of a heat gun that melts the cord and both pieces together. Next, after a cooling off period, a skiving knife is used to skin off the top portion of the rod flush to the finished floor. Disaster lurks at ever step. From too hot (scorched material) to too cold (the weld pulls out). But I’ve got the procedure down quite well. In fact, early on in the history of this system, I was among a handful of people in the entire US who could do it. The skill even brought me to work at an Air Force base just outside of Madrid, Spain. They liked what I had done at the base in Minot, ND. Now many people have semi-mastered that work. I say “semi-mastered” as I am right now cleaning up some poor work at Children’s Hospital, Dayton. It’s good to be the Welding King.

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        2. In the field of the intellectual history of pheasant hunting, I am a towering figure who redefined the sport. Problem is, there is no intellectual history of pheasant hunting except maybe in my mind. Anyway, Wes, sincere appreciation from me for your abilities!

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    2. The answer is no. When I could still actually talk to a human with questions, I called. The rep tried to explain how the system worked. I had enough questions to fill half an hour. At the end, he told me how to register – then – it hit me: “Is he saying that I can’t use Uber if I don’t have a moblie phone???” I recall being rather vocal in my disgruntlement, even going so far as to point out ageism.

      Beneath my outrage, though, I felt diminished because of being confronted with just how far behind the learning curve I’d fallen. My kids even bought me one for my birthday five years ago. It’s the most expensive gift they’d ever given me and, to this day, I feel guilty because I turned them down. I wasn’t ready to make the leap.

      Two years and non-stop urging later, I was as ready as I could be when faced with new technology. I made the leap. The sales rep must’ve spent an hour teaching me how to use it. Yeah!!! I’m entering the 21st century!!! I was so proud of myself. I also had called my cable company to set up a specific date for discontinuing my land line. My strategy: give myself one week to transfer to my new cell phone. In other words, I knew that only the pressure of losing my land line would force me to learn.

      All was good – until it wasn’t. Anxious to get home and start using the thing, I played around with it by calling someone. Such magic! I couldn’t hear anything at all. Time after time; no sound. Upset, I drove back to the store to return the damned thing because it was defective. The manager had me show him what the problem was.

      He said, “You’re holding your fingers over the speaker”.

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    3. i remember hearing about an economy in africa where all payment is done via non smart phone
      you are paid and you pay via this currency that is automatic and bulletproof
      it sounded veryvcoolk

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  3. Can’t think of anything right now. Someone recently gave me an iPad plus I just got a new smart phone ( my old one was so old that it barely worked, in fact it didn’t a lot of the time) and I didn’t have any problems setting those up.

    However, when I got my MacBook a few years ago, I tried to set up my apple ID, using my email address. I was told that my email address belonged to someone else. This created all sorts of hassles, compounded by my fury that I couldn’t use my own email address, which ended up taking several days to solve.

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  4. Good Work CB!

    When we were in DC last summer we alternated between Lyft and the Taxi’s. The taxi drivers knew where they were going. The Lyft drivers all had their google maps open and we had to help some of them.

    They can also add a surcharge based on how busy it is, which goes up if the weather is inclement. (because they’re busy then). One rainy day we wanted a ride of only a mile or so and there was an absurd mark up on the rate. Like 200% or something crazy. We cancelled. But it kept raining and eventually we had to get a ride and just suck it up.

    As for current technology, I’m still learning my new lighting console. I try to learn something new every time I use it, but there are a LOT of buttons and features. I’m practicing for our upcoming Holiday concerts in which I’ve rented some ‘multi-cell’ fixtures and I’m watching tutorials on ‘pixel mapping’ and ‘media servers’ and I’m scaring myself. Which is good too. But it might be fun!

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        2. Well, I don’t know how much I could teach DIL. She knows how to sew on buttons but just doesn’t feel confident doing it. Son has motor issues from when he was born prematurely, and he has hand tremors and really terrible fine motor issues. I think I will teach my grandson.

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        3. i try to invent the button sewing pocket fisherman to sell at state fairs and online at least two or theee times a year
          we can put a man in the moon but we can’t sew buttons on without involving brain surgery… an attachment you plug into the headphone jack and hit the bluetooth option as the bobbin starts spinning and the pocket tailor sews button and hems while you hold your coat or your pant cuff on your lap
          suspenders buttons would make old guy pants fit so much better

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        5. I have a buttoneer! However the plastic clips (it’s a newer version than the infomercial shows) the clips wear out and fracture on installation. If I could still get the clips (and they still sell them, I’m just not sure they’re any better than the ones I have) I’d still use it.
          Sewing buttons on with thread… what a pain! 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

  6. Everything electronic is a little bit of a challenge, but if I take the time I can often figure it out. It’s when I’m in a hurry and have no patience or time that I get frustrated. Luckily, our ISP is very accessible and helpful. And Microsoft, etc. are always upgrading and letting us know there are all these marvelous things I can now do, which I never read because I don’t want to do any more than I already am! And we keep buying the lowest-tech possible of everything – stove, etc.

