Uber Diaries

Uber Diaries: January 15, 2017. "Dreams Vs Reality"

As I write this the guys who live in the house next door, probably ten of them it feels like, are "jamming out" on drums and I can smell the weed wafting in from their open windows. I thought I had finally lucked out and landed a place not next to a musician. Being a musician you would think I would be immune me to the incessant pounding of an amateur drummer against my thin walls. Nope.

I can remember the last place I lived in Nashville...the thump tha thump tha thump of a bass at two am every night. I turn my headphones up high now to drown it out .

Anyway. Today I drove on impulse. Cassie has started a little two day a week daycare so I can write music and work. Dropping her off for the first time was on the most heart wrenching experiences of my life and I ended up going back a half an hour later because I couldn't bear the thought of her crying, and had been crying myself. We'd been together, non stop, just the two of us, for almost two years now. Going to the museum. The park. Playing at home. When I got there, I held her tight. Her big sky blue eyes so happy to see me. She snuggled against my neck. From then on, I was determined to make Ross do the drop off. He thinks daycare will be good for her---and for me. For socialization too. So she can make some little friends. I do too. And honestly, my career's been on the backburner for a while now. So today Ross drove her and said she did great. I miss the little gal, but she's starting to love the place. She does the little baby sign for "friends" whenever we pull up in the drive-way.

I grabbed a decaf coffee from the Starbucks drive-thru, decaf because because I got used to it while breastfeeding. I got a bagel too for a grand total of $3.00 ( Ross and I are having a challenge of who can spend less than $100 in two weeks. It's hard). I decided to turn my Uber app on.

Blink blink blink. I'd caught a fish. It was urgent. It was close. Right around the corner.

I got stopped at a light but I buzzed through it as soon as it changed.

I pulled onto Washington. Uh oh. This was the sketchy area. An area I typically like to avoid. There were always gun shots and police cars zooming around down here. It was the latin quarter. Amazing tacos. But a lot of crime.

Whoever I was picking up was named Dani so I didn't know if it would be a guy or a girl.

I pulled up to an address where two large men were bending over a broken down car, both of them smoking, covered in car oil.

Please don't be my ride, I thought.

I called the number.

"Hi. I'm here," said a voice quickly.

"Oh. On the corner? Ok I see you. I'm coming."

Ok. It was a girl. My body instantly relaxed more.

She was wearing a 70s looking sunhat and a flowey shirt.

As soon as she got in, I tried to make small talk.

" Let me guess. Are you a stylist or a designer?"

She mumbled pretty quickly so I never quite caught what she said.

But I had the suspicion it wasn't going to be a chatty ride.

" Do you have Waze?" she asked.

" No, but if you have it you can tell me where to go and I'll follow it."

"Ok." She said. " Go straight here."

We went straight and hit construction.

"Oh. That's weird. Um. Just turn left here to get us to Mountain and then right on Lincoln."