    I probably should learn how to retrieve messages from my dumb phone, but I only turn it on when traveling, and don’t want yet another place I have to check for messages.

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  7. every thing can be looked up on you tube

    i don’t know how to do lots of stuff but i know i can get it when i need it

    by the way cb
    it’s not $.87 to navarre
    it may be cheap but it won’t be $.87

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    1. My daughters’ tell me fairly often that one of the lessons I taught them well is, “What you are able to do is less important than what you are able to get done.”

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    2. I was going to suggest the same thing but hesitated because I don’t know anything about lyft. It makes no economic sense for someone to drive to your house and then to Navarre for 87 cents. Nobody would do that. There must be more to the fare calculation.

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      1. Yes they did! 87 cents is daytime, so last night was $2.11. I gave each one a dollar tip. I won’t trust that this is what I’m paying until I see my first bank statement, though.

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        1. that’s fantastic
          you must be a mile or two from navarre
          with both lyft and uber only do tips online after they deliver you to where you are going
          review and tip with a %tip and a 1-5* review

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  8. Remotes. We have several devices and 3+ remotes. Watching Netflix is entirely different than watching a DVD or a TV station. My dear husband is a tech/gadget junkie and we have Alexa and Google listening posts. I finally figured out how to ask Alexa to turn on/off lights, play MPR on radio, what’s the weather, etc. Jim even programmed Alexa to say “it’s good to be home” about the time I get home from work. She also proclaims “Jim says he loves you” at a certain time each day, so it’s hard to be mad at him.

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    2. I keep wondering what these programmable speakers could do to justify their existence. If you can program them with messages, maybe there is a role for them. How about setting up Alexa in the kitchen hooked up to a motion sensor. Anytime someone approaches the fridge she could say, “Hey, big boy, you don’t look like you’ve missed many meals lately!”

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      1. OT: For weeks I couldn’t comment here because WP is waging war on me. I finally found a way on by going through FB. I just discovered that now WP won’t allow me to click on “Liked”. It’s trying to get me to go through Google (I don’t have another email account) to log in. I’m already logged in through FB, but apparently there’s a separate log in for using “Liked” !!! If I were ever to meet WP in person, I’d use words I save for rare occasions!!

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  9. Computers really change the game when it comes to looking stuff up. I don’t know if my spelling is better or worse now that I have spell-check to help me. Sometimes I forget how to spell a word, but I know the only challenge is how to type a word close enough to right so spell-check can lean in and help me.

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    1. Strange though, how limited is WP’s dictionary. Many times I get a word flagged that turns out to have been correctly spelled. It makes me doubt myself unjustly.

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  10. I took the big leap last night by ordering a Lyft ride through my iPhone to go to Navarre to dance. It’s only five minutes away. All day and into the evening, It felt as though I was giving up my independence and admitting I’m really a frail old woman. I realize that this is irrational, but pressing that “Request” key was very difficult. I even practiced going through the steps to get a ride right up to the “Request” key. I waited literally until the last minute, and teetered on the edge of just staying home.

    Something occurred the night before that clinched my need for nighttime driving help. It started to rain a little when it was time for me to drive home from Steve’s. The kids made a fuss about this, offering to drive me home, maybe just stay overnight, or following me home. They insisted that I call them if driving became problematic. I just brushed them off, saying I’m safe on backroads.

    I was wrong. I wasn’t safe because the glare off of the wet roads made it impossible to see which side of the road I was on. When the occasional car going the opposite direction passed me, I literally couldn’t see at all. I got about one third of the way home and knew I wouldn’t make it. I’ve only been this scared once before when coming home from Mary’s through fog so dense that there was no way to see the road.

    I pulled off the road and called Steve for help. Crying, I just said; “I can’t do it. I can’t do it”. He and his best friend came to my rescue within minutes. His friend followed so Steve could get back home. I was shaken to my core. All the way home, I stared at the road, imagining that I was still driving. I knew, with 100% certainty, that I wouldn’t have made it home. That was the moment in time that I relinquished driving after dark for the remainder of my life.

    The only good thing about accepting this is that I’ll no longer have to plan my life around the day’s weather. Which I’ve been doing for years.

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  11. Pingback: Getting a Lyft — Trail Baboon – Faithworks Foundation

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